“I can feel it already.” She came close and stretched her arms to warm her palms by the flames. “Thank you.”
“Not a problem.” He scratched the back of his neck. “Can I get you something to drink? Eat?”
“I’m fine, Seth.” There was a softening of her tone, along with the look in her eye. Tender, almost. “Do you mind if I sit?” She motioned toward the couch.
“Not at all. That’s what couches are for, right?” A dumb thing to say, but all he could come up with.
“I wouldn’t know,” she said on a laugh. “I don’t have one.”
He gave her an odd look.
She shrugged. “Doesn’t fit in my trailer.”
“Ah. Right.” Seth didn’t know if it was okay to join her on the sofa or if he should take the recliner, instead. He vacillated and she noticed.
“You can sit with me, Seth.” She patted the empty cushion next to her. “I don’t bite.”
Why was he suddenly nervous to be around her? They’d spent nearly every day together for the last week. Was it the fact that he had just washed her hair, something inherently intimate? Or that she had on his favorite sweatshirt? Or that the fire casting an amber filter on the room made things take on a warmth that did weird things to his heart rate?
The answer was D, all of the above.
“You think he’ll make it?” Josie tucked her feet up beneath her to sit cross-legged and leaned back on the only decorative pillow Seth owned. It was made from an old feed sack and was lumpy, but it would do.
Seth had to think a moment. “Oh, the calf? I hope so,” he answered once her meaning clicked into place. “Cows are good mamas. Even first time calvers. She’ll do everything she can to make sure he gets through the night. Tomorrow morning, I’ll head back out to check on them. Maybe even try to bring them up to the old barn if they need some extra TLC. Until then, all we can do is hope for the best.”
“Can I come with you?”
“You know, I would’ve thought the whole cow poop in the hair thing would be enough to turn you off of ranch work altogether.”
“It’ll take a lot more than that, Seth. Plus, if I get a free shampoo out of it, then I just might make a habit of rolling around in muddy pastures.”
The idea of Josie rolling around…
Seth snapped right out of that wayward thought. “It’ll be early.”
“I can do early.” She shoved back her sleeve and flipped her wrist over to take a look at her watch. “But I hadn’t realized how late it had gotten tonight. I should probably think about heading back.”
“Heading back where?”
“Back to my trailer.” She drew out the words and lowered her brows. “My house?”
“If your trailer doesn’t have room for a couch, I highly doubt it’s equipped with a fireplace,” Seth said. “It’ll be an icebox.”
“What are my other options?”
“My bed.”
Josie’s face fell entirely blank, like a plug had been pulled from the wall.
“Not with me in it!” Seth amended so quickly he almost choked on the tangle of words. “I’ll sleep out here on the couch, but the bed is all yours.”
“I can’t take your bed, Seth. I wouldn’t feel right in doing that.”
He wasn’t going to push. If it made her uncomfortable to sleep in his bed, then he’d have to come up with something else. Freezing in her trailer wasn’t a viable option. “Then how about you take the couch? I can keep the fire going all night so you’ll stay nice and toasty.”
She looked around the room, her gaze bouncing from the fire to the chair to the sofa she currently sat upon. “I guess I could do that.”
“Good. I’ll go grab a pillow and some blankets from the linen closet. In the meantime, make yourself comfortable.”
“Is it crazy I’m not ready to go to bed just yet? Even after the night we’ve had?” she asked. Her hand reached out and touched his arm, light like a feather but enough to shoot a shiver clear up to his shoulder.
Seth halted. “You’re not?”
“I mean, maybe we could talk or something. I don’t know…”
“Oh. Yeah. Sure.” He settled back in, trying to ignore the spot on his arm that felt as hot as the fire that blazed in the hearth just a few paces away. “We can talk.” His head dipped to meet her eyes. “Is there something you want to talk about?”
Josie’s shoulders lifted with a tight breath. “Bridgette is gorgeous.”
Not what he expected. “To some people, sure. I guess so.”
“I’m sure you thought she was.”
He didn’t know how to answer. It felt too much like a trap. “If you’re asking if I think Bridgette is pretty, yeah. I mean, yes. She is. But what does that have to do with anything?”
“I saw the way you looked at her this afternoon.” Josie’s voice was small and an unsure quality infiltrated her typical confidence. “The way you looked at each other.”
“Where are you going with this?”
Like she’d lost her nerve, Josie flung her head back and forth. Wet strands smacked her cheeks. “Never mind. Forget I said anything.”
“Like that’s going to happen. Seriously, what’s going on in that head of yours, Josie?” He tapped her temple.
She sighed. “I’m just wondering if we’re going to be able to pull this off. I mean, it’s really believable that you and Bridgette were together. That you could be a couple. You just go together, like a western Ken and Barbie.”
“Not sure that’s a good thing—”
“There’s obvious chemistry there. Palpable. You don’t have to force it; it just is.”
Seth cocked his head. “And you think we don’t have that?”
“I don’t know yet.” Her eyes snapped up to his with such force it almost pushed him back up against the couch all on its own. “But I think there’s a way we can find out.”
16
Josie
“Ready…set…go!”
Josie’s eyes burst open and zeroed in on Seth’s. She’d won enough staring contests in the past to know her exact strategy. Just as soon as her eyes would start to become the slightest bit dry, she’d squint, but only enough to lessen the burn and make things more tolerable. That was the key. Keeping them wide open never worked in her favor and always resulted in a forced blink that lost her the title.
“Why are you glaring at me?” Seth said, the corner of his mouth edging up in a semblance of a smirk.
“It’s not intentional. It’s just strategy.”
“Interesting strategy.” Seth moved his head side to side in what Josie assumed was an attempt at distraction. His eyes weren’t as easy to lock in on when he didn’t stay still. “I’ve got a strategy of my own.”
“And that is?” She sat as motionless as a marble statue, not moving, hardly breathing. Victory would be hers for the taking in a matter of minutes.
“I’m just going to talk to you and distract you enough so you don’t even remember we’re playing this game. Then you’ll blink.”