Chapter 18
The next morning I woke with a pounding head and a dry mouth. It almost felt like a hangover, though I hadn’t had one of those since I was seventeen. As the memory of last night came crashing down on me, my legs shook as I got out of bed. In fact, all of me felt a bit shaky while I showered. There was a strange sense of relief and calm that came with finally telling my truth. But I also felt naked. Vulnerable. Like I’d given Jared the power to hurt me.
With that thought in mind, I apprehensively entered the kitchen.
Jared stood at the stove grilling what smelled like bacon and eggs. At my entrance, he glanced over his shoulder. His smile was soft, his gaze searching. “Good morning.”
I found myself relaxing a bit. “Morning.”
“You hungry?” He switched off the stove and gestured to the buttered bread rolls he’d placed on the counter. “I’m making egg and bacon rolls.”
My stomach growled in answer.
Jared grinned. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
As we settled at the table, I thanked him for the food, and he gestured impatiently for me to dig in. I could feel him watching me as I ate.
“What?”
Jared followed suit, swallowing the large bite he’d taken. “Do you fancy spending the day on the farm with me? The sheep are arriving, as is Anna, the shepherd. Thought you might like to be there to see them introduced to their new home.”
Surprised by his offer, I asked, “Are you sure?”
“Only if you want to. I know it’s not glamorous, but I’m starting to realize you don’t care about all that stuff. Do you?”
Pleased that he finally saw that, I shook my head. “No. I don’t. And I would really like to spend the day with you on the farm.”
Something unreadable crossed his face, and I thought he might reveal whatever it was. But instead, he nodded abruptly. “Good.”
It turned out Anna was a woman in her late forties who had her own sheep and hired her shepherding services out to a few farmers along the NC 500 (the North Coast 500). She used to work with Jared until he’d sold his flock last year. Anna was friendly but had a no-nonsense attitude, and she came with a beautiful border collie named Jess.
I asked Anna questions about her life as we waited for the sheep to be delivered. She was married to a woman named Rachel who worked with the Forestry Commission and knew Arrochar Adair. Arro was the only sister of the Adair brothers and we’d socialized, though weren’t especially close, but the connection seemed to make Anna warm up to me more. She was surprised to learn I was Jared’s wife yet took the revelation in stride.
Soon a large truck appeared on the road leading to the field and the sounds of bleating sheep accompanied it. I stepped back to allow Jared and Anna to take control. I watched, entertained, as the sheep fled the truck and into the field. They followed one another, seeming happy to be out of the vehicle.
A few hurried back toward the gate just as Jared closed it. They were surprisingly cute. Why had I never noticed what adorable faces sheep had? They stuck said faces through the gates at me and I reached out to stroke one. “Hey, it’s okay,” I promised.
“I’m going in to get acquainted with them,” Anna said, slipping through the gate with Jess in tow.
I pointed to a particularly adorable sheep that had black patches around both its eyes. “We should call that one Zorro.”
Jared settled a hand on my lower back. A brief touch. But it made my breath catch. He gave me a softly chiding look. “Don’t name them. I made that mistake when I first started working with my grandfather.” He chuckled, but it wasn’t a happy sound. “I threw up my breakfast the first time he made me drive a sick ewe to the abattoir.”
Oh. God. Right.
“Do you … don’t you feel bad?”
“It’s a part of life.” He gave me the side-eye as he teased. “Did you feel bad eating that bacon this morning?”
I shoved him, guilty as charged. “Okay, I get your point.”
Butterflies fluttered in my belly at his deep, masculine chuckle.
Attempting to ignore my reaction to him, that unbearable awareness that had heightened since our confessions last night, I leaned on the fence. “What now?”
“They’ll settle in. Anna will come by to move them from field to field when we need her to.”
“So what are you doing for the rest of the day?”
“I’m cutting hay for market.” He turned, his jade eyes glistening like pale green pools of water in the morning sunlight. “Do you want to ride on the tractor with me?”
“Really?” I beamed. “Because I have to tell you I’ve been wanting you to ask me that since we got married.”
Jared laughed again. “Apologies for the late invite. C’mon.”
Jared’s tractor had a small passenger seat because it was an instructional tractor. He didn’t need an instructional tractor apparently, but he’d gotten a deal on the mammoth vehicle. It meant I could ride along with him in my own seat without getting in his way. Kind of. Because it was still pretty cozy in that cab.
The sun beamed through the glass, and we were both more than sweaty by the time Jared was finished cutting the hay with the haybine in the field he called Little Ardshave. I marveled at how much he knew about the land, as if every piece of information his grandfather had ever shared had cemented itself in Jared’s brain.
It took hours. I chatted about everything and nothing, pestering Jared about his favorite movies, color (it was blue!), food, books, subjects at school. He answered every time and reciprocated the questions. However, he mostly just nodded and wore a small smile on his lips as I talked his ears off.
