Snorting, I punch him gently on the shoulder. Before I can pull my hand back, Tanner takes it and lifts it to his lips.
While I gape at him, Tanner presses his lips to the back of my hand.
I’m hypnotized for a brief moment and forget to pull away.
I swallow. “Careful, Tanner. I’m a lot more woman than you can handle.”
He says nothing but holds my hand, staring at me like he wants to say something flirty to that but thinks better of it.
“Go home and relax. I got the rest of this,” he murmurs, squeezing my hand before letting go.
Why would he be so nice to me now that he knows I chose our “date” just to prove a point?
“I said you don’t have to.”
“How many head of cattle you got here?”
I tell him.
He lowers his chin and looks up at me with a severe expression. “And you’re telling me you prefer to do all this alone? No. Not happening. Not today. Get on inside and let me finish the chores. Do you trust me?”
That’s the thing. I don’t know. Sure, Tanner has shown me he knows what he’s doing and how to get it done fast. He has far more endurance than I expected to get out of him.
“Fine.”
I watch him go, my hands trembling at my sides.
I spend most of the afternoon fixing the fence in several different spots, giving me enough reason to spy on Tanner.
Supervise, I tell myself. It’s not spying if he knows you’re watching.
Oh, he knows. At one point, he looks right at me, waves in greeting, and I wave back. I can see his face smiling from here, which warms my belly.
The man knows how to drive a tractor and haul hay into the pasture; I’ll give him that.
I watch only sporadically as he carefully spreads the hay around. He’s comfortable enough in the herd and knows how to move around without scaring them.
Leaving him to work, I spent the rest of the day patching holes in the barn, oiling saddles, and feeding the horses.
When I head to the house for dinner that night, I hope to see him at my kitchen table so we can talk about how the day went. And possibly other things. Joy has already gone home for the day and left a lasagna warming in the oven for us.
The aroma has my mouth watering as I peel off my sweaty hat, filthy boots, dirty shirt, and jeans in the mudroom, tossing everything into the hamper by the washer.
And, okay, maybe I intend to toy with him by traipsing through the house in my sweaty tank top and underwear. But when I enter the kitchen, Tanner’s not there.
I know I’d heard him drive the tractor back to the shed earlier, so surely he’s around her somewhere. However, I peek out the living room window and see that his truck is gone.
That’s weird. He left without saying goodbye.
I should have planned ahead. Told him he was welcome to take a change of clothes, use the shower and join me for dinner.
Well, I don’t know what I was expecting. I certainly wasn’t super friendly or forthcoming when I told him what he’d be doing today.
I probably made him feel unwelcome.
It’s probably best that he didn’t say goodbye because it gives me time to clear my head. I was dazed and confused after that kiss.
It was only a kiss on my hand, but it felt like more. I felt it everywhere, down to my toes.