She tried to swallow past the desert her mouth had become. “You could have just pulled it out,” she managed to say.
He grinned. “Where’s the fun in that?”
Her mouth dropped open, but he held up a finger. “Don’t move.”
He took a piece of linen and doused it with alcohol, murmuring soothing nonsense when she hissed against the sting. Once the wound was disinfected, he made quick work of a rudimentary bandage and then sat back to admire his handiwork.
“Where did you learn all that?” she asked, her voice still fainter than she’d like.
“Doc.” He raised a shoulder in a lopsided shrug. “Apparently I picked up a few things before nearly burning the place down.”
She barked out a laugh and slapped her hand over her mouth. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to laugh, it’s just…”
He raised a brow, which just made her laugh harder. “My employment woes are funny to you?” he asked, though there was no heat behind the words.
“Of course not,” she protested. Then added, “Well, maybe a little.”
He glowered at her, and she laughed again until he placed a hand on the armrests on either side of her and leaned in. “Maybe if someone didn’t insist on distracting me, these little mishaps wouldn’t keep happening.”
Her breath hitched in her throat again. “I’m distracting?”
He leaned in closer, until their breath mingled, and his eyes started to blur when she stared at him. “You have no idea,” he murmured, leaning in more. Giving her plenty of time to pull away if she wanted.
But…shedidn’twant to. She’d never distracted anyone before. Not in the way he implied. Annoyed, yes. Badgered, yes. Amused even, yes. But distracted? Never. Only he seemed to see her as something more than “another one of the guys.” Someone to be desired. She enjoyed being part of the gang. Enjoyed the freedom being “one of the boys” had lent her. The safety. But she’d longed for someone to look at her the way Adam was looking at her now. Like he wanted to devour her.
And heaven help her, she wanted to let him.
Her heart pounded furiously the closer he got. And when he gently brushed his lips across hers, the touch so light she wasn’t sure if she imagined it, her heart nearly stopped altogether.
“Adam,” she breathed.
“Hmm?” he murmured, brushing another barely there kiss across her lips.
“What are—”
A loudcrackand sudden, furious bleating had them jerking apart. They frowned at each other, but it didn’t take more than a second for Nora to realize what was going on.
“Oh no. Lucille!” She jumped up and ran for the yard.
…
Lucille? How had she gotten into the—
A heavy ball of dread dropped into Adam’s gut, and he jumped up to follow Nora. When he’d heard her cry out, he hadn’t had a thought in his head but getting to her, finding out what was wrong, fixing it. And in his haste, he must have left the garden gate open. The number one most important thing to her in the world. And he’d let her down.
Shit!
He ran outside just as Nora chased Lucille off, sending her running back through town, the blue ribbons around her neck fluttering in the wind as she went. Then Nora turned to her garden, her hands to both cheeks. Her trampled mess of half-eaten garden.
“No, no, no,” she muttered before letting loose a string of curses that would have made any sailor proud.
The garden wasn’t a total loss. Most of the damage seemed to be contained to one particular bed, so Lucille didn’t seem to have been in there too long. Probably just while… He sighed. While they were inside and he was distracting her, flirting and playing at a seduction he shouldn’t have been engaging in. Yet again, he’d managed to screw up a good thing. Make the absolute worst choice possible. And he’d managed to hurt someone else in the process. Again. This time someone he…someone he was starting to care very much about.
He took his hat off and jammed his fingers through his hair. “Nora, I’m so sorry. I—”
“Don’t,” she said, holding up her hand. “Just…I don’t want to hear it right now.”
She bent and started to clean up the mess the goat had left, setting things to rights as much as possible. There were a few plants that could be salvaged that she started to tuck back into spots in the dirt. He squatted down to help her.
