Chapter 9 Buzz Kill #2
Her eyes misted, and she blinked the moisture away with a smile. “Promise?”
Desire shot through him, but he didn’t take back his words. He didn’t want her to have any regrets. And he certainly didn’t want her to make decisions when she’d had such an emotional day.
She sighed dramatically and grinned. “Fine. I’ll hold you to it. For now, let’s go see my workshop.”
He lifted her down from Beatrice and kissed her again. Once Bibi had jumped down to join them, he closed the tailgate and patted it. “One day, we need to talk about giving Beatrice here a bit of a polish and shine.”
Dani laughed. “I think she’s perfect just the way she is.”
He squeezed her hand, and they walked through the field to the portion of her property she called her yard.
Once she unlocked the garage, the scent of metal had him breathing deeply. “Heaven.”
Dani laughed. “Not everyone would agree. I like this as much as I love the scent of wildflowers in the clearing.”
“I get that. In fact, I’m surprised how much I also love the sensations in that meadow as well.”
“That’s because you’re in love with Beatrice.”
He chuckled, knowing he was falling in love, but it wasn’t with Beatrice. “True fact.”
He looked around the garage with curiosity. He hadn’t even managed a glimpse the day she’d closed the door in his face that first day.
He whistled at the organized space in front of him. Shelves covered the side walls. Clearly labeled bins held everything from crystals to nuts and bolts. Shelves held racks of long metal rods of various thicknesses, probably the basis for most of her metalwork.
One worktable held a metal brake for bending pieces, and a few more brakes sat on a nearby shelf. They all looked homemade, and she’d set the tubes at various angles so she could make different shapes.
A welder sat on wheels, and he imagined her welding out in the driveway in suitable weather. That image would live in his fantasies.
At the back of the garage, she’d sealed off a section with tarps and heavy-duty tape. Probably her painting and sanding space.
While he wandered the garage, Dani opened the large door at the front to give him a better look.
He turned to grin at her. “This is amazing. I want to create something similar in the equipment barn over at the farm. I love restoring old vehicles, and I’ve had some fun painting motorcycles.
The barn is huge, and I’ll block off a section for painting like you’ve done here.
Can I see some of your work? Do you have anything in progress? ”
Nerves didn’t have a chance to flutter under his intensity. He’d already seen her work and enjoyed it. She knew the process, and her products genuinely intrigued him.
It felt odd to share her work in person. “It’s weird showing my art to someone other than Bibi, but I’ve got a few pieces ready for sanding and polishing. I’ve also got some that I’m just starting over here.”
Lawson frowned at her. “If I’m being pushy, tell me to shove off. It’s your work. If you’d rather not show it, that’s fine.”
She smiled. “That’s not it. It’s just that there’s never been anyone to show.” Which probably sounded pathetic.
“There is now. Let me see.”
His smile and eagerness had her laughing as she led him back to the paint shop. “I’ve got a series planned in my head. The fairies, flowers, and bees are selling almost as quickly as I can make them.”
Lawson grunted approval when he spotted the table where the pieces were awaiting the next steps.
He first brushed his callused fingers over the outer edges, then followed the design to the fairies and flowers in the middle.
Her skin reacted as if he’d touched her.
Shivers of desire.
She swallowed hard to keep her own sound of approval inside. Lawson was right that tonight wouldn’t be the night.
She needed time to consider her mother’s email and practice responding to the courier. Refusing people’s demands didn’t come easily. Her mother had implied she needed to return the papers with the courier. Depending on what they said, she probably wouldn’t do that.
Besides her hasty decision to leave her family behind and move to Vermont to raise bees, she tried to be sensible.
And act like an adult. She couldn’t forget that. She would read the papers and decide from there. Her parents could pay the courier for their time. That wasn’t her responsibility.
“You okay?”
Lawson’s voice broke through her reverie. “I’m good. Just thinking.”
He nodded. “And maybe worrying a little?”
She smiled. He knew her so well. “A little. Still wondering about the documents my mother wants me to sign.”
He brushed his fingers over her cheek and along her jaw. “I’ll come over early tomorrow. I’ll meet you here, and maybe we can play with the metal while we wait for your courier.”
She laughed. “That sounds like fun.” Although playing in the bedroom sounded a lot more fun.
Lawson’s eyes heated, and he tilted up her chin. With a promise for more one day soon in his eyes, he kissed her.
She let herself sink into the kiss, into the present.
Tomorrow was soon enough to worry.