Montana Sky

classic. And there’s no hat or gloves.”
    “Spoilsport,” Tess muttered, then grinned at Willa. “Gotcha.”
    “At this rate, Will’s going to have a dress on more times this year than I’ve seen in her whole life.” Ben toasted her. “I used to figure she slept in Levi’s.”
    “Like to see you drive cattle in a dress,” Willa tossed back.
    “So would I.” With a chuckle, Nate nudged his plate aside. “Lily, that was a fine meal. Adam’s going to have to start buying bigger belts with you cooking for him.”
    “You have to have room for pie.” Beaming with pleasure, Lily rose. “Why don’t we have it in the living room?”
    “That girl can cook,” Ben commented as he settled into a wing chair in the living room. “Adam’s a lucky son of a bitch.”
    “Is that how you gauge a man’s fortune in a wife, McKinnon?” Willa chose the floor in front of the fire and folded her legs. “By how she cooks?”
    “Couldn’t hurt.”
    “A clever woman hires a cook.” Tess groaned a little as she sat with Nate on the sofa. “And only eats this way once a year. I’m going to have to do fifty extra laps in the pool tomorrow.”
    Willa thought of several snide comments, but let them pass. She shot a quick look toward the kitchen, where Adam and Lily were busy readying dessert. “Before they come in, did Lily say anything to you about seeing her ex while you were shopping the other day?”
    “No.” Tess sat up quickly. “Not a word.”
    “In Ennis?” Nate’s eyes narrowed, and he stopped playing with Tess’s fingers.
    “She said she was mistaken. Said it was an old habit to imagine him wherever she went, but it worried me.”
    “She got quiet for a while.” Pursing her lips, Tess thought back. “We were window-shopping at a lingerie store, and I thought she was dreaming of her wedding night. She seemed nervous for a couple minutes, but she never said a thing.”
    “You ever get that picture of him?” Ben asked Nate.
    “Just a couple of days ago. There was some sort of holdup back East.” He, too, sent a cautious look toward the kitchen. “Looks like a frigging altar boy. Pretty face and a jarhead haircut. I haven’t seen him around. I should have brought it over with me, got it to Adam.”
    “I want to see it,” Willa said. “We’ll talk about it later,” she added, when she heard Adam’s voice. “I don’t want to spoil this for her.”
    To cover the gap, Ben rose and strolled over as Lily carried in a tray. “Now, that’s pie.” He leaned over, sniffed, like a man who had nothing more on his mind than his next bite. “So what have you got for everybody else?”
    They kept the evening light, and when Nate gave Tess a subtle signal by a quick squeeze of her hand, he rose. “I’d better head on before you have to roll me out the door. Lily.” He bent to kiss her. “You set one fine table.”
    “I’m so glad you came.”
    “I’ll walk out with you.” Tess feigned a yawn. “All that food, I’m going to sleep like a log.”
    By tacit agreement Ben and Willa gave them five minutes after hugs and good-byes before they made their own exit.
    When they were alone, Adam turned Lily into his arms.
    “Who do they think they’re fooling?”
    “What do you mean?”
    Finding her incredibly sweet, he pressed a kiss to her brow. “Did you hear a rig start up?”
    She blinked, understood, and laughed. “No, I don’t suppose I did.”
    “I think they’ve got the right idea.” He swept Lily up, headed for the steps.
    “Adam, all the dishes.”
    “They’ll still be here in the morning.” He kissed her again. “And so will we.”
     
    I N HER BED . IN THE DARK , WILLA LET OUT A LONG throaty moan. The sound of that always aroused him, spurred him to quicken the pace. He loved to watch her when she rode him, the way her hair rained down off her shoulders, so lush and dark. He could see those flashes, those flickers of pleasure on her face as she lost herself. And when he took her breasts in his hands, when he reared up to replace his hands with his hungry mouth, she wrapped herself around him like a silky vine, all clinging arms and legs so he could feast on her.
    No matter how much she gave, he wanted more.
    “Go over.” He panted out the demand, pressed his hand where they joined, and found her, drove her.
    Her moan came again, a rusty sound of delight that pumped through his blood like good whiskey. He felt her give, and flood, then sob again before her teeth closed