“I don’t know why not,” he said firmly, taking her hand and leading her down a hallway to a door that was always closed when she was here. Matthew opened it then stepped aside to watch her reaction.

“Is the bed really hanging from the ceiling?”

He grinned. “Yes. Dad made it for Ginny and Leah to lie on so they could watch the stars at night.” The room was surrounded with curtained windows.

“You miss her very much, don’t you?” Alanna tightened her hold on his hand at the painfully sad look in his eyes.

“There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think of her. She was a beautiful child who had the most loving heart of any person I ever met. Until you.”

Blushing at the way he looked at her, she embarrassedly lowered her gaze to take in the outfit he was wearing. Not even ugly green camouflage could make him look bad. In fact, the tight green T-shirt emphasized his muscular chest.

Becoming aware that Matthew was giving her a knowing grin, she hastily tried to turn the heated atmosphere down a few degrees by giving him a threatening glare.

“Were you out there trying to kill Bambi’s mom?”

“Me?” Matthew put a hand to his chest in innocence. “No, I was watching my brothers trying to bag Bambi’s dad.”

“That’s just mean.”

“That’s just life.” He casually closed the door to lean back against it.

Alanna raised an eyebrow at his obvious ploy to keep them closed off if any of his brothers came.

“You have to take a few out so the population can remain healthy and thriving,” he explained.

“If you weren’t planning on shooting one, why did you take your bow?”

“Protection.”

She couldn’t help but giggle at his unrepentant smile. “How are you always in such a good mood?”

Matthew stepped away from the door to move closer to her. “Why wouldn’t I be?” he said seriously. “I have everything I could ever want on this mountain. The only thing that was missing was having a woman of mine to share it with.”

Alanna took a step back. There was no way she should be feeling the scope of emotions Matthew brought out in her so quickly.

“You want to go swinging?”

Before she could answer, she found herself falling back onto the bed, sending it swinging. Turning her head to yell at him for being sneaky, she felt it die in her throat at the laughter in his eyes.

“Have you ever heard the country song “Swingin’”?

“No, I can’t say I have.”

Matthew lay down next to her, sending the bed swinging again. “It’s an oldie but goodie.”

He started singing with an old-fashioned twang, which had her curling up in laughter.