Page 67 of A Rancher's Love
“Sounds intriguing,” he teased. “Do you really turn the heat up enough in here that you garden naked?”
Ginny laughed as she slid off of his lap and put her bits and pieces back in order. “What do you mean, do Iturn up the heat? You’re dangerous, Mister Hottie. Good thing we don’t have any seedlings up yet, or we would’ve steamed the bunch of them.”
“Mr. Hottie is not an approved nickname,” he said dryly. He glanced around as he did up his zipper and tucked his shirt in. “Steamy hot sex notwithstanding, it still feels wintery in here.”
“We don’t need to turn the temperature up until closer to when we need to put stuff in the ground, and that’s not for a while still.” Ginny linked her fingers with his as they strolled back toward the main door. “Did you need something? Other than a booty call?”
Shit. That’s exactly what he didn’t want her to think. He stopped and pulled her against him, lifting her chin so their gazes met straight on. “Don’t think the fact that we get on like a house on fire sexually means that’s all there is to this.”
Her head tilted slightly, and she cupped her palm against his face. “Sorry. I was being flippant. I know we’ve stepped beyond just sex.”
It had never been just sex for him, but now wasn’t the time to say that.
Instead, he finally got his shit together and did what he came to do in the first place. “There’s talk about heading out to Rough Cut dancing in a couple of days. I want you to show up. No staying home and watching Disney with your nieces.”
“Tucker, we can’t—”
“I’m not taking you as my date, but I want you there.” It was a compromise he could work with, and it fit nicely into his plan for slowly making it clear Ginny was his. That he was hers.
That they were together.
Thankfully, Ginny seemed to catch onto part of the idea. She nodded. “I think my girls were talking about going out. I’ll make sure it’s the same night, so there will be plenty of reasons for us to be in the same place at the same time. Oh, and we need an official OperationProve Itmeeting soon.”
A rumble of a truck stopping outside the greenhouse snapped Tucker into full attention. “I should go, but I’ll send you a message later. I have an idea of where we can meet.”
Her eyes lit up, and she pressed a quick kiss to his lips, going up on tiptoes. “Send it secret messenger if you need to, but I look forward to hearing from you.”
Tucker dragged himself away from her warmth and headed out the side door just as voices drifted from the main entrance. Ginny greeted someone who had come for a visit.
He dragged his feet, though, as he headed back to the barns. He hated not having their relationship out in the open.
It wasn’t as if he didn’t have enough distractions to keep him busy. Between Ashton and Caleb, Tucker began the work in earnest of slowly getting to know all the tasks his uncle kept rolling as foreman for Silver Stone.
After nearly fourteen years of being in charge, Caleb was definitely the manager. He and his brothers set the direction for the ranch operations, but it was Ashton who made sure everything got done.
Like a juggler keeping a dozen balls in the air while spinning plates, and the entire time keeping his cool—
As the days passed, Tucker admired the man more and more.
“You keep staring at me. Do I have mud on my face?” his uncle asked gruffly as they stopped in the mess hall for a quick bite after a day of looking over every piece of machinery on the property.
Tucker shrugged. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to. Just thinking how grateful I am that you’re willing to stick around for the next while.”
Ashton glared back. “What did you do?”
“Nothing,” Tucker protested. “How the hell did you get from me saying I’m happy you’ll be around to I’ve done something wrong?”
“Pretty much what you used to do.Uncle Ashton, you are so good with horses. By the way, I think I broke my saddle.” Ashton attempted to imitate a childish Tucker, which just made Tucker snort all the harder.
“Please. Do not take up acting.”
Ashton lifted his chin. “I’ll have you know theHeart Falls Starreported my rendition of a goat was one of the best in the Not-So-Nutcracker performance this past December.”
Video of which Luke had shown Tucker on the sly, the two of them howling with laughter. Definitely not the thing to share with his uncle.
“I’m sure you were a fine goat.”
Ashton glowered. “Are you poking at me, boy?”
