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“What are you doing?”

“My sister Adeline used to love for me to tickle her feet when I took her to the park to swing.” He reached for her feet again, but she drew them back.

“I don’t like to be tickled.”

“That giggle said otherwise.”

“It was a giggle of surprise.”

“Bullshit. Why do you shun all fun, Libby Lou?”

She brought her feet down to the ground and skidded to a stop. “You really are annoying.”

He moved closer, stopping in front of her. “And you really are uptight and need to lighten up. I love succeeding as much as you do, but it’s okay to take a break every now and then and just have fun.”

“I have fun.”

“Really? Name one time in the last week that you just had fun.”

“Swimming at Cooper Springs.”

He lifted his eyebrows. “Are you saying you had fun with me at Cooper Springs, Liberty Holiday?”

She realized her mistake and quickly tried to backpedal. “I enjoyed swimming. It had nothing to do with you.”

He grinned. “Liar. You wouldn’t have liked it half as much if I hadn’t been there to challenge you.” He covered her hands on the rope with his and leaned closer, his lips inches from hers. “You like the thrill of competition. It’s not just fun. It gets your heart pumping.” He lowered his gaze to her mouth. “Is your heart pumping right now, Lib?”

Her lips parted and when he lifted his gaze, her eyes held the same desire that throbbed inside of him. He knew if he kissed her, she would answer every pull of his lips and every brush of his tongue. His body cried out for that . . . but his gut told him the path to Liberty’s bed had to be taken slow, not rushed.

He removed her hands from the ropes and pulled her to her feet. When she was standing, he took her place on the wooden seat and tugged her onto his lap before pushing off.

“What are you doing, Jesse Cates?” she hollered.

“You better stop wiggling or you’re going to slip right off my lap and bust your butt . . . or possibly your head.”

She stopped wiggling and looped her arms around his neck and held on tightly. He liked Liberty holding on to him much more than he should. “These ropes are old, you fool. With your added weight, we’re both likely to bust our heads.”

He looked down at her stunningly beautiful features and smiled as he pumped higher into the starry sky. “Then I guess we’ll fall together.”

Chapter Eleven

Liberty woke the next morning feeling slightly disoriented. She stared at the bright sunlight shining in through the crack of the curtains for a second before she realized what was wrong.

She’d slept through the night.

Last night, she’d climbed into bed and fallen right to sleep. She hadn’t counted sheep. She hadn’t worried about losing the ranch or the list of things she needed to get done when she got back to Houston. She’d just conked out and slept through the entire night. Since she couldn’t remember the last time that had happened, it freaked her out.

She had to be coming down with something.

She felt her forehead, but she didn’t feel hot. Nor did she have a stomachache or a headache. In fact, she felt better and more energized than she had in a long time. She felt like she could run a marathon. Or maybe a triathlon. She tried to figure out what she had done differently last night than all the sleepless nights before.

Only one word popped into her head.

Jesse.

The man was cocky and annoying, but he was also entertaining. She had laughed more last night than she had laughed in a long time. He had swung them so high in the swing that she hadn’t been able to stop shrieking with glee. Once he’d brought the swing to a stop, he twisted the ropes and whirled them around like a top. She’d giggled so hard she’d almost peed her pants.

When they had stopped spinning, she should have gotten off his lap. But she hadn’t. She had just sat there with her arms looped around his neck, wishing he would kiss her. She’d figured that one little ol’ kiss wouldn’t hurt anything. She could kiss him and not go to bed with him.