Every inch of skin prickled. “I have straw in places I don’t even want to think about.”

He hovered above her on elbows and knees. “How about a bath later?”

“I’ll need it.” His chest grazed her with a tantalizing sensation of hard and soft, and she let her eyes drift closed, surrendering to that familiar, liquid stirring deep inside. She glided her arms over his back and pulled him to her, stroking her fingers up the back of his neck and into his hair.

He let out a throaty moan and nudged his head into her hands. “I think I’ve done enough work today.” Barely making contact, he skimmed his mouth over hers.

Once. Twice. Three times. She arched her back and strained to meet his lips. “For the love of Mike, just kiss me.”

He pressed up and away. “Who’s Mike?”

“Jonas!” The word was a simultaneous laugh and plea.

Finally, he lowered his mouth, his lips curving into a smile against hers.

Imagining an entire afternoon in the hayloft, she sighed deeply.

Then something fuzzy tickled her arm.

Only partly aware of anything beyond the deliciousness of his kiss and desperate to keep it that way, she shifted. When the unidentified critter returned, she shrieked and scrambled onto her elbows.

He recoiled into a crouch. “What’s wrong?”

For a pacifist, the guy looked ready to grab the nearest farm implement and defend her life. “I felt something furry.”

Relaxing onto his knees, he scanned the hay. “A mouse?”

Mice she could handle. This critter was no mouse. Could it have been a rat? “Bigger.”

From behind came a plaintive meow.

She whipped around. “Oh, look!”

At the base of a bale, a scruffy orange kitten placidly washed its face, mindless of the hubbub it created.

With one hand, he picked up the creature and plopped it into her lap. “Rebecca’s cat had kittens. Good thing we didn’t hurt it.”

“Hello, little one.” She scratched the kitten’s neck.

It smashed its face against her hand and purred.

“He’s the cutest, scrawniest-looking thing I’ve ever seen.”

“He is a she, and I know for a fact Rebecca wanted you to have a kitten. She couldn’t believe you don’t have ‘one, single animal, not even a turtle’ at your house.”

His wide-eyed imitation of his niece was spot on. She giggled. “I’ve never had a pet. My father is allergic to everything.”

“You do now. She’s an adventurer.” He gestured through the door. “Let’s take her back to her mamm.”