Inside Acton’s bedroom, he carefully placed Linus in the middle of a queen-size bed, surrounded by pillows so there would be no chance of him rolling to the edge.
Stephanie covered the baby with a soft blanket and after making sure he was comfortable, she looked around the room. It was furnished with a varnished pine chest and dresser that matched the bed frame. Braided rugs covered part of the linoleum floor and white Priscilla curtains draped the double windows. She’d seen rooms like this in rural-living magazines, but never in person. She was struck by how homey and warm it felt.
“I’m guessing Grizabella must be under this bed,” she said.
Acton nodded. “That’s right. And just like I suspected, Seymour is waiting for her to come out.” He nodded at the dog, who was lying at the foot of the bed, his nose resting on his paws. “When he’s in the house, this is where he stays, watching for her to make a move. Would it be better if I took him outside?”
The moment he heard Acton say his name, the dog whined, but he never took his eyes off the fringe dangling at the bottom of the white bedspread.
“No,” Stephanie answered. “Grizabella is going to have to get used to him. That’s what caused all the problems in the first place.”
Stephanie dropped to her hands and knees and peered under the bed. Grizabella was on the opposite side, hunched up next to the wall. Her one eye was as wide as a saucer as she stared fearfully at Stephanie.
“Grizabella,” she said in a quiet, gentle tone. “Come here, girl. Everything is going to be all right. The dog is okay. He’s not going to hurt you. And you don’t want to live under the bed from now on.”
The cat’s ears twitched straight up, telling Stephanie that she’d recognized her voice. It was an encouraging sign, so she continued to coax the cat to her.
Finally, after several more minutes passed, Grizabella crawled over to Stephanie’s hand and sniffed.
“That’s right, pretty girl. You remember me, don’t you?”
She rubbed the side of her face against Stephanie’s fingers and after that it was short work to stroke her until she was calm enough to be picked up.
“Oh, thank God,” Acton murmured under his breath so as not to excite the cat. “I thought you might use one of your magic spells to draw her out and you did.”
“Grizabella has been traumatized, but she’ll come out of it.” She carried the cat over to Acton. “Here. You hold her now. She needs to get used to your smell and touch.”
He took the cat in his arms and Stephanie thought he handled the cat with the same gentle expertise he used with Linus.
As his long fingers softly stroked the top of her head, he said, “Gosh, she’s been hiding out for so long, I’d almost forgotten how pretty she is.”
Unable to contain his curiosity, Seymour got up and came around to Acton. The minute he looked up at the cat and let out a whine, Grizabella arched her back and hissed. Acton managed to tighten his hold without scaring her even more.
“It’s okay, girl,” he said to Grizabella. “Seymour is really just a softy. He wouldn’t hurt a flea if it was biting his tail.”
Stephanie had to stifle a laugh. “That’s not what I heard.”
“Shh. She doesn’t know that,” Acton scolded. “Besides, his problem isn’t with other animals. It’s with people—namely, me.”
Stephanie drew close enough to place her hand on Seymour’s head, then, using a soft voice, attempted to introduce the two animals.
“I think it’s working,” Acton said after a few minutes. “I can feel Grizabella relaxing in my arms.”
Stephanie continued to size up the two animals’ behavior. “I believe you’re right. The look she’s giving Seymour now is more like curiosity rather than terror. And Seymour is clearly infatuated with her. He wants her to get down and play.”
“I don’t think she’s feeling that friendly,” Acton replied. “What if I take her in the kitchen and try to feed her? I still have a can of mackerel left.”
“I’ll go with you. Just in case of an emergency,” she added.
“That doesn’t sound encouraging.”
Stephanie laughed at his wariness. “You’re a rancher. You’ve been around animals all your life. You should know they’re unpredictable.”
“Yeah. I have scars on my body to prove just how unpredictable. I’ll show them to you sometime. Just so you’ll know I’m not lying.”
“Uh, I believe you. For now,” she added in a suggestive voice.
It was his turn to laugh and then he glanced at Linus. “Will the baby be okay there if we both go to the kitchen?”
“Sure. He’s perfectly safe. Plus I’ll be just a few feet away. I can hear him if he so much as makes a peep.”
“Good. Then, let’s take this pair to the kitchen and give it a try.”
Nearly a half hour later, the two animals had come to a truce and Seymour was lying on his belly patiently watching Grizabella eat the last of her mackerel. With only a few feet between the cat and dog and neither trying to make a dash for it, Stephanie and Acton decided a beautiful friendship was beginning to bud between the two.
“I thought they might become friends,” she stated happily as she sat at the table, sipping coffee that Acton had made for her. “But I never believed it would happen this quickly. I thought I might have to make several trips over here to help get them acquainted.”
Acton snapped his fingers. “Shoot. Now I’ll have to think up another excuse to get you here again.”
