Page 49 of Unspoken Hearts
I bite the inside of my cheek before nodding. “I don’t know what to do with most of Axel’s things he—”
“We’ve got the old shed that’s empty right now. If you don’t mind putting everything in there? It’ll be safe, and you can use it as long as you need. We haven’t used it in a few months.”
My eyes move between his, studying the magnitude of them like two glacial pools of warmth and kindness.
He wants to help me.
My throat bobs as I shake my head, scratching at my neck. “I don’t want to take time away from you, though,” I say, trying to push him away even though it’s the last thing I want to do right now.
But it’s just easier, right?
His mouth tenses. “You’re not. I want to help you. Can you let me just this once?”
I blink at his imploring eyes and tuck loose hair behind my ear. “Okay.”
“Okay?”
My chin dips again as the corners of his kissable mouth curls. “Thank you, Reid.”
“You’re welcome, cowgirl.”
My stomach swarms with butterflies as I catch his sandalwood scent. He must have showered after moving the sheep this morning into the new pasture. And yes, I did watch him from the chicken coop. And yes, he looked extremely hot in his brown hat and shirt that clung to his buff muscles.
Smiling, my hands hold the edge of the bench. Laynie comes back around, breaking some of the tension between us. Or at least I felt the tension. Maybe he didn’t feel anything.
“Reid, don’t distract her. She’s already been caught this morning on the phone,” my friend chimes as she slides the coffee order towards me with her blue painted nails.
“I had to answer. It was my brother,” I counter sassily.
Laynie shrugs—straight, blonde hair pulled into a high pony tail and falling down her back—before tilting her head and grinning at Reid. “Did you just come to harass my worker?”
He just deadpans. “I wasn’t harassing.”
“Mhm,” Laynie hums, crossing her arms. “Were you going to order then?”
His frown reappears before nodding, listing off a few coffees. I start preparing them along with the older couple’s order.
Laynie goes out the back again, and I give Reid a sympathetic smile. “Sorry. You know how she is when it comes to her store.”
Reid shakes his head. “Not really. I didn’t come here for her.”
Hands stilling on the grinder, my heart thumps erratically, eyes flickering up to meet his piercing ones. “Are you checking up on me?”
I watch his mouth roll inwards, hand rising to the nape of his neck. My stomach flips like a pancake.
“Well, not exactly.”
My brow arches at him.
Reid exhales, unsure of what to say. “I just know you needed help, so I came to offer.”
A soft smile pulls in my cheeks at his nervousness and willingness to help me so quickly.
“Thank you,” I say before turning to the grinder, but not before adding, “Cowboy.”
My cheeks flame as our gazes meet again, and I see the small quirk in his lips as Reid shoves his hands into his jeans.
I make the couple’s coffees first before Reid’s, mainly to give me more time to glance at him. Leaning against the display cabinet, he glimpsesover the layout of the cafe, before talking with Jaxton Calloway, one of his friends from school.
