Page 70 of Pure Temptation in Cowboy Boots

“Oh, I remember that, all right.”

She gathered her courage and continued. “I need to know if it was just something you said in the heat of passion, or if it meant more than that.”

He held her tighter. “You want all my cards on the table?”

“Yes.”

“Then take off that damn veil.”

She reached up and unfastened it immediately, tossing it to a nearby chair.

He gazed down at her, his glance warm as it roved over her face. Then he reached into the pocket of his white pants and pulled out the pearl necklace. “I think it’s time you put this back on.”

Her heart thudded wildly at the implication. She trembled as he fastened the clasp around her neck and nestled the pearl between her breasts.

“Okay,” he said softly. “I was going to lead up to this, but if you want everything all at once, that’s what you get. I love you. Maybe on some level I’ve always known you were my mate, but so many things got in the way. I’m going to marry you someday, Tess, when you’re ready. I realize that might not be for a while, but⁠—”

“I’m ready.”

“—I’m willing to wait until you’ve experienced all...” He paused, as if finally registering what she’d said. He looked into her eyes.

She nodded.

‘‘Oh, God.” His mouth came down on hers, and he kissed her until they were both breathless. “You’re sure?” He held her face in both hands, his gaze probing. “I mean, you just started this new life, and maybe you need to stay single for a couple of years, to⁠—”

“To what? Nothing could be as exciting as living with you as your wife. I think I’ve known that since I was three years old. I love you, Mac, desperately, completely and forever.”

His smile was tender. “Yeah, but do you swear on the tomb of old King Tut?”

“You bet. And now let me give you some vital information. The bedroom is through that door on your right. Do you think we could go in there and make mad, passionate love for about ten hours? I’m feeling very neglected.”

He grinned and lifted her up in his arms. “Only ten hours?”

“For starters.”

He feathered his lips over hers. “Got ice?” he murmured.

Epilogue

Pleasantly full after a meal of fried chicken and potato salad, Mac lay back on the picnic blanket, closed his eyes and sighed with contentment. No New York traffic, no jackhammers, no jet engines. Only the gurgle of the river, the call of a quail, the rustle of the breeze through the reeds.

He’d visited beaches and riverbanks in many parts of the world in the past three years, but he’d recognize the baked-sand and wet-moss scent of this one blindfolded. The breeze moved over him like a caress. How he loved summer nights in Arizona.

Something tickled his nose, and he swatted it away. The tickling resumed, and he opened one eye.

Leaning over him, Tess brushed a feathery tip of a wild-grass stalk over his mouth.

He gazed up and noticed that when she leaned over, her blouse gaped open quite nicely. Taking the stalk from her fingers, he slipped it down the front of her blouse and stroked it over the swell of her breasts. “They already seem fuller.”

“It’s probably your imagination. I’m barely three months along.”

“I’ll never forget the look on our folks’ faces when we told them.” He could see desire stirring in her eyes as he continued to tickle her breasts with the grass.

She smiled. “I think they were even happier about the baby than when we told them we were home to stay.”

“I’m pretty happy about that baby, myself.” He brushed the grass up the curve of her throat and tickled under her chin. “Think you’ll miss your job?”

“Not once I realized teenage girls in Copperville need someone to listen and empathize just as much as the ones in New York. Thank goodness the school board agreed.”