"Keeping the score even. I see." She nuzzled his neck, kissing her way up to his ear lobe. Jennifer sucked on the small drop of flesh.

The gentle rooting sounds drove him crazy. The skin on his neck pebbled, the good feeling shooting down his ribs. She nibbled the lobe, her teeth clamping down ever so tenderly and pulling. He inhaled fast, one hand driving into the blanket covered foam they laid on. They were sandwiched between the foam and blanket on the bottom with a light blanket on top. She was beautiful in a dress last night, a hot woman in shorts today, and enticing in her jeans at near midnight. Jennifer released his earlobe with agonizing, d.i.c.k-hardening slowness.

He palmed her a.s.s and gave it squeeze. "Keep that up and I'll have to take you home soon."

"Why?" she whispered in his ear. "You could take my jeans off and have your way with me right here."

His d.i.c.k roused against his b.u.t.ton fly. Here. In the back of his truck on a quiet hilltop. The land belonged to Sean's brother and was open for AJ to trespa.s.s, but this was a get to know you better night. He was going to do this right. The road to ruin was getting in Jennifer's pants too early.

"Sorry," he rumbled into her hair. "Our clothes stay on tonight."

"What? Is this one of your dating rules?"

"It's my rule for you. We're going take our time and get to know each other."

She growled against neck. "You lying beside me, looking better than a body has a right to, and you're not going to touch me?"

His head tipped back, low laughter rumbling out of him. Blondie got testier and testier with each pa.s.sing minute. She pushed up on one elbow, her hair draping his arm. Crickets chirped. The sky was a million stars scattered on black.

She peered into his face. "You're serious."

"I am."

"Why?"

"Balance." He pushed up on his elbow, facing her. "As much as I love touching you, if that's all I do, that's all we'll be. Two bodies getting it on. I want to know you here." He traced one finger on her hairline above her forehead. "And here." His finger trailed lightly over her cheek, her chin before dropping to her heart.

He'd said the L word again. It slipped out. Jennifer was preoccupied with putting her hand over his and pressing his flesh against hers. The upper swell of her t.i.t was a plush semi-circle.

"Are you wearing a push-up bra?"

"Yes." She pushed his hand until he cupped her completely. "It's black mesh."

"Sheer. Like a nineteen fifties pin up bra."

"You like that?"

His fingers closed around her fullness. "Yeah."

"See, AJ. We're getting to know each other. Our likes and what not."

Her nipple poked the center of his palm. "You are hungry for touch aren't you?"

The corners of her mouth wilted. Her head leaned on her own shoulder as if the weight of what was going on between them consumed her too.

"I'm hungry for you, AJ." Her voice was fragile and knowing all at once. "I've had a few men approach me with offers to relieve me from the loneliness of widowhood."

The crooked twist of her lips told him what she thought of those men. His heart swelled. By their ongoing track record, she'd chosen him above all others. Him. The man from the rough side of Hidden Valley's tracks.

He traced her bottom lip. "I'll relieve you of whatever you want-" She groaned, her eyes pinching as if antic.i.p.ation was painful. "-soon. Trust me."

"I do, AJ." She flopped on her back beside him, staring at the skies. "That you aren't rus.h.i.+ng makes me want to rush even more."

"Sure. A contradiction that makes perfect sense." He grinned. Testier and testier.

"So, what's your favorite movie?" she asked grudgingly.

"Anything with Clint Eastwood."

Her eyes slanted a split second at him. "I really liked Bridges of Madison County. It's one of my go to chick flick movies." Jennifer's profile relaxed. "Okay. How old are you?"

"Twenty-eight."

"Great. I'm the older woman robbing the cradle."

"How old are you?"

"I'll be thirty-one in November."

He stayed up on one elbow, his other hand sliding onto her stomach. Her stomach muscles clenched under his palm. "Three years difference. Hardly robbing the cradle."

"It's the first time I've been older..." She grimaced on the last word, not finis.h.i.+ng her sentence.

