My eyes narrowed. “To get water for the cows, right?”
“Of course.”
I laughed. “Alright. It’s a date then.”
Turning away from his gaze, I mentally kicked myself. What was happening to me? I didn’t flirt. And if I did, I didn’t do it well. But here it was, spewing out of me like a faucet. Or vomit. Couldn’t tell which yet.
Dusty went to go start the tractor to begin pushing the snow off of the manger. Not wanting to sit around with nothing to do, I trudged through the snow with a hammer and shovel to clear the snow off the water trough and bust up the ice. The cows surrounded me, pressuring me to hurry and greedily snorting while they waited for me to let them drink. Dusty was back with the tractor pushing snow by the time I had finished removing enough ice for the cows to drink. I stood back and watched them for a moment. They were completely dependent on Dusty and me for survival. I figured there were tens of thousands of dollars worth of cattle in these pens, but I found I wasn’t nervous. Which was not typically who I was, and I knew it had a lot to do with the calm capabilities of the man in the tractor.
Dusty finished clearing the manger, and I opened the gate for him so he could open a path in the thigh-deep drifts of snow in the actual corral for the cows to come and eat. Once over the threshold, he stopped the tractor and stuck his head out.
“Hey, Lou.”
“Yeah?”
“You know how to drive this thing?”
I shrugged. “It’s been a while.”
“You want a refresher lesson? Just in case?”
“Probably a good idea.” It technicallyhadbeen a while, although I knew I could drive that thing in my sleep. But this...sounded interesting.
He nodded. “How about you climb in with me and I’ll show you the ropes, just in case I’m not here and you need to do this again.”
I agreed and kept my smile and pounding heart hidden away from sight as I made my way to the tractor.
Even though I was comfortable with the equipment, the thought of him not being here made my stomach tighten in dread. I wanted to curse the storm while at the same time be thankful for it in my prayers. I didn’t feel like dissecting my reasons why. I walked toward him with my tongue hanging out and my tail wagging.
As I climbed the ladder, I was the epitome of cool. Calm. Collected. He held the door open for me and motioned for me to sit on his lap.
My eyes widened. “Are you serious?”
He looked around the tight, tiny cab meant for one small grandpa. “I don’t think there’s much choice.”
I couldn’t. Right? That was so...forward. And yet...so much more comfortable. I waffled awkwardly, my eyes flickering to him and his lap and the side of the cab I could scrunch onto before going back to him. “I could probably just sit on the side.”
My voice tapered off. He heard my hesitation and pounced, eyes dancing in amusement.
“I promise I’m only coming on to you a little.” His low voice was so full of mischief I couldn’t help but laugh. I bit my lip wondering why I was always trying to reign in the emotions Dusty was constantly making me feel. When he laughed his whole face lit up, making him go from the man in front of me to the childhood boy I had known. It was contagious, making him seem much more familiar to me than he probably was. But...when in Wyoming, I guess.
“Well, if it’s only a little.” My words were bold, but my heart drummed in my chest as I took the hand he offered, drawing me closer to his body, as I gingerly settled onto his lap.
I could only sit on one of his legs because the space between the wheel and the seat was laughably small. So then I felt super self-conscious about the dead leg I would no doubt be giving him. Though I had a normal frame for my size, the last time someone tried to pick me up, the word ‘solid’ is what they used.
A woman never forgets.
Once I was settled, I leaned back into a hard chest. His left arm wrapped around the side of me, gripping the wheel, while his right hand worked the controls for the bucket, pushing the snow.
“All good?” His low murmur in my ear raised the hairs on my arm.
“Yeah,” I peeped, all ease and nonchalance.
Then he proceeded to show me how to start the tractor, what all the controls did, and then placed my hand over the bucket scooper control and his own hand on top of it, “guiding me.”
Good gracious.
The heat from his hand zinged throughout my body as he led me through the motions of lifting the bucket up and down as well as pushing the snow. I would have been bored and rolling my eyes through the whole thing, but he was being so sweet and not at all condescending, so I had to give him points. And obviously…my hand. But I was still concerned I was crushing him with my dead weight.
