Have a Little Faith (12 page)

Lane was having the time of his life. The work was strenuous
,
but
he
was accustomed to workin
g out four days a week
. At least he had kept his muscles toned for something, he mused
,
guzzling water.
He’d have been completely embarrassed if he had been shown up by a girl.

By noon, the entire trailer was full of square bales of hay and they headed back to the barn. Again, Lane jumped down from the truck and plucked Alex out. This time, she laughed as her feet hit the ground.

“Let’s take a break,
” Lane suggested.

“A break?
I have to unload the hay.” She started toward the barn
,
but Lane nipped her at the
waist
. “Hey!”

“I already told Jack you have the day off. Let’s go.”

“What do you mean, the day off?” She tried and failed to dig her heels into the dirt as Lane pulled her to the stables.

“Saddle some horses. I want to go for a ride.”
He opened
the
gate, careful to keep his grip
firm around her arm.

“You
can’t just tell me I can’t work,
” Alex protested. “This is ridiculous.”

“No.” Lane pulled her through the gate then pressed her back up against it. Her spine stiffened instinctively and her chin came up involuntarily.

“Christ, you’re beautiful.” He laughed when she narrowed her gaze. His hands rested on her shoulders. “Listen. We’ve been up all night with Hope. We’ve worked the better part of five hours in the miserable heat. I’m tired and I’d just like to relax, maybe see some of the ranch. I’d like you to show me. Is that agreeable?”

He could see her relenting again and smothered a grin. “I guess that’ll be fine
,
but you could have cleared it up with me before talking to Jack. I don’t want him to think he can’t depend on me.”

“He knows he can, Alex. Saddle up some horses. Surely there’s a creek around here we can go swimming in. I want to take some food
,
too.”

He saw her eyes brighten. “Like a picnic?”

“Exactly like a picnic.”

Her lips curved and without thinking, she reached up and pressed them to his. Surprised by her initiative, Lane wrapped his arms around her and parted her lips with his. When he pulled away from her, he realized he wasn’t as steady as he would have liked.

“Saddle up those horses and I’ll go get the food.
”

Chapter Eight

Sitting on a blanket by the creek
,
eating sandwiches with Lane Tanner was the last thing Alex imagined
herself
doing on a Saturday afternoon.
The weather was hot, but clear. Chores needed to be done.
And she couldn’t pretend to want to do anything except what she was doing.

Alex was taken by surprise at how much she didn’t want this day
with Lane
to end. He was a constant surprise to her.

She hadn’t realized that she’
d let herself fall in love wi
th him. And then he’
d suggested the picnic. Silly, she knew
,
but that insignificant gesture had been worth more to her than a million blazing kisses. Not that she minded those in the least. 

Now, they sat side by side on a spread out blanket on the bank of the creek Alex had
swum
in every summer. They were hot and sweaty from the long day working and eating egg salad sandwiches that Lane had prepared in a hurry. There was no place she would rather be.

Alex polished off her sandwich
and
dusted off her hands soon after Lane.

“That water’s going to feel like heaven.” Lane
peeled
off his
sweaty shirt
.

Alex wondered if her mouth actually dropped or if she just imagined it. Under the red cotton shirt, there
was
a glistening, bronzed washboard of muscles under a hard, wide chest. The muscles on Lane’s arms and back rippled as he tossed the shirt aside and then proceeded to rid himself of his pants.

Alex averted her gaze and began to toe off her boots. She jolted when his hands came to her shoulders. Her eyes met his, held. Then he kissed her, softly at first while he brought her hands to his naked chest. The feel of his warm, hard body beneath her palms was exhilarating. Her lips
parted for him as she spread her hands out to feel him.

When she was already lost in delirium, he eased back and unbutton
ed
her shirt achingly slow. His knuckles brushed her skin with each button until he finally drew her shirt away.

Her lacy
,
white bra left little to the imagination as he unhooked it from the front. He drew it away and caught her breasts in his hands. She gasped from the contrast of his hard, powerful hands to her soft, smooth flesh.

His hands journeyed down further to unhook her jeans. Alex brought her hands to his shoulders to steady
herself
when she thought her legs would buckle. Lane slipped the rough denim down her legs.

“Step out,” h
e murmured in her ear. When she obeyed, he slipped the last barrier between them off and led her to the water. Hand in hand, they waded in until it rose above Alex’s chest.

“It’s always cool here.” Alex treaded the water
more comfortable now that she was covered by the dark water
. Her entire body was pulsing inside and out. “That’s why I always swim here. No matter how hot it is outside, this creek is always cold.”

“You
’ve swum
here all your life, haven’t you?”

“Mmm.”
She unwound her braids and dunked her head under the water. When she came up, she wiped the water from her eyes and met Lane’s gaze.

“Anybody else ever swim here?”

The passion he had just enticed before getting into the water began to grow again. She knew now what it meant when
his
e
yes grew darker. It was desire—
desire
for her. She couldn’t say why it scared her
,
but it did.
It scared her as much as it excited.

“No one.”

“Good.”

