“Colton lives next door. He’s my friend and we have never crossed those lines.” I scrunch my nose. “It would be like me kissing my brother. We grew up together. Our moms are best friends.” He was a few years older than I was but when your town is as small as ours everyone knows each other. It wasn’t unheard of to share classes with the older kids, which meant we sometimes had class together too. Our farms were so close that they were either lending us a hand or vice versa.
When my hand drops away, his mouth is still set in a line. Maybe I shouldn’t but I like his jealousy. I can’t recall a boy ever being jealous over me, but then again, I don’t think you can call Drake a boy.
The oven dings, letting us know that it’s preheated. “That heated up fast,” I say, trying to steer us away from Colton talk. “Is it because it’s a fancy rich-person oven?” I add. I watch as his mouth twitches fighting a smile. I can’t help but smile too when I see this time he loses the battle of trying to fight it.
He pulls away from me, putting the pizza in the oven. “I was thinking you should come to work with me tomorrow,” he says nonchalantly.
“Is this so you can keep an eye on me?” I raise an eyebrow, trying to tease him. I’d be a liar if I said I wasn’t disappointed when he told his assistant he’d see her tomorrow.
“Can you blame me?” His eyes roam all over my body. I’m curious to know if it’s because he really wants me there or if it’s the fact that he’s a workaholic. I remember my dad always saying that about him. Is this his way of being able to work and still keep a close eye on me? I know for a fact that my dad would have asked him to give me a job in his company so that he could watch over me. I’m almost certain that my dad had no idea that Drake would be looking at me like he does. Never mind the fact that he’s been touching and kissing me too.
“Maybe.” I shrug. I do need a job if I want to stay in this city. That is something I should have thought out before I hopped on a plane. I honestly thought the stash of cash I had would hold me over for a while. The way things were looking it didn’t seem like my money would last so long in this expensive city. “Are you hiring?” I ask, flashing my dimples at him.
“I’m sure I can find something for you to do.” He leans up against the counter across from me, his long, thick legs outstretched. This man is big all over. Hell, he is bigger than most of the men I grew up with. He looks like he belongs in the country with a pair of boots on, worn jeans, and a hat on his head. For some reason I don’t picture him as the cowboy hat wearing kind. More of the ballcap or maybe not one at all.
“I’m not sure I have a skill set you need,” I admit. “I do the books with Ma, I can cook and I know my way around the farm. I’m thinking you don’t need much help with anything like that.”
He starts to open his mouth and I have a feeling I know what’s coming so I raise my hand to cut him off. I can tell that he’s not used to someone doing that to him when surprise lights in his eyes. He actually stops and puts his hands up in a motion for me to continue. His mouth twitches into one of those half smiles he’s not fighting anymore.
“I’m pretty sure sitting in your office flashing my dimples at you isn’t a real job so don’t even try it.”
“I think you underestimate those dimples. You let that Cindy get into that pretty little head of yours.”
I throw my head back and laugh. Somehow the feel of the room has shifted. He seems more relaxed now. I really like him this way. Our relationship seems easy in this moment. I also know he is trying to get me to cave at the dimples job by using Cindy. He thinks I’m stubborn and that mentioning her will get my goose and have me trying to make a point. I’m on to him though. He’s not going to manipulate me into doing what he wants me to.
“Don’t people start in the mailroom?” I side-step his comment. “You have a mailroom, right?” It’s then I realize I’m not sure what he does. “What do you even do?” I scrunch my nose trying to think back to what my dad has said about him.