Best Laid Plans (19 page)

She readily accepted, greedily
letting the cold, somewhat bitter malt quench her thirst. "I'm done. Your
room is a masterpiece." Amanda rubbed the perspiration-drenched bottle
against her throat and around the back of her neck. I put a coat of Minwax on
the baseboards; that natural wood grain trim was too beautiful to cover."

He leaned against the refrigerator,
tossing his twist-off cap toward the sink. "Well, the yard is mowed and
trimmed, the stalls have been cleaned and the car and truck washed."

Amanda watched his Adam's apple bob
up and down as he drank. "Does this mean we're both finished for the
day?" At Lucas' affirmative nod, she exhaled in relief. "My energy is
in great need of revitalization."

"Hmm." His dark eyes
appraised the paint-spattered copper curls that were crowned with a red bandanna
rolled into a sweatband. "Do you have enough energy to pack something for
lunch while I saddle the horses? We can head down to the pond and cool off with
a swim."

"I did make some fried chicken
early this morning and a potato salad. It was supposed to be dinner, but. .
." Amanda rubbed her hands together. "Why don't we have dinner now
and eat lunch tonight. As far as a bathing suit goes …" she examined
spangled legs and arms, "I'd have to shower and change." Her lips
compressed together. "Lucas, I'm jumping in as is!"

Food and drink were packed in two
ice-filled canvas carry-alls and slung across the saddles. After being confined
in the barn during the inclement weather, the horses were eager for an
adventurous outing. Buttercup and Maisy snorted and pranced in delighted
appreciation across the rolling pasture to the pond.

"Come on in, the water's
perfect!" Lucas called. He waved, then proceeded to dive like a seal into
the clear depths.

Amanda brushed another tuft of fuzzy
cotton seeds off the picnic blanket, carefully anchoring the material with four
good-size rocks. "A woman's work is never done," she muttered,
righting his boots and neatly folding the sweat shirt Lucas had discarded
before he had swung his jean-clad body Tarzan-style into the pond.

"Mandy, aren't you coming
in?"

"Ready or not. . ." Amanda
double-checked her pockets for anything dissolvable. Not to be outdone by
Lucas' athletic prowess, she too decided to make a dramatic entrance into the
water. "Here I come!"

Gripping the thick sisal rope that
looped over a strong cottonwood branch, Amanda ran back, lifted her feet off
the ground and was propelled up and over the middle of the pond. A few seconds
of giddy vertigo were instantly corrected by a sober dunking into the frigid
water. "Lucas!" She screamed his name, shaking the water from her
face and hair.

"What?" His innocent face
was blinked into focus.

"You wretched creature!"
Amanda's hands settled against his broad shoulders. "This pond must be fed
by a polar ice cap!" Her teeth gave an exaggerated chatter.

Broad shoulders gave a lazy shrug.
"Seems fine to me." Her Cheshire-cat grin was the last thing Lucas
saw before he was deftly submerged.

The crisp, crystal lake proved to be the
perfect panacea to their work-exhausted bodies and psyches. They frolicked like
children in the invigorating water, trying to catch the sunfish and perch that
quickly darted around them, or swimming alongside one of the large rock turtles
that kept disappearing into its hard-shelled home.

A game of dares ensued. Lucas and
Amanda turned into acrobats, making the rope into their trapeze. While graceful
in mind, their somersaults and swan dives proved more often to be belly flops
and ungainly stunts. Physically tired but spiritually rejuvenated, they dragged
themselves onto the grassy banks to embrace the healing strength supplied by
the sunlight that filtered through the verdant broadleaf canopy of cottonwood
trees.

"I don't think Ringling Brothers
is going to beat a path to your door," Amanda announced, lazily stretching
her arms over her head and closing her eyes. "You lowered the water level
in the pond by two feet!"

"You should talk! I always
thought you were poetry in motion, but Mandy. . ." His tongue clicked an
accusing message against the roof of his mouth.

