Page 35 of Daydreams at the Farm on Muddypuddle Lane
He froze.
So did she.
His gaze locked onto hers and she couldn’t tear herself away. Slowly, deliberately, her fingers crept to the neck of her blouse and she undid the first button. He stared at the exposed flesh and she saw him swallow as she undid another.
When she loosened a third button and the fabric fell open to reveal the lace of her bra, his eyes caught hers again and she inhaled sharply when she saw the raw desire burning in them, a conflagration that threatened to sear her from the inside out.
And when he dropped the towel and opened his arms, she stepped into them with a flame that more than matched his.
CHAPTER EIGHT
‘What time do you call this?’
When her mother shouted from the kitchen as Maisie slipped in through the back door of the farmhouse, Maisie had to suppress a shriek of alarm. Her heart thudding, she put a hand to her chest. ‘You nearly gave me a heart attack.’
‘I’ve been worried sick.’ Beth was sitting at the kitchen table, bundled up in a thick dressing gown, and with socks and fluffy slippers on her feet. Her hands were wrapped around a mug, and she had an aggrieved expression on her face.
‘I didn’t expect anyone to be up this early,’ Maisie said, her heart rate returning to normal as she switched the kettle on. She was gasping for a coffee. After the glorious night she’d had, she needed all the caffeine she could lay her hands on if she didn’t want to risk falling asleep in the chicken coop.
‘I can see that.’ Her mother was positively glowering. ‘You stayed out all night.’
‘Yes, I did.’ Maisie was unable to suppress a smile. She was glowing inside, and she was so happy she could burst. Last night had been wonderful.Adamhad been wonderful. Considerate, passionate, loving...
‘It’s five-thirty in the morning.’ Her mother cut into Maisie’s blissful thoughts.
‘I know.’
‘Dirty stop-out. I didn’t raise you to—’ Beth stopped abruptly.
‘To what, Mum?’ Maisie was becoming irritated. This was none of her mother’s business.
‘To throw yourself at the likes of that man.’
‘Bythat man, I take it you’re referring to Adam.’
‘Yes. Him. Did you see the state of him? He was dirty and covered in oil. And that hair…’ Beth shuddered.
‘He’d just finished work,’ Maisie explained, keen to defend him against her mother’s unwarranted attack.
‘That’s as may be, but it doesn’t excuse his hair and that thing in his eyebrow.’
‘It’s a piercing.’
‘I don’t care what it is – it looks awful. The only good thing I can say about it, is that at least it’s not through his nose.’
‘Youdon’t have to like it,’ Maisie said through gritted teeth. She took a mug out of the cupboard and smacked it down on the countertop.
‘You might have broken that,’ her mum grumbled.
‘But I didn’t. And if I had, I would have bought Dulcie another.’ Dulcie would have totally understood. When she had lived at home, stuff had got broken on a regular basis. Their mother had a wonderful knack of winding her daughters up.
How could Maisie go back to that now that she’d had a taste of freedom? Thethought made her feel like crying and she vowed to try to speak to Dulcie as soon as possible, although with Mum here, Dulcie wouldn’t be in the most amenable of moods.
‘I wondered what was keeping you here,’ Beth said. ‘And now I know. I’m disappointed in you, Maisie; you could do so much better than that grease monkey.’
Grease monkey!Maisie’s mouth dropped open. ‘I’ll have you know he’s got his own place and his own business.’
‘Dulcie says he lives above an old garage, and from what I can gather, he does a few odd jobs.’