Stephanie leveled a wry look at him. “Why don’t you just ask? Wouldn’t that be simpler?”
A sheepish grin slanted his lips. “Yeah, I guess it would. Can you come over Saturday? I promised Ryan and Elizabeth that I’d take them to the park in town. But I was thinking we could have a little picnic here. I have an outdoor fireplace in the backyard. I can build a fire and let the kids roast wieners and marshmallows. And if it’s warm enough, we can walk them down to the pond. What do you think?”
Stephanie didn’t know what to think. Being invited to another family outing with the kids was the last thing she’d expected from him.
“I realize it probably sounds boring to you,” he went on. “But Elizabeth and Ryan have been hounding me about this for the past month and they would love your company. So would I.”
For a man who was gun-shy of love and marriage, he was hardly acting like a playboy. Dayna and Sheri had both gossiped to her about a few of the women he’d dated during the past few years, and according to Stephanie’s coworkers, Acton had dropped each woman after a brief fling. She didn’t want to believe her friends were making up gossip, but when Stephanie was with him, he seemed anything but a womanizer. Was she stupid to think he might’ve put his roaming ways behind him? Or that he might not have been that much of a playboy in the first place?
Stephanie wasn’t going to worry about answering that question. Risky or not, she wanted to be with the man.
“I think it sounds lovely, Acton. I can bring some things for the picnic. And don’t worry, I’ll get them from the deli instead of trying to make them,” she said with a laugh.
She was surprised at the happy look that spread over his face. It very nearly matched the joy that was bubbling over inside of her. It didn’t matter if they had three children as chaperones. Acton wanted to spend time with her and in the end that’s all that really mattered.
Chuckling, he said, “Don’t worry about bringing any food. Having you and Linus here is what’s important to me.”
Just as she started to make a reply, Linus let out a whimper and Stephanie quickly rose to her feet and grabbed the diaper bag off the fridge.
“Linus calls. He’s probably wet and hungry,” she said.
To her surprise, Acton followed her into the bedroom, where they sat down on opposite sides of the bed.
“Why don’t you let me change him?” he offered. “I know how to do it. I changed plenty of Elizabeth’s and Ryan’s diapers.”
She cast him a doubtful glance. “That’s hard to believe. You were still in your teens when those two were born. You were probably running around with your friends, playing sports and riding horses or something.”
“True, I was doing all those things. But I still had time for my niece and nephew. And teenagers make good babysitters. At least, Gina always trusted me. She said Shawn didn’t have the patience for kids and Danny wouldn’t know which end of a bottle went into the baby’s mouth. She said I had finesse with babies,” he said proudly.
Stephanie laughed. “Like I have with animals?”
“Exactly.”
She pulled a diaper out of the bag and handed it to him. “Then I would think you’d have some children of your own by now.”
Shooting her a perplexed look, he reached for Linus. “I’m only twenty-five. I have lots of time to have babies. Besides, I told you the kind of women I’ve dated in the past. None of them were what I’d consider mother material.”
Just like none of the men she’d dated were husband or father material, Stephanie thought dismally.
He removed Linus’s diaper and rolled it up tightly. “Do you use wipes on him?”
Stephanie handed him a disposable wipe and a tube of protective ointment. “This seems to keep him from getting diaper rash. And thankfully, the women at the day care are wonderful about keeping him changed and dry.”
He wiped the baby’s bottom, then smeared a thin glaze of ointment onto his skin. All the while Linus kicked and cooed like he was enjoying every second of Acton’s attention.
“There. He’s all fixed and ready to go for another round.” He propped the baby against his shoulder and gently rubbed his back. “Do you think he’s hungry?”
“Maybe. Since he’s not yelling for a bottle yet, I was thinking I really should be going home, Acton. It’s getting late and my brothers have no idea where I am.”
He arched an eyebrow at her. “I’ve never heard you express any concerns about your brothers keeping up with your whereabouts. I’m thinking you might be using them as an excuse to leave. Right?”
She smiled sheepishly. “Okay. I confess. I’m guilty. That was just an excuse.”
“Good. Because I’d really like for you to stay a little longer. Will you?”
How could she tell him no? Not when being with him felt so good.
“All right,” she said, relenting to the persuasiveness of his tempting smile. “For a while longer, anyway.”
Their gazes locked and Stephanie’s heart thumped with anticipation. The light from the lamp behind him lit the blond curls scattered across his forehead to a rich, golden hue. Couple that with his tanned skin and sky-blue eyes, and his face was like a Technicolor dream. Almost too vibrant to be real.
“I did promise to kiss you if you got Grizabella to leave her hiding place under the bed,” he murmured. “I need the chance to pay up.”
Her heart began to pound, and as he leaned across the bed toward her, her breath stalled in her throat. When his face was inches from hers, she wet her lips in anticipation... And then Linus let out a frustrated cry, shattering the tense connection between them.
