“Did Poppy behave?”
He shrugged a shoulder, the one she’d kissed, and turned to face her. “Yeah, she was fine. She rode inthe truck and did my errands with me. Then we did some ranch work. The hands like her a lot. I think she might have gotten a little spoiled with lunch scraps.”
She made a face and looked down at the dog. “Greedy thing. They’re going to make her fat.”
“Her fur will cover it.”
“Ah, yes, black hair is very slimming.”
Their eyes met and he smiled. And her heart did some kind of weird melty thing it had never done before. Ever. In her whole life. It was strange and she didn’t like it at all.
She cleared her throat and turned away. “Can I set the table?”
“Sure,” he said.
She busied herself with the task while he finished cooking and dished their plates. They ate in relative silence with more small talk about their day passing back and forth. But mainly her eyes were glued to his chest. Why was he shirtless anyway? It was snowing outside. It was warm in the house, but she didn’t feel the need to strip off her top.
It seemed like gratuitous male nudity. Which, if it also counted as fore-foreplay, was allowable.
She would just enjoy it then. Let it kindle her flame. Light her fire. Make her go up like a match thrown into a tank of gasoline.
Yeah, more that last one.
Because the man had the most perfect chest ever. And while she’d definitely noticed it before, even before the morning she’d smacked him with pancake batter, she was really, really noticing it now.
Now that she knew just how those muscles felt under her fingertips.
Now that she knew justhow sexy he was.
“I’m suddenly hungry for dessert,” she said, realizing she’d gone a little Marilyn Monroe.
“Are you trying to seduce me?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said. “I am. And if you have to ask, I’m not doing a very good job.”
He smiled and her heart did that thing again. Then he stood from his spot at the table and crossed to where she was sitting, kneeling in front of her and taking both her hands in his, his eyes intent on hers. “You have been seducing me since the moment I first met you. Pick-up lines appreciated but not required.”
“I...” She blinked, trying to soothe suddenly stinging eyes. “How do you do that?”
“How do I do what?”
“How do you make me feel like I’m the only woman in the world?”
“Because you’re the only one that matters.”
She breathed out hard, fighting against the intense emotion rising in her chest. She didn’t want to cry. There was no reason to cry. Jace was her friend so he was saying nice things. He was her lover so they were extra mushy.
That was all.
Nothing deeper.
“We should do dishes,” she said. “I mean, before dessert.”
He reached up and brushed his thumb over the corner of her mouth before straightening. “You really do know how to talk dirty to me. By talking clean.”
“I know my audience,” she said. “Most guys aren’t so excited about putting their hands in warm soapy water.”
“If you were in it, any guy would be.”
