Page 34 of The Payback Adventure
She took a closer look. “You should head to the house and clean that scratch.”
“At lunchtime.”
“Suit yourself.”
He wished he could suit himself. In one of his Armanisuits to be exact. Better yet, a tuxedo. He had a dozen to choose from made by the top designers in the world. Anything to show Elisabeth the man he really was so she would see him as desirable instead of a fumbling idiot.
He was charming, sexy Henry. Women wanted him. Or at least pretended it wasn’t his Davenport name and fortune they were after. But not Elisabeth with anS.
Even with his money, he wasn’t the man Elisabeth needed. He was just all she had. He wouldn’t let her down. He would prove to himself he was more than a fat wallet and a bloated trust fund. Henry focused on the next cane to be tied.
Elisabeth touched his shoulder. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
Concern filled her voice, and his heart hitched. “I’ll be fine. I just need to figure out the correct way to tie.”
The corners of her mouth lifted. “I’ll help you figure it out.”
She stood behind him and placed her arms alongside his. Even with their jackets and clothing between them, he could feel the softness pressing against his back. Her sweet scent surrounded him. He wished they could work like this all day…
“Take the vine with this hand and toss it over the trellis like this.” With her hand on his arm, she led him through the motion. “Now tie it onto the wire.”
Henry had trouble breathing, let alone accomplishing any sort of task requiring brain cells. He wasn’t sure how he managed to tie the vine, but he did.
As Elisabeth stepped back, emotion surged through Henry. An odd mixture of relief and regret. Holding her feltgood, but so did helping her. If only he could do both…
“The bleeding stopped.” Elisabeth removed her glove and touched his face. “I don’t think it’ll scar.”
She stood so close to him and smelled so good it was worth a scar. Henry grinned. “A scar wouldn’t be bad. Women find scars sexy.”
“Some women do, but not all.” She tilted her chin, put on her glove, and got to work.
“Which do you prefer? Scar or no scar?”
“It depends.”
“On what?”
“The man.”
It wasn’t the answer he wanted. Henry wanted her to like him. Who was he kidding? He wanted her to want him.
What was he going to do?
* * *
What was she going to do? That evening, Elisabeth shoved a marionberry pie into the oven and slammed the door closed.
Henry should have been long gone. But he hadn’t left. He hadn’t slunk away in the middle of the night. He hadn’t quit.
Elisabeth twisted the knob on the timer and overshot the time by fifteen minutes. She reset the dial to the correct time.
He was supposed to quit, not dive into whatever task she gave him. Okay, he wasn’t diving. He was drowning. Still, he hadn’t given up. Not even after she’d thrown in chores that hadn’t been done in years like cleaning the barn, washing the equipment, and organizing the tools.
She brushed the flour off the countertop. Too bad she couldn’t get rid of Henry as easily.
Why hadn’t he quit?
That was the only way she could keep Cynthia Sterling’s money and use it to hire someone who knew what they were doing. If any money was left over, she could fix the roof, the plumbing, and a million other things.
