“We had pie.”

She heard him grunt while she slipped on her sandals. Stretching across the bed, she rested her head on his chest and looked up at him.

“Last night was absolutely perfect. The best night of my life. We had each other and pie. Didn’t need anything else.” She patted his chest with her hand. “Don’t let my worldly nature fool you. I’m just a small-town girl at heart.”

Finally Eggie smiled and she saw the bit of stress he’d been feeling slip away from his face.

“You still up for this all day concert thing that’s somewhere in the mountains?” he asked.

“As a matter of fact . . . I am. It’s a beautiful day. We should go out and experience it.”

He grunted, slowly sat up. “Then let me get in the shower.”

“And I’ll make us breakfast.” She started to move away but Eggie caught her hand, held it.

His thumb brushed over her knuckles before he finally stated, “I’m really liking you, Darla Mae.”

Her heart soared at his words but she tamped that down quickly. It was never a good idea to jump up and down and clap your hands together when a man told you that sort of thing. It was even more of a bad idea when it was a wolf.

So, when she was calm enough, she smiled and said, “I really like you, too!”

Startled those words had come out, Darla slapped her hand over her mouth. Darn it!

“I shouldn’t have said that.”

“Why not?”

“I was supposed to say something cute and enticing.”

“It was cute and enticing.”

“No, no.” She covered her face, mortified. “I’m supposed to entice you to keep your interest. That’s what my sisters would have done.”

“Your sisters hate me.”

“Yeah, but I am trying to keep your interest.” She shrugged and just went ahead and admitted, “I don’t want you to get bored.”

Eggie leaned over until he could look into her face. “Darla. I’m canine. I don’t get bored when something is as entertaining as you are. Besides,” he added. “Pie.”

Darla laughed, and kissed him. And when she pulled away, Eggie’s hand slipped behind the back of her neck and brought her toward him again. Their kiss went on and on, and she loved every second of it, but when he started to bring her down to the bed again, she pulled away from him and gave a shake of her head. “Oh, no you don’t, Eggie Ray Smith. We’re going out. You promised.”

She heard him give a little growl and stand up. Darla forced herself not to stare—even though she wanted to. Lord, the man was just so dang perfect.

“I won’t be long,” he said, heading to the bathroom. She noticed he was rubbing his already returning beard.

“Eggie?”

“Huh?”

“You don’t have to shave if you don’t want to.”

He stopped at the bathroom door and looked at her. “You sure?”

Darla shrugged. “I like your beard. I like you without it. Doesn’t matter to me as long as you’re comfortable. And if you’re on vacation, I want you comfortable.”

“Is that an order?”

“Since that’s all you Marines seem to be able to handle.” She winked at him and skipped down the steps. She was heading to the kitchen when she stopped by the living room. Eggie’s four brothers were sitting on his couch, eating cereal and watching “Super Friends” cartoons on Eggie’s color TV.

“What are y’all doing?” she asked and, like zebras at a watering hole, they all looked at her at the same time. They all looked so similar and yet Eggie was still the most handsome as far as Darla was concerned.

“Eating,” Bubba Ray answered.

“My sisters don’t feed you?”

“They’re not talking to us.”

“Why?”

The brothers all looked at each other, debating how much to tell her, she knew.

“I’m waiting,” Darla pushed.

Bubba Ray put down his cereal and walked over to Darla. “They’re mad because we didn’t go with them last night to help you escape.”

Darla frowned. “Escape?”

“They started calling you Patty Hearst,” Nicky Ray volunteered with a laugh.

“Shut. Up,” Bubba Ray barked at the youngest brother. He looked back at Darla, shrugged. “They never went through with the plan because they didn’t want to deal with Eggie without us.”

“Oh, really?”

“Don’t be mad, Darla. They’re just worried about you. They didn’t mean nothin’ by it.”

Darla doubted that but she asked, “Why didn’t you?”

“Why didn’t I what?”

“Try to rescue me?”

“I guess because you didn’t look like you needed to be rescued.”

“And even Bubba wasn’t about to fight Eggie,” Benji tossed in.

“Well, remember what happened when Nicky tried to take that deer antler from him?” Frankie Ray asked.

While the Smith boys laughed—well, except for Bubba Ray, who just looked disgusted—Darla walked in front of the TV and stood there with her arms crossed over her chest. She glared down at the brothers until their laughter slowly died and they eventually focused on the coffee table she’d picked out for Eggie.

“So I’m just a bone your brother’s playin’ with?” she asked.