next words. When she was angry, she needed to be treated like a wild animal. She certainly lashed out like one sometimes.
He killed the engine on the lawnmower. “Hey there, uh, what's up?”
“While it's awfully nice of you to want to help out so much, I don't need you to swoop in and save me from my chores. I happen to like going out and feeding the cows breakfast and tending to the garden and —” Arial spoke so fast he was soon lost.
Putting his hands in front of him in an effort to calm her, he took a step forward. She didn't try to bite his head off, so he took it as a sign to move closer. “Easy now, I'm trying to understand what you're going on about, but it's a little hard to. You're talking at about five hundred words a minute, and with that cute accent of yours they all kind of blur together. Try it again. What's wrong?”
“I don't want you to do my chores,” she said. He noticed how the accent disappeared and how red her cheeks were. Did she not like it when she slipped into the accent? Personally, he loved it.
“I'm just helping out,” he stated.
“You know, I get that, but how am I supposed to help out if you keep doing everything that's on my list?” she asked.
He sighed and took one more step forward, completely closing the gap between them. With a lot of uncertainty, he placed both of his hands on her shoulders. “Like I said, I only want to help. I didn't realize it would be so upsetting.”
“Next time you can ask before taking on my responsibilities.” Her blue eyes were rimmed with tears. How had he managed to upset her so much without even knowing? What had he even done wrong?
Slowly, he lifted his hand to brush aside a few loose strands of hair that hand fallen into her face. “What's wrong? It's more than me just doing your chores. Talk to me. We're best friends, remember?”
****
Arial took in a long, deep breath and then exhaled. “If I don't work, it'll only cause more animosity between me and my family. I'm trying to prove to them I'm still normal, and I can't do that if you're doing everything for me. Not that I mind you coming over and helping out, and it's been great spending the day with you here at the house, but…” She shook her head. “I'm not sure how to make you understand.”
“You don't need to.” He gazed down into her eyes. For a moment they simply lingered there. Her heart was going to pound out of her chest again, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. His eyes were just too beautiful. When he took the time to listen to her so intently, it only made her want him more. Not in a primal, hormonal sense, but in a way that a woman truly wants a man, desiring every part of his being and craving more of his soul.
She had to break contact with him before she couldn't hold back from temptation any longer and kissed him — for real rather than for a script. One step back seemed safe enough. Rejecting him completely was not what she was going for, and she didn't want to do anything that might be interpreted as such.
Swallowing, she continued. “Good, so don't do my chores.”
“I think we've already established that I won't, but can I at least join you when you do them? Getting up with the sunrise has been nice. I know it's not necessary, but seeing the beginning of a new day is humbling. And Jojo and I are getting awfully tight. You might have some competition in the best friend department.” He winked.
Staying mad at him for long was nearly impossible to do. She went from glaring to laughing in a matter of seconds. “Fine, you can keep me company so long as you're not a sour puss. If you want to see something really humbling, though, you should come over at about eight tonight.”
“Oh? Why's that?”
“Just trust me,” she said.
He nodded. “I'm not sure if this is one of your chores or not, but I'd like to at least finish what I've started here.” He pointed to the lawnmower.
She laughed. “That's one chore you can always do for me. Just make sure you go back and get all of the patches you've missed.”