"Among other things," he added, tugging suggestively at the collar of her knit top.
"Yes," she agreed. She wanted to tell him she loved him, she thought wistfully as they walked side by side to the bedroom. She needed to tell him. But that subject, too, was one that hadn't come up since Monday, when Clay had told her he loved her in a surge of passion. He hadn't told her since then, and she wasn't sure why. Was it because he wasn't sure himself? If so, she wouldn't pressure him by telling him her own feelings.
But, oh, how she loved him.
* * *
"That man of yours is beautiful enough to make a grown woman weep, Spring," Kelsey said with a deep sigh, her eyes trained on Clay as he piled a plate high with a steaming grilled hamburger, pickles and chips. In his tropical-print surfing shorts that he'd chosen to wear with striped suspenders and a red sleeveless T-shirt, Clay wouldn't have been hard to spot in the crowd even if he hadn't been so tall and so very handsome. The early-evening sun, still bright and hot at this time of day in July, glinted off his hair, turning it to pure gold.
"Yes, I know," Spring agreed complacently, loving the proprietary feeling Kelsey's words had given her. Sitting cross-legged on a blanket, she took a big bite of her own burger—Clay was on his second—and watched him as he talked with a heavyset man in the line beside him. Gordon, the man Clay was talking to, owned the sprawling ranch-style house on fifty acres only a ten-minute drive out of Little Rock and frequently hosted these impromptu parties. Self-employed, he was able both financially and timewise to do so. Kelsey had met him just after she'd moved to Little Rock, and she was responsible for bringing Spring into Gordon's huge, heterogeneous circle. Clay had wasted no time getting acquainted with Spring's friends, mixing in as if he'd known everyone for years.
"And he's such a snappy dresser," Kelsey added with a grin.
Spring choked on her dinner and giggled.
"Something tells me you're laughing at me again," Clay complained as he joined them on the blanket, slipping off his red huaraches to tuck his bare feet under him. He winked at Kelsey as he looped a lazy arm around Spring's neck and hugged her. "She's got this crazy idea that I have strange taste in clothing," he explained.
Kelsey widened her eyes dramatically. "No! Why would she think that?"
"Beats me." Clay released Spring to attack his second hamburger as Kelsey's date, Wade, rejoined them after having fetched another mug of draft beer for himself and Kelsey.
"Thanks, Wade." Kelsey smiled at the solidly built ex-Razorback-turned-insurance salesman, then turned her attention back to Clay. "Spring told me that the two of you are leaving for Hot Springs in the morning. You'll like it. It's a beautiful area. Be sure and go up in the new observation tower on Hot Springs Mountain. It's over two hundred feet tall, and you can see the Ouachita Mountains and Lake Ouachita and Hamilton Lake and all of Hot Springs. It's gorgeous. Oh, and don't forget the Mid-America Museum and the Wax Museum and..."
Seeing that Clay was following Kelsey's every word with avid interest, Spring laughed and interrupted. "Kelsey, give us a break. We're only going to be there Saturday and Sunday, and Clay's already a compulsive tourist. Believe me, if it's there, he'll find it."
Clay only grinned and popped another chip into his mouth.
Half an hour later Clay and Kelsey and Wade were working off calories in a Hacky Sack circle while Spring, who'd never mastered that particular game, watched and laughed at them. Her eyes lingered on Clay as he adroitly fielded the small, leather-covered foot bag with his knee, then kicked it with the side of his foot to Wade, who expertly bounced the little ball off his own knee to Kelsey.
"Hello, Spring. You're looking very well," a familiar male voice said from behind her.
She turned her head to smile at the attractive man with neatly trimmed brown hair and rather serious green eyes, finding herself thinking in some amusement that his sharply creased jeans and Izod knit shirt looked atypically casual. "Hello, Roger. When did you get here?"
"Just a few minutes ago." He leaned down a bit awkwardly to kiss her cheek. "How pretty you look." Spring had worn a peacock-blue romper, brighter than her usual pastels, with white sandals. She'd left her hair down to tumble in loose curls at her shoulders and had stowed her glasses in their case in her purse. She knew she looked more relaxed and casual than Roger was accustomed to seeing her. Probably happier, too.
"Thank you, Roger." Come to think of it, Roger had a new glow in his own eyes. "Are you here with someone?"
His smile was just a bit shy—something else new for him. "Yes." He nodded toward a young woman engaged in a laughing conversation with Gordon. "Her name is Cathy Fleetwood. We're, uh, we're engaged."
Her eyes widening in surprise. Spring examined Roger's fiancée more closely. The tall, slender woman was strikingly attractive—and cheerfully flamboyant. In her mid-twenties, she wore her golden-brown hair in thick, wavy layers to her shoulders. Her huge blue eyes were dramatically highlighted with makeup, she wore enormous earrings that swayed with each movement of her head and her summer gauze jumpsuit was striped in hot pink, turquoise and blinding white. She looked like a feminine version of Clay. Summer couldn't help laughing, then quickly explained when Roger looked offended. "I'm just happy for you. She looks very nice."
He relaxed only marginally, still uncertain why she had laughed. "Thank you. I am happy. We're going to be married next month."
An obviously possessive arm went around Spring's waist and Clay loomed over her. "Did you miss me, sweetheart?"
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"Of course I did. Clay." She smiled indulgently up at him, realizing that he must have seen Roger kiss her cheek. And he wasn't too happy about it. "Clay Mc-Entire, this is Roger Nichols."
Recognizing Roger's name, Clay scowled for just a moment before holding out his hand.
Roger shook the proffered hand warmly, casting a glance at Clay's clothing before turning a ruefully amused look on Spring. Now he knew why she'd laughed, she realized. Both she and Roger had fallen in love with people diametrically different from themselves, and they knew it. No wonder they hadn't been able to hold on to their own relationship. Neither of them had been what the other needed. She smiled brilliantly at her former lover, silently wishing him happiness. His eyes returned the blessing before he walked away to join his fiancée and their host.
"Just what was that all about?'' Clay demanded, bristling with masculine aggressiveness.
"What?"
"That look you gave each other. I thought you said everything was over between you and Roger."