She stepped away from him and went to make the sandwiches. He didn't speak, just left her to process what he'd said while he watched her.
His body was hard and aching, but if she said no, he wouldn't push it. This woman had enough people in her life controlling her, he'd never be another.
“Yes.”
The word was a sigh.
“Just yes?”
She nodded.
“Well, all right then.”
She sighed again.
“What?”
“Your accent is so damned sexy.”
“Come on now, we know it's not just the accent, like I explained earlier.”
Her snort had him moving closer. He nibbled on her neck, and she responded with a delicate shudder.
“I told myself today that I was going to put some distance between us until you left.”
“I know, I thought the same thing, and then I changed my mind. Life doesn’t deliver all that many happy moments. I think we should grab a few when they’re on offer.”
“He’s asleep by seven thirty.”
Chapter 14
Brad was sitting on the deck at the cabin when Ethan walked up. He wore a Longhorns cap, shorts, and a T-shirt, the standard uniform of most of the men here. Testing his insides, Brad didn't find any of the usual anger and resentment that had always ridden him when he thought about Ethan. They weren’t entirely comfortable yet, but not uncomfortable either. More like a new friendship, tentative and needing to take time to nurture.
“Yo.”
“What's up?”
“Just got a call from Newman. Thought I'd come and tell you what he said.”
“Want a beer?”
“Sure.”
Brad lowered his feet from the rail and went to grab it from the fridge, and another chair.
“You like it here?”
“Sure.”
They drank in silence while Brad allowed himself to acknowledge that it would be a wrench to leave this place.
“The will of the late Mr. Buchanan handed everything over to their only child, one Nadine Buchanan. All it said with regards to a reserve was that they wanted the land to be used for the good of the surrounding area.”
Brad whistled. “Which to them meant that it was turned into a reserve, but their bitch of a daughter is interpreting that to mean a resort.”
Ethan raised his bottle in agreement.
“So, we need to pursue the conservation angle?”
