“What was the moon doing the night we made this baby?”
“Orbiting the Earth, as it does.”
She rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean. Maybe it happened during a new moon. That would be cool.”
“I’ll look it up. Ever since finding out that Henri keeps track, I usually do, too. With the excitement of the wedding and meeting you, I stopped noticing.”
“But you did this month?”
“Yes, ma’am. The new moon was on Sunday night, only hours before you flew in.”
“Interesting. I’ve never paid a whole lot of attention to moon phases. Winters in Seattle are cloudy and often you can’t see it. Or the sun, for that matter.”
“I read that.”
“When?”
“Last night, on my phone.”
“I don’t have to ask why you were researching Seattle.” She blew out a breath. “I wish you’d realize that you’d be nuts to—”
“Whoa, there, Izzy. Could we table that for now?”
“Um, guess so.”
Getting her to chill might not be so easy. He drew her to a halt. “Hear that?”
“What?”
“Crickets. The sound of summer.”
“I know the chirping from movies, but we don’t have them.”
“Seattle doesn’t have crickets?”
She shrugged. “Not that I’ve ever heard. And if you moved there, neither would you.”
Damn, couldn’t seem to stay away from the subject. He squeezed her hand and started off again. “I like them, but it’s not a game changer.”
“Sure seems like one. You sounded like a kid who was told the candy store was out of his favorite lollipops.”
“It’s a holdover from my indulgent childhood.” He congratulated himself when she laughed. Exactly what he’d been going for.
“I’ll bet one of the guys said that to you.”
“Jake did, but the others picked it up.” He scanned the area around the barn. Deserted, everyone tucked in for the night. Releasing her hand, he lifted the bar on the barn’s double door and slid it back. “I’ll take you and our baby over a million singing crickets.”
She groaned. “CJ, you’re biting off way more than—”
“After you.” He swept an arm toward the opening. The soft glow of baseboard lights along the aisle provided a touch of romantic ambiance. “Feel all that peacefulness coming at you?”
“I do.” She smiled at him and stepped inside. “Very quiet.”
“Except for some munching. The slower eaters have a little supper left.”
“And someone just nickered.”
“Lucky Ducky. Hoping for a treat. Didn’t think of that.”
“We’ll go see him, at least. You were right about the calm atmosphere.” She wandered down the aisle toward Lucky Ducky’s stall. “Not much mud. Did you get them to wipe their feet?”
“I laid down some straw in front of the barn. Kind of like a doormat.”
“I didn’t see it when we walked up.”
“Nick and I hauled it away after they were all inside.”
“See, I knew there had to be something like that to help deal with the problem.” She leaned on the door to Lucky Ducky’s stall. “Hey, buddy.”
The bay made his way toward her and stuck his head over the stall door. The dim light barely allowed the white four-leaf clover marking on his forehead to show.
Izzy scratched behind his ears. “He looks sleepy.”
“I’m sure he is. Most of them are. That’s why it’s a good place to chill out.”
Evidently Lucky Ducky figured out no treats were forthcoming because he moseyed back to his hay net.
Izzy turned. “Are you sleepy?”
“No, ma’am.” The shadows hid her expression, but that question had promise.
“Naomi said if you lived up to your image in the wedding shots, you should be able to make me forget my roaster problems.”
Okay, then. “Is that a challenge?”
“Just repeating what my sister said.” Her breathing picked up.
That Naomi. What a pal. “I just remembered. I want to show you something in the tack room.” He took her hand and started back down the aisle.
“But I was just in there this afternoon. Has something changed?”
“I’m sure you didn’t see this. Pretty amazing.”
“If you’re talking about your manly bits, I’ve seen them already. Just this afternoon, in fact.”
He grinned. “That’s not what I meant. But admit it, you were amazed.”
“Don’t put too much stock in that.” Clearly she was trying not to laugh. “I don’t get out much.”
That cracked him up. Must have been contagious, because she lost it, too. Laughter and Izzy went great together.
He hurried her into the tack room, kicked the door shut and pulled her into his arms. “Prepare to be amazed.”
Nobody kissed like Izzy. When she opened to him, when she moaned and thrust her tongue into his mouth, he was a goner. Her enthusiasm soon had him panting and fumbling with her clothes.
Tugging her shirt from the waistband of her jeans, he stopped kissing her long enough to pull it over her head. He tossed it on the nearest thing, one of the ranch saddles. Then he returned to the joys of her hot mouth.
She was into the program, too. Snaps popped in a rapid succession as she wrenched open his shirt and pushed it off his shoulders. She ran into trouble with the cuffs.
He let go of her long enough to unfasten them and toss the shirt on top of hers. A small nightlight provided limited visibility, but it looked like she’d arched her back and unhooked her bra. The overhead switch was within reach, but the glare of it didn’t fit the mood.
He held out his hand. “Let me take it.”
She gave him the flimsy bit of lace, warm from contact with her skin, and he added it to the pile of clothes.
Closing the gap between them, he lifted her to her toes and aligned the fly of his jeans with the juncture of her thighs. He ached, but it was a bearable ache, the kind that preceded really good sex.
She leaned into him, winding her arms around his neck and pressing her taut nipples against his hot skin, cushioning his pecs with her soft, plump breasts.
Moisture pooled in his mouth. “Grab onto my shoulders.”
When she did, he filled his hands with her sweet tush and lifted her off
