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.
She listened to him arranging the blanket. A couple of years ago, he’d installed an all-weather cushioned pad in the bed of his truck. At the time she’d wondered if it had anything to do with his love life, but she’d decided not to ask. Now she was pretty sure she knew the answer.
He hopped down from the truck and came back to where she was waiting.
“Can I put my dainty foot on the ground yet?” she asked.
“Not yet.” He gazed up at her. “Have you ever been lifted down from a pickup?”
“Not since I was six years old. Once I could manage by myself, it seemed silly when I was perfectly capable of—whoa!” She gasped as he took her by the waist and lifted her out of the truck. Instinctively she put her arms on his shoulders, which was a good move because her feet still dangled in midair.
Balancing her against his chest and looking into her eyes, he let her slide down in a slow, sensuous movement. Warmth rushed through her as the friction of his body against hers gave her a complete and thoroughly arousing caress. At last her feet rested on the ground, and she let out her breath.
He held her close and gazed down at her. “Did that seem silly?”
Completely absorbed in the experience of being tucked so intimately against him, she shook her head.
“Think you’re ready for a kiss?”
Oh. She gulped. “I…don’t know.”
“Let’s try it.” Holding her close with one arm, he reached up with his free hand and gently combed her hair back from her face.
She’d seen this tender side of him, usually when he was working around animals, or the times when she’d hurt herself and he’d been the one to doctor her up. But now she wasn’t hurt, and his sensitive touch was meant to excite, not soothe her. He was succeeding admirably. She was trembling so much she wondered if she’d be able to stay upright.
“You’re nervous.”
“Yes.”
“Me, too.” He continued to comb her hair back, lightly massaging her scalp with his fingers.
“I can’t tell.” His touch felt awesome.
“Macho guys learn to hide their nerves. I’m hoping you like this.”
“So am I.”
He chuckled. “Do you remember the bubble-gum kiss?”
“Yes,” she murmured. The more he stroked her hair, the less capable she felt of standing on her own.
“Did you like it?”
She took a shaky breath. “So much it scared me. So I started goofing around.”
He began tracing the contours of her face with the tip of his finger, ending with her mouth, which he outlined slowly and with great care. “I still remember how your mouth felt that day.”
She held as still as she could, considering the fine quiver that seemed to have taken over her body. She focused on his touch, wanting to record every subtle variation in pressure.
He brushed her lower lip with his thumb. “Your mouth is still as soft as it was then.”
She gazed up at him, trying to make out his expression in the shadowy twilight.
He cradled her cheek. “The last time I touched you like this, I was putting an ice pack over your eye, where you got hit by a baseball.”
She could barely see his smile in the darkness. “You didn’t touch me like this,” she murmured.
“Sure I did.” He slid his hand along her jaw and leaned closer.
“No. You were rougher.” Her heart thudded with anticipation. “You were mad at me.”
“I was mad at myself.” He tilted her head back ever so slightly. “I was the one who hit that ball.”
“And I’m the one who bobbled it.”
“Mmm. Your mouth looks sexy when you say bobbled.”
“You can’t even see my mouth.”
“Yes, I can. There’s a little bit of light left over. That’s why I tilted your head back, to catch that light. I wanted to see your mouth, to know I’m going to kiss it soon. Say the word again.”
Desire curled and stretched within her. “You’re crazy.”
“Yeah.” He drifted closer. “Say it for me, Tess.”
“Bobbled.”
“Again.”
She felt his warm breath on her mouth. “Bobble—”
His lips touched hers, and in that instant, she knew that the world as she’d known it had ceased to exist. For she was really, truly kissing Mac, and now nothing would ever be the same.
* * *
TESS HAS BEEN forbidden fruit for so long that when Mac placed his mouth on hers, he half-expected a lightning bolt to strike him dead. Instead, her velvet lips welcomed him so completely that he drew back, his heart racing. Damn, this was going to be good. Too good. A man could lose himself to a kiss like that. If he’d ever secretly wondered if she was a virgin because she wasn’t sensual, he’d been dead wrong. She was on fire.
“Mac?” she whispered. “Is something—”
With a groan he returned to her full mouth, committing himself to the kiss, to what would follow the kiss. To hell with what it might cost him. But he had a sinking feeling it would cost him more than he could ever guess.
For