Once he’d finished cutting the hay, we headed in for a late lunch. Jared drove the tractor back to its barn.
“Wait there.” He jumped out of the cab first and then reached for me. His palms felt dry and attractively rough compared to my clammy ones as he pulled me toward the door. Then he gripped my waist, lifting me easily out of the cab as if I weighed nothing. Not expecting the maneuver, I fumbled for purchase and ended up falling into him like a heroine in a bad movie.
“Oof.” I face-planted inelegantly against his chest. He smelled of heat, grass, and that spicy cologne that made me want to lick his neck.
Jared’s grip on my hips tightened, almost bruising. “Fuck, you all right?”
Extremely conscious of how sweaty I was and how that might have translated to smelly, I pushed against his muscled chest and stumbled back, righting myself. My cheeks felt scalding hot as I smoothed my hair down with an embarrassed smile. “Yeah, sorry.”
Jared’s gaze dropped to my chest, the top of his cheeks slightly flushed as he quickly looked away with a clearing of his throat. “Let’s grab something to eat.”
A quick glance down told me that my tank had slipped to reveal the top of my athletic bra. There was nothing remotely sexy about that bra. Shrugging, I pulled the neckline up and followed Jared out of the mammoth shed and toward his Defender.
We were barely in the vehicle two seconds when he announced abruptly, “I was thinking I should come to your art gallery showing after all.”
I blinked at his randomness. “Oh?”
A bead of sweat rolled down his temple and he wiped at it with his forearm in the midst of a three-point turn. “Fuck, it’s hot today.”
Desire clenched deep in my belly, and I pressed my thighs together. While I was worried I was a mess, I thought sweaty Jared, all damp with perspiration and biceps flexing, was the hottest thing I’d ever seen. “Yeah. Hot.”
He shot me a quizzical look and I realized I’d practically purred the words at him.
Oh God. Get a grip, Allegra! I cleared my throat. “Uh, so, art show?”
“Aye.” He drove the Defender onto the farm road that would lead us toward the house. “You were right. I should be there. And you know …” He cut me a seriously sexy smirk. “I’d like to see your work.”
“Really?” A flush of pleasure suffused me.
“Aye, really.”
“Okay. I’d really like for you to be there.”
“Good. That’s settled.” His hands squeezed around the wheel for a few seconds … then, “Did you enjoy your morning on the farm?”
“I did,” I told him honestly. I’d enjoy anything as long as I was with you. The thought popped into my head and I blanched, turning away. Do not catch feelings, Allegra. “You seem to really love it. The farm, I mean.”
“I do. It saved my life.”
Studying his handsome profile, I nodded. “I know it did. I love it too just for that.”
Those words probably revealed more than they should, but I couldn’t help myself.
“Thanks,” Jared replied, voice rough.
We fell into silence, this time a comfortable one, until we pulled up outside the farmhouse. I glanced at the Range Rover I’d borrowed from Ardnoch. “I really need to return that and get my own.”
“We can go car shopping whenever you want,” he offered as he got out.
“You’ll come with me?” I followed him.
Jared frowned. “Of course. Salesmen will just try to rip the piss out of you if you go alone.”
I laughed. “Isn’t that a little old-fashioned?”
“It’s prehistoric. But a fact.”
“Okay. We could go this weekend.”
“Done. I’ll get Georgie to look after the farm.” He let us into the house, and I was just enjoying the way his T-shirt clung to his broad back when my cell blared from my rear pocket.
The screen told me it was Aria. “I gotta take this.”
Jared shrugged. “I’ll get lunch ready.”
“Hey!” I answered my phone, stepping out into the front yard. “How are you?”
“Well, you sound chipper,” my sister said with a smile in her voice.
“It’s been a good day. I helped Jared welcome in our new sheep and then I got to ride in his tractor while he cut hay in the fields.”
She chuckled. “Who would have thought my little sister would like the farm life?”
“I gotta admit, it’s charming me more than I could have imagined.” All of it. Mostly its owner. Damn it.
Aria muttered. “Shit.”
“Shit? What?” I scowled.
“I just hate that I’m calling to tell you this when you’re in a good mood. And even more so because I was worried about you last night after dinner, but you sound like things are good and?—”
“Aria, why are you rambling? You never ramble.” Unease shifted through me.
“Ally, I’m sorry. I got a call from a journalist contact that keeps me informed of any news that might break about the estate members.”
“And?”
“The media have found out about you and Jared. There’s a story running online tomorrow from a major tabloid.”
Oh fuck.
“You … it’s time to tell Mom and Dad.”
“Yeah.” I squeezed my eyes closed. Things were finally good with me and Jared and now this. “I guess so.”