Marry in Haste... by Karen Rose Smith

hazel eyes sparkled with his compliment and he wanted to lean across and kiss her, yet he didn’t want to disrupt the welcome camaraderie that had sprung up. Although the sexual tension that had vibrated between them from the moment they’d met hadn’t lessened, they ate in an almost companionable silence.
    When they’d finished, Mallory stood and picked up both of their plates. “I almost hate to go back inside.”
    He stood, too, and suddenly had an idea he hoped would please her. “Then let’s not go back in.”
    â€œI have to do the dishes.”
    â€œWe’ll let them soak in the sink. I want to take you somewhere.”
    â€œWhere?”
    â€œYou’ll see,” he said mysteriously. “But you might want to grab your bathing suit and if you don’t have one, you could try skinny-dipping.”
    Her eyes widened and she assured him, “I have one.”
    Chuckling, he took his plate from her and followed her around the side of the adobe. A few minutes later they were sitting in the truck, bumping over a gravel access road. Soon, even the gravel disappeared and they traveled on the packed earth. Slowing as stands of cedar grew thicker, he finally stopped beside a live oak. “We’re here. We don’t have to walk far.”
    He came around to Mallory’s side of the truck and opened the door for her. When he offered her his hand, her gaze met his. The electricity between them practically buzzed, but she took his hand and used it for leverage as she stepped down to the ground. They walked side by side through the range grass until they broke through a line of oaks.
    When she stopped, so did he. “How lovely,” she murmured as if entering a holy place.
    He felt that way about this spot. The descending sun was a fiery red ball reflected in the calm, cool water of the lake where a willow dropped its branches. Tall grass grew along the north and west borders. Sparkles of sunlight danced to the south and east as the bare earth embraced the water.
    â€œIt’s spring fed,” Reed explained, “so it’s cold.”
    â€œRight now I could use a little cold,” she said with a smile.
    He handed her one of the towels he’d brought, laid his on the ground and pulled off his boots and socks. When his hands went to the snap on his jeans, Mallory asked, “What are you doing?”
    â€œI’m going swimming.”
    Unfastening his fly, he let his jeans drop to the ground.
    Mallory backed up, but her eyes dropped below his waist. He was wearing black briefs, not a bathing suit.
    â€œI didn’t bring a suit with me.” He shrugged.
    She quickly spun around and peered at the lake.
    â€œMallory.” He kept his voice gentle. “You’ve seen me naked. I’ve seen you.”
    â€œNot when I was fully conscious of what I was doing,” she retorted, glancing over her shoulder and keeping her eyes steadily on his.
    Instead of being a bond, the night they’d spent together in that motel room was a barricade. “I’m going in,” he said gruffly.
    Mallory watched as Reed strode into the water and dove under and swam out to the middle. Her hands were trembling and she realized her attachment to this man scared her. All he had to do was smile at her, let alone bare his chest or more, and her insides quivered with a longing she didn’t recognize. She’d been brought up to be a proper lady, and she didn’t understand what had happened that night in Reno…why simple rebellion had turned into marriage to a man she didn’t know.
    The temperature hadn’t eased much and standing here watching Reed wasn’t going to help her cool off. Choosing a compact clump of cedars for a changing screen, she slipped behind them and quickly removed her clothes. The little devil who’d prompted her to sit at Reed’s table at the Golden Spur made her wonder, What if he saw you like this, and