Page 53 of My Cowboy Trouble
"I'm sure the pasture looks great."
"Wasn't talking about the pasture." I grin as she realizes I'm staring down her tank top. "But that's nice too."
"You're impossible."
"I'm charming."
"That too," she admits, starting up the ladder behind me. "Unfortunately."
Two hours in,and Kenzie's a mess. Her hair's escaping from her ponytail in sweat-dampened strands, there's a streak of tar on her cheek, and her tank top is soaked through. She looks absolutely fucking perfect.
"Pass me those nails," she says, not even looking up from where she's positioning a shingle with surprising accuracy.
"Bossy."
"Efficient. There's a difference."
"You weren't efficient that night. You took your sweet time with?—"
"Working here," she interrupts, but I can see her fighting a smile. "Besides, that was about quality, not speed."
"Can't argue with the quality." I pass her the nails, letting our fingers brush. "You're getting good at this."
"I'm a fast learner."
"You are." I watch her hammer in the nail with confident strokes. "Remember when you couldn't even hold a hammer right?"
"That was a week ago."
"Feels longer." And it does. Feels like she's been here forever, like she belongs here. Which is dangerous thinking, but I can't seem to stop. "You're different than when you arrived."
"Still a city girl."
"Yeah, but you're our city girl now."
She looks up at me then, hammer paused mid-swing. "I'm nobody's anything."
"That's not what it looked like the other night."
"That was?—"
"Don't say it was a mistake." I move closer, ostensibly to help with the shingle she's working on. "And don't say it was a one-time thing. We both know you've been thinking about it. About us."
"You're awfully confident."
"I'm observant. You've been watching me all morning."
"You're shirtless. It's hard not to look."
"You locked your door last night."
She focuses on the shingle like it's the most interesting thing she's ever seen. "I wanted to sleep."
"No, you locked it because you knew if you didn't,you'd invite us in." I'm close enough now that our shoulders touch. "You locked it because you wanted us so bad you didn't trust yourself."
"That's not?—"
"I tried your door."
