She couldn’t help smiling at the look of surprise on his face.
Ben took Raven’s arm and inspected it.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Checking to see if you have the muscle power for the job that needs to be done.”
Raven’s jaw dropped, then she realized he was teasing her. She punched him in the top of his arm as hard as she could.
“Aw.” He rubbed his arm.
“So, do you think I’d be strong enough?”
He chuckled. “I do.”
“Then lead the way.”
“I need to unload the feed for the alpacas, but the bags might be a bit heavy for you.”
“I’ll try.” Raven meant it too. She really wanted to give life on the farm with Ben a go.
“I think you’re more of a country girl than you realize.” He put his arm over her shoulder and guided her toward the shed.
“Well, with that in mind, do you think I could join you on the harvester?” There, she’d implemented part of the plan. For some reason, her pulse raced. Would he really want her around, especially when she had no idea how to help or even if she could?
“I’d love you to join me but only because you used the correct term.”
She rolled her eyes. “You’re a hard person to impress sometimes.”
He leaned in closer to her, his breath hot on her neck. “You looked pretty impressed with me a few minutes ago.”
She blushed, looked at him with her cheeky expression. “As did you with me.”
He laughed. “Come on, let’s get this job done, and maybe we could get some more time toimpresseach other.”
“Sounds like a very good plan to me.”
Her stomach fluttered with excitement. This was going to be much better than working on her graphics or doing nothing on the farm. She had wanted an adventure by moving here, and it was long overdue to step things up to the next level.
Ben slid the last bag of feed to the end of the tray on his ute. He jumped down. “Ready?”
“Yes.” Raven grabbed the two ends of the bag, he the other, and together they lifted the heavy bag. “I’ve never been to a gym before, but this is got to be a better workout.”
He laughed. “I’ve never been either, so I wouldn’t know.”
“Tell me, then, is this how you get your arm muscles so toned? Moving two dozen bags of feed that weigh a bloody ton.”
“You telling me I’ve got arm muscles?”
“You’re getting too carried away.” She rolled her eyes.
Ben could’ve done this job by himself, taking less time, but it had been much more enjoyable with Raven helping him. It was a real treat to have someone not to just help him but also to talk to.
Her willingness to get hands-on and not shy away from hard work caused his attraction to her strengthen even more. Like right now. She looked sexy, in her loose pants, low-cut top, and sweat shining on her forehead. Her top was dusty, and there was dirt smeared on her arms. She kept helping him without complaint, or any concern about her clothes, or even if she might break a nail. Raven was a hell of a find in his life those three years ago, and he was feeling lucky. Hell, he’d just got lucky with her, thanks to the hot weather. Watching her work alongside him, he was starting to feel his desires return. They had a bit of time to make up in terms of sexy fun. Ben quite liked the idea that he might get lucky again today. There were half a dozen jobs he should do, but with Raven looking desirable, all he wanted was to be with her.
Ben kept shuffling backward slowly, checking to see if they were nearly at the other bags and keeping an eye on how well Raven was doing. This was the last bag, and they’d done this twenty-three times already.
He could see Raven straining and trying to keep hold of the bag. Her arm muscles were taut, knuckles white as she kept the grip on the bag as he shuffled backward into the shed to the pile of bags they had just unloaded.
