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I’m being stupid. All this crush is going to get me is a broken heart. And possibly lose me my first commission.
If only he didn’t make it so damn easy to be stupid. It’s all but impossible when he leans closer still and whispers, “Watch your six.” Theron points behind him over his shoulder. Sure enough, there’s Chip. “He’s a stealthy little shit. You take one step back and you’re on your ass. Right where he wants you.”
Warmth spreads up my back to raise the hair on my neck.
I’m reading into it, right? That wasn’t innuendo. It couldn’t have been.
If it was…
My cheek chills when Theron stands straight taking his warm, minty breath with him.
“Hope you brought a change of clothes,” Theron says and gives me a wink.
The wink almost threw me off enough to disregard his off-the-wall statement. I keep it together enough to answer, “No. Why?”
“You’re gonna work up quite a sweat putting up hay.”
“You’re putting me to work? I just came to see the goats.”
“Theron, don’t be a dick. Skye’s company and she’s a city girl. We can put the hay up tomorrow.”
It isn’t necessary for Maya to defend me, or insult me—the implication that a city girl isn’t built for farm work wasn’t lost on me but I’m sure she just said it to help make her point—to get me out of the work. Gotta be honest, I’m willing to do pretty much anything if there’s a chance to see Theron in a sweat-soaked T-shirt again. Or better, without one.
“First off, I’ll be too hungover to do it tomorrow. Second, we’re already behind because you’re too busy and mom’s checked out. Besides, Skye’s game. Aren’t ya, city girl?” Theron bumps his elbow against my arm. I sure hope Maya doesn’t notice me leaning into it.
“Sure. Let’s do it.”
My eyes meet Theron’s and a spark of mischief flashes in them before he winks again and says, “Let’s do it.”
I’ve never had so much fun working up a sweat and risking a third-degree sunburn in my life. If floating on the high of Theron flirting with me—even if it was all in my head—wasn’t enough, about an hour into it, Theron tears off his shirt and I get the pleasure of seeing all those muscles work as he grips the baling twine, kicks the square bale up with his knee and pushes it into the air to land at my feet on the hay wagon.
Thank God, Maya’s driving the tractor and doesn’t catch me staring at her brother. Pretty sure my mouth is hanging open and everything.
“Come on, city girl. Keep up,” Theron says motioning to the hay bale I’ve yet to move onto the stack behind me so he can toss up another one.
“Sorry.” I scramble to copy his movements lifting the bale the way he showed me. When I turn back there’s another bale waiting for me as well as the corded, rippling plane of Theron’s bare back as he turns and bends to grab the next one.
He’s a fucking workhorse. I feel awful for slacking and spending most of my time ogling him.
As I lift the next hay bale onto the stack, I train my focus on the job. There will be time for ogling later.
The little pep talk works and we get into a rhythm. Toss. Stack. Toss. Stack. Until the sun begins to set and the tractor casts a long shadow over the field.
On the way back, Maya and I lay on the stacks of hay looking at the sky as Theron drives through the bumpy field back to the barn.
The second the tractor comes to a stop, Maya jumps off the trailer. I’m still working my way down, unsure of my footing on the hay, when strong hands grip my waist.
“You kept up pretty good, city girl,” Theron says as he lifts me and sets me on my feet on solid ground.
I turn to thank him expecting him to let go. When he doesn’t, my breath catches, worried if I breathe too deeply my chunky waist will become more obvious and scare him away.
The seconds he holds me stretch out into hours in my head. The world around us disappears and his hands move to my hips. He pulls me close, pressing his hard-muscled body to mine. We fit together so good.
“God, I stink,” Maya says startling Theron and me. He lets go and I jump back noticing that my thighs had become a vice to control the flow of heat between my legs.
“Dibs on the shower,” Theron says taking off and while I miss the feel of his hands on me, I’m content to watch his athletic body move like a leaf on the wind through the barn and across the driveway to the house. It doesn’t last that long as Maya runs back to me, grabs my wrist and yells at me to hurry the hell up and drags me with her to chase him.
We lose. Of course. But it’s worth it when Theron comes out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist and hanging dangerously low showing off the arrow-shaped muscle that drops between his hips.
