9. How About Them Apples?
Chapter 9
How About Them Apples?
K nox needed the walk, the air, and the trees to bring his system back to ground zero. Neutral. He could do neutral. He could bring his body under control, and not race back to the tiny cabin to toss Thea onto the bed.
His steps faltered but he pressed on. He was not going straight to sex without having a first date. They wouldn’t go there tonight. As much as he wanted to, he would show restraint. Despite how attractive she was, despite the desire that crackled in the air between them.
Knox had never experienced anything like it. He’d been attracted to plenty of women over the years, but he’d never felt this level of desire before.
“What is it about her, Fox?”
The dog didn’t have an answer, but Knox figured talking it out couldn’t hurt. “She’s gorgeous. Those eyes of hers make me want to get lost in her secrets and her shadows. I think she’s had plenty of shadows in her past. I’m glad she’s had you, Fox. And Jay. If those two hard heads had figured their shit out before maybe I could have met her before. We could already be together.”
Damn, that was a nice picture.
He could see the two of them ensconced in the farmhouse. Or her cabin, although it might burst at the seams if he brought any of his own shit in there.
Knox wished he could talk to Jay. Find out why he hadn’t left the farm to Thea. She’d earned it. She’d worked with the man for over a year. Together, they’d made plans. They were going to improve the soil, improve the whole farm.
Had Jay not thought of the will? Had he not made any changes to it after Thea arrived? Probably figured he had plenty of time.
Or maybe he’d wanted Thea to meet him and his family. Was Jay a closet romantic and he’d wanted Thea to gain a family of her own?
He was pretty sure the old man wouldn’t have known that chemistry would zip between him and Thea like lightning bolts to the rods on tall buildings. Maybe he’d wanted her to have more people her own age around.
Or maybe he just wanted the farm to stay in the family.
“What do you think, Fox? Was Jay a romantic or a practical man?”
Either way, he was glad he’d met Thea. If Jay had left her the farm, Knox would have never known about it.
Even without the allure of Thea, the entire farm intrigued Knox. He liked the thought of building up something that had been let go. Not quite starting from scratch but building. Making things better. Improving the place with new knowledge and new techniques.
Or old techniques. With new knowledge incorporated. It was exciting.
He studied the land, the trees, and the buildings as he closed in on the farmhouse. It stirred something in him. Had from the moment he’d read the letter from the lawyer.
He’d earned a business degree and spent almost a decade in the army. Worked as a bodyguard. He was proud of all he’d accomplished. He’d learned so much from the experiences.
But nothing had stirred his excitement and his curiosity like this farm.
Apples of all things.
“How about them apples, Fox? Who would have thought it would be apples that made me want to settle down?”
He looked around, but the dog was gone. Loped off into another section of the orchard.
When he neared the farmhouse, he slowed to study things with a practical eye like Burke would do. Although he and Burke shared a degree in business, Knox didn’t breathe the stuff. Burke did, and he would be the most difficult to convince.
The to-do list would be overwhelming but it would be a good place to start. Along with a pros and cons list.
He could divide the To Do list into sections. Immediate needs. Next steps. Wants. Ideas for growth.
Hell, he could even make a three-year plan. And a ten-year overview. Those would help convince everyone, including himself, that the farm was a viable option not only for Knox but for them all.
Lawson for the machinery. While he loved his job as a mechanic, Knox knew he wanted more. Restoring old vehicles was his passion. This job would leave him time for that. There had to be space in the machinery barn for him to have a section where he could work on his own projects.
Jolie would love the pond and improving the biodiversity of the land with Thea. He’d bet the two of them could concoct plans to save the environment in ways he couldn’t even imagine. It would be exciting to see those two team up.
As always, Amber was tough to read. She’d always been the quietest of the five. When they’d moved in with Fox, she’d taken it upon herself to take care of the home, to reduce the burden on the old man.
She liked creating warm and homey spaces. Did she enjoy working in large hotels? Was that her passion, or would she be happy here? He studied the older farmhouse ahead of him. Would that be the project to lure her in? Was there the possibility for a B&B? Did she want that? Could the farm attract guests, or would no one want to visit a startup apple farm in the middle of nowhere, Vermont?
