"Then I'll be able to practice."

"Practice what? " he asked.

"You'll see, " she said. "I can't do it alone. You're going to have to help." He raised an eyebrow. "Does practice involve touching? "

He was teasing her and fully expected to make her blush. She didn't, though. She agreed instead.

"Oh, yes, you'll have to put your arms around me. At least I think you will. I'm not sure. I don't have any experience." He nudged his horse into a trot and led the way down a narrow slope.

She was right behind him.

His mind jumped from one licentious thought to another. What in thunder did she want to practice?

He glanced back. "This practice . . . it requires seclusion? " She hid her smile. "Oh, yes, it does."

"Why? " "Because I'm going to make a lot of noise. If there were other people around, I would be inhibited." He pulled back on the reins and waited for her to catch up to him. He could see the sparkle in her eyes and knew she was up to mischief.

"You aren't talking about what I think you're talking about, are you?

" She batted her eyelashes at him. He burst into laughter.

"What do you think I'm talking about? " she asked innocently.

"Sex."

"No, " she blurted out before she too burst into laughter.

"Men don't like to be teased, Jessie. Remember that." He took the lead once again. She trailed behind him just as she had for the last eight hours. She didn't say another word for a long while, until curiosity got the better of her.

"Cole? " "Yes? " "Were you disappointed? " "About what? " "That I wasn't talking about sex."

"No, " he snapped. "I wasn't." Her shoulders slumped, and she felt an acute wave of disappointment.

"Then you never once thought about it. . . with me? " He couldn't believe they were having this conversation. Didn't she realize the effect shewas having on him? Probably not, he decided. It was apparent she was innocent, but she wouldn't be for long if she kept asking him such personal questions.

"Yeah, I thought about it."

"And? " "And what? It isn't gonna happen, Jessica."

"No, of course not, " she hastily agreed. "But I've thought about it too, several times, as a matter of fact." He almost fell off his horse. "Will you stop talking about it? ! " "You don't have to yell at me. I was just being honest with you. You're very easy to talk to, at least you were until you got upset, and admitting that I've thought about making love to you isn't a crime.

I'm not going to act on it. I wouldn't even know what to do."

"Then I don't have to worry you'll do anything stupid."

"Like what? " He didn't answer her. He swore he wasn't going to say another word, and he definitely wasn't going to look back at her, at least not until he had gotten rid of the notion of dragging her off her horse, pulling her clothes off, and making love to her.

"I hope the water's warm, " she remarked.

He hoped it was cold . . . icy cold.

The last mile seemed like twenty to her, and by the time they finally arrived, she was bone weary.

Cole helped her dismount. His hands stayed around her waist much longer than necessary, and she leaned into him, thankful for his assistance.

Her legs were so shaky she was sure she would have fallen flat on her backside if he hadn't held on to her.

She glanced up to thank him, noticed his clenched jaw, and quickly moved away from him. He was obviously still irritated by her inappropriate remarks.

She decided to ignore him until he was in a better mood. Her surroundings enthralled her, for everything was so lush and green. She worked the stiffness out of her legs by walking along the bank of the basin. The waterfall wasn't anything like Rockford Falls. It was much smaller and not nearly as grand, yet just as enchanting. A steady stream of water poured across a jagged ledge above, and as it spilled into the pool below, the drops of water, like prisms, caught the sunlight and refracted it into a sparkling rainbow of colors.

While Cole took care of their horses, she prepared their camp. After gathering sticks for the fire, she laid out their bedrolls and the picnic Josey had prepared for them.

"Food's ready, " she called out.

"I'll eat later, " he called back.

He finished brushing the horses and let them graze on the sweet grass.

The sound of the water rushing down the rocks was soothing and too enticing to resist, and while she ate, he went to the edge of the waterfall, stripped out of his clothes, and dove into the crystalline waters.

The cold water did help him take his mind off of Jessica, and he was able to remember why he didn't want to touch her. Strings, he thought to himself. The woman was definitely desirable, but she came with strings.

Besides, she wasn't the kind of woman a man could bed and leave. She deserved better than thatsomeone better than he was, he qualified.

Why, then, did he get so hot and bothered when he pictured her with another man? He had no right to be possessive, and yet that was exactly what he was.

"Are you going to stay in the water all night? " The question pulled him out of his dark thoughts. He got out of the water, haphazardly dried himself off, and put on his pants. When he returned to camp, he moved their bedrolls closer to the rock ledge as a precaution in case of rain, restacked the kindling she'd collected, struck a match to light the fire, and then sat down on his bedroll to eat.

Since he knew that Josey had prepared the food, he wasn't surprised it tasted terrible. Jessica hadn't complained about the taste, but from the amount of food left over, he knew she hadnwt eaten much.

She did eat most of the peppermints Josey had packed. She was chewing on one while she gathered clean clothes, a towel, and soap. She removed her clothes, got into the water, and "-s l used the gently cascading waterfall as a screen to shield her from Cole.

It was cold but not unbearable. She lifted her hair away from the nape of her neck and backed into the running water with her legs braced apart, her head back, and her eyes closed. The gentle massage soothe the tension out of her, and in no time at all she was completely relaxed. It was sheer heaven.

He felt as if he were in purgatory, and he had no one to blame but himself. He shouldn't have been watching her bathe. It was wrong and intrusive. He couldn't make himself turn away, though, and if that made him a voyeur or a lecher, so be it. She was incredibly lovely.

She stood waist high in the water, and her every movement was so sensual and graceful. He watched her lather her neck and arms, then he had to close his eyes while he battled the urge to dive into the water and join her.

Maybe strings weren't so bad after all. He pushed the thought aside and opened his eyes again. The erotic scene was so compelling he could barely breathe. His entire body reacted, and every muscle felt hard and coiled with the need to touch her.

His mind was flooded with one lustful intention after another, and he realized he was going to be in real trouble if he didn't control his thoughts soon. With a loud groan, he stretched out on his bedroll and stacked his hands behind his head. He was a light sleeper, and if she got into trouble or needed him, all she had to do was call out.

He counted cattle, he counted sheep. Then he started counting the number of ways he wanted to make love to her.

"Cole, are you asleep? " He didn't open his eyes when he answered her.

"No."

"Is something wrong? You sound hoarse."