CHAPTER 16 #2
I look behind me to see if someone snuck into the house after I came in. Wouldn’t have been hard since my entire focus has been on her.
She laughs. “Talking to you, Cowboy.”
My eyes narrow.
She holds up her hand. “I come in peace. I made us dinner because I think we got off on the wrong foot.” She squints her eyes. “Well, a bare foot maybe? Because you were naked,” she whispers loudly.
“Are you drunk?”
Her lips fold in on themselves and her eyes grow wide. “Don’t tell.”
I sigh and look around her. “So that food’s for me?” I can deal with her drunken giggles if I’m fed.
She waves her hand at the counter island like she’s Vanna White.
“Yup. I found some stuff in the fridge and put this together. Figured I shouldn’t drive into town to go shopping.”
“Must have been all the coffee,” I mutter as I head to the sink to wash my hands.
“I’ve got a secret,” she says, coming right up next me, her hip bumping mine as she sticks her hands under the water, too.
Instantly the smell of barbecue is replaced by her sweet, intoxicating, floral scent, and I have to hold my breath to keep from inhaling her.
Otherwise, I’m afraid that if I do, I’ll be searching out that smell for the rest of my life.
Fuck, this girl needs to go. I step back to let her finish washing her hands.
“Don’t you want to know my secret?” She settles on one of the stools at the counter.
I close my eyes because those words coming from her mouth make me want a lot of things. Though none of them are her secrets.
“Not really,” I grunt.
“It wasn’t coffee.”
“No shit.”
She barely bats an eye at my bad attitude. “It was mimosas because my sister and Rosie drink mimosas on Sunday mornings.”
I take a stack of ribs from the platter and a scoop of the mashed potatoes. Tally reaches over and spoons some broccoli onto my plate. “You’re a growing boy, Cowboy. You need your greens.”
“Not a cowboy.”
“Whatever you say.”
I take a bite of rib and practically moan from the delicious flavor of the meat as it falls off the bone.
“Good, right? Sorry, I stole your ribs. If we’re going to be living together, we should probably figure out how to split the expenses.”
“You cook like this every night, and we can call it even,” I reply without thinking.
She blinks up at me like I told her she was the prettiest woman I’ve ever seen, and the most gorgeous shade of red fans across her cheeks. “I’m glad you like it,” she murmurs softly before taking a bite of her food.
I slide off my stool and head to the fridge for a beer, holding one up for her. She raises her glass bottle of diet coke in response and shakes her head, so I grab just one beer and pop the top. Before digging in and forgetting my own name, I add, “I’ve got a business credit card. We can use that.”
She shakes her head, but I hold up a hand for her to let me finish. “If you’re determined to work here, you’re an employee. It’s only right.”
Her lips twist and she nods. “About that—I’m really sorry about the tulips.”
“It wasn’t all your fault. You were right. I should have told you my plan.” Her eyes light up. “You still should have listened when I told you not to touch them. But I could have done a better job of explaining why.”
She nods and then her tongue goes to her cheek. “Well, while we’re being honest, I have something else to confess.”
Oh Christ, what did the woman do now? I lift my brows, waiting for her to continue.
“Remember how you told me to count the daffodils?”
I almost snort because fuck, just picturing her doing that has me ready to laugh. Somehow I manage to maintain a serious face. “Yes?”
Her eyes focus on the ceiling before she mumbles, “Well, I kinda sorta fibbed when I said I did it.”
“Oh yeah?” I work to keep my tone devoid of humor.
“I thought it was you being bossy and mean and all grumpy, but then you explained why it’s important, so I promise I’ll go out there and count every stalk this week.”
I dip my chin. “All right.”
“And I can do the grocery shopping if you tell me what you like to eat,” she adds.
A warm feeling spreads through me as I realize she wants me to like her.
Though I don’t think there’s a damn thing she could make that I wouldn’t like if this barbecue is even a hint at her talent.
I haven’t had a home-cooked meal this good in—well, fuck, I don’t think I’ve ever had a meal this good.
“Where’s your mother?” I ask, reminding myself that it’s not just the two of us living on this farm.
“She said something about dinner plans and disappeared.” Tally slides her fork around her plate. “And I think she’s avoiding me. I really screwed up yesterday. I keep screwing up when it comes to her.”
Getting to know anything else about Tally is dangerous. Yet somehow I find myself asking, “Why do you think that?”
When she looks back at me, her amber eyes so wide and sad, it’s like a punch to the gut. “I think I remind her of my dad.”
I shake my head. She looks nothing like her dad. And she certainly doesn’t act like him. This girl is all bright and shiny and loud. Her father was kind but quiet.. A hard worker. Maybe she’s got that in common with him. Time will tell. But I don’t see the resemblance, even a little bit.
“It’s fine,” she says with a forced cheer to her voice, making it so I don’t have to respond. “I’m going to prove to her that I want to be here. You, too. And I’m going to do whatever I can to save the farm.”
She flashes me a smile. It feels genuine, which is awfully bittersweet because I’d like to see it a lot more but know I don’t deserve it.
I try to move the conversation in a different direction. “Your mother said you were in Vermont.”
Tally’s eyes widen. “Is that, like, an actual question?”
She’s teasing me. I know she’s teasing me, and even though I don’t want to play these games with her, I feel my lips twitch into a half smile.
“Yes, Tally. You said you’re here because you want to be. But I’m confused as to why. Did you lose your job?”
That might make more sense. If not, why did she choose to come home? Why now?
