“No reason to be afraid of me, darlin’,” I say, just above a whisper. I lick my lips and gaze down at hers. It would be so easy, kissing her. Locking her legs around my waist. Pressing her against that wall over there. Feeling her body. I’m buzzed, but I’m more drunk on the temptation hanging in the humid air.
“That’s what all the bad ones say,” she says, her voice so low I feel it in my balls.
“You want me to be a bad guy?” I ask.
Darcy’s chest heaves, her eyes still soft. “I’m not allowed to touch you. I’m getting a new vibrator.”
My eyebrows shoot to the ceiling, my cheeks heat, and my mouth drops open. That was not on the list of things I thought she’d say next. Yes, in my head, I’m dirty as can be, but I’m holding it together on the outside.
She just let the inside out.
Darcy is mortified. She buries her face in her hands, giggles shaking her frame. She stumbles back from me, folding in half at the waist. “Oh my god, what did I just say?”
I bend and pull her hands off her cheeks. “You brought it up, so we’re talking about it,” I laugh.
“No, we can forget it,” she squeals, trying to cover her lobster-colored face again.
“I don’t think touching me and getting a new vibrator are mutually exclusive, boss. I’m not above bringing in reinforcements to aid the cause.”
My hand splays across her lower back as I get us in rhythm again. She stiffens under my grip, eyes wide until that smirk returns.
“I think you’re lying.” She licks the corner of her lips. “Most men oppose having help in that regard.”
It’s my turn to smirk. “Those aren’t men, Darcy. I like to hear my name screamed. Whatever it takes to make that happen, I’ll do.”
Darcy’s mouth hangs open and she stops dancing, her eyes rounded. A couple noises come from her throat. She gulps and draws herself up taller, like she’s steeling herself to be a tough guy. “I’m not dating.”
I look her dead in the eye. “Who said anything about dating?”
She shakes her head with a snort.
“You, Jake Warren,” she drawls with a poke to my breastbone, “are nothing but trouble. You’re a shameless flirt and a shit stirrer. Can you make it home alone tonight, or is your bed broken and you need to sleep in mine?” She sticks out her bottom lip to mock me.
I grin at her. “We could break yours together.”
“Keep trying, cowboy.” She pats my chest twice. “Thanks for the dance. Now we can say we’ve done it. I need to get to bed. Horses and farmers markets wait for no one.”
“I’ll dance with you anytime. It was my pleasure.”
She pauses and I swear her eyes flick to my mouth. We’re frozen.
With a curt nod, she steps away from me, grabs our glasses from the table and moves to put them in the sink. Her hips shift from side to side and she glances over her shoulder at me. She’s fucking showing off and she knows it. If I knew her better and knew she’d be open to it, I’d put her back on that kitchen counter and tease all that sass right out of her.
But I don’t know her better. So instead, I squeeze my eyes shut and head for the mudroom to put my boots back on. I pause in the doorway. “Hey, what time do you need me to bring the horses in with you? I’m the horse guy, after all.”
She waves a hand. “I got it. I’m used to doing it alone now.”
My gut twists. She walked both horses at the same time this morning, and while it seemed to be going fine, it’s not really safe. Still, I don’t want to critique her performance. “You sure?”
Darcy looks back over her shoulder. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
I pause, then slip my boots on. I poke my head around the corner just before I go. “Night, boss. Let me know when your vibe comes in. I’ll help you break it in.”
“Don’t forget the boss part,” she shoots, her eyebrows raised at me.
“Role reversal? I’ll be the boss at night?”
I pull my face out of the doorway just as a dish towel hurtles my way, Darcy’s frustrated growl the last thing I hear before the side door closes behind me.
