Page 72 of Love Off-Limits
I plugged the blanket in and wrapped it around Penelope, nestling her into the milk crate. I rubbed my hands together to warm them up. It was the middle of summer and still, the air was cool, made worse by how damp everything was.
“Is this a typical storm?” I asked as Olivia returned.
She crouched down and scratched Penelope’s ears. “A little worse than typical,” she said, “but not the worst we’ve ever seen by any stretch.” She worked quickly to disinfect the wound, then smeared it with a thick paste. “There you go, sweet girl,” she said. “That should hold you over until the real expert can take a look.”
Penelope bleated in response. I pulled the blanket up around her shoulders, already feeling its warmth. She wiggled around for a moment, bleated one more time, then promptly closed her eyes.
“Well, she seems comfortable enough,” Olivia said.
“Poor little thing’s been through a lot in her first month of life.” I adjusted her blanket one more time. “I don’t think we should leave her though, right?”
Olivia lifted her eyes to mine. Her hair was down and wet, clinging to the sides of her face. Her freckles stood out on her pale skin and her eyes shone in the dimness of the barn. I’d never seen her look so beautiful.
“No, you definitely shouldn’t leave her. We need to keep her temperature up. It’s easy for them to get hypothermia when they’re little like she is.”
“What about you?” I asked, wishing she had time to stay, even just for a minute. “Do you have anywhere else you need to be right now?”
“Definitely. We’re done breaking down the pavilion, but everything is chaos in the farmhouse. The bride insisted she wouldn’t be happy unless they had the wedding outside, so up until this morning when the forecast called for hail, we thought we’d try to make the rain flys work. But it’s just too windy. Now we have to have the ceremonyandthe reception inside the farmhouse which, for a wedding this size, is not going to be easy.”
“So...you should probably get back over there to help.”
She nodded sagely. “Ishould.” She drew out the word, like it was more a question than a statement.
I looked up. “The storm is really raging out there.”
Her lips lifted in a half-grin. “It might be smart for me to stay here a few more minutes. Just to make sure Penelope is okay.”
Penelope bleated her approval.
“Plus, there could be hurricane-force winds out there,” I added.
She bit her lip. “Or tornadoes.”
“We should definitely avoid the tornadoes.”
I hadn’t been alone with Olivia since we’d started texting again. I didn’t want her to avoid her work, but the rain really was coming down. And I was ready to believe any lie if it meant a few minutes with Olivia in my arms.
Another clap of thunder rumbled overhead as if to punctuate her decision to stay. At least temporarily.
She took a step forward, her bottom lip between her teeth, and lifted a hand to the zipper on my rain jacket. She slid it down, revealing the surprisingly dry t-shirt I wore underneath. She pressed her hands to my chest. “You’re warm,” she said softly.
“I normally am.” I pulled her a little closer, my arms closing around her waist. “You aren’t, though.”
“No, this raincoat is terrible. I left my good one at home this morning.”
She moved her hands from my chest up to my shoulders, sparks shooting off of every point of contact. I closed my eyes and breathed slowly, wanting to catalog every movement of her hands on my body.
“I have a confession to make,” she whispered.
I opened my eyes and trained my gaze on the arch of her eyebrow, to the way her bottom lashes clung to her rain-damp skin. “Okay. Let’s hear it.”
“Good Will Huntingis not my favorite movie.”
My eyes widened in mock horror. “Liar,” I said softly.
“Can you blame me?” A smile played around her lips. “I was getting impatient for a real date.”
“I’d just like to remind you that it was your idea to play the game. And to read the books. And to wait to ask the second question until we’d finished reading them.”
