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Chapter Six
Kaylee gripped the feed bag, her concentration fixed on the ground as she surveyed the field in front of her and tried to plot out a safe path across without ruts or manure.
The dogs had run ahead. She finally looked up when she no longer heard the buzz of Luke’s chainsaw. Her brow furrowed as she saw Luke watching her, an expression of amusement creasing his face.
What was so funny? She must have been walking goofy as she tried to avoid stepping in a cow pie.
“I don’t want to alarm you,” he called. “But you might not want to look behind you.”
She froze. How was that warningnotsupposed to alarm her? She slowly turned her head, fearing a snake or maybe a bear, but never expecting a long row of cows to be running toward her.
She let out a shriek and took off running across the field, heedless of where her feet fell. Whipping her head back, she saw the cows were now chasing her, running faster as they tried to catch her.
“Help! The cows are attacking me!” she shouted to Luke, who was now bent forward, his hands on his knees as his shoulders shook with laughter. “Stop laughing and help me!”
She zigged and zagged across the field. The dogs raced back and ran along next to her, Gladys yipping at the cows picking up speed behind her. A couple of the cows mooed loudly as they loped toward her. “I thought cows were herbivores,” she yelled.
“Drop the feed bag,” Luke finally managed to holler in between gales of laughter.
She dropped the bag and sprinted toward him, launching herself into his arms once again.
He wrapped her in his arms, lifting her off her feet as he swung her around putting himself between her and her pursuers. “Oh my gosh,” he said, trying to catch his breath. “That was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. They were really chasing you.”
“I know,” she said, peering around his shoulder. The cows had stopped when she’d dropped the bag and were milling around it, a few sniffing at the abandoned sack. “Why does everything around here want to kill me?”
“They don’t want to kill you,” Luke said, still laughing. “Or eat you. They wanted to eat what they thought was in that bag. They saw you carrying it across the field and must have thought you were going to feed them.”
She tipped her head down and pressed her forehead into his chest. “That about scared the life out of me.” Pulling in a breath, she peered up at him and then swatted him playfully on the arm. “And you just stood here laughing while I was about to be mauled by a herd of mean cows.”
He jostled her against him. “Sorry. But that was funny. And those cows weren’t mean, they were just hungry.” His face took on a more serious expression as he brushed a lock of her hair back that had blown across her cheek. “Don’t worry, Kaylee. I won’t let anything happen to you out here. I would have stepped in and saved you if it would have really come to that.”
She swallowed, suddenly unable to speak, to even think. All she could focus on was the way his fingers had felt as they brushed her cheek and the crystal blue shade of his eyes as he peered down at her. She was caught in his gaze, powerless to move as she drowned in their depths.
He leaned closer, just the slightest bit, and his gaze dropped to her mouth.
Every one of her nerves tingled and her lips parted, as if anticipating his kiss.
Was he really going to kiss her?
Her knees threatened to buckle at the idea. Things like this didn’t happen to her. Ruggedly handsome men didn’t take her into their arms and kiss her.
Although he hadn’t taken her into his arms. She had hurled herself at him, practically knocking him over as she did. Oh, gosh. What ifhethoughtshewas making a pass athim?
She had flung herself into his arms. And hadn’t let go yet. But that didn’t mean she wanted him to kiss her. Although it didn’t mean that shedidn’twant him to kiss her.
But that hadn’t been her intent.Had it?Had she subconsciously found another way to end up in his embrace? Had she given him the idea she was interested in him? Been overly flirty?
She scoffed at the idea. She didn’t even knowhowto flirt. She’d spent the majority of the last five years in her apartment creating fictional romantic experiences, nothavingany of them herself.
But just because she normally only wrote about the kissing scenes of her characters didn’t mean she couldn’t have an actual kissing scene of her own.
So why was she picking apart every second of this moment? She should be enjoying it, reveling in the delicious feelings of desire racing through her blood.
Luke leaned closer. She could smell the woodsy scent of his aftershave and the spearmint flavor of his gum.
Closer still.
This was it. She could almost feel the soft brush of his lips against hers.
