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Lucas glanced in the rear-view mirror at the small horse trailer he’d brought with him. Wade would be livid when he found out that Lucas had snuck two horses out of the barn before anyone had gotten up for the day. First, he’d try to appeal to her softer side, then he’d use the sandwich. How could she refuse him then?
He got out of the truck and headed for the barn. They were about a third of the way done with the shingles, and after that was complete, they’d work on the loft and interior. Once they were done with that, they’d paint the thing and call it a job well done.
The crew wasn’t due to arrive for an hour or so. Ella would show up in the next few minutes if he’d planned it right. She’d go straight inside and get to work with her carpentry skills. He’d just have to cut her off and convince her that a ride would be just the thing to take the edge off before a long day.
As if on cue, he heard her car crunching along the gravel as she drove it toward the barn. Lucas stood in front of the barn door, arms crossed as Ella climbed out of her car.
She glanced toward him, then to the trailer. Dragging her eyes back to him, she heaved a sigh. “You weren’t supposed to get here for another hour and a half at least.” She pushed the car door closed but didn’t meet his gaze as she headed toward him—not toward him, toward the barn.
Ella stopped in front of him, finally lifting her gaze to meet his. “Excuse me.”
He cocked his head, grinning at her. “You wanna know what? I think you need a break.”
“What are you talking about? We had all weekend to have a break. I need to get into that barn and get to work so we can get this job done and over with.” She moved closer as if expecting him to step aside, and when he didn’t, she stood a little straighter. “Come on, Lucas. We have to get to work. This barn isn’t going to get done if you keep messing around.”
Lucas puffed out his chest a little more. “You know as well as I do that nothing is going to happen until everyone is here anyway. What do you suppose would happen if we went on… a walk, for example?”
“A walk,” she said flatly. “You want to go for a walk when it isn’t even really light out?”
“The sun will come up in the next fifteen minutes or so. And I think a walk around the area might be fun.”
Her look of disbelief was actually sorta cute. She placed a hand on her hip and popped it to the side. “What makes you think that I’m the kind of girl who likes to do that sort of thing? I don’t think I’ve gone on a walk for fun since I was a kid, and even then, it was with a destination in mind. What are you trying to do? Make me miserable?”
He chuckled. “Ella, I wouldn’t dream of trying to do that. Seems to me, you do that all on your own. I am simply just trying to unearth the softer side you have buried under that grouchy exterior.”
If she looked displeased before, she looked absolutely furious now. Her blue eyes flashed, and her jaw tightened. “You think you’re so cute, don’t you? That you can just say whatever you want and do whatever you’d like, and no one will care. Well, guess what? I don’t think you’re charming whatsoever.”
“I’m not trying to be charming. I’m just trying to be nice.”
“To what end?” she snapped. “You don’t have to be nice to me. We’re not friends.”
“But we could be,” Lucas shot back. “I’m not an idiot, Ella. I know I have a reputation around here. Some people think that I can’t be friends with women. Well, joke’s on them because I can be friends with whoever I want.”
Ella sneered. “Not whoever you want.”
“No, you’re right. Apparently, you’re off-limits. Call me a fool, but I thought maybe it would be nicer to get to know each other a little better since we’re working closely together.”
He turned around and grabbed ahold of the handle on the barn door. At first the door didn’t want to move on its wheels. Those little ball bearings screeched and whined until they finally gave in and rolled. The door had to be solid wood, and the hardware must not have been changed out since the building had been constructed. Friday was the first time they’d bothered shutting everything up to prevent anyone from stealing their equipment.
Lucas groaned as he pulled the door far enough that only one person could enter at a time. At least the bigger equipment wouldn’t get stolen if they had to leave the door that way. By the sound of it, lubricating the hardware wouldn’t do much good.They’d have to order in some parts and take the whole door off to fix it.
He’d reserve that project for another time.
Frustration started as a small knot in his stomach. It tumbled and rolled in on itself until it grew ten times the size it started with. He really was an idiot for thinking that he could convince Ella to do anything with him.
The question rang in his head. To what end? He didn’t know. He couldn’t see them dating, though he wouldn’t have been against it. The fact of the matter was that he didn’t have any interest in something long-term, and Ella was the kind of girl who would. He could sense it.
With a relationship out of the question and a friendship heading in that direction, too, Lucas needed to cut his losses.
Marching over to the makeshift workbench, he pretended to go over the week’s plans. His eyes remained glued on some of the documents they’d left there, but his ears perked up the second he heard her footsteps behind him.
“You seriously wanted to go for a walk?” Ella said with derision.
“What’s it to you? I doubt you really care.”
“Why did you bring the trailer?”
“How about you stop asking questions you don’t want to know the answers to,” he muttered bitterly.
