“The yellow lab is Petey. My grandmother was a big fan of the original Little Rascals.” She pointed at the schnauzer. “That’s the General. Not General. The General, because he bosses everyone around. And the boxer is Todd. I can’t explain it—he just looks like a Todd.”
Julian leaned back to study the boxer. “That’s eerily accurate.”
She breathed a laugh, as if relieved to be in agreement. He liked it, as well. Too much.
Stick to business.
He nodded at the plastic bottle. “What’s in the formula?” As if he didn’t already know.
“Peppermint and castor oil. They hate the smell.”
She shifted onto her knees and dug some cotton balls out of the pocket of her jean shorts. They were lighter today. More faded. Meaning the material clung like underpants to her backside, while the sun stroked the worn denim in burnished gold. Her top wasn’t quite as tight today—fortunately or unfortunately—but finger streaks of dirt were directly over her breasts, as if she’d wiped her hands off on them, palms chafing right over her nipples. Up and down. Feeling herself up in the front yard of some suburban hamlet, knees twisting in the dirt.
This is getting embarrassing.
While watching Hallie soak the cotton balls, he tamped down his attraction as much as possible, attempting to focus on more practical matters. Like getting himself untangled with this person. “Tell me how we know each other, Hallie.”
She’d started nodding halfway through his demand, obviously expecting it—which he didn’t love. Being predictable to her made him itchy. “I never said we knew each other. I just said it was nice to see you again.”
Yes. That was correct. They didn’t know each other at all. And they wouldn’t.
Why did that only intensify the itch?
“Where have we seen each other, then?”
A blush rode up the side of her face. For a moment, he thought the sunset was responsible, but no. The gardener was blushing. And involuntarily, he held his breath.
“Okay, do you remember—” she started.
Hell broke loose before she could finish.
As soon as Hallie dropped those fragrant cotton balls into the gopher hole, the sucker peeked his head out the other end. Just like that. A real-life game of whack-a-mole, only with a gopher. And the dogs lost their ever-loving minds. If Julian thought they were loud before, their excited barking was nothing compared to the screeches and yelps of alarm as they dashed toward the emerging gopher—who, wisely, took off running for his very life.
“Boys! No!” Hallie jumped to her feet and sprinted after all three dogs. “Come back here! Now!”
Julian watched it all happen in a semi-trance, wondering how his plan to have a bowl of soup and read the Smithsonian article he’d printed out had been so spectacularly derailed. He’d anticipated having a clear head for the rest of his stay in Napa, this blip from the past having been resolved. But, instead, he was now running toward this loud explosion of mayhem, worried Hallie might get in between dog and gopher and accidentally get bitten for her trouble.
Wow.
He really didn’t like the idea of her being bitten.
Or slipping. In the mud. Risking an injury.
Because that’s what was happening. In slow motion, she turned into a pinwheel of limbs and corkscrews, and then her butt landed soundly in the bank of dirt that skirted the front lawn.
“Hallie,” Julian barked—great, now he was barking, too—and scooped her up from behind by the armpits. “Christ, you can’t just take off half-cocked like that. What were you going to do if you caught them?”
It took him a few seconds to realize her entire body was shaking with laughter. “Of course this is when I choose to have the most embarrassing fall of my life. Of course it is.”
Frowning at that odd statement, he turned her around.
Big. Mistake.
The sun on her face made everything surrounding them—the endless sky, the rambling vineyard, and the streaks of clouds, all of it—seem inadequate. Something tugged inside of him like a thread. The shape of her mouth . . . their height difference. Was there even something familiar about her earthy scent?
A heavy object rammed into Julian’s leg, followed by a second one. Todd inserted himself between Julian and Hallie, barking in quick succession. A crunching sound came from behind Hallie—and there went the gopher again, followed by Petey and the General.
“Boys!” Hallie shouted, running after them.
They chased the damn gopher right back into the hole.
Hallie groaned and threw her hands up in the air. “He’ll probably leave sometime during the night when my beasts have gone. No way he’ll be able to stand the smell for long.”
He could still feel the smooth skin of her arms in his palms, so it took him a moment to recover enough to respond. “I’m sure you’re right . . .” he started, curling his fingers inward to capture the sensation before it fled.