“On second thought, I guess he’s hungry,” she said, her voice husky. “Here’s your chance to feed him.”
For a moment the look on his face made her think he was going to ignore the baby’s cries and kiss her anyway. But then he suddenly cleared his throat and reached for Linus and with a pang of regret, Stephanie realized the chance to feel his lips pressed to hers was over.
Twenty minutes later, the baby was full of formula and sound asleep. Acton laid him on the floor, atop an armchair cushion, and covered him with a blanket, then looked across to Stephanie. She’d taken off her ankle boots and now her bare feet were curled beneath her.
She looked tired, but beautiful, and though he should’ve felt guilty about keeping her here, he didn’t. For the past three days, he’d been fighting an inner battle. One minute he’d convinced himself that he was walking down a losing path to think Stephanie could be more than a temporary girlfriend. And then there’d been moments where he hadn’t given a damn about her money or social status.
“Well, the Texas sandman has done a number on him,” Acton said. “He ought to sleep for a while.”
“Texas sandman? Is that what you call him?”
Smiling, he eased down next to her on the couch and crossed his ankles out in front of him. “Mom used to sing that lullaby to us kids. It’s all about the Texas sandman coming to visit and he puts you on a palomino pony with a saddle made of moonbeams and you ride over the Milky Way, beneath a blanket of stars.”
“Oh, it sounds charming. Can you sing it?”
The only time Acton sang was in the shower, or on the back of a horse. Definitely not to a girl. “I don’t remember exactly how the words go. Besides, you wouldn’t want to hear me sing. But I can hum the melody for you. If you’d like.”
She turned eagerly toward him. “I’d love it.”
Taking her hand, he clasped it between his and began to hum the soft melody that he’d heard from the time he was a little boy. The enchanted look that came over her face had Acton feeling as though he was floating among those moonbeams. Or was it the touch of her hand that had sent him flying over the Milky Way?
Once he finished humming, she said softly, “That’s beautiful, Acton. Really.”
“Not as beautiful as you,” he murmured.
Her smile was wobbly and he wondered if her heart could possibly be beating as wildly as his. It was thumping hard against his rib cage, and each beat begged him to pull her close, to kiss her until the room around them disappeared and they were cloaked in dark velvet.
Lifting his hand to her face, he stroked his fingertips gently across her forehead. “I don’t have to go outside to see the stars. They’re right here in your eyes.”
“Isn’t that kind of cheesy?” she asked.
“Probably. But I love cheese. Don’t you?”
She chuckled. “All kinds.”
Their gazes locked and her blue eyes conveyed a need that came close to stealing his breath. His hands cradled her face and he thought how touching her skin was like stroking satin. “Stephanie, you’re so beautiful and special. All I want is to be close to you.”
“Close. Yes, that’s all I want, too.”
His heart racing, he bent his head and gently touched his lips to hers. She responded instantly by slipping her arms around his neck and pressing her body against his.
Her eager reaction was all it took for Acton to deepen the kiss, and as he wrapped his arms around her, he was certain he’d never felt anything so delicate and warm and utterly precious.
Her lips were unbelievably soft and giving, and in a matter of seconds he was lost, his senses swirling faster and faster. Heat shot through his body like a bolt of lightning, and when her hands began to move up and down his arms, the sensation was like a pair of torches burning all the way through to his bones.
Hanging onto his control by a flimsy thread, he tried to rein it in. But before he could get a grip, her mouth opened and the tip of her tongue boldly pushed against his teeth. The intimate request broke the last of his restraint and he gladly let her inside. When their tongues began a slow dance, the contact caused fire to spread low in his loins.
For days now he’d thought of little more than kissing her again. Really kissing her. Yet now that he had her in his arms, he realized that kissing wasn’t nearly enough to ease the ache inside him. And from the hungry way her mouth was clinging to his, it wasn’t enough for her.
Pushed by the certainty, he cupped a hand around one breast and rubbed his thumb against the center. Her response was a tiny moan from deep in her throat, and the sound of her pleasure thrilled him. The idea that she could want him, even a fraction of how much he wanted her, was enough to rattle his senses. But his feelings didn’t stop with the physical. No, his emotions were being sucked along, too, and the mixture was like a giant tidal wave washing over him, tugging him back and forth like a dangerous undercurrent.
The kiss went on for so long that Acton’s lungs began to scream for a fresh load of oxygen. Yet the thought of deserting her lips, even for the sake of breathing, was torturous. And then her hands found their way beneath his T-shirt and pushed their way upward until her palms were lying flat against his chest.
The contact sent his head reeling even more and he was forced to tear his lips from hers and suck in a long, raspy breath.
“Stephanie, do you still think I don’t want to kiss you?”
