The Mechanics of Mistletoe - Liz Isaacson Page 0,24
disaster area. “Scroll up a little and see if I missed anything else.”
There were a lot of people on this group text, and she flicked her finger along the screen. His phone scrolled mighty far, and her adrenaline spiked. She quickly dropped her finger to stop the texts, and she read quickly.
You’re dating Sammy Benton?
The mechanic? That’s amazing, Bear.
I didn’t know you dated, Bear.
How long have you been seeing her? I think that’s so sweet. I can help her parents. The Bentons are good people.
Wow, Bear, back in the dating pool. Good for you.
Her pulse picked up speed, and she gently scrolled up a little further to see what he’d said. She pulled in a breath through her nose, hoping she didn’t seem too shocked.
He’d said he’d just started dating her.
Her.
She looked up.
“What?” Bear asked. “Did they say anything else?”
“We’re dating?” she asked.
Bear reached for his phone, and Sammy gave it to him. He glanced at it, set it in the console, and looked out his side window. “I…didn’t know what to say.”
“It’s fine if we’re dating,” she said.
“Is it?”
She watched a flush crawl into his neck, and Sammy actually liked it. She’d always enjoyed finding out boys liked her in high school, so why should this be any different? Bear obviously saw something in her that he found attractive. Why couldn’t she accept that and admit her attraction to him?
“Yes,” she said. “In fact, I was going to ask you if you might have time—once all the clean-up is done, of course—to take me to lunch sometime.”
He looked over to her again, those blue eyes wide and filled with hope. “You were?”
“Yes,” she said.
“We can go to lunch any time,” he said. “Today if you want.”
“I don’t think we can go today,” Sammy said with a light laugh. “The town has no electricity, Bear.”
“Oh, right,” he said, clearing his throat.
Sammy grinned at him. “Would you then? Take me to lunch sometime?”
“Yes,” he said, the red blush moving right to the tops of his ears.
“Good,” she said. “That’s settled.” She faced the road again, and the highway leading out of town was surprisingly clean and clear. “So, Bear, tell me more about why you don’t use any of the technological advancements at Shiloh Ridge.”
Ninety minutes later, the last of the flames went out under the deluge of water Bear aimed from the fire hydrant. Sammy simply stood back and watched him use those glorious muscles.
“Got it,” Wade yelled, and he and a couple of his teenage sons moved to where Bear had been spraying and started churning up the earth there. They apparently did that to dig out any hot spots and put them out. The last thing anyone wanted was a fire spontaneously restarting in the middle of the night.
Smoke still rose from the field, despite the colossal amount of water Bear had put on it. He’d moved the water back to where he’d doused before and gave it another drenching while Wade and his boys dug.
“Okay,” Wade yelled again. “Back here, Bear.”
Bear’s face tightened as he used those muscles to move the hose, but he got the job done. He was also soaking wet, and his shirt stuck to his chest in ways that would keep Sammy up at night, dreaming of the man without a shirt on.
She shook her head at the fantasy, because she hadn’t thought this way about a man in a long time. Too long, if she were being honest with herself. She looked away from Bear and out to the field as the last of the smoke dissipated.
“I think you got it,” she yelled above the rushing sound of the water.
“Crank it off,” he said with a grunt, and Sammy took a few steps to the hydrant and turned the wheel like he’d shown her. The water lessened and lessened until only a drizzle came out.
Bear groaned as he threw the hose to the ground and looked at her. A brilliant smile filled his face, and he took a deep breath, those strong, sexy shoulders lifting up and then falling down as he sighed out the air.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Sammy said. “You’re incredible.”
He chuckled and shook his head. “Nah, it’s just life on the ranch when you live in a dry, dusty part of Texas, half an hour from services.”
Wade Rhinehart came toward Bear, and the two men shook hands. Wade was almost as tall as Bear, but he didn’t have nearly the bulk. “Thanks so much, Bear.”