‘Baby’s here,’ booms Rod from around the corner of the barn door.
This time, Genny and Bianca both roll their eyes in tandem as their younger brother decides to join us. I don’t think he’s expecting me to be here, because he does a double take when our eyes meet. He clears his throat all awkwardly. Casual, my ass. ‘Uh – hey, Jordan.’
I’m suddenly very conscious of my work overalls and rat’s nest of a bun. I reach for a ring to twist before realizing I’malso jewellery-free and, by association, at my most vulnerable. If there’s anything I hated back home, it was people I knew seeing me on the job. It’s like when you’re working the grocery store and your worst enemies suddenly appear in the check lane. I hated it when it was people I really didn’t like. I’m not sure how I feel about it being Rod.
‘Hey,’ I manage.
‘Genny?’
‘Yes, Bianca?’
‘Why don’t we – ’ Bianca cleverly smirks our way – ‘go make ourselves some iced tea?’
‘Why don’t we?’ Genny echoes back happily.
With a peppy ‘we’ll be back!’, Genny disappears out the door with her sister, leaving us very alone. Which, clearly, has proven a very treacherous place for Rod and me to be.
‘They’re just messing with us,’ he says all quickly, running a flustered hand through his waves of dark hair. ‘They get a kick out of that.’
‘I see.’
He scratches his stubble, then does this thing like he’s about to say something, mouth open, before closing it promptly.
‘What?’ I prod.
‘Nothing. Just …’ He gestures to my overall’d form, mouth twitching with a smile. ‘Don’t be self-conscious. I can tell. You’re getting all shifty.’
‘I don’t go out in work clothes,’ I start to explain, cheeks heating up, but he shakes his head.
‘Aren’t you the one who said not to scare each other away?’
‘That’s not technicallyexactlywhat I said.’
‘Close enough,’ he deduces with a grin and a tug of his shirtcollar, a sliver of silver chain round his neck flickering. ‘And anyways. This is not scary. You look good in those.’
Now I’m fully blushing. My work overalls? No way. I scoff, distracting myself from my dumb bashfulness. ‘You’re a real special one, you know that, Big Time?’
‘Really!’ he insists. His wholesome smile goes just a touch mischievous, flirtatious. My pulse escalates as if on cue. Keep it locked down, Jordan. ‘You look like a million bucks in those fucking overalls.’
I let out a laugh that wobbles just slightly with breathiness. I’m so not locked down right now. ‘You’re too much.’
‘You do.’ He’s hitting me with the infinite-wattage, but that smirk gets less playful and more sultry as we close the gap between the two of us, his hands finding my hips, overalls and all. Just-visible freckles dance across his nose in the light from the afternoon sun filtering through the windows. His long lashes flutter, his voice deliciously low. ‘You look like a million bucks in anything. You look like a million bucks in nothing.’
Oh, mama. This man. My nonexistent defences are crumbling so quickly. This is not very friends-with-benefits of us. ‘Is that so, Romeo? Pushin’ your luck?’
‘Who’s to say it’s luck?’ Rod’s lips brush my ear, the words clear as day. ‘Way you’ve been screaming my name makes me think it’s strategy.’
Risky business. His sisters will be back any minute now. But my eyes squeeze shut involuntarily, my whole body automatically responding to his touch. I tilt his chin so I can meet his gaze. ‘I dare you,’ I whisper, ‘to make me do it again.’
Speak of the devil. A rattling at the front doors jolts us both back to reality. Our eyes go comically wide in sync, likesomething out of a Looney Toons episode, and we immediately burst apart, arm’s length. Tension? Who’s she?
‘Back so soon?’ says Rod way too quickly. ‘Where’s your iced teas?’
Bianca and Genny exchange a knowing glance, and Genny beams. ‘Alright, baby brother. Time to bring the horses in.’
‘Wait … you want me …’ He’s struggling to get the words out. Mister Hasn’t-Ridden-Since-High-School looks like he’s frozen to the spot at the very thought of standing face-to-face with a horse.
‘Get your boots on, cowboy.’ Genny chucks a set of keys at Rod, and he snatches them out of the air with a gulp. ‘I still have yours in the farmhouse. Can’t brag about living on farm property to our guest without putting your butt in the saddle first, am I right?’
