Maggie was as aroused by Reeve’s brushing her hair as she would have been by his hand caressing her breast or his lips nibbling at her earlobe. She took the brush from him and made short work of braiding her hair into a single shining plait and then winding it into a coronet. “I mean to catch you unawares,” she answered belatedly.

Reeve drew her to her feet and gave her a lingering kiss that stole her breath away. “How about now?”

Maggie pushed herself away from him by pressing her palms to his chest. “That would be much too convenient for you,” she answered airily, and then she swept to the door and out into the hallway, and Reeve had no choice but to follow her.

Duncan’s house might have been merely a mile away if one was on foot, but by carriage the trip involved a much longer distance. Maggie sat primly in the seat beside Reeve, smiling at his obvious agitation. It was clear that Mr. McKenna didn’t like the idea of being taken unawares.

The Kirk house, a rustic structure much like Reeve’s place, was alight at every window when they arrived. There were a lot of buggies and wagons in the dooryard, but no other carriages.

Reeve was scowling as he helped Maggie down and tucked her arm through his, and she laughed. “Are you very worried, Mr. McKenna? How lovely, if you are!”

“You little—” Before Reeve could finish whatever it was he had been planning to say, two boys came running down the walk, fairly hurling themselves at Maggie and shouting for joy.

Smiling, Maggie kissed Jeremy’s forehead, and then Tad’s. “I was hoping to see you here tonight,” she said, resisting an urge to ruffle their carefully combed red hair.

“Maybe you can teach us, instead of Miss Kilgore,” Jeremy suggested.

“I hate her,” Tad put in.

“You once said that you hated me,” Maggie reminded him wryly. “Have I changed so much?”

“Not that I can tell,” Reeve added, sounding sour.

Maggie elbowed her husband subtly and smiled at the boys. “You both look so very handsome that I probably won’t be able to resist teaching you. Since I’m not allowed to help with the harvest in any way”—she paused, looking up at Reeve for an angry moment—“why don’t you ask your father to bring you to our house in the morning? We’ll have our lessons just as we used to in Melbourne.”

Jeremy and Tad were so delighted by this prospect that they ran off immediately in search of their father.

Reeve gave Maggie a look and escorted her up the porch steps. “Teaching is work,” he pointed out.

“You’ll have to settle for it,” Maggie replied. “You can’t spend every morning of your life loving me senseless just to keep me from helping out in the kitchen.”

“Pity,” Reeve agreed pensively.