Then with a sound of triumph, she drew back and threw her arms high. 'Oh, God, I feel wonderful! People should always make love outside. It's so- liberating.'
'You look like a faerie queen yourself.'
'I feel like one.' She shook her hair back, then looked down to smile at him. 'Full of magic and marvelous secrets. I'm so glad you're not angry with me. I was sure you would be.'
'Angry? How could I be?' He gathered enough energy to sit up so he could hold her, torso to torso. 'Everything about you delights me.'
She snuggled closer, still flying on the pleasure of the moment. 'You weren't delighted with me last night.'
'No, I can't say I was, but since we've straightened it all out, it's nothing to worry us.'
'Straightened it out?'
'Aye. Here, let's get you back into your jumper before you get cold.'
'What do you mean-' She broke off as he dragged her sweater over her head.
'There, that's all you'll need, as I'm going to get it off you again as soon as we get inside.' He began to gather clothes and bundle them into her arms.
'Aidan, what do you mean we've straightened it all out?'
'Just that we have.' Smiling easily, he picked her up and carried her toward the cottage. 'We'll be married in September.'
'What? Wait.'
'I am, till September.' He nudged open her garden gate.
'We're not getting married in September.'
'Oh, we are, yes. Then we'll go off to the places you want to see.'
'Aidan, that's not what I meant.'
'It was what I meant.' He smiled at her again, pleased he'd found just the way to handle the situation. 'I don't mind if you need to wiggle around it for a while, darling. Not when we both know it's what's meant.'
'Put me down.'
'No, not quite yet.' He carried her inside and started up the stairs.
'I'm not marrying you in September.'
'Well, it's only a few months away, so we won't have long to see who's right in the matter.'
'It's insulting, and it's infuriating that you simply assume I'll fall in line with your plans. And that I'm too stupid to know what I want for myself.'
'I don't think you're stupid at all.' He walked down to the bathroom. 'Fact is, darling, I believe you're one of the smartest people I know. A bit stubborn is all, but I don't mind that.' He hitched her up a bit, so he could reach out and turn on the shower.
'You don't mind that,' she repeated.
'Not at all. Just as I don't mind having your eyes shoot darts at me as they are at the moment. I find it- stimulating.'
'Put me down, Aidan.'
'All right.' He obliged by setting her in the tub, right under the stream from the shower.
'Damn it!'
'Don't worry about the jumper, I'll take care of it.' And laughing while she shoved and wiggled, he stripped it off and tossed it with a wet plop onto the floor.
'Keep your hands off me. I want to settle this.'
'You've settled it in your mind just as I have in mine. I say I want my way more than you want what you're thinking is yours. But-' He brushed the wet hair out of her face. 'If you're so sure of yourself, you've nothing to worry about, and we can just enjoy the time we spend together.'
'That isn't the point-'
'Are you saying you don't enjoy being with me?'
'Yes, of course I do, but-'
'Or that you don't know your own mind?'
'I certainly know my own mind.'
He pressed still curved lips to her brow, her temples.
'Well then, what's wrong with giving me at least the chance to change it?'
'I don't know.' But there had to be something wrong with it. Didn't there? Reason, she decided. Cool reason. Even if she was standing naked in the shower. 'We're not talking about a whim here, Aidan. I take all of this very seriously, and I don't intend to change my mind.'
'All right, then, in the fine Irish tradition, we'll wager on it. A hundred pounds says you will.'
'I'm not betting on such a thing.'
He lifted a shoulder carelessly, then picked up the soap. 'If you're afraid to risk your money-'
'I'm not.' She hissed out at him, trying to see exactly where he'd turned things around and trapped her. 'Make it two hundred pounds.'
'Done.' He kissed the tip of her nose to seal it.
CHAPTER Nineteen
It was ridiculous. She had actually bet money on whether or not she would marry Aidan. It was laughable. And annoying. And not a little embarrassing.
Temper had pushed her into it, which was odd in itself. She usually had such a mild and easily controllable temper.
She would forget the bet entirely, of course, when the time came. What point would there be in making herself or Aidan feel foolish by bringing it up?
For now she had chores and work to concentrate on. She needed to take Finn for a walk, and return the dishes that Mollie O'Toole had brought to her party. It was time to call home and check in with her family. Then, if the weather held, she'd set up her outside work area.
She wanted to write down the story Aidan had told her the night before. Already she had the rhythm of it in her head, and the images of the white bird and the black wolf. She doubted she would do them justice, but she needed to try.
She gathered the dishes, along with a container of sugar cookies she'd baked. Ready to set out, she glanced around for the dog just in time to see him squat under the kitchen table and pee. Naturally he'd missed the paper by two feet.
'Couldn't have waited one more minute, could you?' She only chuckled when he cheerfully thumped his tail, then she set the dishes down again to deal with the puddle.
He had to leap and lick at her face and make growling sounds while she scrubbed it up, which made her forget to scold him. Since cuddling him made her as happy as it made him, she spent ten minutes nuzzling, wrestling, and scratching his belly.
She'd spoil him, of course, Jude admitted. But who could have known she had all this love inside her she needed to give?
'I'm nearly thirty,' she murmured as she stroked Finn's long, silky ears. 'I want a home. I want a family. I want them with a man who loves me outrageously.' She cuddled as Finn wiggled around to lick her hand. 'I can't settle again. I can't take a life in pieces just because it looks like the best I can get. So-'
She picked Finn up to rub her nose against his. 'For right now, it's just you and me, pal.'
The minute she opened the back door, he was off like a spotted arrow. It delighted her to see him race even if his first sprint was directly toward her flowers. He stopped, skidding and tumbling, when she called his name sharply. She considered it progress that he flattened only one row of ageratum.
Finn darted ahead of her, darted back, raced in circles around her feet, then zigged and zagged off to sniff at everything of interest. She imagined how he'd look when he grew into his feet, a big, handsome dog with a whipcord tail who loved to run the hills.
