Page 13 of Captivating Anika
“Oh, I noticed. I was wondering what I’d done to piss you off.”
“See, that’s it. You didn’t do a thing. It was all me.”
Now it’s my turn to lean across the table.
“What do you mean by that—all you?”
He shifts a little in his seat.
“There was some stuff I had to sort out.”
Bullshit.
“And you had to avoid me to do it? Or are you telling me you were avoiding everyone?”
I know the answer, but I want him to admit it.
He doesn’t hesitate.
“You.”
There’s something about the intense way his eyes lock on mine that has my stomach do an unexpected flip.
“Oh.”
He shoves his chair back from the table and gets up, collecting the dirty dishes.
“Yeah, we’ll leave it at unrealistic hopes and expectations,” he mumbles as he carries them to the kitchen.
I stay seated, taking my time to mull over his words, while he deals with the leftovers, puts the plates in the dishwasher, and rinses out his pan and containers before putting them back in the box.
“You’re tired,” he observes. “I’ll get out of your hair. I just wanted to straighten that out. I missed the friendship.”
He picks up his box and heads for the door, not giving me a chance to react.
“Hey,” I call out, scrambling to catch up with him by the door. “I missed our friendship too.”
I grab his arm and pull myself up on tiptoes, kissing his bristly cheek. He grins at me, reaches for the door, and steps outside. I stand in the doorway and watch him go down the stairs, but before he walks off, I have one more thing to say to him.
“Did you ever consider perhaps you weren’t the only one with hopes and expectations?”
He freezes on the spot as I slip inside and gently close the door.
Hog
“That’s a good girl.”
The pig snorts at my mumbled encouragement.
Eight pink, healthy-looking piglets, and she’s apparently not done yet.
I was still sitting in my truck, in front of Anika’s place, trying to figure out what exactly it was she just shared with me, when Franco called to let me know Petunia was having contractions.
Saved by the bell, I guess, because I’d been close to getting out of my truck and doing something I would’ve undoubtedly come to regret. I used the drive home to ban any fantasies I’d been tempted to indulge in from my mind.
Because even if the attraction is mutual, she’s still my good friend and crewmate’s sister, I’m still almost a decade older, and she definitely deserves better than I can offer.
Sitting on the barn floor next to Petunia’s pen, sweating my ass off under the heat lamps, and pretty much covered in birth guck and crap, only emphasizes the discrepancy.