Remember When

didn't know was undetermined. But there was one simple fact: She was Jack's daughter, and the apple of his larcenous eye.
    She was bait.
    Considering this, he leaned back, tidily dabbed his mouth with his napkin. Really, the food was better here than one might think, and the quiet was soothing.
    Quiet. Private. A nice little woodland getaway. He began to smile as he indulged himself in another glass of wine. Quiet and private, with no neighbors nearby to disturb if one was to have a discussion with... associates. A discussion that might become a bit heated.
    He looked around the cabin, at the country dark pressing against the windows.
    It might do very well, he thought. It might do very well indeed.
    ***
    It was very odd waking up with a man in your bed. A man took up considerable room, for one thing, and she wasn't used to worrying about how she looked the minute she opened her eyes in the morning.
    She supposed she'd get over the last part, if she continued to wake up with this man in her bed for any length of time. And she could always get a bigger bed to compensate for the first part.
    The question was, how did she feel about sharing her bed-and wasn't that just a metaphor for her life?-with this man for any length of time? She hadn't had time to think it through, hadn't taken time, she corrected.
    Closing her eyes, she tried to imagine it was a month later. Her garden would be exploding, and she'd be thinking about summer clothes, about getting her outdoor furniture from the shed. Henry would be due for his annual vet appointment.
    She'd be planning Jenny's baby shower.
    Laine opened one eye, squinted at Max.
    He was still there. His face was squashed into the pillow, his hair all cute and tousled.
    So, she felt pretty good about having him there a month from now.
    Try six months. She closed her eyes again and projected.
    Coming up on Thanksgiving. In her usual organized fashion-she didn't care what Jenny said, it wasn't obsessive or disgusting-she'd have her Christmas shopping finished. She'd be planning holiday parties, and how she'd decorate the shop and the house.
    She'd order a cord of wood and enjoy lighting a fire every evening. She'd stock a few bottles of good champagne so she and Max could...
    Uh-oh, there he was.
    She opened both eyes now and studied him. Yeah, there he was. Popping right up in her little projections, lying right there beside her sleeping while Henry, her pre-alarm clock, was beginning to stir.
    She had a feeling if she added six months to that projection and made it a year, he was still going to be there.
    He opened his eyes, a quick flash of that tawny brown, and had her yelping in surprise.
    "I could hear you staring."
    "I wasn't. I was thinking."
    "I could hear that, too."
    His arm shot out, hooked around her. She had a foolish little thrill tremble in her belly at the easy strength of him when he pulled her over and under him.
    "I need to let Henry out."
    "He can wait a minute." His mouth took hers so that thrill twisted into a throb.
    "We're creatures of habit." Her breath caught. "Henry and me."
    "Creatures of habit should always be in the market to develop another habit." He nuzzled her neck where her pulse pounded. "You're all warm and soft in the morning."
    "Getting warmer and softer by the minute."
    His lips curved against her skin, then he lifted his head to look into her eyes. "Let's see about that."
    He scooped his hands under her hips, lifted them. And slid inside her. Those bright blue eyes blurred.
    "Oh yeah." He watched her, watched her in the pale morning sunlight as he stroked. "You're absolutely right."
    ***
    Henry whined and plopped his front paws on the side of the bed. He cocked his head as if trying to figure out why the two humans were still in there with their eyes closed when it was past time to let him out.
    He barked once. A definite question mark.
    "Okay, Henry, just a minute."
    Max trailed his fingertips over Laine's arm. "Want me to do it?"
    "You already did it. And thanks."
    "Ha ha. Do you want me to let the dog out?"
    "No, we have our little routine."
    She got out of bed, which had Henry racing to the bedroom doorway, racing back, dancing in place while she got her robe out of the closet.
    "Does the routine include coffee?" Max asked her.
    "There is no routine without coffee."
    "Praise God. I'm going to grab a shower, then I'll be down."
    "Take your time. Are you sure you want to go out, Henry? Are you absolutely, positively sure?"
    From the tone,