Still by Ann Mayburn Page B

make a mean batch of chocolate chip cookies and I can order out with the best of them. Besides, who else is going to let you create gigantic statues of nude men in bondage in their barn?”
    Wyatt gave Michelle a confused look but James spoke up, “Yuki is a sculptor, mostly in metal but she does some stonework now and again. We moved down here from Chicago so she could have enough room to do some really big pieces.”
    “And not freeze my tits off,” Yuki added with a smile.
    Wyatt chewed in silence then looked towards the direction of the foyer. “Did you do that fountain?”
    Looking pleased, Yuki nodded. “Yep. It was my welcome home present to Michelle after she got back from overseas.” She glanced at Michelle then back at Wyatt. “She always loved horses growing up. We actually met when we were thirteen at a stables where we boarded our horses.”
    “Really?” Wyatt’s obvious interest in Michelle’s past both pleased and irritated her. There were some things she wasn’t ready to share with him yet. While she was sure he knew that her father was a Senator and her mother a well-known actress she wanted to know that he liked her for who she was, not just because she was some celeb’s daughter.
    Michelle kicked Yuki beneath the table. “I’m going to take him on a tour of the grounds as soon as we’re done with breakfast. Callahan, can you ride?”
    “Yes, Ma’am.”
    “Good. Then you can take Fancy Pants. “
    “You have a horse named Fancy Pants?”
    James laughed. “Don’t let the name fool you. That horse will throw you the second he smells weakness. Kinda like some women I know.”
    Yuki slowly shook her head. “You just earned yourself some time in the cradle, my dear.”
    Her husband swallowed hard and plastered a smile on his face that wasn’t fooling anyone. “I live to serve.”
    Wyatt looked over at Michelle and she saw a thousand questions in his gaze, along with speculation, anger, pain, desire, and a tiny trace of hope. He had the most expressive eyes she’d ever seen and their power hadn’t dimmed over the past year. If anything, she was more attuned to him now than ever before. Was it because there were no longer any restrictions between them? There were no superior officers watching them now, no boots that would run their mouths. Now it was just Michelle and Wyatt and she marveled at how natural it felt to be with him.
    Having the right to touch him as she wished, she leaned over and slipped her hand into Wyatt’s. As their fingers curled together, something deep inside of her soul shifted, a hidden pain roaring momentarily to the surface before she ruthlessly pushed it down. No, she would not think of the last man she’d loved and lost.
    Wyatt turned his hand so that their fingers laced tighter together. He gave her a gentle squeeze, bringing her back to the warmth of the breakfast table on a beautiful, sunny morning and away from the ice of her memories. She could see his concern and smiled. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed both Yuki and James observing them.
    She straightened, but didn’t release Wyatt’s hand. “If you want you can ride my horse, Bitch Goddess.”
    He laughed, a surprised and deep bass rumble. “No, I think one bitch goddess is enou...er...um... Aw, shit.”
    Michelle had to press her lips together to keep from laughing. Thankfully, Yuki stepped in and saved him by suggesting, “Stop by my studio. I’d love to get some sketches of Wyatt, if that’s okay with him. He has a very interesting face. Not pretty boy handsome, but a face you’d remember nonetheless.”
    “By the way, my wife likes to sculpt nude men.” James grinned. “So don’t worry if she asks you to strip. Once she’s in her artistic mindset you cease to be male and become a set of interesting angles and planes to shape.”
    Yuki smiled and sat back with a sigh. “That’s why James doesn’t have a problem with me staring at naked men for hours at a time.”
    Wyatt toyed