When he turns around, I stick my tongue out at him. I can’t help myself. Wes brings out my bratty side.
My fingers drag through Dixie’s fur as I listen to Wes whistling in the kitchen while he makes us supper. I’ve only eaten a yogurt and a bowl of cereal today because I didn’t have the energy to wait for something to cook. Something sizzles in a pan, and the smell of bacon makes my mouth water and my stomach growl.
“How are the horses?” I ask.
“Fed, watered, and groomed. Dolly misses you, though.”
“Mm,” I murmur, relaxing back into the sofa. “I miss her too.”
Wes brings me a plate a few minutes later that ispiled with potato chips and a BLT sandwich. He hands me a bottle of water with the lid already unscrewed for me. The small gesture makes my chest ache.
The way this man—who is absolutely nothing to me—is over here checking on me, taking care of my animals, and making me dinner has me second-guessing every negative thought I’ve ever had about him. He has no reason to be here for me right now, but he saw I needed someone and stepped up. No questions asked.
Wes brings his own plate and drops on the other side of the couch.
I swallow the bacon along with the lump of pride clogging throat. “Thank you for everything you did for me last night and today. You didn’t have to do all of that. I really appreciate it.”
He snorts a laugh.
My brow furrows. “What’s funny?”
“You saying ‘thank you’ is funny. It’s so unlike you.”
My eyes roll. “I’m not a complete savage. I thank people when they do kind things.”
He smiles as he chews a bite of his sandwich. “You look a little better than yesterday.”
“The fever isn’t so high today, so I’m managing a little bit better. I thought about trying to go out to see the horses, but I wasn’t sure I’d be able to make it back to the house without you having to fireman carry me inside.”
He shrugs. “I have no problem putting you over my shoulder and hauling you back inside if need be.”
I glance at him out of the corner of my eye. I can’t tell if he’s flirting or just letting me know he’d make sure I got inside if I did decide to go out and see the horses.
“Might throw your back out. It’s not used to any heavy lifting these days,” I taunt.
His gaze narrows, and he sucks on his tooth. “I won’t throw my back out. I’m in fine shape.”
I look him up and down. “You’ve gone a little soft around the middle.” I poke at the small belly he’s grown since leaving the ranch. I remember exactly what he used to look like when he worked the ranch shirtless every day when he was a fresh eighteen. “I like this though,” I concede. My fingers scratch through his two-day scruff before I pat his cheek condescendingly.
He pulls back and swats at my hand. “You can’t just be nice?”
“You’re the one coming in here telling me I look like shit,” I point out.
“I didn’t mean... it’s just you... you’re sick,” he stutters.
I enjoy watching him scramble for the right words, but since he’s been mostly nice to me this past week, I let him off the hook. “I know what you meant. Still, you’d think at thirty-five you’d know better than to say things like that to a woman.”
“Maybe that’s why Hannah dumped me,” he muses. “Explains a lot.”
“If the woman’s too weak for a little brutal honesty, then she’s not the one for you.”
“Guess not. I never could seem to say the right thing when it came to her. She always said I wasn’t sweet enough.”
I snort because the fact that he’s over here taking care of me when he doesn’t have to be says he's plenty sweet.
“She must have never seen you with a horse,” I say. The way Wes is with the horses is the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen.
“No. She wasn't really an animal person.”
