4. Finn
Finn
I drove two hours to the farmers market to buy the wildflower honey Grier loved. While I was there, I figured my presence would be better received if I brought Waffles a treat as well. While I was getting the best apples from a local farmer, I saw the roses at the flower stall beside them.
Pink.
Grier’s favorite color.
They were beautiful, and I was hoping they would make her smile at me again. Just a small smile, that was all I needed to fuel me through the day.
Then I decided that even if she hated them, Waffles would enjoy eating them.
After I walked into the barn, it took me a minute to find her.
Waffles was by a stall, where Phil was nailing a new board.
A pair of pink work gloves caught my attention, and I moved toward her without a second thought.
She popped her head up before I was halfway to her.
Her ponytail was looped through the back of her pink baseball cap, the bill folded to shield her face, hiding those pretty blue eyes from me.
Waffles pranced over to me, his nose already lifted in the air, sniffing the bag of apples first then bumping my elbow like he wanted me to lower the flowers for his inspection. Instead, I scratched behind his ear and kept walking.
Before I reached the stall she was in, Grier stepped out, pulling off her work gloves and stuffing them into her back jeans pocket before planting her hands on her hips.
“Mornin’, Sheriff,” she greeted, that slight Southern twang twisting and tugging at something in my chest. Fuck, I loved that hint of an accent that got more pronounced when she was fired up. “Have you decided to become a Helping Hand?”
“I am always happy to help anywhere you need me, Grier.” I turned my Trinity Country Sheriff’s Department camo ball cap backward and shifted the bags in my hands, offering her the one with the carefully wrapped jar of honey first. “I noticed you were running low.”
After a small hesitation, she took the bag from me, quietly extracting the jar and unwrapping it.
A soft sound escaped her when she realized what it was, her fingers tightening around the honey like it was precious.
Emotions shimmered in her eyes, too many for me to keep up with since her face was shadowed by the bill of her pink cap.
She liked the honey in her nighttime tea or drizzled over a freshly baked biscuit for breakfast. Sometimes she made a snack by air-frying a tortilla then dusting it with cinnamon and sugar and just a tiny bit of honey.
I liked the honey best when I got to lick it off her fingers or tasted it on her lips.
That damn honey was worth the two-hour one-way drive at the crack of dawn to make sure I got there before they ran out.
Even then, I’d almost been too late. The seller had only had a handful of jars left when I arrived.
“Thank you,” Grier whispered, then cleared her throat and pointedly looked at the flowers. “Those are beautiful. Honestly, the best work Hilary has ever done.”
Biting the inside of my cheek to keep from grinning at the jealousy in her voice, I stepped closer. “Got these at the farmers market where I picked up the honey, sweetheart. Along with these apples I thought Waffles might enjoy.”
“Oh.” A hint of a smile teased at her lips, the kind that sent a tiny jolt through my chest every time I saw it. “That changes things.”
Hooking a finger through one of her belt loops, I tugged her closer and dropped my head until I could see the darker shades of blue flecks in her irises. “Missed you last night. Sorry I didn’t come by. I had some work I needed to do for my family.”
Her face shifted, clearing the frown from between her brows.
Curiosity flickered there for a moment before she huffed, already knowing I wouldn’t tell her if she asked about what kind of work I’d been doing.
There weren’t many things I would keep from this woman, but when it came to that part of my family, I couldn’t share. Which she understood and accepted.
“Are you trying to buy my forgiveness with divine honey and gorgeous flowers?” she teased, her fingers playfully climbing up my chest.
Having her hands on me was going to get us into trouble if she wasn’t careful.
I couldn’t control my body when she touched me.
Fuck, I couldn’t control it when I was in the same room with her.
Feeling her fingertips trace over the ridges of my abs, then up to my chest, stopping right over my heart, caused a big, big problem.
“Don’t forget the obscene amount of money I spent on apples for a donkey who pretends to hate me,” I murmured, lightly bumping my nose with hers in hopes of distracting my cock from how good she felt pressed up against me.
“You’re insane. If you wanted my forgiveness so badly, all you needed to do was kiss me, Sheriff,” she said in that low, sexy voice that stroked along my body like a physical caress.
“Is that all?” I asked, holding my breath, every inch of my body aching for her.
“For you, all I ever need is a kiss and I’d forgive almost anything, Finn.”
“That’s dangerous intel you’re giving me, baby.”
“I think it’s worth the risk if it gets me more kisses.”
“I always have an endless supply for you and only you, Grier.” Lightly brushing her mouth with mine, I forced myself to lift my head before I lost control in a barn full of farm animals, kids, parents, and that prick Leo, who was way too friendly with my woman.
She whined but snapped her mouth shut as soon as the sound was free. Pink flooded her cheeks as she glanced around. At least a dozen people were watching us like we were their favorite drama.
“Someone is going to tell my dad,” she muttered with another huff just as Phil walked by.
“About time you told him about your boyfriend,” Phil said as he passed me.
“Oh please! Like you haven’t been gossiping to him and Uncle Luca. Snitch.” She surprised me with a quick kiss and then turned around, her flowers in one hand and the jar of honey in the other. “Where are my Helping Hands?”
Twenty kids came running and circled her, every one of them staring up at her like she was magical. “Who wants to gather the eggs in the chicken coops?”
Six hands went into the air.
“Noice! Thank you for your service. You know where the basket is.” They rushed off with one of the staff to get the job done, while Grier turned to the others still in the group. “Who wants to assist with the ponies in the south pasture?”
Eight hands flew up. She laughed and sent them on their way with two staff members and three parents.
“Who can I count on to muck the stalls?”
No hands. All eyes fell on me, including hers. I mentally groaned but gave her my most charming smile. “It will be my pleasure, Miss Grier.”
“I’ll help the sheriff,” one of the teens offered. Bryon was a quiet kid. He stayed out of trouble. A lot of the younger boys went to him if they got bullied because they could count on him for help.
Because he helped them every Saturday when he volunteered alongside them.
“Yeah, me too,” his friend said with a grimace. Joey followed where Bryon led, which wasn’t a bad thing. On his own, Joey got into mischief.
“Perfect. I need my strongest guys to take care of those stalls. Thank you all for assisting. Your hard work will not go unnoticed, boys.”
“Anything for you, Miss Grier,” Bryon said, his ears turning red.
“I’m keeping my eye on you, kid,” I warned, only half joking, causing Joey to snort out a laugh.
“We have better game than you any day, Sheriff.”
“One hundred percent,” Grier said with a little smirk as they fist-bumped her on their way to gear up. “Now, who is going to help me give Waffles a bath?”
A chorus of groans sounded behind us.