Tally shakes her head and sets down her fork. “I work seasonally in different places.”
“Yes, your father mentioned that.”
Her chest rises and falls with that information, and her eyes settle on the glass soda bottle in front of her.
She reaches out to play with the straw, swirling it around the top.
“I want to help you all get through this first season without him. I know I can be of use.” She raises those pretty eyes of hers, and it’s like she’s pleading with me to let her.
To believe that she really does want to help.
And maybe she does. Maybe her heart is in the right place. Maybe she’s just gone about it all wrong.
I give her a singular nod. I can do this for Peter. I can help his family heal, help them get the farm up and running for the season, turn around this business, and save the land for all of us.
And I can do it without getting trapped in his daughter’s golden eyes.
Tally goes back to humming the song playing on the radio, and that’s when I realize it’s the same damn song that was on when I entered the house.
I pause, trying to figure out which Taylor Swift melody is playing, but it’s not familiar. “What song is that?”
Tally’s eyes glitter with delight as she replies, “Cowboy Like Me.”
I can’t help the laugh that slips out. “Why does it keep playing?”
“Put it on repeat for ya.” She nudges my elbow with her own, and I focus on my food to keep from laughing more.
“You’re something else.”
“That sounds like a compliment.”
“You don’t get many compliments, huh?”
Tally’s brows rise and she shrugs. We eat the rest of the meal in silence, the damn song playing over and over. By the time I’m done with my plate—it took seconds, I’m not ashamed to admit—I know every lyric. I snag her plate, too, and walk toward the sink.
“Oh, chores!” She bounces off her chair and follows me to the sink. “We should discuss that, huh?”
I glance over at her. She’s close. Once again standing hip to hip with me in front of the sink. I glare down at our feet, which are practically touching. “How’s your ankle?”
When she doesn’t reply, I lift my eyes to hers, and dammit, that was a mistake. Because she’s looking at me like I just told her I loved her. Like she’s not used to people caring. A soft smile plays on her lips. “It’s fine. Think the alcohol took away any of the residual pain.”
She turns back to the sink, and I’m left staring after her again. She’s so damn happy and pretty and perfect and easy to talk to. I can’t stand myself for how much I like it. I reach for a plate and grunt. “What’re you doing?”
“Helping you clean,” she says. “I figure we can rock-paper-scissors for all the chores.”
“Rock-paper-what?”
She pantomimes the game.
I shake my head. “I know what you’re talking about. Why would we do that?”
“So you can’t say I stuck you with all the bad ones.”
I sigh. This woman is exhausting me. My entire body is tense because I’m trying not to smell her or let her get too close, but her constant yammering makes it so I’ll probably never actually get hard.
Who the fuck am I kidding? She could be covered in cow shit, and I’d probably still be attracted to her.
Taylor sings another line about dancing, and I have an urge to pull Tally closer. An urge I resist by dunking my hands in the water. “Grab the rest of the dishes. You cooked. I’ll clean.”
“Oh, so we have roles. I’ll do the cooking, you do the cleaning?” She knocks her hip against mine before rounding the kitchen to get the rest of the dirty dishes. “Look at us, being such good roommates already.”
“You’re giving me a headache with all your talking,” I mumble.
She rolls her eyes and sways her hips but remains quiet while we finish cleaning up the kitchen. “I’m going to head up to bed,” she says after a few minutes, right before reaching past me to put the last dish away.
As if she wants to torture me, that floral scent floats right around me, forcing my body to turn like a damn sunflower in search of the sun.
“Good night.” I grunt.
Tally pauses in front of me, nibbling on her lip. “What’s your plan for the morning?”
“Got stuff to do on the farm.”
“Like what?”
It’s like she has some power over me as, once again, I find myself turning back to stare into those eyes of hers. “If I say cowboy stuff will you let it go?”
Her lips hook into another heart-stopping smile. “Glad you’re coming around to my way of thinking.”
I run a hand over my mouth to hide the beginnings of a grin. “And what are your plans?”
She smacks her palms together in excitement. “Oh my gosh, look at you, having a full conversation!”
My smile turns into a glower. She giggles, and fuck it, my stomach flips. I’m like a teenage girl with all of these emotions. My nostrils flare in irritation.
“I’ll go to the grocery store,” she tells me. “Get some food for the week.”
I reach into my pocket and pull out my wallet, searching for the farm’s credit card. When I push it toward her, she steps back, shaking her head. “I’ve got it.”
“It’s how things run on the farm. The business pays for it all.”
“But—”
I refuse to back down on this. “It’s how your father wanted it done.”
A somber expression softens her face, and she swallows with a nod. Fuck, I shouldn’t have said that.
She takes the card and turns to leave, but I have to make this right before she goes to bed. “You as good at making Italian as barbecue?”
Tally spins back to me, her eyes shining. “You like Italian?”
I hold her stare as I nod.
“I can handle that,” she says softly before holding out her hand. “Give me your phone.”
“What?”
She rolls her eyes. “I’ll give you my cell phone number, and you can text me if you think of anything else you want tomorrow.”
Once again my body betrays me and I do as she says. When she hands me back my phone, I stare at the number there with her name and a yellow flower beside it.
“Now is when you give me yours so I can do the same,” she goads.
I stare at her. Why did she just give me her number?
Why did I take it? She snatches back the phone and works some more magic before handing it back to me with a laugh and then disappearing up the stairs.
When I look down at my screen, I see that there’s a message, and dammit if I’m not fucking smiling again.
TALLY: Have a good night, Cowboy.