Dane’s stomach sank. His little brother’s impatience with the girl was surprising. Leif was acting strange in a new, totally unfamiliar way.Great.
Leif set the empty cup down on the table. “Thank you,” he murmured. His gaze darted to the girl.
“You’re welcome, Leif.” Kerrielynn smiled slowly.
Leif frowned.
Dane scratched the stubble along his jaw, beyond perplexed. His sullen, mopey, eye-rolling, angry brother had a nice girl smiling at him like that and what did he do? Scowl and frown and look...well, Leif looked pissed off.
“Are you thinking about joining the Junior Beekeepers?” Kerrielynn tucked a long strand of brown hair behind her ear, as if Leif wasn’t acting like a jerk. “It makes sense since, you know, um, you sort of own Texas Viking Honey.” She shrugged, smiling more broadly. “I mean, your family does.” She nodded at Dane.
“It does make sense,” Tansy said. “I honestly thought you were a member already, Leif.”
Leif’s one-shouldered shrug was his only answer.
“You...you want to come sit with us?” Kerrielynn collected her clipboard and nodded at the group of teens munching snacks around one brown folding table. “I think you know everyone.”
“I’m good.” Leif turned and headed to a chair in the back corner of the room, far removed from everyone else.
“Okay.” Kerrielynn’s smile faltered before she shrugged. “That’s cool.” She headed to the table and sat amidst the other Junior Beekeepers.
“Huh.” Dane watched his brother, beyond confused. Did his little brother have something against this girl? Why was Leif so hell-bent and determined on closing himself off? His gaze shifted from Leif to Kerrielynn sitting at the table of teens—flipping through the papers on her clipboard and laughing at something one of the other kids said.
“That was...sort of odd?” Tansy asked.
Dane glanced at her, waiting for her to say something more. She tended to add a humdinger at the end—some final parting shot or final word. But she seemed engrossed, arms crossed over her chest, as her attention bounced between the table of awkward teens and his brother slumped in a folding chair in the corner. Until now, he hadn’t taken the time to really look at her. Instead of her usual ponytail, her long, reddish-brown hair hung around her shoulders and down her back. He frowned. She looked...different.
He wasn’t sure if it was the curve-hugging white T-shirt and jeans versus her usual shapeless coveralls or the long, silky hair or the slight sheen of gloss to her lips but... Definitelydifferent. In a good way. Maybetoogood. He’d always made an effort to avoid the wordsexywhen it came to his long-term nemesis but... He cleared his throat, hard, and tore his gaze from an undeniably sexy Tansy.
What the hell was wrong with him? This was just Tansy. But why the getup? The snug shirt—and her arms crossed—had some sort of magnetic hold on him. He was trying not to look or remember just how soft she’d felt pressed against him long, long ago. Trying, and failing.
He swallowed but the tightness of his throat didn’t ease one bit. He preferred her sassy ponytail and baggy coveralls and biting comments.ThatTansy, he knew how to handle.
Her head swiveled his way, eyebrows raised in question, making her earring sway. A little honeypot earring dangled from one ear and a honeybee dangled from the other.
His attention lingered on her throat, all his hard-fought memories dragging him back to a time when he’d run his nose along her neck. Her skin had been so soft.
She caught her bottom lip between her teeth.
Her glossy, full lip.Dammit all.
Those big mossy-green eyes studied him long enough to make his insides warm. “Dane?” she whispered.
“What?” He crumpled up the napkin he’d been gripping and tossed it into the trash can, fighting back a flare of irritation at himself. Those thoughts were best left in the past. He tried to focus on the red spot on her cheek, not the rest of her. “Did you get stung?”
Tansy ignored the question, her eyes narrowing. “I get the feeling Leif doesn’t want to be here.”
“That’s very perceptive.”Way to play nice. Dane reached for another cookie and nodded toward the table. “Nice napkins. Your contribution?”
“Kerrielynn brought them. You know, if Leif doesn’t want to be here and you have something else you need to do, I can handle this.”
Dane swallowed his bite of cookie. “Are you offering to run these meetings yourself, Miss Hill?” If he was smart, he’d thank her and leave. He had enough to do as it was.
She seemed to ponder her reply. “It would be for the best, don’t you think?”
Definitely.But if he accepted her offer, was he...admitting defeat? Or worse, would heoweTansy Hill? “As much as I’d like to accept yourgenerousoffer, I can’t.” His sarcasm was anything but subtle.
“Why not?” Her disappointment was comical—and at the same time not funny at all.
