2. Luna
2
LUNA
The cold, sweet, thick, delicious cream is still funneling down my throat as I watch Brent refill the glass and hand it to me. He’s so tall–much taller than I’d expect the owner of a farm to be. He looks like he could play in the NBA if he felt like a career change.
He has a head of perfect almond hair that would belong on a frat boy too. It looks windswept and kingly as he tosses it to the side in a flourish to hand me my second helping.
I’ve seen him a few times when I’ve come down to the office, but they’ve only been brief glimpses of him pacing in the back office while on his phone or heading out back toward the paddock. I always knew he was handsome, but it wasn’t until I got up this close that it truly hit me. And boy did it hit me.
When he stepped up to Claire and me at the desk and took over, I felt like I’d been run over by a shipping-container truck. All the breath left my lungs, and I had to remind myself to reach out and take his hand and not just leave it hanging out there while I stared at him blindly.
I caught his eyes drifting up my body. I don’t know if he thought he was being quick or slick or whatever, but I sure as hell didn’t care. He can check me out all day long, and you won’t catch me calling him out on it. Think I’d wear these pants and this blouse to another farm in the area to fill out purchase orders?
“Open up,” Brent says, holding the tasting cup up over my head.
“Oh, no!” I cry out laughing. “I am such a klutz. There’s no way–”
“Don’t worry. I’m an expert marksman. I’ll pour it right into your mouth. Just open wide and stand still.”
He must be kidding, right? I stare back at him, waiting for him to break, but he doesn’t. He just keeps looking at me with a slight smirk on his lips and his green eyes sparkling like emeralds.
“Oh my God…okay,” I finally reply, stepping closer and trying to figure out the angle. “But this is my good work blouse, so be careful.”
“Don’t worry. If anything happens, Luna, I’ll buy you a new one. Now open up.”
I don’t know what I’m doing, but following his directions just feels so natural. It’s almost like how I just naturally do what I’m told when my dad instructs me to do something.
I look at Brent’s handsome face, take a deep breath, and open up.
The next thing I know, a stream of Brent’s sweet, perfect cream is falling into my mouth, right onto my tongue. He was right; he is an expert marksman.
“There ya go,” he says softly. “Lap it right up like a good girl–”
I burst out laughing, sending Brent’s cream spilling everywhere–particularly all over my cleavage.
Brent cracks up too as I panic and look around for something to wipe myself down with. But before I know it, he’s got a plush, white towel in his hand and is cleaning me off like it’s his job.
“Sorry about that,” he chuckles. “I’m also a part-time comedian.”
“We could have pulled that off if you didn’t crack me up like that!”
“My bad,” he laughs as he mops up the last of his cream from my chest. “I also hope that your boyfriend doesn’t show up here with a shotgun when you tell him about… this .”
I smile and shake my head. “No shotgun-wielding boyfriend at the moment, sir.”
“Is that right?”
“No boyfriend whatsoever.” I nod.
“Impossible.”
I shrug. “Not everyone is a magnet for members of the other sex like yourself, Mr. Carnell.”
He frowns and tosses the towel aside.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Really?” I ask. “I saw the way your secretary was looking at you–at me . What’s her name? Claire?”
Brent bursts out laughing in a way that makes me feel like I’ve said something completely moronic.
“What?”
“No, no, no, no.” He shakes his head. “Claire and I aren’t…”—he intertwines his fingers in front of his face—“together.”
“Oh, really?” I ask. “Because I could have sworn–”
“Definitely not. She’s just an employee. A damn good one too.”
I’m blushing even harder now than I was before. I brush my hair out of my face and take a deep breath, trying to cool off.
“I’m so sorry for assuming–”
“Why, Luna? Are you jealous?”
His question completely floors me and knocks the wind out of my sails. I look up at him in shock, my lips apart, no idea of what to say, feeling frozen like I’ve been sprayed with liquid nitrogen.
Thankfully, Brent saves me.
“Of her position.” He smiles. “You want her job? Because I’ll fire her right now if you want it.”
“Oh!” I burst out laughing. “No, that’s quite all right.” I feel the tension sifting out of me as I look up at him and those chiseled cheekbones.
How is it possible to be so tall, so handsome, so capable, and so funny all at the same time?
“Besides, I’ve already got a job for my dad. He’d kill me if I quit.”
“Yeah, I know the feeling there.” He looks down for a moment, and then does something that shocks me; he takes my hand in his, only this time it’s gentle, the way an old lover might take his wife’s hand in a moment of love.
I feel my heart flutter in my chest and my body temperature rise, which is exceptionally noticeable back here in the processing room, which is quite chilly.
“What about you?” he asks. It wasn’t until this moment that I truly noticed how masculine his voice is. “Do you mix business with pleasure, Luna?”