Page 6 of Let Me Be the One
“Four goats, one horse. Reggie died, no one came to tend them so I’ve been doing it.”
Finally, a redeeming quality. Two, if she counted the ultra-hot bod, though the surly attitude would detract a few points off that. Then again… Her gaze skimmed over him and damned if she didn’t feel a bit woozy.
A bead of sweat went down his temple. His brows were flat, his jaw hard, but his lips appeared soft. Really kissable.
“Whew.” She fanned her face. “Sure is hot out here. Like a damp blanket thrown over everything.” Given her over-the-top reaction to his appeal, she decided she could tolerate him if she tried really hard. “Thank youfor taking care of them. No one mentioned animals, at least not that I noticed.”
“They’d have starved then, wouldn’t they, waiting on you?”
An abhorrent thought. “I’ll happily compensate you until the animals can be handled.”
Muscles flexed in his jaw, leading her to think he was grinding his teeth.
She tried again. “Tanner.” There, that was her sweetest voice. She gave an encouraging smile. “We’re neighbors now. Shouldn’t we attempt to get along?”
He took far too long thinking about it, before finally giving a tip of his head. “I offered to buy the property, several times in fact, but never heard back.”
“My bad.” She’d barely paid attention to the Realtor when he’d contacted her. “I’ve been so busy”—living a life I didn’t want—“that I’m afraid I didn’t make any final decisions until just recently.” Before that, she’d been existing in a daze. Once she realized the life that awaited her, she’d been near panicked with the need to get in her car and just start driving.
Thank heavens Sutter was unfaithful.
“You’ve decided to live here?”
She smiled, not about to admit that she was still undecided on that part. “Will that really be so difficult for you?”
“You’re going to tend chickens, goats, and a horse?”
Wrinkling her nose, she said, “I thought I was going to pay you to do that?”
The dog tipped his head in this adorably cute way that made him look super curious, then he glanced at Tanner and sort of murmur-barked-growled.
Tanner nodded and said, “Same, buddy. Same.”
The dog looked back at her.
Callie gasped. Had they—man and dog—seriously just had a conversationabouther, infrontof her? Sure felt that way. “Well, that was rude.” Crossing her arms and cocking out a hip, she struggled to keep her smile.
“Come again?”
She nodded at the dog, then hitched her chin at him. “What was that? That little exchange you two had?”
Amusement—at her expense—curled his mouth, turning his already-gorgeous looks downright devastating. “Blu doesn’t know what to make of you, that’s all.”
Her eyes flared. “And I suppose you don’t either? That’s what you said, right? You agreed with him. Well, at least I’ve been up-front with you.” She spread her arms wide. “You’re the one being all mean and snotty with no good reason at all.”
He gave a noncommittal snort, but he was still grinning. “You’re offended by what my dog supposedly said. You realize that, right?”
Good Lord, he was right.
She glanced at the dog. He gave her another adorable head tilt. “It’s been a long day.” She laughed at her own ridiculousness. “Clearly, I’m losing my edge.”
His humor eased away, and instead he gave her a look of commiseration.
Oh, hell no. The last thing she wanted from a man, any man, was sympathy. “Again, I apologize for my intrusion. I’ll be on my way now.”Before I make an even bigger fool of myself.She’d just turned away when he spoke again.
“It’s getting dark fast. You shouldn’t go back through the woods, especially if you’re not familiar with them.”
“Concerned I won’t find my way off your property?”Okay, that had sounded almost like a sneer. She cleared her throat. Her nature leaned toward being nice whenever possible—and she saw to it that it wasalmostalways possible. Certainly, more often than not. “There aren’t wild boars or wolves running around, right?” And yet, she did hear a lot of rustling in the woods behind her, which reminded her of how eerie they had felt earlier. Also, yes, it had gotten rather dark.
