Montana Sky

Different.”
    “I feel different.” She smiled. “Great. And how are you?”
    He’d been feeling easy before he turned and saw her in that long mist-colored dress, the flowing skirt with the teasing hint of leg. That slim neck revealed by the pinned-up hair. She looked too soft, too touchable, too everything.
    “Fine. The same. Seems like I should take you to something fancier than a movie, the way you look.”
    “Lily and Tess get a charge out of going through my closet and criticizing my wardrobe. I’m told this is about the only decent thing I own.” She plucked at the skirt and his blood pressure spiked as the unbuttoned material gave way to more leg. “They’ve threatened to take me shopping.”
    Stop babbling, she ordered herself, and moved behind the bar. “Want a drink?”
    “I’m driving.”
    “Actually, I was thinking we could just stay in.” There, now she’d done it.
    “In?”
    “Yeah, I don’t get the house to myself often anymore. Bess is staying with a friend tonight, and Tess and Lily are . . . well.”
    “Nobody’s here?” Something lodged in his throat, something hot and not easily swallowed.
    “Nobody’s here.” She opened the cold box behind the bar, found the champagne Tess had directed her to serve. “So, I thought we could just . . . stay in. Relax.” The bottleclinked hard on wood when she set it down. “Tess has a suitcase full of videos if we want a movie, and there’s food.”
    Since he made no move to do so, Willa tore off the foil, twisted the wire free. “Unless you’d rather go out.”
    “No.” He focused on the bottle when she popped the cork. “Champagne? Are we celebrating?”
    “Yeah.” If she could just manage to get a grip on the glasses. “Spring. I saw wildflowers today, and the bulbs are sprouting. Birds are building a nest in the pole barn again.” She passed him his glass. “We’ll start inseminating cows soon.”
    His lips twitched as he took the glass. “Yeah, it’s that time of year.”
    “Oh, the hell with this.” She muttered it, then downed the bubbly wine in her glass in two long gulps. “I’m no good at games. This is Tess and Lily’s idea, anyway.” Debating another, she set her empty glass down, looked him dead in the eye. “Look, the point is, Ben, I’m ready.”
    “Okay.” Baffled, he took a sip of champagne. “You want to go out after all?”
    “No, no.” She pressed her fingers against her eyes, took a breath. “I’m ready to have sex with you.”
    He choked, managed to wheeze in air, sputter it out. “Excuse me?”
    “Why dance around all this?” She came out from behind the bar. “You want me to go to bed with you, and I’m ready to. So, let’s go to bed.”
    He took another drink—a mistake, as each individual bubble took on an edge and ripped its way down his throat. “Just like that?”
    The horror in his voice had her fumbling. What if he’d just been stringing her along, teasing her the way he had since childhood?
    Why, then, she thought, he’d have to die.
    “It’s what you said you wanted,” she snapped at him. “So?”
    “So.” She’d always done him in with angry eyes and impatience. Made him want to bite her—in all sorts ofinteresting places. But she was changing the game, he thought. And the rules. “Just, I’m ready now so yippee?”
    “What’s wrong with that?” She jerked a shoulder. “Unless you’ve changed your mind.”
    “No, I haven’t changed my mind. It’s not a matter of changing my mind, it’s . . . Jesus, Will.” He set the glass on the bar before he could bobble it and make a fool of himself. “You’ve thrown me off stride.”
    “Oh.” The confusion faded from her eyes and her mouth curved into a smile. “Is that all?”
    “What do you expect?” His voice shot out, filled with male frustration. “You stand there all prettied up, shove champagne at me, and tell me you want to have sex. How am I supposed to keep my rhythm?”
    Maybe he had a point, though she couldn’t quite see it. But he looked sort of cute, all flustered and embarrassed. So she’d humor him.
    “Okay.” She closed the distance, wound her arms around his neck. “Let’s see if we can get your rhythm back.” Pressed her mouth hard to his.
    His reaction was quick, and satisfying. The way his arms came up, banded her, the way his mouth angled and fed, the quick intake and release of his breath. Then, when his lips gentled, the way he murmured her name.
    “Your