The Golden Rules of Love: Western Romance by Tammy Andresen Page B

back tomorrow?”
    Annie shoulders sagged but she nodded. When they returned out to the main deck, Mack was waiting for them.
    A flood of pleasure washed through her at the sight of him. She gave him a brilliant smile and he blinked a couple of times. “How’d it go?”
    “Lousy,” Mary Beth complained.
    Annie shook her head in agreement. “I must have asked a hundred people if they knew Fergal. Nobody did, though.”
    Mack’s eyes pierced into her. “Did you do any better with Jasper?” His voice was terribly quiet.
    She shrugged. “Nope.”  She would tell him later that she was giving up the search.
    They made their way into the skiff and Mack started rowing them to their new home. Annie was getting more used to the water but it still frightened her and when a wave rolled under them, she gripped the side of the boat and yelped in fear.
    “You’re all right,” Mack soothed as he rowed.
    Annie looked over her shoulder at him. The moonlight lit the features of his face. She wanted to reach out and touch him but she kept her hands on the side of the boat.
    They finally pulled up to the side of the ship and Mack tied them off as Mary Beth began climbing up to the deck.
    Mary Beth had already disappeared when Annie reached the deck.  Granted, she was slow but her friend had disappeared in a flash.
    Annie’s shoulders slumped. She wasn’t keen on spending the first night on the boat alone. Mack stepped up behind her through the gap in the rail. She cleared her throat. She had said some pretty intimate things this morning and she was suddenly nervous to be alone with him. “Get all the wagons sold?”
    “Yes.” He was just behind her.
    “That’s good. What about the horses and the oxen?”
    “Yep.” His breath tickled her ear.
    “Get any supplies?”
    His hand came up to trail down her arm. “Are you in a hurry to leave?”
    She turned a little to see his face right next to hers. “Maybe I am.”
    Mack stared at her for long time. “Do you mean that? What about your search?”
    She shrugged, “I don’t feel the same drive to see it through. I…” Her voice trailed off as his hand slipped around her waist, pulling her against him. She turned back to look at him and his eyes glowed with warmth in the moonlight.
    “Well then, I’ll start gathering supplies first thing tomorrow.” He murmured as his lips touched the back of her neck.
    “You-you w-w-will have to show me to my room. I don’t know where―“ A gasp escaped her as his hand slid up her corset to her breast.
    “I liked it better on the trail when you didn’t wear this thing.” He gave her rib cage a little squeeze.
    “Mack, I thought you wanted to wait. I thought…” His hand came to her breast again, the pad of his thumb brushing against the nipple. His other hand gently turned her face until their lips met. Annie melted into him.
    “That was before I knew you were ready to leave with me.”
    “If I had known, I would have said it sooner.” She chuckled but it was lost as his lips came down on hers again.
    He broke the kiss and Annie started to protest. His finger came to her lips while his mouth bent to her ear. “We need a little more privacy.” Then he pulled her towards a hatch in the deck.
    Mack kissed her quickly and then dropped down into the hatch. Annie squinted down in the dark hole but she couldn’t see anything. “Mack?” she whispered.
    “Jump down, I’ll catch you.”
    Annie hesitated. Then she took a deep breath. She trusted him to catch her when she fell. She lowered herself down and then hopped into the hole. Almost immediately his strong arms came around her. He crushed her against her chest and she wrapped her arms around his neck. Their lips came together in a searing kiss. Mack had always made her tremble but trusting him seemed only to intensify her feelings.
    Their lips came together again and again. She realized he was carrying her and within a few steps, she heard him open a door. He set her down