chin, throat. He pushed her hair away from her face. “Are you okay, sweetheart?”
How could she not be? She was overjoyed. “It was beautiful, Zane.”
“It was,” he said, leaning way back.
She stroked his face, running her hand over his stubbly cheek. He grabbed her wrist and planted a kiss on her palm.
The shower turned off. Perfect timing. It was a perfect night. Well, except for those few minutes she thought Zane was drowning. He’d taxed his body tonight. “You must be tired,” she said.
His eyes darkened, and he hiked a brow. “I’m ready to be in bed with you.”
“Sounds good.”
She didn’t want the night to end. She no longer worried about what tomorrow would bring. She was living in the moment, and these moments had been pretty darn spectacular.
Zane lifted her off him and grabbed two giant towels. He took his time drying her off, sneaking kisses on parts of her body, arousing her. She did the same to him, teasing him with her mouth.
They entered his bedroom clean, dry and exhausted.
She took a few steps toward his door, and his arm snaked around her. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“To my room. I need to get my nightie.”
“No, you don’t. Come to bed. I promise to keep you warm.”
“Part of your duties as my rebound guy?”
“You know it, honey. Now get in.”
* * *
Spooning with Zane in his big, comfortable bed, Jessica’s eyes eased open. It was slightly after dawn, and the usual early morning cloud cover allowed a smidgen of struggling sunshine into the room. Zane stroked her hip, lightly, possessively, his touch becoming familiar to her, and she purred like a kitten given a big bowl of cream.
“I’m giving you the day off,” he murmured, his breath whispering over her hair.
“Mmm.” A lovely thought. “I have work to do today.”
“It’ll keep, Jess. I want to spend the day with you.”
“You already do.”
He nipped her earlobe, then planted tiny kisses along her nape. His hand traveled deliciously to her waist, just under her belly. “Not the way I want to.”
They’d made love twice last night. It was incredible and frightening at the same time. Every so often, thoughts of her future would break through her steely resolve to live in the moment. She’d shudder, and sudden panic would set in. What was she doing? Where was all this leading? They hadn’t used protection in the shower last night, but Jess was on birth control, sort of. She’d skipped a few days during the height of her wedding fiasco, but she’d resumed when she’d arrived here to keep her hormones from getting out of whack.
She turned to Zane, roping her arms around his neck. “What did you have in mind?”
He kissed her quickly and then tugged her closer. “A day of play. We can get out of here. Have fun.”
A lock of his thick hair fell to his forehead. In many ways, he looked like a little boy, eager to play hooky. He lived in this dream house on the beach and spoke of getting away, as if he’d been in living in the slums all this time. The irony made her smile, and she toyed with that wayward lock of hair, curling it around her finger, mesmerized by the man she shared a bed with.
“You’re the boss,” she whispered.
“I’m not your boss,” he said softly. “Not when it comes to this.”
He began kissing her shoulder, her throat, her chin. And then he stopped suddenly and inched away. He shot her a solid, earnest look. “Would you like to spend the day with me?”
Oh, wow. Like a date? “Yes.” She yanked the lock of hair. “Of course, silly.”
He gave her backside a gentle squeeze. “Then we’d better get up and get showered. You first. If we share another shower, we’ll never make it out of here this morning.” He waggled his brows. “On second thought, maybe...”
She laughed and jumped out of bed. “I’m going in first.”
Less than an hour later, Zane was sitting behind the wheel of his SUV and pulling out of the gates of his home. “Feels good to be driving again. I hated feeling helpless, having to rely on someone to take me places.”
A few days of stubble on his face had led to a short, sexy beard. The new look turned her on. Everything about him seemed to do that. All she had to do was think about making love with him last night and tingles fluttered inside her belly.
He wore a baseball cap instead of his Stetson. The beard and sunglasses also helped disguise him. He’d healed so well, she would’ve never guessed he’d broken his foot, except for his slight limp as he tried not to put too much pressure on it. She already knew she’d be arguing with him about going to his rehab appointments.
He’d told her to wear her boots, dress in jeans and not question where they were going. He wanted to surprise her. She sat in her comfortable clothes, watching the stunning landscape go by as they left the blue waters behind and drove up a mountain road. The scenery lent itself to light conversation and soft music. Zane sang along with the tune on the radio, his voice deep and rich, her own personal concert. She couldn’t help but grin.
Thirty minutes later, they were atop the mountain at a sprawling ranch-style home overlooking the city to the south and the valley to the north. The air was clean up here, the smog of the day blown away by ocean breezes. “Where are we?” she asked.
“My friend Chuck Bowen owns this place with his mother. It’s called Ruby Ranch.”
She glanced around and spotted white-fenced corrals, vineyards off in the distance and acres and acres of hilly, tree-dotted land. The sound of horses whinnying and snorting reached her ears.
“C’mon.”
Zane exited the car and walked around to help her out. He took her hand. That little boy excitement once again lit his expression. “We’re going riding.”
“Riding?” She hadn’t been on a horse since she was a teenager. She’d go riding every weekend with her good friend Jolie Burns when she wasn’t working at Holcomb House. Jolie lived on a cattle ranch ten miles outside of Beckon. Jessica had the use of a pretty palomino named Sparkle, and she’d learned how to wash down and groom a horse back then, too. It was expected. If you exercised a horse, got him lathered up, then it was your responsibility to see to his needs after the ride. Jessica had fallen in love with Sparkle. She never minded the hard work that came with him.
She rubbed her hands together. This could be fun. “Oh, boy!”
Zane chuckled and kissed the tip of nose. “That’s what I thought.”
A fiftysomething woman with hair the color of deep, rich red wine walked out of the house. She was flawless in her appearance, neat and tidy,
