“That sounds amazing.” I hold up my jar of iced coffee. “Because this is about the only coffee we can get around here.”
“I hope you know I’ll be in there every morning too,” Zane says. “I love Sharon, but—bless her heart—she can’t make coffee.”
Nash smiles grimly as he says, “It’s always burned.”
“Well, I hope she won’t be angry with me,” Magnolia says. “I don’t want to make enemies here.”
“Oh, it’s fine,” Henry says. “Sharon hates making coffee anyway—she doesn’t even like coffee—so you’ll probably be her favorite person if people can come get a good cup from you. Why don’t I take my lunch break now, and I’ll come unlock the building for you?”
“That sounds great,” Magnolia replies. “Do you two want to come look with us, Bliss?”
I glance at my phone. I still have plenty of time to check those calves. “Sure! I’d love to!”
“What about you?” Nash asks Zane.
“Sounds fun.” And then he reaches for my hand, grasping it in his and leading me toward the door to follow Magnolia and Nash.
“Ohhhh,” Magnolia exclaims with wide eyes. “I knew it!”
Nash smirks at us. “See, honey? I told you they weren’t cousins.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Zane asks as he opens the door and lets the rest of us walk out while he’s holding it.
“When Magnolia first met you two, she asked if you were cousins because you seemed so familiar with each other and you look alike.”
I glance at Zane sharply. The guy outweighs me by a hundred pounds and is six inches taller than me. How on earth do we look alike?
Magnolia must read the question on my face because she says, “I’m sorry! It’s just that you both have dark hair and light-blue eyes. It’s a unique combination, so I assumed you must be from the same family.”
Zane is fighting a laugh as he reaches for my hand again. “Maybe we should check our family tree before we keep dating.”
I poke his side. “Don’t even joke like that.”
“At least we know what your future kids will look like,” Nash comments with a smirk.
“I’d rather just walk over there,” Magnolia says when Nash stops in front of their car. “I’m so tired of sitting.”
“Sounds great,” Nash agrees. “Want to walk with us?”
“Of course,” Zane answers as we fall into step behind them.
I jump when I feel something brush against the back of my jeans and glance down to see Zane’s fingers in my back pocket. He pulls them out but has a pair of vise grips in his hand. He leans down to whisper, “Would you look at that? I found them.”
I fight a blush, and Zane just laughs, pocketing the tool inhisjeans.
It’s going to be interesting, spending the rest of my life with him. And I’m beginning to think he’s not as oblivious to the things I do as I thought.
CHAPTER 10
Zane
“Arewe sure we’re ready to tell them?” Bliss asks me as we stand at the top of a small hill, looking down on my bred cows in the pasture below.
I picked her up from her parents’ place a couple of hours ago, and we’ve been riding through the herd checking for any early calves.
We’ve been spending a lot of time together the last month. We quickly learned that with our fake dating, people assumed we would work together often. It’s all either of us does anyway, so it makes sense that we would do it together now. It’s been a pleasant way to pass through the “dating” experience. We’ve worked cattle and sheep together, and I’ve learned that Bliss is a more patient person than I am—and that I hate sheep.
“We’ve been dating for a month,” I remind her.
