Free Choice of Love by Norma Gibson

to last for the rest of the evening.
        Walking out with basket in hand, he headed up stairs to the ranch manager’s accommodations and rummaged around for a blanket, that could he used for a small picnic. Locating one, he headed back down the stairs and made his way to Mary Lou’s cabin.
        Mary Lou sighed with pleasure as she sank deeper into the tub of hot water, feeling every muscle in her body relax, as the underwater jets massaged he body.  After she had gotten rid of her inhospitable host, she had unpacked. She then gave herself a tour of the luxurious cabin, going in to the bathroom; she had stumbled upon a Jacuzzi. Who knew guest ranches had Jacuzzis? Apparently this company made enough to provide such luxurious amenities. She had quickly undressed, scrubbed her face free of make-up, piled her hair on top of her head and hoped into the tub.  Oh yea, this isn’t half bad after all , she thought with a lazy smile . A girl could use to this.
        Devin arrived at Mary Lou’s cabin with picnic gear in hand. he knocked lightly on the door. No answer. Knocking a little hard this time, he waited. When she didn’t answer be became a little worried. Was she alright? He twisted the door knob and to his luck the door opened. He thought a city girl like herself would be in the habit of locking her door. He pushed his head in to the room. “Mary Lou” he called. There was still no answer. With a frown he slowly entered the cabin. He put the picnic basket down on a side table and made his way to the bedroom. She was not in there, so he walked over to the bathroom, he heard o sound coming from in there. Alarmed now, he burst through the door. “Miss Carpenter!” To his relief, he spotted her in the bath tub.
        At the shout of her name, Mary Lou jumped up and let a shriek of surprise when she saw Devin standing in the door way, with a look of relief on his face, which transformed to surprise, then pure male appreciation. Water sloshed over the tub as she tried to cover her breasts simultaneously trying to emerge her body deeper in the water.
    She let out another shriek, “Don’t people knock in the country?”  She bellowed.
    “I knocked a couple times and you didn’t respond, I was concerned”, Devin defended.
    “Well thanks for your concern, but as you can see I’m perfectly fine”, she glowered at him.
    He let out a breath, “You are fine, indeed” he replied remembering the sight of her breasts floating above the water before she covered them.
    Mary Lou let out groaned, wondering if anybody ever died from humiliation.”Don’t just stand there, hand me towel” she snapped.
        Devin snapped out of trance at the sharpness in her tone “Huh? Right, here you are” he grabbed a towel and bought it over to her. It was only when Mary Lou threw him a disgusted look that he realized he was still standing there staring at her like a horny teenager seeing the female body for the first time. “Sorry” he muttered, turning to exit the bathroom, wondering why the sight of a naked Mary Lou affected so much, beyond belief. It’s not like he hadn’t seen plenty of naked women. Now he had a massive erection to get rid of before she came out of the bathroom.
         Mary Lou exited the bathroom slowly, wrapped in a white fluffy towel that was too large for her body. The corners of his lips lifted slightly at the sight of her, she looked damn adorable he mused. She kept her eyes downcast, refusing to look at him. Aw hell she’s still embarrassed. He quickly began to tell her the reason for his visit, hoping to ease her humiliation.
    “A nature walk?” she asked with a frown, looking like she was about to refuse.
    “Well more like a nature ride” he added quickly. “We can take out a couple of the horses; you know just a little adventure for the rest of the afternoon. I even packed a picnic basket.”
    She finally raised her eyes to look at him and smiled, to his delight. “Well, I’ve