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“Naw, it was all your idea, remember?”
Her cheeks were such a pretty pink that Shane had to kiss her again.
“You’re awful,” she repeated, but her soft smile belied the words. And the way she sighed against his mouth wasn’t bad, either.
God, he was hungry for her. So hungry to taste as much of her as he could before it ended. He wanted to devour her. To get enough of her that he wouldn’t have to miss her when she was gone.
“Mmm.” He tried to pull her closer, but she straight-armed him.
“What about my surprise?”
“Shh. I have another surprise for you.”
She convulsed with laughter. “Are you fourteen?”
“We’re all fourteen when it comes to girls. But if you’re shooting me down, I guess I’ll retreat graciously.”
He loved the way she grinned at him when he circled around and got in the driver’s seat. Like she was delighted. Then again, she was always delighted.
Her grin held as he turned onto the road and drove higher into the foothills. “Where are we going?”
“Up.”
They edged higher, and Shane drove slower as the dirt road turned into something that more closely resembled a trail. Delicate aspen branches whispered over the cab of his truck. The world was green around them.
“It’s so pretty. Where’s the creek?”
“About twenty yards to the left of us and way downhill. This is about the spot where you found the ice house. We’ll have to stop in about ten minutes and walk the rest of the way.”
“The rest of the way to where?”
He winked. “You don’t want to ruin the surprise, do you?”
“Actually, no. I love surprises. When I was little, my mom and I lived in pretty small places. I always knew where she hid the Christmas presents. There weren’t too many choices. But I’d never have peeked. I can’t even imagine it. Why would anyone do that?”
Shane had always been the kid shaking his presents and trying to tease open the ends of the wrapping paper. “I don’t know. It’s like a special form of torture, knowing something is there and not looking.”
She shot him a look of pure disapproval. “That’s insane. Half the pleasure is in the anticipation.”
“Half of it? I wouldn’t go that far. For example, I can enjoy thinking about what I’ll do to you tonight, but I guarantee you, it won’t be close to half as good as touching you.”
“Okay. I’ll give you that. It is pretty damn awesome to touch me.” She laughed, making clear she was joking, but it was nothing but truth to Shane. He wasn’t sure how it had gotten so hot so quickly, but just teasing her had him hard as steel.
She was clearly sensitive about not being the type of woman men found sexy, but he’d meant what he’d said yesterday. Maybe other people didn’t see her as conventionally sexy, but somehow that made it all feel more wrong in the best kind of way.
She was the girl next door. The kid sister. The woman who might walk into a party and not draw the attention of the room. But that wasn’t who she was. That wasn’t what she meant to him. What she meant to him was laughter. And a kind of easy smile he’d never had. And filthy fantasies he never could have suspected she might entertain.
“Here’s our stop,” he said, parking the truck well back from the washed out area of the road. She jumped out before he could even reach for his door handle. “Don’t run ahead, all right? The road isn’t stable.”
Merry rolled her eyes. “They didn’t invent hiking in Wyoming, you know. I’m not a bumbling idiot.”
“I suppose that might be true. So just stay with me because I want you to.”
She smiled at him and the light filtering past the leaves danced over her face. “Okay.”
He cast a curious eye down the canyon as they edged along the narrow trail. There was no flash of light today, but he could definitely see something white down there. He didn’t say anything to Merry, though. If it was something awesome, he’d save it for another surprise, just to have the chance to make her happy again.
“Do you have family here?” she asked as they walked.