She pressed kisses over his chin and along his jaw until her lips hovered near his ear. “You’ve come close to convincing me that you do. But I think you need to show me more,” she whispered.
She raked her fingers through his hair and he brought his lips back to hers. This time their mouths fused together in a kiss so deep and hot that the flames shot straight to his brain, then licked their way downward until the very soles of his feet were burning.
When their bodies listed to one side, he didn’t try to stop the downward slide. By the time she was lying flat against the couch, all he wanted was to stretch out beside her, feel the whole length of her against him.
Without breaking the kiss, he fumbled with the buttons of her blouse. Once the fabric parted enough to reveal the top of one breast, he gently traced his fingertips over her flesh, then dipped them beneath the lacy cup of her bra.
The moment they came in contact with her nipple, a needy moan vibrated deep in her throat. Spurred by the sound, Acton teased the hard bud until the urge to taste it became too much to bear.
Lowering his head, he pulled the lace downward until the rosy pink nipple came into view.
With her hands on the back of his head, she guided his mouth to the heated point. Using his tongue, Acton circled the flesh, then drew it between his teeth. As he did, he felt Stephanie’s fingers curling into his scalp and her leg slipping over his.
Desperate to explore more of her, he finished with the buttons on her shirt and pushed the tails away to expose her flat belly. His fingers slipped over the flesh and as he savored the incredible smoothness, his nostrils pulled in the fresh, flowery scent that clung to her clothes and skin.
The thought suddenly struck him that if he stayed on the couch all night with her wrapped in his arms, it wouldn’t be long enough. If his lips could kiss hers a thousand times over and over, it would only whet his appetite for more. This desire he felt for her wasn’t a one-and-done thing. It went far deeper than that and the realization caused him to lift his head and stare wondrously down at her.
“What’s wrong, Acton?”
The blue pools of her eyes were filled with confusion and as Acton gazed into them, he was suddenly reminded of the night of the Valentine’s party. He’d run from her kisses that night, because even then he’d recognized that what he was feeling wasn’t like anything he’d experienced before. And now he knew for certain that whatever was growing between them was more than hot chemistry.
“Nothing is wrong,” he murmured, then leaned slightly and pressed a kiss to her damp forehead. “You...this—it all feels wonderful to me. And I don’t want it to stop. I want to make love to you, Stephanie. Right here. Right now.”
“And what would be wrong with that?”
“Nothing. If I was sure that’s what you really wanted. That you wouldn’t regret it later.”
Her eyebrows puckered together. “How do you know I’m not sure?”
“Because this—whatever it is—has happened between us rather quickly. You haven’t had that much time to think about who I am and how I might fit in your life.”
Her eyes suddenly filled with dark shadows, as she studied his face. “And you need time to figure out who I am and where I might fit in your life?”
He nodded, then cupped his hand around her chin and said, “That’s what I’m thinking. But I get the feeling you believe I’m making excuses.”
Sighing, she pushed herself to a sitting position, and with trembling fingers adjusted her bra and began to button her shirt. “No. I’m thinking you’re making much more sense than me. I, uh, have always had a problem of following my feelings and worrying about the consequences later.”
The sadness he saw on her face twisted something deep in his heart and Acton realized that no matter what happened in the future, he never wanted to cause Stephanie a moment of pain.
Leaning his head close to hers, he placed a kiss on her cheekbone. “Stephanie, I don’t want to be like those guys who took advantage of your sweet, giving heart. When you make love to me—and I hope you do—I want it to be special. I want you to give yourself to me because deep down you know that you can trust me.”
Moisture suddenly sprang to her eyes and threatened to spill onto her cheeks. The sight was like a hand squeezing his heart.
“I want it to be like that, too, Acton. Really.”
A wry smile slanted his lips. “Then why are you crying?”
She shook her head. “Because I never expected to hear you say something like that to me.”
His fingertips traced light circles on her cheek. “To be honest, Steph, I didn’t know I could say that kind of thing to a woman. You’re a first,” he said wryly.
With a little moan, she hugged his neck, then before the sparks had a chance to start flying again, she rose to her feet and straightened her clothing.
“I think I’d better be going on home, Acton. It’s getting late and I have to be up early.”
In spite of all that talk about giving her time, he didn’t want her to go. And the realization had him wondering what it would be like if they were married and she and Linus lived here with him. Instead of seeing her out to her car, he’d be taking her by the hand and leading her to the bedroom. Their bedroom. He’d wake up with her face on the pillow next to his. With her sitting across from him at the breakfast table. Maybe the monotony of married life wasn’t what his brothers wanted for themselves, but Acton was beginning to think he could darned sure get used to it.
That is, as long as the woman at his side was Stephanie.
With that impossible dream swirling around in his head, Acton rose from the couch. “I’ll carry Linus out to the car for you.”