In a one swift stroke he closed the distance between them
and grabbed her around the waist
. She slid into his body and wrapped herself around. She felt his hard stomach beneath her thighs and shuddered as he crushed his mouth to hers.

Passion went from simmer to boil in a flash as Lane’s hands traveled over her body.
While
thoughts of making it to the blanket swan through his mind, they were easily dismissed as he laid her down on the bank. Water lapped at her back as he covered her body with his.

With the blood roaring in his ears, Lane let the sensations take him while he ravished her mouth, throat, and neck. The sounds she made were caught somewhere between pleasure and astonishment. Her nails dug into his back as he kissed his way down her throat
,
but neither noticed.

When he found her breast, he took it into his mouth and she
strained
against him. His hand trailed up and down her thigh while she
writhed
beneath. Higher and higher his hands crept until her moans became whimpers.

With a clever flick of his fingers, Lane sent her to a wracking climax.

Alex muffled her cry against his shoulder as her body convulsed. Never in her life had she known such rapture. These nameless needs were created and met by this man and this man only. With tremors still racking her body, she gripped his arms.

She couldn’t see past the haze in her own mind. Just as she thought she knew how to tell him, he was building the fire in her again. Again she was edging toward the shattering fulfillment.

“Please…” She tried to muffle another stunned cry as the next climax slammed her. “I can’t… Lane.”

“Shh.” He kissed her brow before he found her mouth again. “Let it go, Alex. Let me show
you what you can have.”

As the fire was coming back again, just as strong, just as potent, Lane gripped her hips and in one thrust, was in her. Twin moans merged as he set the pace,
frantically
. Instinct had her pumping her hips beneath him.

This time when she began to burn, she cried out in reckless elation. He buried his hands in her hair and ravished her swollen mouth when he too, let go.

Vaguely, she was aware of the cool water lapping beneath her on the bank. When she drummed up the energy, she opened her eyes. The sun shone through the leaves high above casting shadows over their joined bodies.

Lane had yet to move. Alex wondered idly if he had fallen asleep on top of her. She smiled and kind of hoped that he had. The sensation of being held was all too rare and special to Alex and she wasn’t ready for it to end.

His breaths were slow and deep. His heart rate had yet to slow down. His head was nestled between the
valley
of her breasts. Hoping to prolong the moment, Alex brought her hand to his hair and ran her fingers th
r
ough it.

Lane made a sleepy sound and turned his head so he could draw more air. “I must be
crushing you,” h
e murmured.

Alex’s lips curved as she skimmed a hand over his shoulder. “It’s okay.”

“I’ll move
off you
in
a year or two
.”

“Take your time.”

He chuckled at that and lifted himself on his elbows to look at her. Her face was flushed from passion, her eyes dreamy with contentment. Her lips were swollen and slightly parted. He
loved seeing her this way, he thought as he ran a hand through her hair.

He brought his lips down to hers in a long, leisurely kiss that sent her heart soaring. Lane ended the dreamy kiss and rolled over on his back, pulling her with him so that she rested in the crook of his arm.

His hand stroked lazily up and down her back, toying with the ends of her hair. Love for him consumed her. She thought of all the secrets she had, all the things he wanted to know. Would he still want her when he learned that she had bared another man’s child when she had
still
been a child herself? Would he still want her when he learned
about
how her father had
treated her?

Lane could all but hear her brain working. He grew concerned when he felt her tremble. He hugged her tighter, rocked by the primitive urge to protect this woman.
His woman.

“Something wrong?”

Alex was quiet a minute before she answered. “This has been
one of
the best day
s
of my life.”

“Is that what’s bothering you?”

“Yes.”

Lane frowned up at the sky,
then
shifted so he could look at her. “Care to elaborate that one?”

“Can I put my clothes on?” The slight hitch in her voice worried him. He picked her up and carried her to the blanket and pulled his t-shirt over her head, then pulled his jeans on.

Alex sat cross legged on the blanket while Lane settled beside her. The simple intimacy of wearing her lover’s shirt made
her
dizzy with contentment.
She
ran shaky fingers through her hair.

“All right, tell me what’s wrong.”

Alex took a deep
,
steadying breath that failed to calm her nerves. “You said there were things you were going to find out.
Things about me.
What if you don’t like the answers?”

Lane raised a brow,
then
settled back on his forearms. “Let’s see. Are you married?”

“Of course not.”

He smiled when he saw her flustered. “Are you wanted in three states?”

“No.”

“A terrorist?”

Alex sighed. “You’re making fun of me.”

“Yes.” Lane sat up and drew Alex back against his naked chest. “Alex. You’ll find I’m not the uncaring tyrant you believe me to be.”

He actually felt her jolt. “Oh no, Lane. I don’t think that.” She tried to turn to him
,
but he held her firmly against his chest.

“Relax.” He ran his hands down her arms. He waited a moment for her to settle before he spoke again. “Marry me, Alex.”

“All right.”

His grip tightened involuntarily on her arms before he relaxed his hands. “Why?”

Alex frowned at the creek. She hadn’t expected him to ask. “Everything you said last night is true. It’s a reasonable business arrangement.”
A
nd I’ve fallen in love with you,
s
he answered silently.