Her warm, full-bodied laugh serenaded
his ears. Lucas turned his head, opening one sleepy hazel eye to survey
Amanda's supine form. Suddenly he was completely alert, all fatigue forgotten.
Moments ago they had played like innocent children in their Garden of Eden, but
now some invading serpent touched the animal in him.

Her delicate eyelids were closed, her
face tilted up toward the sky. Lucas studied the tender curve of an ear,
glimpsed through teasing water-darkened tendrils. His dark gaze watched the
steady rise and fall of her full breasts beneath the clinging soaked T-shirt.
Her urgent nipples pointedly proclaimed a need for warmth beneath a bra that
had been rendered useless by her swim.

"This was a brilliant idea,
Lucas." Amanda yawned and forced her eyes open. "I bet you're as
hungry as I am."

"More so," Lucas agreed,
letting one last visual examination feed and assuage his sensual appetite.

Golden brown fried chicken, potato
salad, carrots, celery and tomatoes were distributed on paper plates and
heartily consumed. They sat Indian style on the green Army blanket,
concentrating on refueling their energy with food. The companionable silence
was broken by an occasional whinny from the tethered horses or a mockingbird
feasting on cotton fruit and seeds.

Amanda exhaled a contented sigh, her
eyes monopolized by the beauty of her surroundings. "Starting tomorrow we
get an extra hour of sunlight to enjoy all this." She gave Lucas a
grateful smile. "Coming here was just what I needed."

"I'm glad, Mandy." He
leaned over to tap her nose with his carrot stick. "It's been a long time
since we were together. I'm really getting used to having you around."

Her even white teeth snapped apart
the bright orange vegetable. "I will admit I haven't given the shop or
myself much thought." Amanda's expression turned serious. "I've been
very happy here with you, Lucas." She grinned suddenly. "I may turn
into 'the woman who came to dinner' and just stay and stay and stay. . ."
Her voice trailed off in amusement.

"I wouldn't mind that at
all." He tried to make his tone light but failed, at least to his own
ears.

She tossed him two red apples.
"I brought these for our trusty steeds." While Lucas ambled off to
give Buttercup and Maisy an afternoon snack, Amanda began to pick up the
littered remains of their picnic. Her labors were roundly interrupted by a
manly cry. "Lucas!" She scrambled to her feet, running to his limping
figure. "What happened?"

"A wasp." He was hopping, foot
in hand, trying to examine his toe. "I think the stinger is still in
there."

Amanda looked at his pain-contorted
features, feeling an empathetic stabbing in her own foot. "You aren't
allergic to them, are you?" At his negative grunt, she took a calming
breath. "Okay, sit down. Let me see."

"It hurts," Lucas
announced, his deep voice sounding slightly higher than it usually did.

"I'll be careful," she
placated her patient. Amanda filled a paper cup from the pond, letting the cool
water wash away the dirt from his well-padded big toe. "You're
right," she said, looking up from an intense examination of his size
twelve appendage, "the stinger is still in there. I'll have to pull it
out."

A low moan escaped him. "Do you
know what you're doing? I don't want to end up with gangrene and -"

"Men! What babies!" Amanda
flexed her thumb and index finger, eyeing the length of nail that would play
tweezers. "Now hold still," she cautioned, and with a single quick,
clean movement, she eliminated the tiny black sliver of venom. "All
done." Again she cleansed the reddened digit, then began to mix the rest
of the water with dirt.

"What are you doing now?"
Lucas came up on his elbows to watch her actions.

"I'm making a mudpack." She
proceeded to bury not only his toe but also his entire left foot beneath a
castle of cool, moist earth. "It's an age-old poultice to reduce swelling
and ease pain." Her hands happily patted the giant structure. Amanda
smiled encouragingly. "Doesn't that feel better?"

"No."

She laughed, rinsed her hands in the
pond and played with his right foot. "Don't worry, Lucas," her voice
was low and teasing, "you have nine others." Dark lashes sheltered
glittering eyes. "This little piggy went to market, this little piggy
stayed home," she played the childish game with his toes, "and this
little piggy went weeeee," her finger ran down his sole, curved up his
jean covered leg, over shin, knee, thigh and hipbone to come to a final halt,
in the indentation of his hair-shrouded navel, "all the way home."

