leaned a shoulder against the wall and hooked his thumbs in his pockets. “I parked at the end of the drive and walked up here. When I was on my way home from the pond, I thought, I wonder what Rachel’s doing now. I just bet she’s in the hot tub, taking it easy.”
What a load of bull. “Oh, sure. You think you know me so well.”
“That I do, sweetheart.” He crouched down and swirled a finger around the water, slowly, purposefully coming only inches from her bare thigh. “I probably know you better than you know yourself. I definitely know your body better than anyone.”
The movement of his hand, although innocent enough, generated some fairly warm sensations that ran from her forehead to her toes, pooling in unseen places. At the moment, she could boil the water with her body temperature alone. And if she didn’t insist he go away now, she could make a major error in judgment. “Would you please get back in your truck and leave me alone?” Heavy emphasis on alone.
“Am I making you nervous?”
Definitely. “No. You’re making me mad because you can’t take a hint.”
“I just want to talk for a while.”
For weeks she’d tried to get him to talk, to open up about their shared tragedy. If by chance he’d finally decided to honor her request, she shouldn’t pass up the opportunity. “The whole reason I’m in this tub has to do with stress relief. I don’t want to ruin that by covering the same ground with you and getting nowhere. However, if you’re willing to finally have an honest discussion about our marital problems, I’m willing to listen.”
“I didn’t come here to get into that tonight, but I do have a couple of questions.”
Rachel’s patience began to wane. “Questions about what? The weather? The stock market? Whether Foy Lowry’s prize hog is going to win this year at the county fair?”
“Whatever floats your boat, babe.”
So much for thinking he might actually want to have a serious dialogue. “I have no intention of getting out of this tub to talk about nothing with you.”
“I didn’t ask you to get out of the tub. In fact, I’d be glad to get in there with you. I could use a little stress relief, too.”
Oh, no, no, no… “Don’t you dare.”
He released a rough sigh. “What are you afraid of? That I’m going to see you in your bikini?”
That might be a problem, were she wearing one. “No, I’m not worried about that. I just don’t feel it’s a good idea for us to be in such close proximity.”
He straightened and hovered above her. “Fine. You stay there and I’ll stay out here. But I want to see you while I’m talking to you.”
Before Rachel could issue a protest, Matt strode to the panel and flipped the switch that turned on the underwater lights. When he returned to the tub, she automatically tensed and hugged her knees closer to her torso. “Do you mind?”
He didn’t even try to conceal his blatant perusal of her body. “I don’t mind at all. You look pretty damn good, all wet and naked. But I imagine your daddy wouldn’t approve of you skinny-dipping on his sacred property.”
As usual, he never missed an opportunity to throw her father’s rules in her face. “It’s none of his business what I do.”
“Then I guess we better not tell him, huh?”
Rachel had several things she’d like to tell her husband, but he rendered her speechless when he pulled up a deck chair and sat without an invitation. “What part of ‘I want to be alone’ do you not understand, Matt?”
He stretched his long legs out in front of him, boots crossed at the ankles, hands laced atop his abdomen. “I’ll leave you alone as soon as I get what I came for. If you won’t let me come in there, and you won’t come out here, I figure we can just continue our conversation right here.”
Clearly he had no intention of leaving, at least not anytime soon. “Fine. You have five minutes to say what’s on your mind.”
“First question.”
Rachel was already dreading that question. “Go ahead, but make it quick.”
His expression turned solemn. “Do you regret that I’m the only man you’ve ever been with?”
She hadn’t expected that. Truth was, she’d never even thought about another man. “No, I don’t regret that you’re the only man I’ve slept with. Do you regret that I’m the only woman… Oh, wait. I’m not the only woman. I almost forgot about that buckle bunny you met during that summer you and Chase ran all over the state, team roping.”
“You mean that summer you broke up with me, per your daddy’s orders?”
He had her there. “You still couldn’t wait to sow your wild oats when the first pair of tight jeans and exposed cleavage presented itself.”
“And when I came clean about that, you didn’t hesitate to take me back.”
Another point scored in his favor. “I was young and stupid back then.”
He leaned forward, arms draped loosely on his knees. “Young, yeah, but not stupid. You knew we were meant to be together. We still are.”
Uncomfortable over the course of the conversation and her waterlogged state, she felt the time had come to end the soak and the exchange. She could ask Matt to toss her the towel, or she could just exit the tub and get it herself. She could request he turn his back, or she could just go for it. Going for it worked. After all, they had well over a decade of naked between them.
As soon as she rose from the tub, he sized her up with pale blue eyes that looked translucent in the soft glow reflecting off the water. She knew all too well the slow, sensuous grin that followed. Those attributes had proved to be her downfall on more than one occasion.
She didn’t want to experience that same old desire for him, yet it crept along her flesh like a firebrand, leaving a blanket of goose bumps in its wake.
If she knew what was good for her, she’d head for the safety of the house as fast as her wet feet would allow. Instead, a primal force took over, a sense of power. She grabbed the towel and slowly began to dry herself, starting with her legs and working her way up. She didn’t have to look at Matt to know he was still watching her, maybe even wanting her. She confirmed that when she took a quick glance to find him shifting in the chair before she lowered her gaze to his fly.
Yes, he definitely wanted her, but he couldn’t have her. Not tonight.
After she cocooned herself in the towel and tucked the edges between her breasts, she faced Matt to discover he’d come to his feet. “I’m going inside now,” she said in a voice that sounded grainy and unsure.
He took a few guarded steps toward her. “You know what you just reminded me of? That morning last spring, when I’d been out most of the night tending to the Fielders’ gelding. I came home and sat down at the breakfast table, and then you did that little striptease, shocking the hell out of me. Best I recall, we had one wild ride right
