Free I Cross My Heart by Vicki Lewis Thompson

immensely. He’d fallen in love, or thought he had, with Lindsay.
    But this—this was something else. Maybe it was the ticking clock affecting him. No matter what, she’d be gone in a week. It could be that old scarcity model. Because she was only available to him a few hours a night for one precious week, he felt a sense of urgency, a need to make the most of it.
    Whether or not they would act like crazed bunnies this week depended mostly on the outcome of their upcoming discussion. Originally he’d planned to talk about this over a bottle of wine. As he buttoned his shirt and tucked it into his jeans, he smiled.
    The wine had served a different function, and he wasn’t sorry. No matter what happened from here on out, he wouldn’t ever regret what they’d just shared. As they said in sports, tonight was one for the record books.
    After buckling his belt, he turned on her bedside lamp so he could straighten the room a little. He didn’t put it all back the way she’d had it because he couldn’t remember exactly how it had been and he wasn’t much of an arranger. But he draped the top sheet and comforter over the bed and piled on the pillows so they were no longer on the carpet.
    Finally, he walked to the door and opened it. She stood at the sink, her hands deep in soapsuds. He’d halfway expected her to leap for the light switch because earlier she’d been so insistent that he not see the shabby kitchen.
    But she stayed where she was and simply turned her head to smile at him. Once again, he didn’t notice his surroundings at all. All he could see was her.
    It was one of those moments that would stay with him for a long time. Although she was dressed in her sleeveless white blouse and gray capris, the clothes were rumpled from being on the floor. Knowing why they’d been on the floor made the outfit sexier than a negligee.
    She’d finger-combed her hair, but she had some little cowlicks going on in back, no doubt caused by sweating and tossing her head around each time he made her come. She had no makeup left, but her flushed cheeks and bright eyes indicated that she was a woman who’d recently enjoyed some very good sex.
    And perhaps the most appealing thing of all, the part of the presentation that made him long to wrap his arms around her and never let go, was her decision to have this discussion barefoot. Something about that implied trust. He was touched, turned on and wholly captured by this woman. He’d be wise not to let her know that, because then their situation could get really dicey.
    “Coffee?” she asked.
    “Love some.”
    “Brownies?”
    “My favorite. Don’t tell me you baked today, on top of everything else you did.”
    “Nope.” She let the water out of the sink and grabbed a towel to wipe her hands. “I knew this would be a rough week, so besides buying groceries in Jackson, I hit a bakery and stocked up on goodies.”
    A rough week. Right. She’d just lost her father. Some people handled grief by getting it on with the nearest available partner. Well, if he served that purpose for her, he didn’t really mind. It wasn’t as if the sex could lead to anything, anyway.
    He glanced around the kitchen. “What can I do?”
    She opened the refrigerator and pulled out a white bakery box. The scent of chocolate came with it. “Carry these into the dining room. I could arrange them on a plate, but—”
    “No need to dirty another dish.” He took the box she gave him. “I’m happy to eat right out of this.”
    “Good. Me, too. Do you take anything in your coffee?”
    “Just black.”
    She laughed. “I suppose that’s the cowboy way.”
    “It used to be, but if you look in the bunkhouse refrigerator you’ll find all kinds of flavored creamers. Cowboys have gone soft these days.”
    “Except for you.”
    “Yes, ma’am. Nothing about me is soft.” He waggled his eyebrows at her.
    “Listen to you! Weren’t you the one who wanted to have a strictly platonic discussion? And