“What about it?”
I grin. “Oh, you know me and tequila.” I laugh, hoping to keep the conversation light. “It’s not that I was goading you on the dance floor withwhat’s his name, but I did sort of put you in a position, and I apologize for that.”
“How do you figure?”
“I mean, I was looking at you when he grabbed my ass.”
Hartley leans against the counter beside me, folding his thick forearms across his chest. His sleeves are cuffed at his elbows. From the corner of my eye, I notice the flex of his muscles and the veins tracing down his arms.
“Darlin’, I would’ve done the same damn thing whether you were looking at me or not.”
His words make my knees weak. Heat colors my cheeks, and I refuse to look up at him.
“Not what I expected to find in Lolly’s kitchen,” Markie says, just before I register that the back door has opened. “Am I interrupting anything?”
There’s humor in her tone that I don’t appreciate. I fire a look over my shoulder.
“No,” Hartley says, staying rooted in place. “You’re not interrupting a thing.”
She hums, placing a bag of ice in the freezer. “Whatever you say.”
“Did you see Lolly out there?” I ask, hoping to change the subject.
“Yeah. She said she’ll be inside in a minute.” Markie washes her hands, then checks the oven. “Damn, that smells good.” She closes the door. “What are you doing here, Hart?”
“Lolly told me to be here at two thirty for lunch. So I’m here at two fifteen.”
“What a good boy,” Markie says, teasing him. “But I’m actually glad you’re here because I heard through the grapevinethis morning that Jasper’s devastated you’ve banished him from the ranch.”
I shove the final tulip in the vase before turning to face Hartley. He’s good friends with Jasper.Why would he not hang out with him anymore?
“I love it, by the way,” Markie says, smiling from ear to ear. “I don’t even care why. If it’s true and Jasper’s miserable, I’m happy.”
Hartley sighs, heading to the sink. He turns on the tap and fills the sink with hot, soapy water. “I don’t want to get into the weeds about it because it’s none of my business. But I heard that he was messing around with a girl from Colfax County while he was with you, and I don’t need that bullshit around, you know?”
I exchange a look with my sister as Hartley washes a couple of pans in the sink.
“And I don’t need that bullshit around.”He says it so offhandedly, like it costs him nothing—like that kind of nobleness and humility are just who he is … because it is.
His back muscles ripple beneath his shirt.
Well, he’s that and sexy as fuck, too.
My heart softens as my core heats as I watch him. It’s a volatile combination that I’d love to blame on the tequila from last night—from allowing myself to fall into his arms and experience the warmth of his body for a few minutes. I know better than to let interactions with Hartley get to that point, a problem I rarely have, thanks to my avoiding Sugar Creek and his avoiding me.
I hate that it must be this way, but it does.
But that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate his forearms in that shirt.
“Yup,” Markie says, turning off the oven. “Jasper was cheating on me. That pisses me off because, I mean, he cheated on me. Why couldn’t he have just broken up with me, youknow?” She grabs mitts and opens the oven, taking out a platter of chicken that Lolly was keeping warm. “But more than that, word has it that he might be plotting to try to take me out in the pickleball tournament during the Sugar Days festival.”
I cover my mouth so that my sister doesn’t see my smile.
“Well, I’d hope he’s not dumb enough to do that,” Hartley says, keeping a straighter face than me.
“Right?” Markie rolls her eyes. “I’m the ten-year reigning champ, and a cheating punk will not challenge me. I don’t care who I have to get as a partner—because we’d been practicing so we could do it together—but I will beat his ass until he doesn’t recognize it from a hole in the ground.”
A giggle escapes my lips as Lolly opens the door.
