the ladder.
“Don’t go trying to run out on my again,” he said and sat down next to her on her makeshift ‘couch’. “You’ll break your neck trying and then I’ll be really irritated with you.”
She had to laugh at his comment. “You’ll be irritated with me for breaking my neck?”
He raised an eyebrow at her reaction. “Not a good enough threat?”
She chuckled again and shook her head. “Not really. Irritation with you isn’t anything to be afraid of.”
He nodded as if accepting her point. “How’s this for a threat…if you fall down and break your neck, I’ll have you exactly where I want you…on your back and at my mercy.”
She giggled at the image but agreed that that threat was better. “Okay, I’ll stay put as long as you stay on that side of the hay.”
He instantly agreed with her terms then relaxed back against the hay. “So how did you find this place?” he asked.
She shrugged and looked down over the workers who were milling about, taking care of the horses or hauling in food and water. For the next hour, they discussed non-threatening issues like her job, his job, politics and horses. She relaxed and sank deeper into the hay, feeling as if their old friendship were back and that pesky sexual tension that always seemed to be around them now had dissipated slightly. It was still there and she caught him glancing down at her breasts more often than she wanted to admit, but his eyes always moved back up to her eyes and he paid attention to what she was saying.
He also laughed. His deep, lustrous voice laughed at several of the things she commented on and it made her feel special to make him laugh. “You sound so relaxed right now,” she mentioned with a smile of contentment.
“Am I not normally relaxed?” he asked, leaning towards her with his arm behind her on the bale of hay.
She shook her head. “No. You’re always very serious, generally wrapped up in something very complicated.” She reached out and touched his forehead. “And you have a worry line right here,” she said, her finger touching the line between his dark, tough looking eyebrows. “It’s very intimidating.”
“But you aren’t intimidated by me, are you?” he asked and took her hand in his.
She didn’t even realize that he was making patterns on her palm. “Yes, you’re very terrifying.”
He scoffed. “You don’t act like you’re terrified of me, unless I’m trying to make love to you.”
She rolled her eyes and shifted on the hay bale uncomfortably. “Which is all the time as of today.”
“Do you blame me?” he joked.
She smiled and pulled her eyes away from his, not wanting to get pulled into that sensuous heat. She’d been there once already today, twice if she counted her dream and it was hard to pull out of that kind of intensity. “Well, I don’t blame myself.”
“If you’d wear something other than a shirt that is too small for you, and one that draws my eyes to that black lace bra you’re wearing, by the way, then I wouldn’t always be trying to make love to you.”
Her free hand reached up and covered the gap in her shirt and she tried to pull her hand away. “You’re a really horrible man,” she laughed.
He tugged her hand which caused her to land exactly where he wanted her, in his lap with her hands holding onto his shoulders. “I’m just a man. You can’t blame me for falling victim to your allure.”
She thought that she might be in trouble in this position, but it just felt too good for her to move. The alarm bells were ringing, but because of the laughter they’d been sharing for the past hour or so, she was too relaxed in his company to take him seriously.
“I think I’ve been wrong to be afraid of you,” she said with a sparkle in her eyes. “You’re just a pussy cat, aren’t you?”
“Absolutely,” he agreed. “I’m completely uncomplicated and non-threatening.”
She threw back her head and laughed at his blatant lie. “I think you’re actually a wolf in sheep’s clothing, trying to lure me into a false sense of security,” she said.
His hand slid up her waist and he raised an eyebrow. “I think you’re correct.”
She knew she was in trouble, but it just felt too good to be in his arms. It was the first time she hadn’t felt threatened by his nearness. His touch was hot, but not uncomfortable.
“I’m going to