Jennifer had a history too. An acid burn hit his mid-section. He couldn't change what had been, but he could work mighty hard to change what would be. She kept talking, asking questions of him and giving him answers to her own questions. His hand skimmed her ribs with agonizing slowness.

"I'm being efficient," she said, laughing when he touched a ticklish spot. "Asking the questions for both of us and giving my answers before you ask anything of me. It saves time...all in the name of balance."

He was in no hurry, tracing up and down her ribs under her left breast. His hand moved under her black cotton s.h.i.+rt as Jennifer peppered him with questions and answer time. He smiled down at her animated face. She acted as if this was a matter of getting a minimum amount of information out of the way, and once the quotient was met, fun and games would ensue. No dice. Not tonight. This was purely exploratory to get into her mind and her heart.

But his Neanderthal wasn't entirely shut out. Not with Jennifer's little breathy quips and her sweet wiggles beside him. When his fingers ran into her underwire bra, her lips froze mid-word in a tender O.

She swallowed delicately, her brown eyes searching him. Need and affection s.h.i.+ned in her eyes. Her mouth stalled as if any words went away when she swallowed. He pushed her sweater up over her rack, and he was the one at a loss for words. The view was even better than what she said.

A black mesh pin up bra hugged two full white t.i.ts. A black seam went up the center of each cup from the underwire, ending on her nipple. He traced the thin black seam.

"A pin up girl bra. You're killing me." His head buzzed and his nostrils flared. He was on Jennifer overload, her flowering scent and perfect pin up girl t.i.ts killing him.

"I remembered what you said last night bout my underwear. I figured you like mesh lingerie. So I wore this for you."

His b.a.l.l.s hurt so good. It was a gift. He wouldn't ask what she had on the bottom half.

"If you want, I can take my bra off and-"

"No." The word about shot out of him.

He took a deep breath and eased up. Tweaking her nipple and seeing Jennifer squirm gratified him. His d.i.c.k got no satisfaction, but he did. Control was the better part of him. It'd gotten him through years of sc.r.a.ping by at McMillan's. It'd get him through this journey with Jennifer.

She gathered up a handful of T-s.h.i.+rt and held fast. "Do we keep going with the questions and answers...to get this balance thing over with?" Her voice was breathy and humored.

"We'll work on balance for a long time to come." When her face fell, he dropped a quick kiss on one nipple. "For starters, I kiss this side and the other." And he kissed the other nipple.

"Ohhhh." Jennifer arched her t.i.ts up high.

He leaned over and cupped the sides of her curves in both hands. He pushed her t.i.ts as close together as they'd go, kissing and sucking, kissing and sucking a lazy line back and forth between both nipples. Jennifer moaned beneath him. She clutched his head, her fingers pressing ten points into his scalp.

He tongued a wet line, cresting one t.i.t, dipping into the valley of her cleavage, and cresting the other t.i.t. The mesh's texture tickled his tongue. He dragged teeth and lips over every thread of her bra cup.

"AJ," she moaned. "My bra...take it off."

"No," he mumbled against her cleavage and came up for air.

Jennifer lazed in the back of his truck, well-teased and played with. Black lashes were crescents on cheeks pale in midnight's colors. Lips slick with saliva s.h.i.+ned from her busy tongue. She was desperate for his kisses. Together they were a hot mix of hyper hormones and erotic daze.

He slid her s.h.i.+rt back down. "It's past midnight," he said gently. "Time to get you home."

The black crescents on her cheeks fluttered half over milk chocolate eyes. The sound she made was a grunt and a moan mashed together. She scowled at him...a lush pin up denied what she wanted.

"I don't want to." She cupped her own cheeks. "You know what? As soon as I get home, I'm fingering myself."

Head to toe, his body jerked. Legs stiff, he let denied pleasure push through. It hurt. He couldn't deny it. He pulled her into his arms and held on tight. He was falling for her. She was the one in need of a gentle, patient hand.

"You know what else?" A testy voice mumbled against his pec. "I'm going to call your cell phone. If you don't pick up, the message I leave is me having an o.r.g.a.s.m."

He busted up laughing.

"How's that for balance?" she asked.

