Page 17 of The Best Kind of Bad

She looks distracted, but at my words, one eyebrow flies up. “That’s obvious.”

“I’m sorry… If I’d known… I wouldn’t have…”

She turns to face me, watching my awkward attempts to explain myself with dry amusement. “You wouldn’t have what?”

“I’m just sorry, is all.”

She shakes her head. Her scent cuts through the warm night, sweet and flowery, and my fingers itch to reach out and pull her in.

I study her face, her posture. She’s not caving in on herself like someone who’s ashamed of their own body. If anything, she looks a little miffed.

Interesting.

It’s almost like she’s not embarrassed that we fucked, so much as the fact that we didn’t know who we were to each other.

I can sympathize with that.

Or maybe I’m just projecting.

But she definitely has the look of someone who has bigger fish to fry than to worry over boy troubles.

Ed woofs from the cab of the truck.

Her gaze cuts over to the dog before returning to me. She tosses that dark hair over her shoulders. “Well, now what? Are you planning to make things awkward?”

“What? Me? No.”

She narrows her eyes, scanning my face. “We can still work together, right?”

“Of course. Yes. Definitely.” I’m falling all over myself to assure her, and I don’t even care if I look pathetic. It’s more than I hoped for. I was fearing the worst.

She nods sharply. “Good. Because I don’t know the first thing about selling farmland.”

Like that.

That’s what I was afraid of.

“Selling?” I manage to rasp.

“Yeah. I wouldn’t even know where to start. Gus’s attorney said I could trust you.”

“You can.” I hesitate. “But have you thought it over? Are you sure you want to sell?”

“I’m not a farmer, Dusty. I’m not moving out to Silver Bend, and I have no desire to manage a farm.”

“Well, you wouldn’t have to. You already have a farm manager.”

“You?”

I don’t miss the scorn in her voice. That cuts deeper than I’d like to admit, but I carry on. “Or you could sell a few properties and rent the others.”

“Yeah, but then I’d have to fuck around with taxes and all that. I’ve already got my hands full trying to get my own business back upright.”

“The bakery?”

She tilts her head, slowing down. “Yeah. You knew about that?”

“Carl mentioned it.”

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