Shit. That’s exactly what he didn’t want her to think. He stopped and pulled her against him, lifting her chin so their gazes met straight on. “Don’t think the fact that we get on like a house on fire sexually means that’s all there is to this.”
Her head tilted slightly, and she cupped her palm against his face. “Sorry. I was being flippant. I know we’ve stepped beyond just sex.”
It had never been just sex for him, but now wasn’t the time to say that.
Instead, he finally got his shit together and did what he came to do in the first place. “There’s talk about heading out to Rough Cut dancing in a couple of days. I want you to show up. No staying home and watching Disney with your nieces.”
“Tucker, we can’t—”
“I’m not taking you as my date, but I want you there.” It was a compromise he could work with, and it fit nicely into his plan for slowly making it clear Ginny was his. That he was hers.
That they were together.
Thankfully, Ginny seemed to catch onto part of the idea. She nodded. “I think my girls were talking about going out. I’ll make sure it’s the same night, so there will be plenty of reasons for us to be in the same place at the same time. Oh, and we need an official Operation Prove It meeting soon.”
A rumble of a truck stopping outside the greenhouse snapped Tucker into full attention. “I should go, but I’ll send you a message later. I have an idea of where we can meet.”
Her eyes lit up, and she pressed a quick kiss to his lips, going up on tiptoes. “Send it secret messenger if you need to, but I look forward to hearing from you.”
Tucker dragged himself away from her warmth and headed out the side door just as voices drifted from the main entrance. Ginny greeted someone who had come for a visit.
He dragged his feet, though, as he headed back to the barns. He hated not having their relationship out in the open.
It wasn’t as if he didn’t have enough distractions to keep him busy. Between Ashton and Caleb, Tucker began the work in earnest of slowly getting to know all the tasks his uncle kept rolling as foreman for Silver Stone.
After nearly fourteen years of being in charge, Caleb was definitely the manager. He and his brothers set the direction for the ranch operations, but it was Ashton who made sure everything got done.
Like a juggler keeping a dozen balls in the air while spinning plates, and the entire time keeping his cool—
As the days passed, Tucker admired the man more and more.
“You keep staring at me. Do I have mud on my face?” his uncle asked gruffly as they stopped in the mess hall for a quick bite after a day of looking over every piece of machinery on the property.
Tucker shrugged. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to. Just thinking how grateful I am that you’re willing to stick around for the next while.”
Ashton glared back. “What did you do?”
“Nothing,” Tucker protested. “How the hell did you get from me saying I’m happy you’ll be around to I’ve done something wrong?”
“Pretty much what you used to do. Uncle Ashton, you are so good with horses. By the way, I think I broke my saddle.” Ashton attempted to imitate a childish Tucker, which just made Tucker snort all the harder.
“Please. Do not take up acting.”
Ashton lifted his chin. “I’ll have you know the Heart Falls Star reported my rendition of a goat was one of the best in the Not-So-Nutcracker performance this past December.”
Video of which Luke had shown Tucker on the sly, the two of them howling with laughter. Definitely not the thing to share with his uncle.
“I’m sure you were a fine goat.”
Ashton glowered. “Are you poking at me, boy?”
“Would I ever do such a thing?” Absolutely deadpanned.
His uncle harrumphed again, but a hint of a smile twitched at the corner of his lips.
Tucker was getting ready for bed, well pleased with the work that he had done on the sly up in the hayloft that evening. A secret that he couldn’t wait to let Ginny know about.
His phone rang, a text message arriving simultaneously.
He put his clothes back on and hurried to the barn where Alex and Luke were in the stall with the pregnant strawberry roan.
She was agitated, stepping uncomfortably with her head wavering from side to side. Luke did his best to calm her while Alex came forward to get Tucker up to speed. “This is early, and she’s definitely not right.”
“You call the veterinarian?”
“On his way.”
Luke spoke quietly, soothing the mare. “Quiet, darlin’. You’ll be okay.”
Tucker moved carefully, sliding a hand along the mare’s extended sides as he checked her. Her skin rippled under his hand, twitching as he passed.
This wasn’t Tucker’s area of expertise, but he knew enough to agree it wasn’t something simple gone wrong.
The three of them worked together best they could to ease the mare’s discomfort. Tucker was very relieved when the barn door swung open in the distance, announcing the arrival of the expert.
Only it wasn’t Josiah Ryder’s familiar face that appeared. Instead of the sturdy veterinarian who had become a Heart Falls mainstay, it was the far smaller woman he’d hired as an assistant.
Yvette Wright strode forward with an easy confidence though. Laying a hand on Luke’s back, she spoke quietly to the horse. “Hey, beautiful. Sounds as if you need a little help.”
“Where’s Josiah?” Alex asked.
“Busy.” Her gaze danced over the horse as she shrugged her way out of her coat then pressed it into Alex’s arms. “Here. Make yourself useful.”
Tucker blinked at the change in her tone of voice from sweetness with the horse to dry disdain for Alex.
He examined the other man’s face. Alex stared after Yvette with something akin to puppy love.
Oh boy. Tangled webs always showed up at the most awkward times.
It only took a few minutes before Yvette was ready. “Tucker, come help me,” she ordered quietly. She gave him directions that he followed explicitly as she slipped a hand into the mare, confusion slowly shifting into comprehension.
“Well, sweetheart, no wonder you don’t feel so good. Your babies are a tangled mess. I’ll get you straightened out as soon as I can,” Yvette promised.
It took an hour and a half, and by the end of it Tucker felt as if his arms had been put through a wringer. He had no idea how Yvette stayed on her feet, working inside the horse to untangle the limbs of a rare set of viable twins.
By the time the tiny beasts arrived, the crowd around the pen had expanded by a few. Ashton had shown up. Luke had contacted Kelli, who had obviously sent a message to Ginny in case she wanted to get in on the action.
Ginny brought a thermos of chai, and once Yvette had washed up, she wrapped her hands around the mug Ginny handed her and took grateful sips. “Thank you. That hits the spot.”
“Glad to help,” Ginny said quietly.
Inside the pen, Strawberry Delight was now resting comfortably, one of the tiny foals fast asleep as the other nursed.
“That’s a sight we don’t see too often,” Ashton said with approval.
Tucker couldn’t take his gaze off of Ginny’s face. The wonder in her eyes, her happiness as she glanced between the newborn fillies and Yvette. The young woman finished her drink, and Ginny moved ahead of her, grabbing her coat and helping the veterinarian into it.