up nearly as hard as the baby as he swung his right arm like a trunk.
She might have stood watching them forever had Rory not noticed her. “Got everything?”
Zara nodded, reaching deep for the sassy self she’d always been with him, rather than this new version of herself who felt all mushy inside every time she looked at him. “It smells so good I’m about to sit down and have my picnic right here.”
“If you can hold out another ten minutes, I promise your patience will be richly rewarded.” They headed out to the car, and he buckled Ruby back into her car seat. “I worked summers in college as a seasonal ranger in the park, so I know all the secret spots.”
“I can so see you in a forest-green ranger’s uniform.” As they got into the front seat, she asked, “You wouldn’t happen to have it still, would you?”
“If you’re asking because you’ve got a thing for men in uniform, the answer is yes.”
“I might,” she said, hugely relieved that she was able to stuff the darkness away to flirt with him. Though she’d managed to keep her emotions at bay this morning while they’d been making love, she’d been worried about how the rest of the day would go. “I’ll bet you got up to plenty of naughty things during those summers, didn’t you?”
He shot her a wicked grin, one that made her toes curl. “You know me so well.”
Amazingly, he was right. Between Friday morning and Monday afternoon, she’d come to know Rory better than she’d known Cameron after two months.
Just then, Ruby started to make disgruntled noises from her car seat. Figuring she must be hungry for lunch, Zara turned around to entertain her until they got to their picnic spot.
Ten minutes later, Rory pulled into a small dirt lot surrounded by a thick grove of pine trees. The setting didn’t look particularly remarkable from the parking lot, but she decided to have faith in his secret spot. After all, he had yet to let her down on any front. Amazingly.
“I’ll take Ruby,” Zara offered, “and you can bring everything else.”
She hoisted Ruby onto her hip, making sure that she had her elephant, while he slung the food bag over his shoulder. “What did you buy?” he grumbled. “A dozen coconuts?”
“What can I say? When I’m hungry, my eyes are way bigger than my stomach.”
He added an enormous baby bag to his load, along with a blanket for them to sit on and a bag of Ruby’s toys, then said, “Follow me.”
Zara had to take a moment to appreciate how well he wore a pair of faded jeans before finally getting a move on. They hiked a narrow path between tree trunks…and then she got the shock of her life.
“You’re kidding me.” She gaped at the wide stretch of green grass that overlooked the ocean. It was breathtaking. “It should be illegal to keep a place like this a secret!”
He was grinning as he laid down the blanket. “I had to pinkie swear with the rangers that I’d never tell another soul.” He lifted his gaze to hers. “You’re the first person I’ve brought here.”
Her eyes went wide. “Are you saying that even your family doesn’t know about this place?”
“Nope.” He brushed a lock of hair away from her mouth. “Only you.” He tickled Ruby’s tummy. “And you, little girl.”
“Are you going to make me pinkie swear too?” Zara asked.
“I have a better idea. You can swear your loyalty to me with a kiss.”
His request shouldn’t have made Zara catch her breath. He was simply asking her, in his usual teasing way, to keep secret this area of the park. And yet as she said, “I swear,” then leaned forward to press her lips to his, it didn’t feel like teasing.
Not even close.
CHAPTER TWENTY
With her heart racing at how big everything suddenly seemed between them, Zara abruptly pulled back from the far-too-meaningful kiss, even though putting three feet of space between them wouldn’t make any difference.
Whether she was kissing Rory or not, he had an undeniable pull over her.
For a few seconds, she thought he might reach for her and kiss her again. Instead, he turned and smiled at Ruby.
“Your turn now, sweet pea.” As soon as the little girl saw him pucker his lips, she did the same, and he smacked a kiss on her mouth.
Zara’s heart had gone completely to mush by the time she sat on the blanket.
Settling Ruby between her spread legs,