He grabbed Amanda's wrist, easily
hauling her laughing form the full length of his body. Two large hands settled
her comfortably against his chest. "Nurses are not supposed to torture
their patients," Lucas admonished. But he found himself luxuriating in the
punishment her soft curves inflicted against his hard body.

Amanda's elbows settled in the sand
on either side of his head. Her fingertips traced his thick, dark moustache,
then playfully pulled down his full lower lip. "Poor Luke." Her hands
splayed against his warm, sun-golden flesh, palms rubbing amid the black fur
that blanketed his muscular chest.

"Please," he gave her ass a
warning squeeze, "you know how I hate that nickname!"

"Why don't you tell Kitty?"

"I have," his mouth
twisted. "She thinks it's -"

"Cute," Amanda supplied,
eyes wide and innocent.

A low growl emanated. "Listen,
Amanda Juliet -"

Feminine lashes fluttered
coquettishly. "Yes, Lucas Anthony?" Amanda's knuckle teased the niche
in his check until it formed the dimple he had always hated. "How's the
foot doing?"

He smiled into her eyes, enjoying the
last few moments of this intimate sojourn. "Better than new. I bet I can
even get my boot on."

They took the long way home, enjoying
the western horizon that was stained with a mystic mauve glow. "How about
setting your alarm for a predawn ride," Lucas invited as they reigned the
horses for a final look at the valley. "You should see all this early in
the morning, Mandy. Everything is still fogged with sleep until the sun flares
in the sky. The spectacular display lasts an hour."

"We can pack up a
breakfast," she decided, giving Maisy's neck a soothing rub. "Thermos
of coffee and some muffins."

"Sounds perfect," he said
and smiled before cueing Buttercup toward home.

Lucas came in through the patio
doorway just as Amanda had finished loading the dishwasher. "Don't turn
that on," he warned. "I'm headed for the shower."

"Hey," her hands settled on
her hips. "What about ladies first? I still have to chip all this paint
off of me."

They were still arguing when the
telephone beeped an intermission. "Hello," Lucas listened for a
moment, then a muscle moved ominously in his cheek. "It's for you."
He handed the beige receiver to Amanda. "Wade Lloyd."

"Hello, Wade." Her
well-modulated voice drifted a harmonious greeting across the line. "It's
lovely to hear from you."

"This is my sixth call to you
today," Wade announced. "I was just about to give up."

"I'm glad you didn't." She
motioned for Lucas to head for the shower, but he stubbornly didn't budge.
Amanda turned her back.

"I was hoping you'd say
that." His tone relayed his pleasure. "I had a business meeting
scheduled for tonight, and when it fell through I found my thoughts focused on
you. I'm hoping you'll say yes to joining me for dinner tonight."

"I'd love to. What time will you
pick me up?"

"About ninety minutes? I ... I
apologize for the short notice, Amanda. I -"

"Don't give it a second thought,
Wade," she soothed his concern. "I just adore spur-of-the-moment plans.
Where are you taking me?"

"You were hardly
spur-of-the-moment, Amanda." His deep voice held a note of intimacy.
"As a matter of fact, you've been on my mind all night long. But we can
discuss that over a Chinese dinner."

"Marvelous." The word
fairly purred into the phone and Lucas' grimaced.

"See you shortly." Amanda
smiled at Lucas. "I'm afraid you're on your own tonight, boy." Her
tongue clicked against her teeth. "I've got a date!"

Seven

"May I complement your
attire." Wade's vibrant voice was close to Amanda's ear. His large hand
filled the small of her back, making his masculine presence known while the
sartorially perfect waiter led them to a corner booth.

"When one is taken to the Jade
Garden, one dresses appropriately," she bantered with ease, fingers
flowing along the mandarin neckline of her blouse.

His eyes grew even brighter,
sculpting the lush curves that moved beneath her Charmeuse silk top and
matching slinky pants. "I find myself thinking of all the interesting
places I can take you, so I can be continually dazzled by your sense of
style."