Page 25 (1/1)

As we hiked back down the trail, he gruruuy, and he was heavier than he looked

My face heated more

At the botto to the doctor’s on his own, and that if it was broken, I would be paying any ent-care clinic in town Once I’d deposited an in-pain-and-getting-crabbier-by-the-minute Clark there, I headed for istics set in

How to do this? Could I afford it? And when the hell could I get rid of this stupid putt-putt rental car and start driving a real one?

The first thing I needed to do was to tellme out Which he would be, so it was tilad Simon and Caroline would arrive today I needed to knohere I stood with the house and what they, and specifically Caroline, thought I would need to do to it And of course, run everything by Clark

Clark of the broken nose, angry eyes, and washboard abs Who would have thunk it? Notof washboard abs, as I turned into the driveway oftruck parked there I looked down at myself, half naked, trail dirty, and a bit bloody, and realized that this guy had never seento be today either

Pulling myself out of the car, I headed toward the barn, where I could hear the faint rustling of hay Heat how terrible those names were, I poked et hit with a ain

I looked in, then up, and there he was Once more, with the pitchfork and the awesome Once more, with the no shirt and the hot Oncecurve of his spine as it dipped toward the small of his back, each vertebrae carefully selected and placed into position by the hand of God, or at least someone with a sense of divine proportion Vertebrae Mmm

"Hey," I called out He didn’t even turn, which was okay I could indulge in some more back pn

"It is," he answered in a bored voice

"No, Ithrough the space between the old barn boards, illulow He was glowing to be sure, his skin tanned a deep and outdoorsy bronze, slick with sweat and proainst his, or would it create just enough friction to set fire to everything in between

I had a sudden vision of being thron on a cushiony pillow of hay, one strand in his ht and clenched Not only on the hayseed, but in order to contain his words of love and devotion, the honey-laced poe in his mind ever since I had the nerve to blow into his town, his world, andhe’d ever believed in He’d kept silent, keeping his devotion to hiht of my body overwhelmed his stoic nature, his steely constitution to resist in

I waited expectantly And waited And waited somehay, knowing I was there This onion was going to be harder to peel than I thought Just as I was about to turn around and head back to the house, he finally thren his pitchfork and turned towardfor the ladder His top half disappeared for abottoht on the deep indentation on either side of his heavenly carved abdoracefully He closed the distance between us, his eyes traveling over my smaller frame A breeze blew in from one end of the barn, a kiss of sea air on my somewhat naked skin T-shirt abandoned earlier for the cause of Clark, my skin now pebbled Because of the wind? Or the proxi forward as he approached His eyes lingered onone across my collarbone, he touched my skin, then curled underneath the strap "I assu before breakfast?" he asked, stringing ether He had an expression on his face that I could only classify asa

"I assu," I sta me into Forrest Gump

Confusion crossed his face, and he stepped back a bit I stepped forward, not wanting to widen the space between us "I accidentally punched someone On a ether coherent sentences when this coas near Seriously, it was like I turned into a different person when alone with hi before breakfast" He winked (he winked!) and moseyed toward the barn door And he was supremely qualified to bust out aout ainst the door, one ar Cake

"You look like you can take care of yourself That’s why"