Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 77005 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77005 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
He hops down from the tractor and takes the phone from Shane. “Thanks,” he says, and walks away for privacy.
Shane looks down at me and the tension escalates. I climb the tractor and sit in the seat, ready to do what I always do: a “man’s job.”
“Hazel looks like she’s doing better,” he says out of the blue.
I stop what I’m about to do––start the engine––because…did he just admit to checking on Hazel?
“You checked on Hazel?”
He places a boot on the tractor tire and leans. “Seemed like the decent thing to do,” he tells me, all blasé. I have to bite my bottom lip to stop myself from smiling. It takes serious effort.
“Billy, my one-eyed dwarf goat, has stolen her attention now that Pepper’s gone.”
“How soon they forget…” he says drily, musing out loud. A smile follows and I nearly jump him right then and there in broad daylight.
Needing something to do, I turn the ignition on the tractor and it makes a strange sound.
Donkey dung.
“Try it again,” he tells me and I send him some serious side-eye. What are we back in 1920? I’ve been doing this alone for far too long for him to show up and give me orders. He walks around to the front of the tractor and pops the hood like he owns it.
“You know what you’re looking at or should I call my guy?” Dexter knows how to fix this thing. I pull my phone out of the front pocket of my short overalls, ready to dial. Shane pokes his head out from under the hood and scowls at me. “Sorry, Colonel, had to be sure you weren’t a poser.”
“Can you get me a tool box? Make sure you have a torque wrench.”
I jump down and head to the maintenance shed where I keep all the gadgets.
When I return, automotive tool kit in hand (thank you very much), he’s removed his t-shirt and hung it on the waistband of his jeans. These Hughes boys sure like to get naked.
“Got it,” I announce, very proud of myself, and hold up the kit. Taking it from me, he places it on the top of the tire and opens it up. Meanwhile, I watch him like I’m getting paid to do it properly. Grabbing a few tools, he ducks back under the hood and starts working.
“How long you gonna stand there and watch?” drifts out from under there two minutes later.
“Why? Is there a time limit? Do you charge by the minute?”
I can’t help myself. I really can’t.
He ducks out again from under the hood and finds me sitting on the tire. His lips twitch, almost risking a full-blown smile, eyes narrowing as he scrutinizes my blank expression. “I think I liked you better when you were stuttering around me.”
“That wasn’t stuttering. That was breathing in between letters.
“That was stuttering.”
I shrug. “First impressions eventually wear off.”
Amusement fills his big brown eyes. Shane doesn’t want to have fun, but he can’t help himself either. God, why fight it so hard?
“Yeah? What happens after that?”
“Reality sets in.”
This is beginning to look a lot like foreplay. Better yet, am I the only one who thinks this feels like foreplay? Probably.
He’s taken, you dipshit! my conscience screams.
He watches me for more time than I’m comfortable having that level of scrutiny directed at me. No doubt to remind me why I should be intimidated. But we are way past that point. Or are we? I’m definitely starting to sweat.
“I charge by the second,” I tell him. Then he laughs. A strong burst of laughter that resonates deep in his chest.
“Start the tractor, wise ass,” he murmurs once he’s done. I try turning the key again and the tractor turns on.
“Woo-hoo!” I shout with my arms raised. He comes around to my side and I hold out a fist to bump. “Fist bump! C’mon Colonel, don’t be such a downer.” Which he doesn’t. “Okay, never mind.” I laugh (at myself) and the grin he’s been fighting since I’ve known him breaks free.
Is this our turning point? I hope so. But the question is… is it a good one?
Shaking his head, Shane grabs the t-shirt from his waistband and pulls it over his head. In the meantime, I try to remind myself that he’s taken.
“Blue Baldwin, it’s your mother speaking—Athena Baldwin,” she says as if there was any doubt. “I’m in town and I’m dying to see you. Call me.”
She’s in town? So soon?
This is not how I like to start my day, but I wasn’t given a choice. My phone is never on silent, just in case Mona has an emergency and she needs me.
Kicking the covers off, I drag my now-annoyed self to the bathroom. As I’m passing by the window, however, I catch sight of something I thought to never ever see in my lifetime. A full moon courtesy of Shane Hughes.