Questions for Amber herself. At least he had the potential to intrigue her.
Which left Burke. The toughest of them all. The most practical and most risk-averse.
Being the oldest, the deaths of their parents had probably struck Burke the hardest. He’d become an adult at fifteen. He’d helped Fox take care of the rest of the kids, the house, and the bills. Knox couldn’t remember a time when his oldest brother hadn’t held at least one job. Often two or even three while thriving in school. Top of his class. Driven.
Knox needed to help Burke see this place as an exciting opportunity. Not a financial drain but a place blossoming with potential.
He grinned at his own cheesy pun. If he leaned on those, it could help. They’d grown up with Fox and his love of puns and cheesy sayings.
“The place is a-peel-ing, Burke. You’re going to love it.”
Grinning, Knox decided to do a more thorough inspection of the farmhouse. If he wanted Amber to use the other home as a B&B, he needed this one to house his whole family. And Ford.
Upstairs, he took a better look at the bedrooms. He’d need Ford’s help to assess and evaluate, but to Knox, it appeared there’d been at least three expansions of the farmhouse over the years.
When he’d first arrived, Knox had chosen a bedroom mostly at random. It faced the back of the property, and he liked the view of the orchard, of the potential, as Jolie would say. He also liked that he faced the cabin where Thea lived. Not that he could see it, but he knew she was there.
Like all the rooms, his included a bathroom. The decor screamed the eighties, but everything worked.
He went through each of the rooms, checking to ensure the water ran and there were no obvious leaks or problems.
Eight bedrooms. Eight. A large number and perfect for them.
And Jay had lived here alone. Why had he not invited Thea to share the house, to have her own room? Maybe he’d thought that would be creepy or improper. Hard to say.
Knox stopped outside of Jay’s room. He hadn’t entered it yet but he’d looked inside. This time, he forced his feet to step across the threshold.
Like Fox, Jay’s room was neat and sparse. A queen bed like all the others. A couple of dressers and a closet. Nightstand with more books. His view looked over the driveway side of the house. Probably the worst view, in Knox’s opinion. What had attracted him to this space?
Jay had bought the property two years before.
Why?
So many questions, and not many ways to get answers.
For a few minutes, Knox stood one step inside the room and studied the space, looking for hints of the man.
Shaking off the gloom and the mysteries, Knox moved back to his room and grabbed his laptop. Time to start on those To Do lists.
And to start planning the meal he’d make.
Date One.
One of many.
Because a man could dream.
T hea studied her closet with dismay. Not only did she not own date clothes, but most of her clothes were in the laundry hamper. If she’d known he was going to propose date night, she’d have done a load the previous day.
Whatever she wore needed to come from her meager selection of clean clothes. If she had a close female friend, she could call her for advice.
Sadly, growing up in foster homes meant Thea didn’t quite know how to make strong connections with anyone. Male or female. Other kids. Adults. She kept herself back from groups.
A therapist would have a field day with her psyche. Fear of abandonment. Fear of connection. And then Asshole Andy had ripped away her minimal confidence and destroyed her trust of coworkers.
For the first time in a long while, Thea wanted to trust. To connect. To feel confident in herself, and her ability to form a real relationship.
All because Knox Malssum had inherited this farm. Sexy man with kind eyes, good manners, and infectious curiosity.
Which meant she wanted to appear sexy for their date. Or at least not awful.
Thea grinned at herself. Aiming for not awful was pathetic. She could do better. She would do better.
At the moment, her entire wardrobe was jeans and t-shirts for a base layer. She owned several flannel shirts and a few sweaters that were chosen for warmth, not fashion. At least they were clean. The spring weather meant she could wear a light sweater without visibly sweating, even with the walk to the farmhouse.
Finally, she chose her newest jeans. She hadn’t worn them much yet. Just when she’d gone into town with Jay a few times. Clean and they fit her well.
She didn’t own sexy underwear, but for the first time, she considered ordering something online. Her cheeks flushed at the thought and then her body followed suit when she thought about Knox seeing her wearing her choices.
Thea wasn’t ready to jump into sex with Knox, but the fact that she was already thinking about it was great. She’d never been this intrigued by a man. Never anticipated a kiss more.
