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“Dax?” she said.
A muscle twitched below his eye. His nostrils flared. After a long aching moment in which Jenna thought—hoped—he might kiss her, his whole body tensed, he dropped his hold and took three steps back.
Without looking at her, he grabbed his hat and jammed it down on his head.
“Let me know if you need any more furniture moved.”
He wheeled away and left her standing in the living room alone.
She was getting under his skin in the worst way.
Dax tied off the end of a barbed wire strand and shoved his fencing pliers into his back pocket. For the last two hours, he’d been riding this fence line with Rowdy, checking for gaps, fixing spots and thinking about his housekeeper.
Though his body was warm from his labors, his face was cold. The shiny whiteness of the clouds along with a stiff north wind hinted at a weather change.
He hadn’t slept fifteen minutes last night. Instead, he’d lain there in the dark thinking of how close he’d come to stepping over the line with Jenna. He’d never wanted to kiss anyone so much in his life. To kiss her. To hold her. Just to be with her.
To make matters worse, at least for him, after taking the cupcakes to Gavin’s school, she’d returned bubbling over with chatter and goodwill. If she’d been affected by the near kiss she didn’t let on. A man could get a complex. Not that he wanted her to think anything about that moment in his arms. Maybe she hadn’t noticed. Maybe she hadn’t been affected. Wouldn’t that be for the best?
Right. Good. She’d gone to Gavin’s school and had a great time. She’d forgotten all about his unfortunate lapse in judgment.
A shaft of wind slid down the back of his neck. He flipped his collar up.
From the way Jenna had behaved at dinner, you’d think she’d never been in a school building in her life. She’d been all giddy and thrilled to eat cafeteria food and have kindergartner’s wipe snot on what he was certain was a very expensive skirt.
Something was going on with Gavin, too. Last night, he’d found the little dude playing quietly in the nursery. He claimed to be guarding baby Sophie so she wouldn’t get scared. From a kid who’d always been scared of his own shadow, the gesture was a puzzle.
But then so was his housekeeper. A puzzle and a disturbance.
“Been meaning to ask you something, boss.” Rowdy shot a cocky grin his way.
“Yeah?” Dax squinted toward the clouds gathering in the west. Maybe the wind would blow in some much-needed moisture. They’d been irrigating the winter wheat for weeks now.
“How’s your new housekeeper working out?”
The question, given he couldn’t get Jenna out of his head, caught him completely off guard. He gazed at the clouds another second before turning a squint-eyed gaze at Rowdy. “All right. Why?”
“Just wondering about her. She’s single. Pretty. Curved in all the right places.”
Dax studied his hand for a moment, not liking the direction of this conversation. “She’s a new mother.”
He stuck a foot in a stirrup and swung up into the saddle.
Rowdy looped a roll of wire over the saddle horn and guffawed. “You’re getting old, Dax, if that’s all you see.”
Thirty-four sounded older every day, but Dax didn’t much appreciate the reminder. And he sure wasn’t going to tell Rowdy the truth.
“She’s doing her job, cooks great food I’ve never heard of and looks after Gavin.” The boy adored her, followed her like a pup hungry for her smiles and hugs. The behavior was pitiful if he thought about it, but he was glad to see Gavin happy.
Rowdy swung into the saddle and they urged the horses to a walk, examining fence line as they rode while keeping an eye out for strays. “What about you?”
Dax ruminated a beat. “What about me?”
“You know what I’m talking about. She taking good care of you, too?”
Dax didn’t like Rowdy’s implication, though he supposed no insult was intended. The young cowboy was comfortable with horses, cattle and women. Lots of women. Naturally, his roving eye would land on the only female within fifteen miles. What man with any juice in his veins wouldn’t notice Jenna?
“She’s a good employee.”
Rowdy, holding the reins with a light hand, rose in his stirrups and twisted around, squinting toward a pond dam. “That’s all?”
No.
“That’s all.” Dax heard the growl in his voice, felt the prickle of jealousy beneath his skin.
The saddle creaked as Rowdy settled in again. “Then I guess you won’t mind if I stop by the house and pay my respects, maybe ask her out sometime.”
Dax rubbed a sleeve across his face, more to avoid looking at his employee than to scratch an itch. What could he say without admitting that he was attracted to his too-young housekeeper? “She stays pretty busy.”
