He’d already discovered he was more possessive about Tess than he’d ever dreamed. If he made love to her this summer, that possessiveness could get out of control. And he couldn’t allow that, because she was going to New York, and she’d meet other guys there. And that would lead to…he didn’t even want to think about where that would lead. He was setting himself up to go crazy, that’s what he was doing.
But he couldn’t see any other way around the problem.
“Are you really going to take me to my house?” she asked.
He glanced at her. She still hadn’t committed to anything. “Do you want me to?”
“Not really.” She was staring straight ahead, holding on to her little straw purse for dear life. Sunglasses hid her eyes, but her cheeks gave her away. They were the deep pink of the sunset lining the horizon. Her chest rose and fell quickly, making the pearl quiver in the valley where it lay against her golden skin.
The air in the cab grew sweet and thick with desire, until Mac felt as if he could lick it like a cone of soft-serve ice cream. “So you want to take that drive?” His voice was slightly hoarse.
“Yes, but I’ve figured out what we should do. Let’s go to my house and sit in the driveway for a little while, in case anybody notices. Then I’ll get down on the floor of the cab, and we can drive away to… wherever you had in mind.”
Instantly he became aroused. Apparently the old dog would be able to learn new tricks. “All right.”
She still didn’t look at him. “You know, we might not be able to do anything. We might start laughing or something.”
“Laughing’s okay. Laughing usually means you’re having a good time.”
“I mean because we feel ridiculous.”
That hadn’t occurred to him. “Do you think you will? Feel ridiculous?”
“I don’t know. Maybe I should pretend you’re someone else.”
“Don’t do that.” The idea incensed him more than it probably should have. “That would be insulting.”
“Okay.”
He pulled into her driveway and glanced at her. The pretending statement had him going. “Who would you pretend I was?”
“Nobody, because you don’t want me to.”
“Yeah, but if I didn’t care, who would you superimpose over my face? Brad Pitt?”
She turned to him and took off her sunglasses. “I don’t know. I hadn’t really thought about it. Forget I said anything.”
“Tom Cruise?”
“Mac, I won’t be doing it, so let’s drop the subject.”
He couldn’t drop it. He had to know who she thought was sexy. “Antonio Banderas? Mel Gibson?”
“All of them!” she said, clearly exasperated. “In a rotating sequence! With Leonardo DiCaprio thrown in for good measure! There, are you happy now?”
He stared at her. Good Lord, he was jealous that she’d imagine a movie star making love to her instead of him. He was in big trouble. “Sorry,” he said. “Feel free to imagine anybody you want.”
She looked at him as if he’d gone around the bend, which was pretty much true. “Okay.”
“Just don’t tell me about it.”
“If you say so. But if you’ve never tried it, you might want to reconsider. Some men get very turned on by hearing their partner’s fantasies about other men.”
“Somehow I don’t think I’d fall into that category.”
“If you say so,” she repeated. She seemed to be relaxing, if her superior little smile was any evidence. It was the kind of smile that told him she didn’t think he had the foggiest notion what he was talking about.
Maybe he’d have to take a look at those books of hers, after all. She definitely had him at a disadvantage. Sure, he’d glanced through his share of sexy magazines when he was a teenager, but he’d been concentrating on the pictures, not the text. He’d thought he’d be the teacher and she, the student, the way it had been all their lives. The idea that she might know more about sex than he did wasn’t entirely comfortable.
She unsnapped her seat belt. “I guess I’d better get down on the floor of the cab now,” she said.
“Wait a minute. It’s all dirty down there. You’ll mess up your dress.” He opened his door and reached around behind the seat where he always kept a soft blanket. He handed it to her. “Put that down first.”
“I remember this! We used to make a tent with it in your backyard!”
“Yeah, that’s the one.”
She arranged it on the floor at her feet. “It’s like meeting an old friend, seeing this blanket again, still so soft and blue. The binding’s getting a little worn, though. What do you use it for, now?”
“Uh…different things.” Suddenly he didn’t want to tell her that he’d made love to several girls on that blanket. He kept it washed and tucked behind his seat to have handy if the weather was nice and the woman in his truck was willing. And now, dumb as it seemed, he felt as if he’d betrayed Tess by using the blanket that way.
She gazed at him. “It’s all right, Mac. I know you’ve had a lot of women.”
He shifted in his seat. “I wouldn’t say I’d had a lot.”
“Then my brothers must be lying. According to them, you’ve been to bed with more women than—”
“Does it matter?” He didn’t like the direction the conversation was taking.
“I guess not. In a way it’s a good thing. You’ve had lots of experience, so I assume you’ll know what to do.”
“And what I don’t know, you’ll be able to teach me.”
She looked at him, eyes narrowed. “You don’t like that idea much, do you, Mac?”
Damn, but she could read him like a book. She was the only woman who’d ever been able to do that. “Hey, I’m always open to new things.”
“I know you. You like to be the one who has all the answers.”
“That’s not true. I can take suggestions as well as the next man.”
