He laughed, knowing she was right to be concerned about the unexpected with him. Rather than drop her in a drift, he walked her across the wide expanse of yard between the store and their cabin, kicking open the door and then kicking it shut behind them. “Slide the lock,” he said gruffly.

“What’re you up to, mountain man?” Lucy asked as she pushed the lock they rarely used into place.

“Apparently, I need to show my woman that she has nothing to be insecure about.”

“Colton, you don’t have to—”

Again, he kissed the words right off her lips as he deposited her on the bed and came down on top of her.

Lucy curled her arms around his neck and her legs around his hips, wanting him as close as she could get him. When they’d first gotten together, she’d been under the mistaken assumption that the intensity of their relationship would wane over time. But the opposite had been true. The more time she spent with him, the more she craved him—his smile, his laughter, his earthiness, his scent and the wild, untamed way he loved her.

“Yes, I have to, Luce. I have to show you right now. I can’t have you doubting me or our relationship.”

“I don’t doubt you or us.”

“Then why didn’t you just tell me you wanted to talk about the wedding?”

“I don’t know, but whatever the reason, it was more about me than you.”

“If something involving us is on your mind, it involves me, and I always want to know. I can’t bear the thought of you worrying about whether I actually want to get married.”

“You’ve hardly said a word about a wedding since we got engaged.”

“Not because I don’t want to marry you.” He shook his head in obvious disbelief. “You’re the one thing in this entire world I can’t live without, Lucy. My only explanation for not mentioning our wedding is that I’m so damned happy with what we already have. I got comfortable and complacent, and I’m sorry if that hurt you.”

“I feel like a jerk now.”

His smile lit up his eyes. “You’re not a jerk. Don’t say mean things about my fiancée. She’s everything to me.” He kissed her once and then again, never taking his eyes off her face. “What do you think about the first weekend in May? We’ve never boiled past the thirtieth of April, so that ought to be safe.”

“How about the second weekend in May so you have time to recover before the honeymoon?”

His eyebrows lifted. “Are you planning to wear me out on this so-called honeymoon?”

“You know it.”

“Then I suppose it would be a good idea to give me a week to recover my stamina after the boil.”