AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Hand on the door of her convertible, she turned to eye Logan’s truck by the barn. The old rust bucket would do better on the rough terrain than her low car, and he probably kept his keys in the ignition.
She peered through the passenger side window and opened the door with a triumphant grin. As she set the cooler and blanket on the seat, she noticed two bags with the pharmacy logo on the floor. One held a couple bags of chips, and the other…she paused, then couldn’t help opening it up to find a bottle of acetaminophen, and three boxes of condoms. Big, value size boxes.
Great. The story was true. She lifted her eyebrows at the variety, and their erotic names. A tiny smile curved her lips. Edna must’ve been ready to have a stroke. After a moment of perusing the selections in the Pleasure Pack, Joy shoved the bag behind the chips and slammed the door to make her way around to the driver’s side.
It took a few minutes to hook up an empty wagon, and then she drove on the lane through the trees, past the pond, and along the edge of two cut fields before reaching Logan. He drove the tractor as the baler shot the small square bales into the three sided wagon that was almost full.
He lifted a hand in acknowledgement when she drove up with the empty, but kept baling until the wagon was topped off. Then the tractor lurched to a stop, and she idled the truck alongside as he rolled down the cab window.
“Hey.” His guarded gaze met hers, darted toward the passenger side of his truck, then returned. “What are you doing here?”
Joy bit back a grin. “With Grandpa gone, I figured I’d take his place. You okay with that?”
The easy suggestion seemed to relax his shoulders. “Sure. I won’t turn down this kind of help again.”
She arched her eyebrows at the perfect opening. “Or the kind that has little old ladies carrying your condoms?”
His face turned beet red as he climbed down out of the cab. “Frickin’ Grant, couldn’t keep his mouth shut.”
“Not Grant. I heard it from Tara, who heard it from her boss’ cousin’s son.”
He shook his head as a rueful grin tugged the corners of his mouth. “The kid at the register.”
“Yep.”
His gaze met hers before he headed for the back of the tractor to unhook the full wagon. “I can explain.”
“No need. I heard Edna was there.” She went to unhook the empty from the truck, then faced him. “Though I can’t believe you actually asked her what kind I liked.”
His head jerked up. “I was talking about the chips!”
“Chips?”
“Yes! If you saw the other stuff in my truck, then I know you saw the bags of chips, too. Clearly, that part of the story got left out. After I asked what kind you liked, I clarified, the ones with ridges, or sour cream and onion.”
Joy threw her head back with a laugh. “Okay, that was genius. I would’ve paid to see that.”
“Not to brag, but yeah, it was good. And it sure shut her up.”
They shared a grin; her imagining, him remembering.
She met his gaze and teased, “You can ask me, you know.”
“What?”
“What kind I like.”
In a heartbeat, his eyes went from laughing to smoldering. “The last couple days have been weird. I thought maybe you were second-guessing things.”
She shook her head. “I thought you were.”
“No.”
He stepped over the hitch for the wagon and started toward her. Anticipation spiked her pulse, but then the sound of a horn from across the field claimed her attention.
She recognized Wes’ gray truck, and when it stopped, he and Tara, and Grant and Jenny got out. “Heard you could use some help here.”
Though Logan didn’t jump on the offer, Joy set aside the notion of spending the day with only him and didn’t look a gift-horse in the mouth. The sooner the hay was done, the more time she’d have for fun. The heat in his eyes a moment ago confirmed it wouldn’t take much to convince him to join in.
