had been a bit of a surprise. He seemed to be very eager that they get together soon.
She was seeing other men, but she didn't have anything planned for this Friday, which was only two days away, so she suggested that. It came to mind that she hadn't heard from the other guys she was dating, which was kind of unusual, but she didn't allow that to prompt her to contact them, not wanting to seem clingy.
"Excellent. How about if I bring you out to my ranch?"
"Oh, I'd love that! I've always wanted to see a working ranch!"
"Great!"
"I love San Antonio and the city life, but I'm a country girl at heart."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I think I mentioned that I grew up in Vermont. Not a lot of enormous ranches—it's all dairy cows, and the farms aren't on any kind of scale like your ranch probably is—not enough land for that. But there were tons of mountains and rolling green hills, lots of time spent outside, running and swimming and biking."
His deep chuckle could be registered as a lethal weapon. "Sounds idyllic."
"It really was. I grew up in such a tiny town that no one locked their doors, everyone knew everyone else; it was just incredibly safe."
"But now you live in the city."
"Yeah, my aunt lived in San Antonio when I was younger and I'd come down and stay with her sometimes. I loved it immediately—all of the history and culture and food and excitement! It was so different from what I was used to."
"It seems to me that easterners either like the desert or can't stand it."
She laughed, and he became instantly hard at the sound. "Yes! I loved it; my parents detested it! No accounting for taste!"
He picked her up at her door—no parking and honking for him. She'd had a feeling he'd be like that, so she'd made sure that her sometimes wreck of an apartment was clean for a change. Even though she was ready, she asked him in, saying she just wanted to use the bathroom before they left. He'd mentioned that it was a bit of a drive to his place, and she didn't want him to have to stop.
Jace nodded. Hell, she was ready when he got there! Considering his experiences with other women making him wait—literally hours after he'd arrived—that was reason enough to marry her, as far as he was concerned!
While he waited, he looked around her small place, noting all of the flowered upholstery, the pictures of her friends and family, some of which showed her as an adorable little girl, and the occasional framed movie posters on the walls, as well as the fact that all of her plants appeared to be fake.
She reappeared quickly—another reason to marry her—grabbing a small box that looked like it came from a bakery as well as her purse before turning to him and saying, "Ready!" with a smile that caused his heart to hammer in his chest.
"Not quite yet, you aren't," he murmured, kissing her with carefully controlled passion, letting her know that he wanted her but still keeping the kiss very romantic, somehow.
When he pulled back, her eyes were closed and she looked a bit overwhelmed.
"Wow," Laurie breathed slowly, eyes still closed, and he was nearly a goner, groaning deeply at just the sight of her like that.
She was already breathing heavily. If he didn't get them out of here now, they were never going to leave, so he got them out the door.
"What's in the box?" he asked, really just as a distraction for himself, so that he didn't corral her back into her apartment and have her on the living room floor.
"Well, you said you'd make dinner for us—which is terrific—but you didn't mention dessert."
His eyes lit up. "Did you bake us something?" He said it with very nearly the same passionate tone he had when they made love, and she had to chuckle.
Jace was remembering that she had mentioned she had a hobby of baking for her friends that had evolved into a small side business.
"I did."
"What is it?" He was almost more eager than she had ever seen him. Almost.
"You'll see," she smiled at him slyly.
"Minx," he teased, patting her bottom as if in a promise of retaliation.
That had been something they had been amazed to discover they were both into—spanking. It had—surprisingly—been one of the topics during their first dinner together and was probably largely responsible for them ending up in bed with each other that night.
They listened