Alanna narrowed her eyes on him. “Ginny showed you the picture she took of me, didn’t she?”
Matthew pulled the spoke out of the water then laid it on the worktable set outside the window of the shop. “I refuse to answer on the grounds it will incriminate Ginny,” he teased.
“Anyway …” Alanna deliberately changed the subject with a moue of self-disgust at herself. “I’m really not accident prone. The goats were a fluke, and my burnt hand was the result of my gluttony.”
“Be careful. Gluttony is one of the seven deadly sins.”
“Really? Then I hope Deputy Porter is a churchgoing man.”
“Poor Greer,” Matthew mocked. “I wonder if he is aware of the affect he had on you.”
Alanna rolled her eyes at him. “Don’t you dare tell him. He already thinks I was trying to tempt him into breaking his marriage vows.”
“You’re joking?”
“I really wish I were. He told me he barely had enough stamina to satisfy his wife.”
“Greer always did think he was a ladies’ man.”
“Are we talking about the same man?”
“He didn’t appeal to you?”
“Noooo.” Alanna made an aghast face.
Matthew picked up the iron spoke. “What type of man are you attracted to?”
“I don’t have a particular type.”
Matthew tsked her. “Yes, you do.” Matthew started walking away. “Come on; let’s go back inside. It should have cooled off by now.”
It was still hot, but more bearable, as he had damped the fire before leaving the shop.
Laying the iron spoke on the worktable, he took off his remaining glove.
He turned and saw her standing by the iron door he had made, leaning against the wall. Striding quickly to stand next to her, Matthew prepared to pull her away if she so much as tried to lift a finger to touch it, regardless if she snapped at him or not.
“Careful. The door is heavy.”
He expected her to give him a wary look at how close he was standing next to her, but she seemed unconcerned, keeping her gaze on the intricately carved door.
“You do beautiful work.”
“Thank you.”
“You and Isaac made this?”
“Yes. We have a catalog of ironwork we can produce.”
“Do you only work with iron?”
“No, it depends on what the customers want.”
Matthew showed her around the shop, the different metal they worked with, then some of the finished products, which were stored there, waiting to be installed.
“Jody and Jacob normally install and deliver our products, while Isaac and I work here.”
“That’s cool that you get to work with your brothers. You all seem to get along very well.”