“Why, counselor, I do believe you’re breaking the law. There is an open-container law in Montana, you know.” I bump his shoulder with mine and then take a sip of the sweet drink.

“It’s our secret. I won’t tell if you don’t.”

“Deal.” He feeds me another bite of rice. “So your day was good?”

“Busy,” he confirms. “But good. I’m glad it’s the weekend.”

“I wish I had weekends.” I frown down at my food.

“You have to take days off now and again.”

“I do, but the story is always in my head. And lately, I don’t have time to take days off. Not whole days, anyway.” I shrug and stuff more delicious guacamole in my mouth. “I’m not complaining though. It’s a fun job.”

He holds another bite up for me but I shake my head and wipe my mouth with a napkin. “I’m full. That was great, thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” We pack up the leftovers and empty containers.

“Let’s go sit on the bridge for a little while,” I suggest.

“Sounds good.” He nods and rises from the table, holding his hand out for me to join him, and we stroll slowly down the path to the bridge.

“I love this place.” I take a deep breath, enjoying the musty smell of the leaves. “I used to come down here almost every day after school in the fall and the spring to do homework or read or just think.”

“What did you think about?”

We approach the top of the bridge and lean against the railing, taking in the tall mountains ahead that are sprinkled with yellow and red trees. A breeze has picked up, making the limbs above sing.

“Oh, normal teenage-girl stuff, most likely.” I turn my back to the rail and lean on my elbows, watching Ty as he leans his hands on the rail next to me. “You know, boys, clothes, school. Swimming.”

“Do you still swim?”

“Every day.”

“Really?” His brows rise and he reaches up to tuck my hair behind my ear. “That must be how you stay in such great shape.”

“It is.” I nod. “I’ll never stop swimming. My parents built the pool house when I was a freshman in high school and took an interest in it.”

Ty slides closer to me. His hand glides over my stomach and around my waist, holding my side against his stomach, and he lowers his mouth to my temple. “Thank you for bringing me to this spot.”

I turn to smile at him, and my breath catches. His lips are mere inches from mine. I can feel the heat of his skin, and I know without a doubt that I want him.

I trust him.

I need him in my bed.

I turn into him and wrap my arms around his shoulders. His nose brushes against mine. I take a deep breath and whisper, “Ty?”

“Yeah, beautiful?” he whispers back.

He sweeps his lips across mine and settles those lips on the corner of my mouth, nibbling lazily, before moving down my jawline.

I tilt my head to the side, giving him more space. He cups my face in his hand and hovers his lips over mine again before he pulls back to gaze down at me. We’re both panting now, eyes bright with lust, and my stomach is clenched, my center pulsing in need.

“Let’s go to my place, Ty.”

He smiles softly, his breath still coming hard. “You need to be sure, Lo. I won’t share you. So you need to be completely sure that this is what you want.”

I stare up at him, my mouth dropped. His? His. “That means you’re mine too. It goes both ways.”

He smiles triumphantly and kisses me long and hard, his mouth demanding and urgent. He finally backs away, grips my hand in his, and guides me back to the picnic table to gather our things before leading me to his Jeep.

The ride to my house is short. We arrive in just a few minutes.

“Wait for me,” he murmurs. He kisses my hand before leaving the car, walking to my side, and opening the door for me.

“You’re so chivalrous.”

“Is that a good thing?” He leads me up to the house.

“Yeah, it’s good. Different.”

“Get used to it, beautiful.”

He runs his hand down my hair and waits while I unlock the door and key in the alarm code, then simply takes my hand and leads me to the stairs.

“Every instinct I have,” he begins as he climbs ahead of me, “is telling me to take you right here on these steps, but I want to make love to you all night, and I don’t think the stairs will be comfortable for long.”

He tosses a smile over his shoulder at me and leads me to the bedroom. He turns to me and pushes his finger into the waist of my jeans and pulls me against him. “I need to get you naked.”

“Back at you.”

Suddenly we are a tangle of arms and clothes and laughter as we strip each other down. When the offending clothes are gone, Ty lifts me and, with one arm wrapped around my waist, climbs to the middle of my king-size bed and lowers me gently. His hands glide up my arms. He threads his fingers through mine and pins my hands to the bed above my head as he lowers his head and kisses me softly. He settles his pelvis against mine, his cock nestled against my folds, and he just kisses me until we’re both breathless.

“I want to touch you,” I whisper against his lips. He frees my hands and they roam down his smooth back to his firm ass and up his sides. “Love the way you feel.”

He growls and kisses down my neck, across my collarbones, then licks his tongue over a nipple. I gasp and shove my hands in his hair as he pulls the nub through his lips and sucks it in his mouth, worrying it with the tip of his tongue. His hand finds the other breast; his thumb moves back and forth over the nipple, making it pucker.

I arch my back, pushing deeper into his embrace.

“You’re so fucking sweet,” he growls, and switches breasts, tasting and biting the other nipple almost painfully, but I can’t get enough.

My hips tilt, pressing my core against his stomach as he continues his journey south. His hands slide from my sides down to my hips, and that amazing, talented mouth of his nibbles its way down my stomach, over my navel, and lower still to the bare, sensitive flesh below.

“God, you’re so beautiful.” His hand glides over my flat stomach and his eyes watch the movement. I push my hands through his hair gently, needing to touch him, to be connected to him.

He spreads my legs wide as he shimmies farther down the bed and brushes his tongue over my clit, just barely touching it.

“Holy shit!” I exclaim as my hips leave the bed.