“The experts all warn that sex is a sensitive topic, especially for guys. Maybe it would be best if I didn’t mention any of the things I’ve learned. I wouldn’t want to give you a complex.”
That did it. “A complex! Hell, woman, make all the damn suggestions you want! My ego can take it!”
“See? You’re already upset.”
“I am not upset!”
She always seemed to know when to stop arguing and just gaze at him quietly, reflecting his behavior back to him.
Finally he gave her a sheepish smile. “Okay, so I’m a little intimidated.”
“Wouldn’t you like to learn more, if you could?”
“Sure. Only a fool wouldn’t.”
“Good.” She looked extremely pleased with herself. “Then I can contribute something, after all.”
That made him grin. “You think your biggest contribution will be from a book?”
That seemed to shake her poise and she blushed bright red. “Well, um, I guess not.”
“I guess not, either.”
She met his gaze for a fraction longer before she glanced away, obviously rattled. She took a deep breath. “I’m scared to death, Mac.”
“Even with me?”
She nodded. “Especially with you. I know you have high standards. What if I disappoint you?”
He reached out and took her hand. It was different from any other time he’d held her hand, and they both knew it. He waited until she turned her head and looked into his eyes. “I wouldn’t have offered to do this if I didn’t want to, Tess. There’s no chance that I’ll be disappointed.”
The uncertainty eased in her gray eyes. “Thank you.”
He squeezed her hand and released it. “We’re giving each other the jitters, sitting here thinking about it. We’ll be better off once we get started.”
“You’re probably right. So here goes.” She turned on the seat and started hunching down so she could fit on the floor. “Take a look and make sure nobody’s around to see me doing this.”
He scanned the tidy little nei
ghborhood. “I don’t see anybody. Most people are probably inside having dinner right now.”
She tucked herself down onto the blue blanket. “Punch it, cowboy.”
And so it began. He took a deep breath and put the truck in Reverse. He’d done some wild things in his life, but this had to be the granddaddy of all risks he’d ever taken. He hoped that this time he hadn’t finally bitten off more than he could chew.
5
KNEELING ON THE BLANKET on the floor of the truck, Tess felt more wild and crazy than she had in years. She had developed a taste for reckless adventure after tagging along after her brothers and Mac when she was a kid. Lately she’d been missing that adrenaline rush.
She rested her arms on the seat and pillowed her head on her arms. She had two choices—either she could look at the passenger-side door on her left or Mac’s thigh on her right. With her feeling of adventure still running strong, she looked to her right.
His muscled thigh flexed as he stepped down on the gas, making the denim of his jeans move in subtle and tantalizing ways. Just beyond was the ridge of his fly. Her pulse quickened as she contemplated the ramifications of her decision. Of course, if they discovered they had no talent for making out with each other, they could call a halt to the whole program.
Mac clicked on the radio and a soft country tune filled the cab. She’d ridden in Mac’s truck with the radio on hundreds of times. They’d sung along with the music, even rolled down the windows and turned up the volume when they were feeling really rowdy and wanted to stir up the neighborhood. She realized now that she’d always felt more alive when she was with Mac.
She certainly felt alive right now. Every nerve ending was checking in and registering the soft blanket under her knees, the tweed fabric of the seat beneath her arms, the waft of the air-conditioning over her bare back. The scent of Mac’s aftershave used to be a comforting presence, letting her know her friend was nearby. Now it signaled something else entirely. The man who would soon take her in his arms was sitting very close to her.
“We’re going to be on a dirt road in a minute,” he said. “I’ll try not to jolt you too much. Once we’ve gone a ways, you can probably sit up again.”
“Where are we going?”
“A little road I found a couple of years ago. It goes out to the edge of a plateau where you have a nice view of Anvil Peak. Hold on. Here’s comes the turnoff.” He touched his booted foot to the brake, causing the denim to ripple again.
Watching Mac drive from this vantage point was quite an erotic experience, Tess decided.
He turned the wheel with one hand and reached over with the other to grip her shoulder as the truck bumped down off the pavement and onto the dirt. His hand was warm and sure as he held her steady. There was nothing seductive in his touch, and yet her heartbeat began to thunder in her ears and her whole body reacted to that point of contact. When he took his hand away, she wanted to have it back. Maybe his embrace wouldn’t feel as awkward to her as she’d feared.
“Okay, I think you can sit up now. Nobody ever comes out here.”
“Except you. You seem pretty familiar with the place.” She crawled up to the seat and straightened her dress.
“I’ve been here a few times.”
“Making out?”
“Now don’t start asking me questions like that, Tess. You’re going to spoil the mood for sure.”
“Making out,” she concluded.
He sighed and switched on the headlights.
“Well, I’m not dumb, you know. I understand the reason guys search for lonely roads.” She looked around. Sure enough, there were no signs of civilization, just a road stretching to a point in the distance where the scrub-covered ground dropped away. Across the green swath of the river valley, Anvil Peak was silhouetted against a brick-red sky. To the right of that, the smokestack of the Arivaca Copper Mine sent a gentle plume into the air. “This is very pretty.”