"It's perfect." Slowly, he sat up, bringing Jennifer with him. He jumped over the side of his truck and waited for her at the open tailgate. "Now I have a question for you."

"I'm ready." She got up on all fours and made her way to the tailgate, messing up the blankets. Jennifer plopped her b.u.t.t on the tailgate, her usual grace missing. Her body denied release, she lacked a loose-limbed flow.

"s.e.x," he said, helping onto the ground. "Hot and fast?" He paused a second. "Or long and slow?"

Owl-eyed, Jennifer fussed with her jeans. "That's a first," she said, standing up straight and putting on the coat she'd left at the end of the truck.

"I'm happy either way."

She jammed both hands in her coat pockets. "I don't know."

They walked to the truck's cab and he helped her in. He stretched the seat belt and clicked in the buckle. He'd do this small act as long as Jennifer would let him.

"In two evenings you've read so much about me. It's shown me things about myself." He shut the door and she was again framed in his open window. This time she folded both forearms in the opening and rested her chin on her arms. "Does it bug you that I don't have an answer to hot and fast or long and slow?"

An unhurried smile nearly split his face. He kept his voice calm and easy. He didn't want to gloat. "I already know the answer."

CHAPTER SIX.

His cell phone voice mail played Jennifer's keening o.r.g.a.s.m at full volume. Driving home, he'd hit replay over and over again. Sweat drenched him. It was end of August after a packed Sat.u.r.day and no A/C in his truck. The windows were up so n.o.body else would hear the private message. And yeah. Her ninety second recording was a carnal a.s.sault.

He pulled into his home garage, grinning from ear to ear in his hot box of a truck. Jennifer's message neared the end.

"Last time, Blondie." He picked up his phone and rested his forearm on his steering wheel, listening to the best eighteen seconds.

Her o.r.g.a.s.m.

Jennifer's moans quickened, stretching four seconds. He felt the sound curl around his b.a.l.l.s and caress him like a finger running along his d.i.c.k from base to tip.

"Ohhhh, Aaaaa Jayyyy." Mattress springs squeaked. The crescendo was coming. "You, you-" Five seconds of high-pitched, heavy breathing. "-oh, oh, I, I oh! Yes, AJ, yessssss!"

Mattress springs sees-sawed three seconds. Her voice curled in a keening cry that went six seconds before sputtering into a long groan. Clatter sounded. Jennifer must've dropped the phone. There was a rustling sound, and Jennifer's heavy breathing came one again. The mattress springs creaked gently and...

"That's what you missed tonight." Her voice was sated and melty soft. "I look forward to seeing you again. And AJ, I've figured out dating rule number two." A pause. "See you Sat.u.r.day night."

He exited email and got out of his truck. A sandwich, a shave, and as shower and he'd be good to go. He walked around the dismantled engine of a nineteen fifty-two Ford pick-up in the third bay of his garage. The vehicle was his labor of love, a project in his off time. He stepped over the coiled up aluminum fuel line when his phone rang. Sean's number.

He tapped the screen. "Sean. What's up?"

"We've got a problem." Sean sighed. "I mean a big problem."

He stopped and wiped his sleeve across his forehead, waiting.

"Knight Plumbing Company dumped us."

"They can't do that. They signed a contract."

"My thoughts exactly, but get this. It was Joe Knight Senior who called to cancel it about ten minutes ago."

"The old man? I thought he retired two years ago?"

"Apparently not."

"Did they say why? I thought they were happy. It's been almost two years, now."

"Nope. The old man didn't say why. Just told me to look at the fine print, which I'm working on now. Either party can terminate with thirty days' notice."

AJ huffed long and hard. "Man, this is gonna hurt."

The income from maintaining the Knight's Plumbing rigs was tidy sum each month. The company sang their praises. When he and Sean started McMillan's six years ago, they worked around the clock, dreaming big. Wrenching cars was a boutique business, but a commercial garage was a step up in the world. They'd had their eye on the empty lot next door as the future site.

AJ pinched the bridge of his nose. "s.h.i.+t. We just hired Mike."

He didn't want to think about cutting anyone loose.