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Elijah took a step toward her when she stumbled but stopped when she righted herself. Yesterday, when he’d held her in his arms, he’d set free some of those latent feelings he’d harbored for her in their younger years. Not only had it been dangerous then, but even now his heart felt out of its usual beating pattern.
He’d have to be more careful when he was on site—that included when she showed her vulnerability but also when she was trying to prove a point. When had he become such a sucker for that sort of thing?
That was an easy question to answer. He’d always held an appreciation for women who wanted to carve their own path in this world. His sister had shown him how important it was for a woman to be a partner with the man they loved—not through her romantic relationships but with the ones she had with her family.
He knew he needed to find someone who was just as passionate about providing for her family as he was.
His gaze continued to follow Scarlett until she reached the trough at the side of the pigpen. She put the buckets down and then grabbed the handle of one with both hands. It was still a little too heavy. Or perhaps it was the awkward size that did her in.
Either way, she lost her hold of the thing and ended up pouring water all the way down her front.
Elijah laughed; he couldn’t help it.
The problem was, his laughter drew her attention. She stiffened, then turned to face him. He wasn’t naïve enough to think she hadn’t seen him before. In fact, he knew she’d seen him. It was the way her eyes had shifted when he’d arrived. She might not have looked at him directly, but she was keeping tabs on him—a fact that both delighted and unnerved him.
Now, she glowered at him. “Are you just going to stand there ogling me? Or are you going to help?”
He leaned against the hood of his truck, arms crossed as he laughed again. “Now why would I do something like that when it’s far more entertaining to watch you do it all on your own?” He jutted his chin toward the empty bucket that now rested on its side inside the pen. “You might want to refill that one, though. From my experience, pigs need a little more water in their trough and a little less on the people feeding them.”
“Funny,” she called back sarcastically. “But I think I’ll be just fine with what I have left over.” She picked up the second bucket as if to prove her point, and then he watched with amusement as the same thing happened again. Scarlett cursed.
“Language! Pigs are very intelligent creatures.”
This time she faced him and let out a string of words in another language. He didn’t understand a single one, but based on the venomous tone they were said with, he knew better than to make another snarky comment.
Scarlett grabbed onto the top bar of the pig pen and climbed inside. She stooped to grab one bucket handle, then the other. Elijah couldn’t be sure what happened next from his vantage point due to it happening too fast. But one second she was standing upright, and the next she’d landed on her backside in the mud.
He straightened and took a step toward her.
She held up a hand, signaling for him to stay put. “Don’t you dare,” she called.
“You sure? I could help—”
“The last thing I need is your help. You’re the reason all of this is happening.” She grunted as she got to her feet.
“Is that so? Can you tell me just why you believe that?”
Scarlett shot him a death glare, then snatched the buckets again. She managed to make it out of the pen without further incident before charging toward the spigot again. Her entire back was covered in the fresh mud her water had created.
He moved toward her, cautiously at first, then with more confidence. “You might want to get sprayed down before you head off to the next chore you have planned.”
“You think?” she snapped. “Because I was planning on making this my next official fashion statement.” Her eyes shot to meet his. “Hey, that reminds me. Come here, you’re wearing your shirt all wrong.”
Elijah cocked his head, instinctively taking a step backward. “Thanks, but I like wearing my shirt the way it is, just fine.”
“Your sleeves are rolled up to different lengths. They should be fixed.”
He made the mistake of looking down. At that very moment, she tossed the contents of the bucket directly at him, dousing his entire front with ice-cold water.
Elijah hissed, his body going stiff, arms out at his sides. He shot a lethal look in her direction, not surprised in the least to find her doubled over and laughing.
“Not so funny when you’re on the other side of it, huh?”
Water ran down his frame in rivulets, dripping to the dirt at his feet. The fall weather had set in recently, and the light breeze that was normally a welcome relief to the sun beating down only chilled him to his core. “You’re gonna pay for that.”
She cocked her hip, placing one hand there as her eyes swept over him from top to bottom. Scarlett pulled her lower lip between her teeth and then grinned. “No, I don’t think I will.”
Elijah lunged for her, but she was too fast. This time she threw the bucket itself at him. The five-gallon hunk of plastic connected with his shins and he nearly tripped. As soon as he righted himself, he continued on his quest to get her back for the mess she’d caused.
