She snuggled closer to him. Her lips brushed across his chest. “Hmmm. Beautiful. Delicious. You are the most superbly built man I’ve ever known. I could spend a hundred years admiring your body.” Her hands moved down his back and patted his bottom. “Cute. You always did have a cute backside.”
His exuberant laughter rang out in the winter night and echoed across the river. “That’s the right idea, but part of me that you’re admiring so extravagantly is about to freeze off.” He pulled her up and collected their scattered clothes. “Let’s move this heartfelt admiration to warmer quarters. I don’t intend for us to die of exposure before I get you to the altar.”
They dressed quickly and mounted Napoleon. The ride back to the van was vastly different. This time they saw the bright veil of moonlight on the deep, dark water. They noted the stars decorating the trees as if they’d fallen from the sky and caught in the bare branches. They even spotted an owl, brave predator of the dark, swooping through the pine trees, its mystic cry haunting the winter night.
By mutual consent they headed to Tanner’s house.
He parked the van beside the barn and led Napoleon inside. The horse neighed in appreciation of the brisk rubdown and the warm horse blanket. Tanner gave him a final pat as he guided him into his hay scented stall.
“What a magnificent animal.”
Tanner gave her a mocking smile. “Me or the horse?”
“You.” She pushed aside his torn shirt and nuzzled his chest. “Does this barn still have a hayloft?”
“It does, but when all the Donovans are home, it pays to check it out first. Paul and Martie sneaked off here this afternoon shortly after they arrived, leaving me to baby sit their two hellions.” He climbed halfway up the ladder and poked his head into the loft. “All clear.” Jumping down, he took a worn sign off a nail on the wall and started toward the door.
“What in the world are you doing?”
He held the sign so she could read it: OCCUPIED. She chuckled.
“Theo was the first Donovan to fall in love. After a very entertaining and educational show and tell out here, he made this sign.”
“You didn’t!”
“How do you know it was me?”
“You were always the one in trouble.”
He hung the sign outside the barn door and drew it shut. “As a matter of fact, it was all perfectly innocent. Paul and I had been cleaning out the stables and decided to take a nap in the hayloft. When we woke up, it was too late to make a discreet exit. We just scrunched back behind the bales of hay and got educated. Theo didn’t get upset when he found out. He even offered to make us drawings of the male and female anatomy and to give us a lecture on procreation.”
She reached for him. “Come here, you. I need educating.”
His eyes gleamed as he looked down at her. “This could take a while.”
“I have from now till Christmas.”
“I was thinking more in terms of the rest of our lives.” He took her hand. “Come, Mandy. If I start kissing you now, we’ll never make it up that ladder.”
Anticipation zinged through them as they climbed to the loft. The soft, fragrant hay welcomed them. Tanner stroked Amanda’s face and hair, watching the play of moonlight on her skin.
“This face has haunted me for years. I never could get enough of looking at you.”
“Were there others, Tanner?”
“Jealous?”
“I don’t know why, but I am.”
“That pleases me.”
“You never answered the question.”
“I haven’t been a monk, Amanda, but there was never another woman who could make me forget you. Nobody even came close.”
“I used to wonder. Your name was linked with so many women—beautiful, famous women. I followed your career, you know. You were always in the news.”
“The press tended to glamorize my life.” He unbuttoned her blouse and pushed it aside. “Are you warm enough?”
“Yes. I’ve always found the hay quite cozy.”
“Now, I’m the one who’s jealous. I don’t like to think of you sharing the hay with some other man.” He was laughing, toying with her, his black eyes gleaming with mischief and desire. She loved his playfulness. It was one of the many moods she remembered. Lovemaking would never grow dull and routine with Tanner.
She laughed with him, entering into his teasing mood.
“There was no one except—” Too late she realized what she was saying.
“Claude?”
She reached up and touched his face. She could feel the tension in his jaw. “Tanner, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring him between us again.”