She was skittish at first when the little craft rocked slightly from side to side as he paddled.
“This is certainly different from a rowboat,” she said.
“I enjoy canoeing,” he said. “A canoe is easy to maneuver in the water.”
She trailed her fingers over the side, letting gentle wave-lets lap at her hand as she rela
xed into the rocking rhythm of the little craft. “It’s so peaceful out here.”
He watched her from his seat at the back of the canoe as she swept a hand beneath her shoulder-length tumble of sun-touched curls, pulling them into a heavy twist atop her head, which she then anchored with a firm tug of the hat’s brim. The nape of her neck was white and vulnerable and he wondered if the skin there would feel as silky under his lips as the rest of her had the night they’d made love.
Mentally, he shook his head. How could she imagine that he was never going to kiss her again?
She dipped her hand into the water again. Such a small, dainty hand. She was a small, dainty woman, more than a foot shorter than he was. She wasn’t too tiny, though. As he remembered how perfectly she’d fit around him, his breath grew short and he had to look away from the languid motion of that pretty, pale hand with its long, slender fingers. Those fingers had touched him intimately, shyly at first, then more boldly when he’d shown her how much he liked it—
Damn! If he’d set out specifically to drive himself insane, he couldn’t have done a much better job.
“Put sunscreen on the back of your neck,” he said.
She half turned and looked over her shoulder at him, a wry smile curving her lips. “You’re keen on giving orders, aren’t you?”
He shrugged. “I guess it’s a habit. Sorry.”
She nodded her acceptance of his apology. “My father’s much the same, you know. The dear man doesn’t realize how autocratic he sounds at times.” Her light laugh floated out over the lake. “Unfortunately for him, we know there’s no bite behind his bark.”
“I bet you and your sisters have him wrapped around your little fingers.”
She laughed again. “I won’t deny that he finds it hard to say no to us.”
A new thought struck him. “Do you know yet…?” He motioned in the general direction of her abdomen. “Is this baby a boy or a girl?”
“I don’t know. And I don’t plan to ask, either.” She lifted a hand and tucked a trailing wisp of auburn curl back beneath the hat. “Personally, I’m hoping for a little girl I can dress in ruffles and lace.”
He grimaced. “As long as it’s healthy, I’ll take whatever we get and be delighted with it.”
“I’ll agree with that,” she said.
“Although it might be nice to have some warning if it’s a daughter. What I know about little girls would leave plenty of room on the head of a pin.”
She didn’t answer him, but he saw her cheek dimple in a smile before she turned her head to face out over the water again.
An hour later, he tied up the canoe, and they headed back into Phoenix.
“I have to stop at the grocery store,” he told her as they neared the suburb where his home was located.
“May I come along?” She seemed instantly intrigued.
Her enthusiasm reminded him of his first years in the States when he’d done so many things for the first time. Things that most people took for granted, a part of everyday life that had to be done. They had no idea how exhilarating true freedom was. He knew she must be experiencing the same feelings. She had known restrictions that most people never even dreamed of. Restrictions he understood better than she might imagine.
A cage with velvet bars was still a cage.
“Of course you can come along,” he said. “Have you ever been in one before?”
She shook her head. “No. There was no reason to at home. What kinds of things do we need to buy?”
We. Such a simple little word. How could it change so many things? He wondered if she even realized she’d used it as he answered.
“Breakfast foods. Lunch meats. The ingredients for the chicken dish you wrote down. Fruits and vegetables. Cleaning supplies—”