Never had her body rev itself up just at the thought of sex.
She wasn’t ready to jump into bed with the man—not yet—but she didn’t think it would be long.
She shouldn’t. Logic said sleeping with the boss was a terrible plan. Although he treated her like the soil consultant she was and not an employee. In that sense, he was her client, which made her the boss. That was the way it had worked back in Iowa. She’d never known a soil consultant to work with only one farm.
Things were different here in Vermont. Mostly because she and Jay had clicked. They’d worked well together and he’d become her friend as well as her client.
Knox treated her in the same way. Her words and opinions had power. He trusted her and let her lead the way on the job.
So, consultant, not employee. And even if was a matter of semantics, it helped. The chemistry between them was combustible and she wanted to explore it.
Sex with Knox would be off-the-charts spectacular. Which should make the anticipation sweeter. She’d denied herself so many things for so long. She didn’t want to miss out on what felt like a once in a lifetime connection.
Finally, Thea chose her prettiest sweater. A light blue that was impractical when she worked with compost most of her day.
She hadn’t been able to resist the soft sweater when she’d bought it back in Iowa before shit had gone sideways. She hadn’t worn it often. Not at all since she’d left the state.
Tonight was the night.
Her body tingled at the thought, and she had to remind herself tonight was the night for the sweater, not for sex.
Grinning, she dressed and slipped on her sneakers. She mostly wore steel-toed work boots, but she had sneakers for other days.
Feeling ridiculously excited, Thea left the cabin and headed to the orchard. Fox bounded up before she’d walked for five minutes. She rubbed him down and grinned. “Are you escorting me to my date?”
The dog grinned and walked alongside her. “It’s been a long while since I had a date, Fox. And I’ve never had one with a man as kind and sexy as Knox. I should be stirring up the compost right now, and I don’t even care that I’m not.”
She was almost dancing with excitement. Like she was a girl, not a woman over thirty. How sad had her life become that she was this excited about a dinner date with an intriguing man? “Nope. Not thinking about my sad life. It’s a good life, Fox. I love working with the land and with people who want to heal it. People who are open to try things in new ways.”
She nodded. “Just because my life isn’t one many would choose doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with it. I live on this amazing land. I have a safe place. And a first date.”
Fox barked in agreement. She patted his head. “You’re right. It’s a great life. Maybe a little small, but it’s about to get bigger.”
Because she was on a date.
As she neared the farmhouse, Fox butted her legs and melted into the forest. She wondered how long he’d lived on the land and how he’d come to be here. And why he wouldn’t leave the orchard and go to the farmhouse.
All those thoughts faded away as she entered the last of the trees and spotted Knox sitting on the steps. The sun was lowering in the sky behind the house, and he was in the shadows.
Anticipation shivered through her, and her feet stumbled. She grinned as she straightened herself out. Giddy. She was giddy with excitement, over a dinner with Knox.
He ambled toward her with that confident stride of his. Unhurried but with purpose. Maybe he was as happy about the date as she was. Doubtful.
When she was close enough to see his face, she realized he was grinning, too. He took her hands and leaned down.
Another shiver.
A flicker of worry crossed his face, and she squeezed his hands. If he was worried about forcing a kiss on her, he needn’t worry. Instead of waiting for that walk home,and the promised kiss to end the first date, she decided it was better to start with one.
Thea smiled and then lifted on her toes, bringing their mouths close. “Why don’t we start with an appetizer?”
His lips spread in a smile, and she closed the distance.
Fireworks lit her system as their lips brushed softly. Sweetly.
With a growl, Knox wrapped his arms around her, and he stepped into her. Right into her. She sighed into his mouth and ran her hands up to his shoulders.
He tasted like mint, as if he’d brushed his teeth, just as she had, in anticipation of this moment.
When their tongues touched and tasted, she wrapped her arms around his neck and let him worry about keeping them balanced.
His strong body wrapped around her, and she’d never felt so safe, so wanted.
Knox’s lips sipped at hers. Touched. Teased. Tasted. Took. Gave.
Her brain spun with sensations, and her body felt as light as a butterfly. She could float for a week on this kiss alone.
But she wanted more.