Page 28 of Hot Times in Heart Falls, Vignettes Vol 3

Asshole. She knew this thing between them was complicated, but still, she didn’t deserve to be lied to, not like this. “I hope my boobs burned your retinas.”

He snorted, which made at least some of the real Tucker return to his eyes.

Fine, Ginny needed some time to cool off. She’d give him a break for a short while, but before the night was out, she planned to give the stubborn bastard a run for the stubborn championship. She wanted every trace of liquor gone from her system so that couldn’t be his excuse to shut her down.

They played endless rounds of gin rummy.

Tucker told her about the place he was working. Rich horse owners who were alternatively snooty and needy as they brought in under-exercised rides and suddenly realized they needed the hired help. Ginny told him about the garden and greenhouse Caleb had agreed to build, and her hopes to get a community supported agriculture garden box off the ground the following spring.

“You’ve always loved the garden,” he said. “And your herbs. The teas you make are great. Except for the one.”

She was never going to live that down. “Luke is none the worse for a little food poisoning.”

“You might have improved him.” Tucker was grinning again.

An hour passed. Another. Comfortable and familiar.

Maddening.

They’d been sitting there since just past eight, the trailer slowly getting warmer and warmer around them. Or maybe that was just Ginny’s libido kicking into overdrive. The compact space meant every time he moved, or she did, something connected.

He stripped off a layer, and she had to concentrate to stop from staring at his forearms. She pulled off her flannel shirt, and his gaze drifted from his hand of cards to her breasts and then back to his cards with an iron will.

Yeah, she had his number. Breast man, all the way.

Finally, it was nearly eleven o’clock. She deliberately put the playing cards aside then stretched out her legs.

She didn’t pull them back when her toes brushed his thigh.

He wiggled briefly but didn’t jerk away.

Time. It was past time.

“You remember the summer Luke dated Courtney Masseny?” she asked.

Tucker’s smile faltered, just a little. “I remember.” He made a face. “That relationship was thankfully short lived.”

She snorted. “Agreed. But as a side note, I had a wicked crush on you that summer.”

Tucker blinked. “What?”

Amusement rose. “What, you didn’t hear me, or what, you can’t believe it?”

“My brain isn’t registering the comment properly.” His expression made that clear. He’d truly had no idea. “If I do the math right, you were fourteen. You liked to eat Pop-Tarts with pickles.”

“And I dreamed of kissing you behind the barn,” she confessed. “Which was about as far as my teenage brain dared to go back then. Kissing. So scandalous.”

Silence.

“I think my mom knew.” Ginny’s cheeks flamed, but the truth was the truth, and that’s what she was known for sharing. “She’s the reason you didn’t have to deal with an infatuated teenager following you around the ranch all day and night for the next year.”

His entire body stilled.

Ginny leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. “I left you alone because Mom was right—you needed your time with Luke, and I needed time to grow up. But the truth is the way I felt never changed.”

He opened his mouth.

She held up a hand. “Let me finish.”