“You’re presuming there’ll be a next time.” She kissed his neck, taking the sting away from the words. “Kidding—of course I want a next time. But how am I supposed to sneak into your house without the whole damn neighborhood talking about it?”

She had a point. His house was in an older neighborhood where people loved to watch the goings-on. “I could have a bed delivered out here some weekend when Hazel’s with her dad.”

Zoey snorted. “And if she sees a freakin’ bed out here, how am I supposed to explain it?”

“Does she ever come out here?” He realized how clueless that sounded as soon as he said it. “I mean, of course she does—I’ve seen her. It’s where you work.”

She rolled onto her back with a sigh. “She never comes out here because she’s interested in my work. I don’t think she’s destined for a career in appliance repair. But it’s her Pop-pop’s barn, and she’s had some fun adventures out here through the years. She’s not a tomboy like I was, but she still likes to explore up in the hayloft when she wants alone time.”

He leaned over and brushed a kiss against her forehead, smiling at an old memory. “We used to hang out up there as kids. Is that big old rope we used to swing on still hanging from the rafters? We used it to jump on the sawdust pile in the aisleway.”

Zoey’s body shook with laughter. “I remember. We went up there one January day and you swung off the rope to discover that sawdust freezes solid in a cold barn in the wintertime. God, the way you screamed... Mary and I thought you broke your leg.”

He’d been around fourteen then, showing off for his sister and Zoey. Rob had a huge pile of sawdust there as bedding for the few beef cows he had at the time. But Mike was no farmer—he had no idea the moisture in the sawdust froze when the pile sat undisturbed in below-zero weather. Mike hit that pile of rock-hard sawdust from ten feet up, expecting a pillow-soft landing and not getting one. He chuckled.

“Your dad was so pissed. He’d told us a hundred times not to swing from the loft onto the pile because we’d get hurt, but we were so much smarter than grown-ups. I’m lucky it was only a sprained ankle.” He grinned. “And if we thought your dad was mad, man, mine nearly killed me. And then Nana got in line.” He thought about the memories they’d had in this place. “And now you and I are naked on your dad’s desk. I don’t think any of us saw this coming.”