Give Me Tonight

us?'

'You can do anything you want to do. And your needs are so simple. A good meal, an occasional night of drinking with the boys, a woman to share your bed, and you're in ecstasy.'

'Hold on,' he said, his eyes gleaming with wicked amusement as he set the guitar down and turned to face her, his hands coming to rest at her hips. They were surrounded by night music, the sound of the crickets and the rustling of the breeze through the hay. 'There are a few points you've neglected.'

'Oh? What do you need beyond the things I just mentioned?”

'A family, for one thing.'

'Big or small?'

'Big, of course.'

'Of course,' she echoed wryly. 'You wouldn't say that if you were the woman who had to bear the children.'

'Probably not,' he conceded, and smiled. 'But speaking as a man, I like the idea of at least half a dozen.'

It was difficult to picture him as a father. He was too well suited to the role of amorous bachelor. 'Somehow I can't see you tolerating a house swarming with children, a baby spitting up on your shirt and another tugging at your pants leg.'

'I happen to like children.'

'Even messy ones?'

'Didn't know there was another kind.'

'How do you know you like them?' she demanded.

'I have a niece and nephew, and they-'

'That's only two,' she said triumphantly. 'Two's a lot dif-ferent than six.'

'What are you getting at?'

'I'd just like to point out that you have no idea how much time, attention and worry half a dozen children would take.'

'So you don't plan on having six?'

'Not a chance! Two or three's enough.'

'Fine with me. As long as one of them's a boy.'

'Chauvinist,' she grumbled. 'You get three chances, and if they're all girls, that's too bad. Having too many children makes a woman old before her time. And besides, I'd be so busy with six I'd never have time for you, and I'd always be too tired to make love, and-'

'You have a point,' he said hastily. 'Alright, we'll make it three.'

'Ben, now that we're talking about our future, there's something I've been wondering about-'

'Later,' he said, his breath ruflling the fragile tendrils of hair at the nape of her neck. She jumped as she felt the gentle nip of his teeth.

'But it's important. It's about our marriage, and-'

'Addie, I'm not going to sit here and go through a list.' His hands wandered upward, passing her cinched-in waist and hovering underneath her breasts. 'Not now. This is the first time I've been alone with you since last night.'

A slight ache settled in her breasts, a sensation that demanded the soothing touch of his hands. 'I missed you today,' he murmured.

She wriggled back and pushed at him. 'It's important to talk about this. There are things we should understand about each other. That's what courting is all about. '

Ben sighed, letting go of her and bracing his arms on his bent knees. He sent her a sideways glance filled with sarcasm. 'What is it you don't understand that can't wait to be explained later?'

'It's what you don't understand about me.'

Suddenly his green eyes were alert. 'Go on.'

'There are things that I need… this can't be the usual kind of marriage. I'm different from… other women around here. '

'I won't argue with that.'

'I'm worried about how- a marriage between two people like us will work. We're both strong-willed, and we each have our own ideas about things.'

'I agree. We'll have to make a lot of compro- ' mises. '

'But there are some things I won't-can't-compromise on.' She looked up and flushed as she met his eyes. ”I'm sorry I brought this up. I don't really know what I meant to say-'

'I think you do.'

'Maybe I shouldn't… it's too soon-'

'What are you planning to ask for? A trip around the world? The biggest ranch in Texas? Shares in the Northern Pacific?'

Addie couldn't help chuckling. “Oh, stop it.'

He took hold of her wrists and pulled them around his neck until her hands locked in back. 'Tell me,' he said, kissing her forehead. 'I'm running out of guesses.'

'I want you to listen to me in twenty years the same way you do now. As if my opinions matter to you.'

'They do. They always will. Anything else?' His lips traveled to her temple, lingering on the pulse he found there.

'Yes. I don't want to turn into a belonging of yours, an attachment like an extra arm or leg, someone who's expected to agree with everything you say. I won't be silent during the dinner conversations at our table.' Now that she had started to open up to him, it was much easier to continue. 'I need to be respected but not sheltered. I want your honesty, always, about everything, and to be given a chance to show I can do more for you than the cooking, the washing, and the sewing. All of that can be done by any woman. I want to have a place in your life no one else can take, and I don't mean a pedestal.'

'I wouldn't try to put you up on one.'

'You wouldn't? You wouldn't want me to change after we're married, and do everything you say, and never argue with you?'

'Hell, no. Why would I change the things that attract me to you the most?' He stroked the side of her waist and smiled lazily. 'Let other men's wives play mindless fools if it pleases them. I'd rather have a woman who has some common sense. And why should I want you to agree with me all the time? It would bore the hell out of me to be with someone who parroted everything I said. Put your mind at ease, darlin', I'm not marrying you in order to change you. '

She looked at him with amazement. How different he was from the other men she had known. Bernie and his friends had been wild and reckless, the kind you shook your head over in private and wondered if they respected anyone or anything, even themselves. Most of the war veterans she had cared for had been bitter and strangely lost, unable to understand themselves or the world around them. And the men around here were a curious mixture of innocence and chauvinism. Grown-up boys, all of them.

But Ben was not a boy. He was a man at ease with himself, assured of his place in the world, strong and yet sensitive to others' needs. He wasn't innocent by any means, but he wasn't cynical either, possessing a sly sense of humor and a healthy amount of shrewdness. Addie put her hand on his arm, wishing she could tell him how much she appreciated his openmindedness with her. 'Most men back in… I mean nowadays… wouldn't want their marriage to be the kind of partnership that I'm suggesting-'

'I won't hand out orders for you to follow. But on the other hand, don't get uppity about it. I'll be damned if anyone but me wears the pants in the family. Understand?'

Addie smiled and bit playfully at his shoulder through his shirt. She did understand. He would be manageable. 'You always like to have your own way,' she accused.

He bent his head to hers and growled near her ear. 'You're getting to know my faults, Miss Adeline.'

'I'm trying,' she said, turning her mouth to his and offering him a feather-soft kiss. He took it