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Ella held out her hand. “I’ll take it.”
“You sure?”
“I wouldn’t have said so if I wasn’t.” She reemphasized her statement by pushing her hand out to him again. “You made it for me, didn’t you?”
“Well, yeah…”
“So give it to me. I’m starving.”
The corners of his mouth twitched, and he placed one of the bags in her open hand. She opened hers and retrieved the sandwich inside, then moved over to a chair that was off to the side with two others.
He looked on, finding joy in her enthusiasm as she tore off the parchment paper and brought the sandwich to her lips.
Ella jerked her chin to the chair across from him. “Are you going to eat yours?”
“You want me to join you?”
She sighed.
“Forgive me. I forgot that you don’t say something unless youmeanit.”
Ella gave him a sharp look, and then she laughed, which would have been the most surprising thing until she said, “Just sit down and eat your dinner.”
Lucas did as he was told. He pulled the chair closer and retrieved his sandwich. For the next few minutes, they both ate in silence. The wind beat against the building and lightning flashed, but there was no rain, no thunder.
Every so often she’d glance in his direction and a hint of that smile reappeared. Lucas chewed his sandwich thoughtfully. He could ask her out right now, tell her he thought she was amazing.But somehow, he had a feeling she wouldn’t be thrilled about any of it, so he held back.
Instead, he focused on the barn and all the work she’d been doing while he was outside. “I can’t believe you’ve gotten so much done.”
She followed his gaze, swallowed hard, and smiled. “Are you suggesting that because I’m a woman—”
Lucas held up his hand with a laugh. “I didn’t suggest any such thing. I simply wanted to tell you that I was—am—impressed by you.”
“Oh.” She looked away. “Well, thanks.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who works as hard as you do.” He gave her a pointed look. “Man or woman.” If he wasn’t mistaken, she seemed almost embarrassed by his compliment, which spurred him forward. “But you’re certainly the prettiest person I’ve ever met who works this hard.”
Her gaze cut to his, shock clearly written in her eyes. When she turned her attention back to her sandwich, she mumbled, “Thank you.”
That was it. No other comment. No question as to why he said such a thing. Ella really didn’t care for him, just like she’d said. The part of him that liked things to be easy told him to just pack up and get out of there.
But there was a side of him that insisted she was still attainable. Even if it was hard, he wanted to win her over.
He dusted the crumbs from his hands and crumpled his paper bag into a ball. “I’m curious about something.”
She glanced at him once more.
Bad idea, bad idea. He really shouldn’t follow his gut on this one. Except his heart wasn’t willing to accept that line of thinking.
“What would you say if I asked you out?”
Ella gaped at him.
“You know, go to dinner for real. Or go dancing. What if I wanted to explore… more with you?”
She let out a sharp bark of laughter. “Yeah, right.”
“Why?” he demanded. “Haven’t I been nice to you?” He could feel his frustration growing.
