Alex finished the business with Pete Butler, went home and did some chores around his house, and then went over to the McIntyre farm. When he got there, Jennifer had some chores to finish, so he was helping stack hay in her barn. Donna had gone home for the day, and there were only a few bales left. He took the bales off the wagon and put them on the conveyor belt which carried them up to the hayloft where Jennifer was. She took them off and stacked them.
"If you had everything on one level the way I do," Alex said as he tossed a bale on the belt, "you'd save yourself a lot of work."
"Do you have any idea what it would cost to build a new barn?" Jennifer replied. She laughed. "Why do you think I'm hiring a farm manager who has a teenage son? What's the matter, Alex, are you out of shape from sitting behind a desk too long?"
Alex threw the last bale on the conveyor and laughed. "You wouldn't be talking like that if you were down here where I could get my hands on you," he told her.
"You think so?" Jennifer laughed. She stood at the edge of the hayloft, smiling down at him.
She was wearing jeans and a jade green sweatshirt and looked, Alex thought, lovelier than any woman he'd ever seen.
"Here's what I think," Jennifer continued. She kicked a pile of loose hay over the hayloft edge.
Alex tried to avoid the shower of hay, but couldn't. "Hey, watch it!" he said.
"Kinda slow, aren't you?" Jennifer giggled. She grabbed the last bale and turned to put it on the pile.
Alex jumped on the conveyor belt and rode it up to the hayloft. He was in the loft before Jennifer realized what he'd done.
She put the last bale down and, turned, her face flushed from exertion, and jumped. "Alex! How did you get up here so fast?" she asked.
"Old and slow, am I?" Alex said. He lunged for her.
"Yes, you are," Jennifer laughed. She jumped up on the pile of hay bales, out of his reach. "See?"
Alex tried to grab her again and, once more, Jennifer eluded his grasp. She took off across the pile of bales, laughing. Alex ran after her and, and eventually he did catch up to her. When he did, he grabbed her around the waist and they fell onto the hay.
"Who's old and slow now?" he said, puffing.
"You only caught me because I wanted you to," Jennifer giggled.
"Yeah, well," Alex replied. "I was saving my strength for better stuff."
"Like what?" Jennifer asked.
Alex rolled over, partially atop her, and their lips joined. After a kiss full of warmth and promise, he rolled on his back. "Things like that," he said.
"Oh," Jennifer said. She sat up, pulled her knees up, and wrapped her arms around them. "I'm glad you were saving yourself, then. That was nice."
She gazed out the open door at the end of the barn, and could see the rolling fields surrounding her barn. "I never noticed it before, but you really get a nice view from up here, don't you?" she commented.
Alex looked up at her. "You bet," he said, "I think the view from here is terrific."
Jennifer smiled down at him. "Alex, you're a nut, you know that?" she said. "I love you."
"I love you, too," Alex said.
They stayed like that, staring into each other's eyes for a long time, not really needing to say anything.
After a few moments, Alex reached out his hand. Jennifer took it and let him pull her down onto him and kiss her. The kiss took his breath away. While Jennifer snuggled atop him, he felt warmth invading his body, warmth that had nothing to do with the sun that had been shining on the roof of the barn all day.
For a long time, they lay on the hay, necking like a couple of teen-agers. It was another new experience Alex was sharing with Jennifer and, like the others they'd shared, he found that it excited him. From the way Jennifer was acting, it seemed to be exciting her, too.
"You know," Alex said between kisses, "if we keep this up, we're liable to wind up committing an indecent act here in your hayloft."
"So?" Jennifer replied, an impish gleam in her eye. "What's the matter with that?"
"I just thought I better warn you," Alex said. He slid his hands onto her buttocks, pulled her against him, and their lips met once more.
After the kiss, which was much more passionate than those which preceded it, ended; they lay beside each other, breathing heavily.
"I want you, Jennifer," Alex said.
"I want you, too," Jennifer replied.
"Want to go up to the house?" he asked.
Jennifer felt an urge to do something she'd never dreamed of doing before, something wild. "No," she said, "let's make love here."
