Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
HARLAN
I help Lola-Mae clean up dinner, and when we’re finished, a silence falls over the room, over the house.
It’s uneasy.
She shifts from foot to foot, her gaze flicking from mine to the door and then repeating a few times. I can tell she’s about to excuse herself to go home, but I don’t want her to. I want her in my bed.
“I’m not smooth,” I blurt out.
She blinks. “Smooth?” she asks when I don’t continue.
“With my words,” I begin. “I haven’t dated a lot, and honestly, I’m a homebody. I don’t like going out. I like being here on my land with my animals.”
The silence that stretches out between us is almost deafening.
I am seconds away from just standing up and walking upstairs.
But I’ve unloaded a lot in a short amount of time, although I haven’t unloaded as much as I could.
She still doesn’t know why I live here alone, why I’m the only one running this ranch.
“That makes two of us,” she says. “I had to ask my friend back home what I should do after I found the second note. She’s the one who suggested I throw myself at you.”
“Is that what that was?” I ask. “You throwing yourself at me?”
A laugh bubbles up from her throat, and I can’t help but follow her with my own.
Because I know that’s not what she was doing, at least not as obviously as that.
I still want to hear it from her. Maybe it’s to feed my own ego, maybe it’s because I need to hear the words for them to be true. Either way, I wait.
“Well, not really,” she says. “Then again, maybe in my own way. I don’t know how to be a sexy siren, so I thought I would cook for you.”
I close the distance between us, then lift one of my hands and curl my fingers around the side of her throat. Then I wrap my other arm around her waist and bring her close to me.
There’s something almost healing about feeling her body pressed against mine. I want more.
So much more.
“I’m glad you did,” I murmur. “I’m not sure when I would have gotten my shit together enough to make the first move. Thank you for making the first nonmove.”
She smiles as I bend my head and touch my mouth to hers. “Are we doing this?” she asks against my lips.
“We’re doing this, darlin’.”
Before I can say anything else, a crack of thunder causes every muscle in her entire body to tighten. I almost laugh, but my mouth is touching hers, and right now, the last thing I feel is humor.
Slipping my tongue inside her, I tangle it with her own until we’re breathless. I reach down and grip the backs of her thighs, picking her up before I carry her to my bedroom. I don’t know if this is the next step or if I’m rushing things, but I also don’t care.
I want her again.
Maybe even need her.
LOLA-MAE
The sound of the rain lulls me to sleep, or maybe it’s the weight of Harlan’s arm draped around my waist. Either way, my eyes close, and I don’t hear anything else until there is movement beside me.
Turning my head, I look over at him in the dark room. I open my mouth to ask him if everything is okay, but he tugs the sheets up my body before he murmurs into the darkness.
“Go back to sleep. I gotta check on the barn.”
Gripping the sheets, I push myself up to sitting. “Is everything okay?” My heart is slamming against my chest at the thought of something happening to his animals.
“Just a bad storm. Gonna make sure everything is locked up tight.”
I don’t like the sound of that, but he doesn’t give me the chance to ask any more questions. Instead, he stands and then he walks out of the room. I didn’t realize he was already dressed in jeans, boots, and a Carhartt jacket.
He closes the bedroom door behind him, and I don’t even try to fall back asleep. I know I won’t be able to, so I lean back against the headboard as I take in the room.
My body is sore after my muscles have been in positions that I could have only fantasized about a couple of nights ago. A few hours ago, they became a reality. A shiver of desire slides up and down my spine as I think about all the different ways Harlan twisted me up into a pretzel in this bed.
Throwing my legs over the side of the bed, I stand before I walk over to the tall chest of drawers against the wall.
I open the third drawer and find his plain white T-shirts, no doubt what he usually wears beneath his pearl snap button-downs.
I take one out of the drawer and slip it over my head.
It falls down to just below my ass, somewhat covering my body.
Walking over to the window, I look out at the ranch. I can hear the rain slamming against the windows. It almost sounds like hail, but I know it’s just heavy rain. Unfortunately, I can’t see anything.
It’s pitch black outside. I can’t even see the barn, my car, or my house. And I know where they are in relation to this window. Maybe it’s not just because it’s dark out there, maybe it’s also because the rain is coming down so hard there’s no visibility at all.
It sounds really nasty, and I can’t imagine going out in that. I think about Harlan being out there alone, protecting his animals. I lift my hand to my chest, my heart beating so fast that it almost feels as if it skips a few beats.
I’m not sure how long I stay there, but when the sky begins to lighten, and my knees ache, I realize that it’s got to be close to dawn. Tearing my gaze from the still dark landscape, I look over at the small clock on the nightstand.
It’s five in the morning.
Shifting my focus back to the window, I try to make out anything. It’s still too dark, but I can’t stand here any longer. I need to move. And before I realize what’s happening, my feet take me down to the kitchen. I don’t know why, but making breakfast seems like the best idea in the whole world.
The absolute best.
Even if it’s not.