Page 55 of Second Chance with the Rancher
The mattress was vacuum sealed in a big plastic casing, so once Nate freed it from the box, he carefully slid the blade of the knife into the plastic and as if the mattress was made of baking soda and the air was vinegar, it oozed out of the plastic casing and unfurled before their eyes, growing to six or seven times its normal size until Nate let it collapse to the floor, a fully formed king-sized mattress.
“Well, spank my ass and call me Sal, that was pretty fucking cool,” Nate said, picking the memory foam up and heaving it onto the slats. Then he collapsed onto the mattress, gave it a couple cursory bounces and nodded. “I could sleep on this. Well done, Minx.” He patted the bed. “Come try it out.”
Getting onto a bed with Nate Harris, a walking, talking, horse-riding, lady boner maker, was a bad, bad, bad idea. A terrible, no-good, very bad idea. And yet, she wandered over like an imbecile and slid onto the bed, reclining down beside him until they were both on their backs staring up at the ceiling.
“This is nice,” he said.
Her heart pounded.
“Thanks for coming out here with me, Minx.” The music still playing on his phone switched to something romantic and croony. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes at just how imperfectly timed the song was.
The universe was messing with her.
This was not where she was supposed to end up.
Sure, she was happy here now. But this was not the life for her. She needed fast-paced. Go-go-go. She needed nightlife and an audience. She needed to dance.
There were only so many ranch hands she could teach to dance, and then what? That wasn’t a career. That wasn’t a purpose. It was hard enough that all of her sisters did things that helped others. Pasha was a pediatrician, Triss was a speech path, Oona was a psychologist and Rayma was a social worker. Mieka danced. Not that there was anything wrong with her career choice, but unlike her sisters who could find work pretty much anywhere, Mieka couldn’t imagine making a career of dancing here in farm country. And since she had no other skills, what was there for her to do out here?
And as much of a nice bit of respite the ranch was—despite the fact that she’d been put to work the moment she arrived—the charm of it would surely wear off and then she’d be left with resentment and longing for the life she knew she should have.
Because the mattress was memory foam, Nate shifting to his side didn’t jostle her at all, unlike a spring mattress. He was facing her now, and she resisted rolling over to face him for all of five breaths. Then she broke down and rolled over.
“I take you under the moonlight. My heart is full. Our bodies intertwined. Our souls as one,” the portable stereo taunted.
Her body grew warm and her fingers twitched and itched to reach out and touch him. To run her fingers over his thick brows, or feel the scratch of his scruff against her palm. She remembered the roughness of that scruff against her neck from when they were together against the barn. She’d liked it.
She wanted it elsewhere. Like her cheeks, her mouth and her inner thighs.
Swallowing, she finally met his gaze and it damn near sent her entire body aflame. Heat sizzled in the deep blue, and the longing that she saw behind those eyes gutted her.
He wanted something she just couldn’t give him.
Reaching up, he tucked a wayward strand of hair behind her ear, but his finger lingered and trailed down her cheek, then her neck and finally her collarbone before he removed it. It left a trail of fire though, and the flames were hot and big enough that it’d take jumping in the river outside to douse them.
“Save the Last Dance,” she said softly.
Confusion creased his face.
“My favorite movie.”
“Ah.” His eyes widened in understanding and he smiled.
“Moroccan chickpea stew over Israeli couscous is my favorite meal, and summer is my favorite season.”
His smile made everything inside of her clench and get happy. “Thank you.”
They laid there for another couple of minutes, neither of them saying anything, or breaking eye contact and yet somehow his fingers found hers on the mattress and they intertwined. It felt wonderful and so natural to lay next to Nate in bed.
The contentment and warmth that filled her wasn’t overwhelming like she thought it would be. It was healing and blissful. Despite the fact that they’d never been in a bed together before, it didn’t feel weird at all. It didn’t even feel like something she’d need to get used to. It was an experience she enjoyed and wanted to make permanent.
Permanent?
Where did that thought come from?
She was about to ask what they were doing when her belly rumbled like approaching thunder.
Nate blinked and sat up, unlacing their fingers and immediately making her bereft of his touch. “I guess we should eat, huh?”
