Page 49 of Pure Temptation in Cowboy Boots

“I promise to tell you all about what I’ve read when we get together Thursday night.”

“Want to bring a flashlight and a book along? We could glance over it together.”

“Sure, why not? Sort of like reading comics together in the tent after dark.”

He laughed. “Not even close. Oh, and by the way, congratulations on your new status.”

“Thank you. I think I’m going to like it.”

“I know I am. This is by far the best summer project idea you’ve ever had.” With a wink, he walked down the hall.

Tess listened until she heard the front door close. Then she got up and threw on a robe before scurrying after him. Maybe he’d change his mind and come back in, needing to hold her again as much as she needed to hold him.

Unfortunately, he really seemed to be leaving. After he slammed the truck door shut, the engine roared to life and the headlights flicked on. She automatically walked over and flashed the front-porch light, their goodbye signal. He flashed the headlights of his truck in return. Then he backed the truck down the driveway.

She could hardly stand to have him go. He’d taken her from innocence to knowledge, and now she craved him with an intensity bordering on obsession. Maybe she would have felt this way about any man who had introduced her to the wonders of physical love, but she doubted it.

For one thing, not any man would have known her well enough to make this such a mind-bending experience for her. Not any man would have had the tenderness and caring Mac had demonstrated every step of the way. And she couldn’t imagine any other man looking so beautiful in the act of love.

As she stood in the living room listening to the fading sound of his truck’s engine, she discovered the fatal flaw of her great plan. If she couldn’t bear to have him leave after one night of lovemaking, what condition would she be in when the summer came to an end?

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Tess was looking for any distraction to get her through until Thursday night. When Hammer’s wife, Deena, called Tuesday morning to suggest a day at the community pool with whichever Blakely women and kids could make it, Tess jumped at the chance.

Deena, a freckle-faced brunette who had been one of Tess’s best friends in high school, was a teacher’s aide. She had summers off, which was a schedule she intended to keep until five-year-old Jason and four-year-old Kimberly were older.

Joan brought Sarah and Joe, and Cindy found somebody to work her shift at the auto-parts store so she could ease her pregnant self into the cool water. Only the newlywed Suzie, a bank teller, couldn’t get off.

“And wouldn’t you know, she’s the one who looks the best in a bathing suit,” Deena said as the group of women staked out a corner of the fenced pool area with lawn chairs, beach towels and a cooler containing sandwiches and juice.

“Oh, I don’t know that Suzie wins the bathing-suit competition,” Joan said. Like everyone else, she’d worn her suit under her T-shirt and shorts and was now stripping off her outer layer. “Tess is looking pretty buff in that red tank suit.”

Tess glanced down at herself, suddenly self-conscious. “Hey, it’s the same old me.”

“Maybe so,” Deena said. She grabbed Jason and swiped some sunscreen lotion on him. “But you’re looking real good, chick. Been working out or something?”

“Nope.” She hoped she wasn’t blushing. Surely the fact that she was no longer a virgin didn’t show somehow. Inside she felt like a changed woman, but outside she must look exactly the same. Mac wasn’t that much of a miracle worker.

“They’re right,” Cindy chimed in. ‘There’s a certain glow about you.” She laughed. “People say pregnant women get that, and I’m still waiting. Mostly I just feel fat.”

“I think you’re all seeing things.” Tess felt desperate to get out of the spotlight. “Come on, kids! Who’s ready to go for a swim with Aunt Tess?”

A chorus of me, me, me followed immediately.

Tess had helped teach all of them to swim, and consequently they were all fish, even four-year-old Kimberly. Tess gazed down at their eager faces and felt a pang of regret. They would grow so fast while she was gone She must remember to cherish days like today, and not count them as time-fillers until she could see Mac again. “Last one in’s a rotten egg!” she called, and leaped into the pool.

Three hours later the women gathered their tired group together, put more sunscreen on pink noses and decided the perfect ending to the day would be treats all around at the Creamy Cone. Tess pulled on her shorts and sandals, ran her fingers through her hair and decided not to bother with the T-shirt. In the summertime, shorts worn over a bathing suit became almost a uniform for patrons at the Creamy Cone.

Everyone piled into Joan’s minivan for the four-block trip, and on the way Tess sat in the back with the kids and led then through “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” and “I’m a Little Teapot.”

“Carry me, Aunt Tess,” Kimberly begged when they arrived at the bustling ice-cream shop.

“Too many cannonballs into the pool for you,” Tess said, hoisting the little girl out of her seat and propping her on her hip.

“I like cannonballs,” Kimberly said, snuggling against Tess.

“Yeah, you sprayed me all the time,” added her brother, Jason.