She headed out of town, toward his house and tried to put it all away.

He waited for her on his porch, sitting on a rocker, one booted foot on the railing. But when she got out, he was up and moving to her, taking the bags from her arms before leaning down to kiss her.

“Mmm. You taste good.”

“If you think I taste like maybe I ate one or two of the chocolate chip walnut cookies, you’d be totally lying. To yourself.”

He grinned. “Sugar, you can eat all the cookies you want.” He then noted her overnight bag. “Yeah? You want to stay over?”

“I mean if you want me to. Don’t feel obligated. I wanted to be prepared. Just in case.”

“Do you want to stay over?” he repeated.

She nodded, and he kissed her on his way to grab the handles on her bag and hefted it from the trunk.

“We’ll put this in the house and then head out.”

She followed him in.

He handed her the bag. “Put it in the bedroom and meet me back out here.”

Spike didn’t do much more than open an eye to be sure she wasn’t a serial killer before he went back to napping in a patch of afternoon sun slanting across the bed. She dropped her bag next to what she thought of as her side of the bed and turned to leave.

Spike made a huffed sound. Outraged she didn’t pause to pet him.

She shook her head, moving to obey the demand in that feline gaze. “Sorry. I thought you were sleeping and didn’t want to disturb you.”

He snorted, getting some snot on her and then giving her a look that said she deserved said treatment.

“You’re a rogue, Spike.” She gave him one last scratch before she headed into the bathroom to scrub cat snot off her arm and hand.

When she came back out she stared at Royal for long moments. He was on his phone. One hand on the glass, the other holding the phone to his ear. His gaze was far off. Probably thinking in numbers as he apparently tended to do like the crazy smart man he was.

He spoke a while and then turned to her after he hung up. “Sorry about that.”

“You’re working. It’s fine.”

“Good.” He plunked a cowboy hat on her head. “You need to have some protection from the elements. Rain, sun, whatever. Also you look really sexy wearing a cowboy hat.”

Reaching out, she grabbed him by the belt and the waist of his jeans and pulled him close. “How can I argue when I happen to think you look really sexy in a cowboy hat too? Also, I am a big fan of the new trend in facial hair.”

“You mentioned last week that you liked facial hair on a man.” He shrugged.

“It’s bone-meltingly hot.” Both the way it made him look and that he’d done it for her. She kissed a spot where he had some gray. “I can’t even tell you how many truly dirty things you make me feel when I look at this salt and pepper.”

He tipped her head back and her hat fell as he moved in for a kiss. He caught it, gripping the hat against her butt.

He held her fast against his body, sending a thrill through her. His mouth wandered from her lips to her ear until she hissed at how good it was and tugged his hair.

“Okay, okay. Come on.” He groaned as he broke away from the kiss. “I need to do this, and after I’m done it’ll be just me and you.”

“You have a deal.”

“Are you okay to ride on your own ATV or on mine?”

“I’m fine on an ATV. I promise not to four wheel all over your vegetables.”

He grinned. “All right then. Follow me.”

He led her out along the northern edge of the property. He liked this part of the land. His house was on a similar rise down to the south. But back here he could see out over the lake in the distance, some of the smaller rivers and creeks. It was still wild, and now that it was late March, life had burst up over the landscape as far as the eye could see.

Wanting to share it with her, he pulled over and parked.

She did the same, and when he got off his four-wheeler and turned to speak to her, he had to pause, stunned into silence at the sight of her on an ATV. She still wore the hat and goggles, but it was her smile that made him go weak.

So much joy on her face. He made her feel this way. She felt that with him and around him, and damn it felt good.

“I figured you might want to look.”

He tipped his chin at the view.

She hung the goggles on the handlebars and headed to where he stood. Suddenly he felt shy. Maybe she wouldn’t care about that. He was already dragging her down to look at carrots.

But her smile remained at what seemed like ten thousand watts. “Wow. What a view.”

“You should see it at the change of the seasons. Scratch that. I mean, I can’t wait to show you what it looks like as the seasons change.”

She nodded. “Yeah, that was better.”

They headed down to his carrots and she got her hands in the dirt. She wasn’t afraid to put her back into something, and damn if she didn’t fill out her T-shirt just right. He spun her, pulling her close. “Thanks for helping out. I didn’t intend inviting you out here to put you to work. Got some mud on your shirt and jeans.”

She blushed. “I’m washable. So are my clothes. Anyway, I liked it. Like I’m part of your everyday life.”

He liked that too.

“Come on back to the house. Dinner and some beer too, I think.”

She nodded and followed him.

He guided her to his bedroom. “Get changed. I’ll get cleaned up quickly so I can throw the ribs on the grill.”