at the edges of her mouth, and he realized he was being played. He brushed his thumb across her lips, watching her eyes close in response. He couldn’t have stopped himself from kissing her if the whole world had been watching.
But the world wasn’t watching. They were alone. He kissed her forehead and both of her eyes and the tip of her nose.
“Somebody might come in.” Her words had hardly any breath behind them.
“I don’t care,” he said, and kissed her on the mouth long enough to elicit a sigh from them both when they broke away.
“Mmm.” She smiled as she opened her eyes slowly. “Tara told me to stay away from the barn.”
“Why is that?” He smoothed back a strand of hair that had worked loose from her braid.
“She didn’t want it to stir up my hay fever.” She patted the horse’s neck and laughed at the joke he’d somehow missed.
She seemed totally at ease with the horse, which intrigued him. “If you grew up in Paducah, how’d you get so comfortable around horses?”
“Kate’s grandpa has a farm, and he had horses we used to ride. I loved it. I begged Mom and Dad for a horse, but they didn’t think I was responsible enough to take care of one.” She shrugged. “They were probably right.”
“At least you realize that now.”
“That...and a whole lot more.”
The talk was taking a serious turn that Rick didn’t want right then. They only had a few minutes. “Bet you’re looking forward to the ride next week, then, aren’t you?”
“I am, but it’s been a while, so it’ll probably make me really sore.” He watched her demeanor change, saw the impish gleam come into her eyes as she tilted her head and looked up at him. “How about you? Has it been a while since you’ve...ridden?”
Rick wasn’t sure she was still talking about horses. “Yeah, it’s been a while.” He tried to keep a straight face. “But I think I can remember how to do it pretty well.”
She licked her lips, her eyes never straying from his. “I love sitting in the saddle, the feel of the horse beneath me, increasing its speed slowly from a walk to a trot and then a gallop.”
Rick trailed a finger down her arm and felt her shiver. “My favorite way is bareback. Using the movement of my body to control the direction. Running my hands into the silky mane...”
She drew a long breath, closing her eyes in an invitation he gladly accepted. He kissed her again, feeling the fire from her tongue consuming him, throwing his world into a spin he had no desire to control.
He drew back and looked at her, not even trying to contain the awe he felt. “Is kissing you as wonderful as I think it is? Or is it just all the pent-up passion? I mean, do you think it will be this good...afterward?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know, but I’m looking forward to finding out.”
“Me, too.” He brushed the backs of his fingers down her cheek, flushed with desire and from the heat in the barn. “Think we better leave before we catch this place on fire?”
She kissed the horse’s neck and gave him a final pat. “Yeah, I feel my hay fever kicking in.”
They started toward the barn door, but she stopped. When he turned toward her, her brows were drawn together in concern.
“What is it?”
“Something I’ve been wanting to ask you about, but I wasn’t sure I should...yet.” She took a deep breath, and he could see this was difficult for her.
He met her eyes straight on. “You can ask me anything. What’s bothering you?”
“Semper fi.”
“O-kay.” Confused and more than a little surprised, he drew the word out. “What about it?”
“You still take it seriously.”
He rested his fists on his hips and nodded. “Very.”
Her teeth chewed at her bottom lip before she spoke. “Will you always be a marine? At heart, I mean?”
“Always. Forever. That’s what it means.” He remembered the look of doubt in Summer’s eyes when the girls asked him about the slogan.
“Do you ever take time off from duty. I mean, you know...time just for yourself?”
His gut tightened. “Not very often,” he admitted. “But...maybe the right person could help with that.”
“Yeah? What kind of person would it take?” A shadow darkened her eyes.
“Somebody very different from me, I think. Somebody uninhibited. Somebody with a vivacity for life. Somebody with a wild-child nature...”
Her smile was gentle, like she was talking to one of the kids. “I