“I think so.”
“So who did you bring out here?”
“Tess!”
“You pestered me about movie stars.”
“And I shouldn’t have. When two people are together, they should be concentrating on each other.”
“Unless they want to explore the fantasy angle.”
“Could we forget the fantasy angle? For all you know, being out here with you is my fantasy!”
She caught her breath and stared at him. “Is it?”
“No. Or at least I don’t think so. I don’t know what made me say that. Forget it.”
But of course she couldn’t forget it. And she remembered a dream she’d had about five years ago, one she’d put out of her mind as being silly. “Have you ever dreamed about me?”
“Of course I’ve dreamed about you. We see each other all the time. I dream about all the people in my life. Everybody does that.”
“No, I mean, have you ever dreamed of me in a sexual way?”
He hesitated. “Yes. Once.”
“So have I. About you.”
He kept his attention on the dirt road. “That’s probably normal.”
“I didn’t say it wasn’t. What did you dream?”
“I…I can’t remember.”
“I don’t believe you. Are you going to tell me what it was?”
“Nope.”
“Do you want to know what I dreamed?” When he didn’t answer, she smiled. “I’ll take that as a yes. We’d gone out for ice cream at Creamy Cone one summer night, and mine was melting all over the place, and you’d forgotten to get napkins, like you always do.”
“Not always.”
“Most of the time. Anyway, I was a mess, and I didn’t want to go home like that, so you decided the only solution was to lick the ice cream off me. We’d magically gotten down to the river by that time, and we were sitting on the sand in our special place. You started cleaning me up, like a cat would, and then…you started kissing me instead of licking, and…then you took my clothes off…” She wondered how much detail to include, but she felt dishonest leaving anything out.
“You kissed my breasts,” she continued quickly, “and I said I was surprised you wanted to do that. You said you’d always wanted to, and you kissed them some more, and then you kissed me…all over.” She decided to leave some details to his imagination. “Then right at the moment you were finally going to…well, you know…I woke up.”
Her heart was pounding by the time she finished, and she had total recall of what she’d felt like in that dream, all warm and melting like the ice cream. She was definitely in the mood for a kiss. For more than a kiss.
Mac stopped the truck and switched off the lights and the engine. “That’s…quite a dream.” His voice sounded strained.
“Now you tell me yours.”
“Maybe later.”
“Was it anything like mine?”
“No.”
She sat in the truck as the silence grew more and more intense between them. The air-conditioning was off, but the outside heat hadn’t penetrated the cab yet. The warmth she felt was all coming from inside her, and she was ready to do something about it, but she didn’t know whether she should make a move or let Mac be the first one. From the corner of her eye, she could see him sitting there, staring into space. He seemed hypnotized. At last she decided to say something. “What next?”
“Give me a minute. Then we’ll take the blanket in the back.”
She peered at him. “Are you feeling sick or something?”
“No, I’m feeling aroused.”
“You are?” She glanced down at his jeans but it had become too dark to see much. “Cool. Was it my dream that turned you on?”
“Sure was. But then you probably knew that would happen, after all your reading about fantasies.”
“No, I didn’t.” She felt thrilled with herself. “I wondered if you’d laugh.”
He groaned. “I guess you don’t know me as well as you think you do, then.”
“Then you…really want me right now?�
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He looked over at her. “Yeah. I really do. What a surprise, huh?”
“Oh, Mac.” She put a hand against her racing heart. “That makes me feel so good.”
He gave her a slow smile. “I guess this isn’t going to be as difficult as we thought.”
She smiled back. “I guess not. Want me to put the blanket in the back and wait for you?”
He took a deep breath. “I’m okay now.”
“Are you ever going to tell me your dream?”
He took off his hat and laid it on the dash. “Not right now. It’s a little more graphic than yours.”
“And you said you didn’t remember!”
“I’ve tried my damnedest to forget all about it. I thought I had, until you started talking about dreams.” He opened his door. “Stay there. I’ll come around and help you out. I don’t want you stepping on a snake in those sandals.”
“I’ve lived here all my life, Mac.” She picked up the blanket from the floor. “I certainly know enough to check for snakes before I get out of a vehicle after dark in the middle of nowhere.” She opened her door.
“Hey.” He turned back to her. “Could you pretend that you’re a timid female for a few minutes and give a guy a chance to be a big brave he-man? It’s good for the ego.”
“Oh.” She grinned and pulled her door shut again. “All right, but I think it’s stupid.”
He shook his head. “Maybe this will be exactly as difficult as we thought.”
Tess sat obediently while Mac rounded the truck and opened her door, although waiting for him to take care of things wasn’t her style. But if that made him feel more romantic, then she was all for it.
He held out his hand. “I’ll take the blanket first and then come back for you.”
“I can take the blanket.”
“Tess.”
“Oh, okay, here’s the blanket, Mr. He-man, but this is dumb. We could make it in one trip.”
“Yeah, if we’re going for efficiency. I was after a different effect.” He walked around to the back of the truck, pulled down the tailgate and climbed in.
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