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“Why don’t you ever talk to me?”
The sound of Ben’s voice made her entire body jolt. She glanced at him over her shoulder. He was leaned back in his chair, his legs stretched out in front of him and crossed at the ankles. “I do talk to you.”
“Only when I speak to you first.”
She turned away and shrugged a shoulder, ignoring the way her pulse was racing. “I did not know you wished for me to speak to you.”
“That’s what friends do when they see each other.”
Friends? “Is that what we are?”
“What? Friends?”
She met his gaze again and nodded her head. “Yes.”
He studied her face, his eyes flicking over every inch before they settled on her mouth. Her pulse leapt at the heated look that filled his eyes.
“I’d like to think so.”
His voice was pitched low, his gaze still on her mouth. Her tripping pulse quickened as he sat there staring, and a crazy notion he wanted to kiss her popped into her head.
Do not be silly. Ben does not think of you in that way.
Did he?
She looked away, licking her lips now that her back was to him. The sound of shuffling feet saved her from having to examine things too closely as Betsey walked into the room. She stopped when she saw them.
“Why are you two sitting in the dark?”
Morning Dove glanced at the lamp on the table. Neither of them had bothered to light it. Betsey lit it while giving them suspicious glances. Morning Dove supposed it did look odd for them to be sitting in the dark.
Light filled the room moments later and chased away the shadows. Betsey slipped into the pantry and Morning Dove tried not to think about the fact Ben was watching her every move. Had he always paid such close attention to her, or was it all in her head?
The sun was peeking over the mountain by the time Betsey had breakfast started. She helped as always but ended up doing most of the work when Samuel started crying.
Once Aaron woke and they were all seated, the conversation centered around the Avery Ranch and the big party they were planning. The patriarch of the family was celebrating a birthday and at his age, it deserved special recognition.
Morning Dove listened to Aaron and Ben and kept her head down until she heard her name. Everyone was staring at her when she looked up. “What?”
Ben smiled, one corner of his mouth tilting up. He had not shaved in a while, his jaw darkened by a few days worth of stubble, and his hair was sticking up at odd angles from where he had run his fingers through the thick strands. That heated look she noticed in his eyes earlier was still there.
Aaron reached for another biscuit, the motion pulling her gaze from Ben.
“Told you she wasn’t listening,” Aaron said.
Betsey gave her husband a look before turning to her. “Aaron volunteered you to make your Rhubarb cookies for the party and Ben thinks he should get the entire batch since he fought off three attackers for you.”
He wanted her to bake for him?
“Come on, Morning Dove.” Ben’s smile turned into a full-blown grin. “Those saddle bums messed up my pretty face. Making me a whole mess of those cookies is the least you could do.”
Aaron snorted a laugh.
Morning Dove bit back a pleased grin and said, “I could have let them beat you silly instead of going after help, but I did not.”
He laughed, the sound rich and husky. “No, you didn’t. And for that, I’m eternally thankful.”
Morning Dove noticed Betsey out of the corner of her eye. She was giving her a peculiar look, one eyebrow raised as she looked between the two of them. Her face was no doubt red. She could feel heat crawling up her neck, more so when she glanced at Ben. He had both arms crossed in front of him on the table as he leaned toward her. She supposed it did look suspiciously—familiar.
