He had to fix it, to let her know she had nothing to fear from him.
Heading back to her home would be a huge mistake.He’d be one of those asshole mansplainers telling her she was safe.
He had to show, not tell her.But that would take too long.He didn’t want her afraid even a second longer, but he didn’t know how to fix it.
The group here on the farm had a routine of meeting for supper every night.A check of the time showed that it would probably happen soon.Knox had told him to listen for the dinner bell, which made him grin.
This place was going to be good for him, if he hadn’t screwed things up irrevocably with the neighbour and made it awkward for everyone.
He imagined his sisters and the other women on the farm would have ideas about how he could fix his mess.Ideas that didn’t involve him charging through the orchard to scare the breath out of her again.
With a sigh, Lawson forced himself to remain in the barn.Moving impulsively—again—would compound his mistake.
He detested mistakes.
But he doubted this would be his last one.The beautiful, wary woman scrambled his brain.Which should mean he wanted to avoid her.
But that was the last thing he wanted to do.
Yep, he was a dumbass.
Dani spent the next few hours bending metal and cleaning up her workspace.She’d tried to get lost in the design aspects, but the magic had disappeared for the moment.
Right now, it felt like her bees were buzzing in her stomach and through her veins.
Doing some yoga would help her settle, but that meant crossing the yard to get to her cottage.She wasn’t quite brave enough yet.Still more nerves to work out.
Nothing remained to be cleaned or organized in the metalwork part of her garage, so she moved into the painting area.
Bibi whined behind Dani, making her smile.One incident with a spray gun and sticky green paint had been enough for her girl.“It’s okay, Bibi, I’m just cleaning today.”
She’d sealed off this part of the room to keep the entire space clean.She didn’t want the paint or the metal dust to invade the rest of the garage.
Dani loved trying different sanding methods and roughing up the metals to bring different shines and textures to the pieces.Grinding and sanding created dust, and she could contain it here.
She’d caved to customer pressure and agreed to paint some of her pieces last year, using the area for that, too.While she didn’t agree that the paint enhanced most pieces, the customer was always right.If they weren’t, at least they were paying.
In her opinion, the shimmery paints worked best.They added sparkle when the sun shone, and the pieces danced with magic on those days when the sun played peek-a-boo with the clouds.
When Bibi whined softly, Dani grinned and left her paint shop.“Are you hungry?”
Bibi rose to her feet with a happy bark that seemed to come from her toes.Dani ruffled her fur.“I know.You’re an empty pit who hasn’t been fed for days and days.”
Bibi licked her hand and moved to the door, looking expectantly over her shoulder for Dani to get on with things.
Nerves skittered through her veins.In theory, Bibi was a great guard dog.Big enough to make anyone think twice about approaching.Her bark was big and deep.She should be intimidating.
In reality, Bibi was the gentlest of souls, as she’d proved by throwing herself at Lawson Malssum’s feet.
That had more skitters doing their thing.The man had been delicious.In appearance, anyway.
His soft brown skin had flushed several times as he’d stumbled over his words.She wanted to agree with Bibi that he was a good man.
But he’d spied on her.Studied her.Wanted something from her.Something she wasn’t willing to give.Her bees came first, and she wouldn’t let him disrupt them by moving Beatrice.Plus, she liked having the truck there.The clearing would be lonely without her.
Shaking off the nerves, Dani opened the door.Her yard looked exactly as expected.A wide, dusty drive separated the garage where she worked from the cottage.Where she also worked.
She’d taken Frannie B’s words to heart.Her job was fun.Well, her jobs, plural.They were all fun and brought her joy.
