“Are you even listening?”
I raise an eyebrow. “Not really. Did you know you look a little like Tinker Bell if she had brown hair?”
“Knox!” She growls.
Something shifts in my lower body that I am not prepared to name. “What?”
“Why did you tip me a hundred dollars today? It was completely inappropriate. I don’t need your handouts.”
I scoff. “Only you would be pissed about a big tip.” Knowing the likelihood of me saying something I’ll regret, I decide to do something with my hands in case she decides to keep yelling at me. I grab another log, plonking it onto the stump.
“I don’t like owing people.”
“Why the fuck would you owe me something after I tipped you?” With a swing, I jam my ax into the log. This one was a bit bigger than the others, so it takes a few more swings before it splits.
Farrah stares at me. Her big eyes are wide as she takes in my body as if she’s only just now realizing I’m not wearing a shirt.
I’m a big guy. I always have been, but my shoulders got wider and my chest got thicker as I got older. The physical work it takes to run the ranch has kept me in shape, but I’m nothing like Holt or Gray when it comes to having chiseled muscles. I’ve never cared what anyone thought about my body. They can either take me as I am or fuck off.
But a part of me is holding my breath that Farrah’s expression doesn’t turn to disgust as she takes in my padded belly and fuzzy chest.
I have to look away from her before I can read anything inher gaze. Moving one of the halves of the log I just split back in front of me, I hack it into three chunks in rapid succession.
The movement snaps Farrah out of her daze. I refuse to read anything into that.
“No one tips that much without expecting something in return, Knox.”
Something in her tone makes me look at her. She’s slumped in on herself—made herself smaller for some unknown reason.
“Do you expect me to demand that you suck my cock or somethin’?” I have no idea where the thought came from, but something in her body language just isn’t adding up.
Farrah’s eyes widen, her cheeks turning bright red. She splutters. “N-no. I don’t?—”
“Relax, Princess. I wouldn’t dare make you stoop to the lowly level of us peasants.”
Fire shoots out of her eyes, and I revel in her response. “You’re just being an ass now. Don’t tip me like that again.”
I make a sarcastic expression. “I promise to never deem you worthy of a good tip again.”
She rolls her eyes before turning on her toes to head toward the house.
“Where the hell are you going?”
“To say goodbye to Finn. He’d be sad if I left without telling him.”
I grit my teeth. Why does she have to be right? I dart to the back door, stopping her from going inside. “I’ll go get him.”
“What’s your deal? I can just pop my head in.”
I don’t know. For some reason, I don’t want her to go inside the house. The second she does, I’ll see her there every time I’m in the kitchen.
She stands at the back door, looking at me as if she’s waiting for me to give her permission to walk inside. I’m beingbatshit crazy, yet she’s not pushing my boundaries. For some reason, that eases the panic in my chest.
I blink at her and then slowly open the back door, standing out of the way to make it clear she can go inside.
Farrah narrows her eyes, like she’s trying to read my thoughts and figure out what the fuck is wrong with me. I’d love it if she could figure it out. Fuck knows I have no idea what’s happening to me.
CHAPTER 18
