She wrapped a whole pie in plastic wrap and then in aluminum foil before handing it to Jamie.
“Thank you, ma’am,” he said, then when she arched her eyebrow at him, he amended this to, “Thank you, Ginny.”
“Leland, you store that in your fridge, but make sure to share with Jamie.”
“Yes, ma’am,” said Leland, tapping his forehead in a mock salute.
“You boys get along, now,” she said. “I’ll have chicken pot pie for next week; you just let me know when works best.”
“Mom, you don’t have to—just tell us what day works foryou.” Leland kissed her and gestured to Jamie that they needed to get going.
“Friday afternoons, just like this,” said Ginny. “Now scoot.”
“I’ll call you in a few days, Mom,” Leland said. “And if the roof leaks, call the neighbor boy, don’t go up there yourself. You hear?”
“Sure, sure,” she said, laughing, waving at them to go as they walked back through the house and through the screen door to the porch.
Even with the windows open, the interior of the truck had gotten hot while the truck had sat in the sun, so Leland started the truck while Jamie tucked the pie carefully on the floor.
Leland blasted the AC while they waited a bit, cool air pushing the hot air out the open windows. He picked up his hat and turned it in his hands, a gesture that said he was thinking.
Jamie stayed patient and waited, knowing Leland’d have something to say that, at this point, might be something he wanted to hear. Then he realized Leland had been sitting there without putting the truck into drive for a good long time. That hat just kept spinning around and around, and his head was bowed.
Leland was such a proud man. Jamie liked it when his head was up, shoulders back, ready to face the world, and so searched his mind to find a way to soothe Leland, to distract him, at least.
“Leland?” he asked. “Is everything okay? I think your mom liked me. Do you think she did?”
“I did everything backwards,” Leland said, with a hard sigh.
“Backwards?”
“You know.” He shook his head and very carefully put his hat on the dash as though he wanted to stare it into submission. “I took you to my bed. Then I introduced you to my mom. And now I want to court you. And I will, once I untangle this mess in my head. I did everything all backwards. Should have done it frontwards, like everybody else.”
“Well, let it be backwards. You’re not everybody else,” Jamie said. “And I wouldn’t want you to be.”
Leland was obviously still beating himself up about the way it had gone between them. Which wasn’t right. Maybe Jamie was too stunned by how quickly his plan to leave had turned into meeting Leland’s mom. And maybe he was still a little heartsore and hand-shy, but he needed to be clear to Leland how he felt. To make certain Leland knew he wanted to be with Leland, not just at the ranch, and while they worked, but in bed, too. And he needed to do that right now.
“Leland,” Jamie said.
“Yes?” he asked, looking at Jamie as though he might have the answers to all the questions in his head. Well, Jamie didn’t and Leland probably didn’t either. But he could make certain Leland knew how he felt.
Scooting to the edge of his seat, he slid off, and bent his knees so he could slip in front of the large, black steering wheel and straddle Leland’s lap, like he’d wanted to do in the bank’s parking lot.
Leland made a gasping sound, and even though Jamie landed as lightly as he could, Leland’s thighs quivered beneath him.
It felt all kinds of wonderful to slide into that spot where his thighs could grip Leland’s hips like he was riding a horse. To slip his arms around Leland’s neck and bury his face in the warm curve of Leland’s shoulder. Smell his salt-sweat, kiss the thrumming of his heartbeat just below his skin. To tuck their groins together. To hug Leland with his whole body.
Jamie sighed as Leland’s arms came around his waist, holding him tight, firm, strong, and still. Just like Jamie liked it, like Leland was trying to absorb Jamie into his skin, into the center of him.
Leland’s sigh echoed Jamie’s, long and low and sweet. Then he kissed the side of Jamie’s head and cupped his bottom in the palm of his broad hand. He was all around Jamie now, his breath, his warmth, the solid feel of him. Everywhere, everywhere.
“So is that a yes?” Leland asked, whispering in Jamie’s hair.
“That’s a yes, you can court me,” Jamie said, whispering back, not hiding his smile. “I don’t care for flowers, but I like chocolate. No coconut. And let me go riding with you sometimes, okay? That’s what I’d call a courtship.” Not that he had any true idea of how a courtship worked, but all of this sounded pretty good to him. “And for you?” Jamie asked Leland softly, kissing his ear. “What do you want?”
“For you to be with me,” Leland said, simply. “For us to work side by side. For us to take that horse ride, and then after, we can sit on my porch and share a root beer in the moonlight.”
“Moonlight?” Jamie asked, sitting back, looking Leland up and down. His hands curled on Leland’s shoulders and then ran down his muscular arms. “There’s poetry beneath those grey-blue eyes of yours, Leland.”
