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“I liked it,” Ted said. “I don’t know what I’m doing, but I don’t think I messed up too badly. No equines died.” He chuckled again and glanced at her.
Emma met his eye, and something strange and powerful and wonderful tethered them together. She knew what it was—attraction and desire, the finding of a kindred spirit—but she hadn’t felt it for a long, long time.
“How do you like the ranch?” she asked.
“The ranch is great,” he said.
“What do you like most about it?”
“Like most?” Ted seemed to really think about her question. “Well, I have my own bedroom. That’s a nice change. I can shower for as long as I want.” He reached up and ran his hand down the side of his face. “I can leave the house whenever I want, and there’s no razor wire here,andI can grow a beard.”
“It looks good,” Emma said, realizing too late what she’d given away. But her mind was still hung up on not being able to leave a house when she wanted to. What a simple freedom she didn’t want to take for granted.
But Ted just asked, “You think so? It’s been so long since I’ve been able to let it grow, that I’m not really sure how to deal with it.” He scratched his face. “It itches.”
“You’ve got to put this beard oil on it,” she said. “Spencer knows all about that. You should ask him.”
“Beard oil,” Ted said as if he had no idea such a thing existed. “All right. Thanks. I will.” They reached the stables, and Ted reached to open the door. He paused though and looked at her. “You really think it looks good?”
“Yeah,” she said, and before she knew it, she’d reached up and ran her hand down the side of his face, his whiskers soft yet bristly at the same time. She pulled in a breath when she realized what she’d done, and her eyes flew to his.
Desire and shock sat in his expression, which was about what flowed through her bloodstream.
“I think it looks great,” she said, the words scratching in her throat as her hand finally fell away from his face. She could still feel the heat from his skin, and it moved through her, warming her even more.
“Thanks,” Ted said, his vocal cords suddenly infected with the same huskiness. “I think you look great too.” With that, he pulled open the door and nodded for her to go ahead of him. She did, the tension and awkwardness between them intensifying until he said, “My meeting is this way. I’ll see you later, Emma,” in a normal voice.
“See you,” she said, also as normally as possible. And since she was very good at stuffing things away and pretending everything was okay, her voice was normal too.
As she mixed up the formula for Patches, she couldn’t help smiling to herself. Just as quickly though, she remembered why she hadn’t dated since coming to Hope Eternal Ranch.
She wasn’t going to start a relationship with Ted. She could think he was good-looking, with a sexy beard, and just walk back and forth from the house to the stables with him. They could befriends.
After all, she was friends with Ginger, and she hadn’t told her everything.Friendswas a category Emma was very good at. She knew which boxes people went into, and she knew which information to share with them.
“Yes,” she whispered to herself. “Just friends.”
