As she moved around the room, the image of Cal’s bare chest with its mat of dark curls, of his jaw covered with shaving cream, floated in mind with persistence, making her more conscious of him than ever before. Three hundred and sixty-four days. She glanced into the mirror and leaned for- ward. “How long can you resist him?” she asked herself and stared at her reflection that gave no answer.
Seven
The following Saturday, she sat in the bow of the flat-bottomed boat and watched Cal teaching Chris to row. They had been married one week and her awareness of him was honed to such a fine point that she knew the instant he ap- proached. There hadn’t been any kisses since that first night. Monday and Tuesday, Cal had been in Dallas during the day, home late at night. The rest of the week he had worked long hours and she had seen little of him, but the few times they had been together, he touched her constantly. And as casual as the contacts had been, they were enough to keep her consciousness of him smoldering.
Now it was the weekend, and he had agreed to take the boys boating. He leaned forward, talking to Chris. As Cal hoisted a box of tackle and swung it over Josh to set it in the bottom of the boat, his muscles flexed and rippled. He was wearing a T-shirt and cutoffs and he looked incredibly fit and healthy with skin that was brown enough to give a mis- taken impression that he worked outside all day.
With yells from the boys and Chris rocking the boat, they pushed away from the wooden dock that ran out from a ramshackle boathouse. Bushes grew high along the banks and the water was an opaque muddy green. Up the sloping lawn stood the house, shaded by oaks, poplars and pine trees. Several yards wide, Rainy Creek cut across the five acres that comprised Green Oaks grounds.
In minutes they moved smoothly along, Chris and Josh pulling on the oars, while Quin sat trailing a string in the water. Cal moved carefully past them to sit down beside her. On the narrow seat they were pressed together, her shoul- der against his, their hips and thighs touching. He shifted and moved his legs. “This sure is a fast-moving stream,” he said.
“You should see it after a rain. It’s a torrent.” She paused to look at her nephews. “The boys love this,” she said fondly.
“Living at Green Oaks is good for them,” he observed.
“Quin has really taken to Snookums. I hear him talking to the cat and that’s good.”
“Great. I’m glad ole Snooks is finally earning his keep.”
She laughed and turned to look at the water and the trees they passed. It was a beautiful, sunny day, the June sun- light sparkling on the creek’s rippling surface, and it was fun to have Cal with them. She waved her hand toward the water.
“This creek carries us beneath the highway. Too bad this couldn’t have been the road from the house, it’s much shorter to the highway this way.”
“Do all the boys know how to swim?”
“Yes. Josh flounders in the water, but he can stay afloat.”
“Good. Because they’ll be around boats and water now. We need to pick a boundary. Maybe the highway bridge should be the place because several miles south of here, this creek empties into the Sabine River.”
“I don’t want them in the boat without one of us.”
“You set the rules, but Chris is getting big enough to handle a boat by himself and he may take to fishing.”
“All right. Chris can take the boat, but Josh or Quin are not to go without him,” she said, wondering how many changes Cal would bring into their lives. Josh gave his oar to Chris and moved to sit beside Quin.
“I’m taking Chris out to fish this afternoon. We should be in by dark and I can grill fish or burgers if you’d like,” Cal offered.
She glanced at him as he yanked his T-shirt over his head and wiped his sweaty forehead. Muscles rippled with his movements and her mouth went dry, her answer leaving her, her attention focusing on his broad chest.
“Want me to grill?”
She became aware of a question, but she couldn’t pull her attention away from him. She looked up to find him watching her.
“You have a strong body for a man who sits in an office all day.” Startled by what she’d said, she felt her cheeks burn. “Forget that,” she said quickly in a low tone. “We weren’t going to get personal.”
He caught her chin in his hand, half turning on the plank seat and not caring whether the boys heard him or not. His pulse raced as he leaned down. “Half the things we do and say to each other are personal,” he said quietly. “Must be a sign of something.”
“Don’t make a federal case out of it, Counselor.”
He grinned and winked at her, leaning close to her ear. “If I had you alone, I think I could make more than a federal case out of it.”
She leaned away from him and glanced toward her neph- ews. Cal didn’t bother to turn around because he could hear the boys talking and suspected they had no interest in any- thing Juliana and he were doing. Her face was pink and she bit her lower lip. He wished they were alone and he felt his pulse drum, knowing they were skirting dangerous ground again. He should leave the lady alone. Yet she was all woman, appealing, sexy, looking as if she was on the brink of letting go, and when she did, he thought she would be breathtaking in her passion.
He turned away to look at the water, attempting to get control of his emotions and his reaction to her before he did or said something foolish. They had spent one
