“She’s…a lot to handle.” Bailey laughed, shaking her head. “Maybe we could ask Aaron to put up something, a blocker of some kind, just a temporary one to keep her out.”
As though she had summoned him with just the power of her words, she glanced around to see Aaron leaning on a shovel, watching the two of them. She felt a flush to her cheeks when she realized he had been staring, but she didn’t mind.
“He’s been watching you since you got out here, you know,” Hannah said wryly.
Bailey raised her eyebrows. “Has he?”
“You didn’t notice?”
“Nope,” she replied, shaking her head. She felt like she would have been able to feel his eyes on her, but she had clearly been too distracted by Wheatie’s mischief.
“Damn, girl.” She laughed. “You should pay more attention when hot guys are checking you out.”
“Hot guys?” she teased right back.
Hannah shrugged. “Hey, I’m not trying to jump in on your territory,” she replied. “But he’s cute. And it’s clear he likes you.”
Bailey shrugged. Aaron lifted a hand to wave at her, and she waved back. A flicker in her chest reminded her of just how attracted she was to this man. But she sure as hell wasn’t going to go talking to Hannah about it. No, whatever was going on between them, it was just between them.
“The two of you have a history, right?” she pressed, her eyes widening with interest.
Bailey shrugged. “I guess,” she replied, keeping it as vague as possible. Hannah was a really sweet woman, but it was going to take a long time for Bailey to totally trust anyone again.
Especially Aaron.
“Well, I think you should go for it,” she told her, leaning forward and lowering her voice conspiratorially. “You don’t want to leave him single for too long.”
“Has he been dating other women? Since he got here, I mean?” she asked, hoping her voice was convincingly unbothered.
“Not that I’ve ever seen,” Hannah remarked. “He’s mostly kept to himself, actually. Nobody really knows a lot about what was going on with him before he got here.”
Bailey watched Aaron as he headed back inside one of the sheds to finish his work. That made sense. It would explain why he didn’t know a huge amount about Xavier or Lawson, even after living on the property and working here for as long as he had. She felt a little pang when she thought about that—that he had been holding back so much about himself, probably worried it was going to put either him or her in danger. No matter whathe had done to her, he didn’t deserve to live looking over his shoulder every moment, unable to be honest with anyone.
“Right,” she replied.
“But you guys…it’s clear there’s something going on,” she continued.
“Why do you think that?” Bailey replied.
Was it really that obvious to everyone else? She had hoped she might be able to keep it under wraps, at least for a little while, but it looked like the secret was out.
“Because he’s always hanging around,” she replied, nodding over to where Aaron had just been standing. “Come on, you must have noticed it, too. He used to hide out in his cabin most of the time unless he was working, and we would just see him at meals. But I feel like whenever I’m with you, he’s there, too.”
“Maybe,” Bailey replied, but she couldn’t help but smile. Aaron had been looking out for her—just like he had done when she was a rookie. There was still so much of that dynamic between them, even if it had been twisted and nearly destroyed by what he’d done to her.
“Helikesyou,” Hannah told her, and Bailey couldn’t help but laugh.
“I’m not sure about that.”
“Well, I am, and I’m never wrong about these things,” Hannah replied matter-of-factly, and her confidence made Bailey giggle again.
Or perhaps it was just the thought of Aaron really liking her that had her all kinds of excited. She didn’t know for sure what was going on between them right now, but she knew the night they’d spent together had been amazing.
“Aaron’s a good man with a good heart,” Hannah continued. “I don’t know what happened between the two of you, but whatever it was, you shouldn’t let it get in the way of whatever you feel for him now.”
Bailey didn’t reply, chewing her lip as she gathered what remained of the flowers before Wheatie made her way through them, too.
Hannah and Bailey headed back to the main building. Much to Bailey’s relief, Hannah dropped the conversation about Aaron. Bailey wasn’t sure how much longer she would have been able to throw Hannah off the scent, and the other woman didn’t seem like she was good at keeping her mouth shut. Bailey could imagine her spilling the secret before she was ready, and it was hard enough to settle into this place without people wondering what was going on between the two of them.
