"Tara and I have known each other a long while," he said. "Her uncle and my father were friends. Sue and Tara became good friends, too. They shared similar values, similar interests. So do we."
"Are you going to marry her?"
A red-hot bolt dropped through her middle at the same time her eyes grew to saucers and she swallowed a gulping breath. Had she actually said that? Yes, she'd been wondering-a lot. But to ask …
She held up both hands. "I'm sorry. That is so none of my business."
Beneath the star-strewn sky, Jack's gaze held hers for a protracted moment. Then he set his hands low on his belt and tracked his narrowed gaze over to the distant peaks of the Great Dividing Range.
He nodded. "There's been talk of it."
Maddy let out that breath. So Tara had good reason to be so demonstrative this afternoon. She saw Jack as her future husband. A husband who'd gone to a funeral and had brought back a baby.
Maddy chewed her lip. She shouldn't ask-she might not like the answer-but she couldn't keep the question down.
"Does Tara like children?"
He scratched the tip of his ear. "That's a sticking point. Tara wants a family very much … "
He'd been slow to accept responsibility for Beau. He approached his guardianship as a duty to be performed rather than a gift to be treasured. Now he was admitting that he didn't want a family.
Maddy knew one day she wanted be a mother. Caring for Beau had only heightened that knowledge. She couldn't imagine why any person wouldn't want to have their own family-to give and receive unconditional love. What had Jack's first wife to say about his aversion to fatherhood? More importantly, what did that admission mean for Beau?
She'd hoped, she'd prayed, but did Jack have what it took to be a good father to that baby? And there was Tara. She hadn't shown an interest in Beau other than out of shock and suspicion yet she wanted children of her own. If she and Jack married-if they had children together-would Tara see Beau as a nuisance or inconvenience when her own brood came along? If that were the case, what sort of family would poor Beau grow up in? What sort of damaged self-image would being an add-on leave him with?
A whinny sounded in the night and Maddy was brought back.
"Herc can hear us," Jack told her and jerked a thumb at the stables. "Want to meet him?"
Deep in thought, Maddy absently agreed but before long the scent of horse and leather pulled her up. With a sneeze tickling her nose, she made an excuse.
"It's getting late. We probably shouldn't disturb him."
Jack laughed and kept walking. "Herc won't mind the company."
She pinched her nose. "I think I might be allergic."
That got his attention and he angled back around. "Have you been around horses before?"
"A real one?"
He grinned-a breathtaking, cheeky smile-and Maddy's brea**sts tingled with unbidden desire.
"You know, Maddy, there's nothing quite like the rhythm of a strong dependable horse rocking beneath you."
Rhythm … strong … rocking. Maddy blew out a breath. She wanted to fan herself. Did he have any clue how fiercely attractive he was?
"Thanks," she announced, dabbing her brow, "but I'll pass."
That smile widened and she imagined the fire in his eyes had licked her lips.
"Why not broaden your horizons? There's more to life than a wardrobe of pretty dresses."
"Or a stable of horses."
"You're right."
He sauntered over to stand, shoulder to shoulder, beside her as he checked out the trillion-star lightshow dancing over their heads. His innate energy-the physical pull she felt when he was this close-was as tangible as his body heat. She wished he hadn't moved nearer. And, dammit, she wished he'd moved nearer still.
"There's a cool breeze after a long muggy spell," he said, "and the dependability of a vast rich land like this. There's the satisfaction that comes with a hard day's work, and the lure of a full moon on a still night just like tonight. And then … "
His dark brows nudged together as if an odd idea had struck. When he turned his head, his expression had softened with an emotion she hadn't seen in him before. He blinked once then, as if he'd read all her earlier thoughts, he cupped her cheek and she stopped breathing.
"And then," he said, "there's this."
The pad of his thumb raised her chin and as his head dropped over hers, Maddy's faculties shut down. She might have wondered, might have dreamed, but having Jack Prescott's undivided smoldering attention focused only upon her had seemed beyond reason or possibility.
And yet now …
Maddy trembled, leaned in and pressed up.
With his mouth closed so perfectly over hers and his hard muscular frame pressed in tight all the world seemed to spiral away. With her heart beating high and hard, she couldn't think beyond the thrill of this moment, beyond the wonder of his fingertips working against her nape … the heavy throb low in her belly … and a fiery internal pulse that whispered to her about the promise of a slow, hot night spent in Jack Prescott's bed.
His thumb ran down her throat as he sipped and tasted and explored. When his mouth reluctantly left hers and her heavy eyelids opened, his eyes were smiling into hers. A delicious full-body quiver ran through her blood. She was light-headed, dizzy. Had Jack truly just kissed her? Had she truly kissed him back? On one level she couldn't digest the reality. The possibility that he would embrace her, gift her with the world's steamiest kiss, didn't compute. And yet as she stood now looking up into the shadowed perfection of his face, improbability faded into another understanding.
Her belly felt heavy with a need that acknowledged only deep physical desire. She wanted his mouth on hers again. With a longing she hadn't known she was capable of, she wanted his lips on her neck, on her breasts.
He stole another light, lingering kiss from the side of her mouth before his lips skimmed her jaw. "See what I mean about that full moon?"
His hand slid down her spine to circle the sensitive dip low in her back and the urge to coil her fingers up through his hair and mold herself against him became overpowering. Every labored breath compounded the desire building in her blood. Every thought confirmed that this felt way too good to let go.
How a bit of common sense survived the fire ripping through her veins, Maddy couldn't say. She didn't want to listen to reason. She only wanted to know his kiss again and again. And yet the danger … the dishonesty of this situation was as apparent as the aching desire. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't ignore the harm this kind of scene could and would do.
Finding her strength and her breath, she angled her head away. "This isn't right."
With a knuckle, he coaxed her mouth back to his. "This is very right."
When he drew her bottom lip into his mouth and the shaft behind his zipper flexed against her belly, her resolve slipped like hot wax spilling down a candle. The urge to give in was so sweet and so strong … but she couldn't ignore what was most important.
She pushed against his sturdy chest. "Jack, what about Tara?"
They needed to keep this complicated time as uncomplicated as they could. Yes, she was physically drawn to Jack-she'd like to meet a woman who wouldn't be. But a kiss would lead to more-to dark heady places she wasn't prepared to go. She wanted some kind of future with Beau. The last thing she needed was an ill-planned night hanging over her head and a stepmother who would then have good reason for suspicion.
He'd been so intense, so driven, she half expected him to ignore the obvious question. But he surprised her. Comprehension dawned in his eyes. His head pulled slowly back and his gaze searched hers as if he were coming out of a daze. When the horse whinnied again, he took a step away and his previously insistent palm left her back. His hand found the V at his opened collar and his gaze speared through her, as though he were seeing someone else.
His deep voice rumbled through the shadows.
"You should go inside."
A shiver chased up her spine. His face looked changed … almost vulnerable. Gingerly, she touched his strong hot arm but his intense expression didn't change.