Page 19 of Waiting for the Rancher
This time she rounded her eyes and widened her smile almost to the point of looking comical.
Another grin worked its way free. “You’re not trying to make them laugh at you either.”
She smacked him harder.
Before he knew it, they were both laughing, and she was making more faces and he was imitating her. He tried to teach her several more tips about smiling and winking, but she failed just as utterly with those two tasks as she had with making eye contact.
Finally, she raised her hands in surrender. “I give up. I’ll never learn.”
He captured her hands. “Why don’t I show you. Sometimes, it’s easier to learn from a demonstration.”
“You are the master.” Her voice was light and filled with teasing.
Before he could talk himself out of it, he twined his fingers through hers and tugged her closer. In the same motion, he met her gaze as levelly as possible, letting himself look deeply into her eyes, holding the connection.
The playfulness in her eyes slipped away, and a strange new intensity took its place—an intensity that seemed to reach down inside and grab his heart.
Before he could say anything, her lashes fell halfway, shielding her, hiding something he didn’t want to miss. But she wasn’t giving him everything this time, was only sharing a tiny portion of herself, which only served to make her more alluring and even more desirable.
She was actually flirting with him perfectly at the moment, and she probably didn’t even realize it, which was a good thing. Because he’d only scare her if he allowed himself to react the way he wanted to, which was to slide both hands up her cheeks, tilt her head back, and get a look more deeply into her eyes.
“How am I doing?” Her inquiry was soft, almost seductive. Or maybe he just thought it sounded that way because of what they were doing.
His attention dropped to her lips. His gut tightened with a need so powerful that he was suddenly afraid if he stayed with her in the hay, he’d do the very thing he’d told her he wouldn’t do—take advantage of her.
He wouldn’t do that. Absolutely couldn’t.
With a burst of determination, he released her hand and pushed himself up from the hay. He paced several feet away, pinching the back of his neck and breathing hard, trying to get himself under control before he turned back around and faced the questions sure to be in her eyes.
He wasn’t sure what was happening to him to stir up such desire for her. But one thing he did know—sitting there in the hay with her and flirting was like playing with fire. If he wasn’t careful, he was gonna start a big blaze—one he wouldn’t be able to put out. One that would hurt them both.
“You’re doing too good.” The worddarlin’almost slipped out. But he wasn’t gonna use it with her. She needed something special, all her own.
“Too good?” Her voice held a note of pleasure.
“Yep.” He tossed her a smile and took several more steps away so that he wouldn’t be tempted to fall back into the hay beside her. “You got me wanting to drop down on one knee and propose marriage to you right here and now.”
She laughed lightly. “You’d never do that. But thank you for saying so.”
Never? Really? He wasn’t so sure about that. Something about the idea of making Hazel his didn’t sound like such a bad idea. In fact, if she were his, he wouldn’t have to walk away from her right now, and he could linger in the hay and pull her into his arms the way he wanted to. He could silence all her talk aboutlearning to flirt with a long kiss—one that would teach her she was perfect just the way she was.
All the noise in his head rumbled to a stop, leaving silence in its wake along with the truth.
He liked Hazel . . . a lot.
For the past few years, every time his family had teased him about Hazel, he’d always insisted he and Hazel were just friends. But what if his family had been right? What if they’d seen his attraction to Hazel all along when he’d refused to admit it?
After tonight, how could he deny an attraction to her any longer? And did it really matter? After all, she’d never shown any interest in him. For all he knew, she’d cut and run if he ever hinted at wanting more between them.
Maybe he’d have to do a little flirting of his own with her and try to discover if she’d ever reciprocate the attraction.
Whatever the case, he had to take a break from her and cool off. Because he was learning one thing quick-like when it came to Hazel—she was hard to resist, even though she wasn’t even trying to win him.
7
At a gentle caress on her cheek, Hazel stirred. Hay surrounded her and pricked her, even through her layers of clothes. A draft of cold air tickled her nose, bringing the waft of horseflesh... and coffee?
Where was she, and why wasn’t she waking up in her bed next to Scarlet?
