Chapter Six
Cheryl
The next morning was much the same.
She woke up just enough to open her eyes and stumble from bed. This time she pulled a thick fleece robe around her body, cinching the knot tight. Then she shuffled down the hallway, moving from side to side like a zombie. Fortunately for her she A: didn’t give a shit, and B: didn’t have anyone around to watch her besides Rowe, and after what he’d seen her in the day before, a sleep-deprived shitshow was the least of her worries.
After all, this time she was a clothed sleep-deprived shitshow. Her words.
The stairs were treacherous, and she nearly slipped once. Apparently staying up tossing and turning all night, anxious about what the day would bring was not the way to a rested morning. Great. She reached the bottom without incident, and was just about to step off when a foghorn sounded.
“I AM IN THE KITCHEN!” Rowe bellowed in his outdoor voice.
Cheryl jerked upright in surprise. This resulted in her missing her footing. The sock-clad sock slipped on the hardwood floor and down she went. The ground came rushing up at her and she braced for impact, knowing there was nothing she could do at this point. Her reflexes were too slow, and the momentum of her fall too great. All she could do was suck it up and hope she didn’t tear her groin as she was flung around by the foot still on the stairs, until she fell away from them into the kitchen.
All at once Rowe was there, his arm sliding under her and bringing her to a halt while she was still a good foot off the floor. It took her brain a moment to catch up to the fact that she’d been caught, and so her arms continued to flail wildly for something to grab onto even while she was being held still.
“You’re safe, you can stop reaching for the railing now,” he assured her, his face hovering above hers, so close she could smell his cologne in all its manly glory.
“Maybe. But if I keep going I can pretend I’m doing an interpretive dance.”
Rowe blinked, not following. “Why do you feel the need to dance?”
“It’s less embarrassing than admitting I was flailing like an idiot for a solid three seconds after you caught me?”
His eyes narrowed. “How sure are you about it being less embarrassing?”
“Not at all.” She let her arms drop. They automatically folded across her chest. “I see you’re still holding me here.”
“Yes.”
“I thought you were in the kitchen.” She waited for him to pull her upright, but he didn’t. He just continued to hold her a foot off the ground, as if it were nothing to him. Trying to be secretive about it, she looked at his bicep. It wasn’t even shaking. Even someone as strong as him should be struggling to hold her by now.
“I was. Now I’m here. Is that a problem?”
“Why do I get the feeling if I say yes you’re going to drop me on the ground?”
Rowe grinned, making her insides twist into knots even as they filled with heat and happiness. What was it about this man that he could take her from zero to sixty in the snap of his fingers?
“I would never drop you,” he purred, his eyes glancing down to where his arm was tucked securely across her upper back. “As you can see in exhibit A.”
“Considering it was your ridiculous announcement of your presence that put me into this predicament, I’d say you’re still hovering around neutral. You didn’t gain any points for this.”
“Hmm. Well, what would get me points?”
“Having breakfast made. Or coffee. Coffee would be good about now.”
“Sorry, fresh out. But I have something else that might wake you up.”
“Dark roast?”
He rolled his eyes. “No, silly. This.”
Then he kissed her.
Cheryl’s eyes went wide for a moment, stunned by his forwardness. Then, when she realized she was staring at his forehead, she pulled them shut. Her lips, on the other hand, had no such performance issues and were moving against his all on their own. He was a good kisser. Strong, aggressive, but without the overuse of tongue and strength that was all too common in men. He kissed her hard and passionately, but while he toed the line, he never crossed it, which was all it took to drive her wild.
She wanted to wrap her arms around him by instinct, but they were folded over her chest and held in place by his body as he leaned over her.
It was good. If it weren’t for another call from her body, she might have just let him continue. But the urgent demand couldn’t be ignored any longer. She needed to answer it, and now. With more regret than she would have expected if someone told her what was about to happen ahead of time, she tilted her head downward, breaking the kiss. Surprised at her heavy breathing, she took a moment to suck in the air necessary to speak.
“Can you stand me up?”
He did, gingerly, then backed away quickly.
“Relax,” she said with a wave. “It was good. You…wow. I’m still not sure how I feel about it having happened, but yeah, whew.” She waved her hand across her face, simulating heat. “There’s just one problem.”
Rowe’s face fell. “You’re taken. Oh God. Cheryl, I apologize, I didn’t know. I judged by your flirting that you were single and interested in me and—”
“Coffee,” she said, not feeling the politeness that might normally be used at such a time. “I need coffee.”
“Oh.” He darted across the kitchen and slapped the machine on. Clearly he’d had it ready to go again.
Maybe there was a benefit to keeping him around. Now if only he could be taught to turn it on when he heard her leave her room so it was almost ready when she got downstairs. That would be the best Christmas miracle she could imagine.
They waited in awkward silence until the cup was done. Shoving some sugar and probably too much cream into her cup she swirled it around, trying to figure out what had just happened. A few sips later she had it.
“That was a one-time thing,” she said, choosing her words carefully. “Payment for saving me from the embarrassment and pain of falling on my ass. We’ll ignore the fact it’s your fault, since you’re a good kisser.”
Rowe was biting his lip, but when she looked at him expectantly he nodded.
Her eyes moved from where he stood to the table. A chair was pushed halfway across the room, and the newspaper—since when did they get newspapers delivered?!—had clearly fallen, not been set down. Cheryl looked back and forth again from the table to the doorway that led to the stairs. It was an awful long way…
“How did you get there so quickly?” she asked. “I didn’t even hear you move after you shouted my name at the top of your lungs.”
“You were probably busy freaking out and falling,” he suggested.
“Maybe.” She moved around him, snagged the chair and sat at the table, cupping the coffee mug in both hands, letting the warmth seep into her skin. “I shouldn’t have even done that. I’m just so stressed with everything going on here.” She closed her jaw abruptly.
Opening up to Rowe was not the answer. He had already crossed the line from friend and coworker to…something more, and she hadn’t disliked it. This was going to be trouble. Cheryl should have just told him from the start that he wasn’t coming to work for her. Now things were going to be awkward. She was going to have to pretend like he hadn’t kissed her. Ugh.
“You look a little stressed,” Rowe agreed, moving behind her.
“What are you doing?”
“Helping you relax,” he murmured, his hands landing on her shoulders.
“Rowe, no, I…Oohh.” Strong fingers dug into the knots under her skin, sliding easily across the muscles and immediately relieving some of the tension.
“Wow, you are tight.”
Her brain twisted those words into something decidedly less appropriate. Clamping her lips together she just nodded, not trusting her voice or even any sounds she might make. She should be telling him to stop. To take his wonderful hands off her shoulders. But she couldn’t form the words, because each time she built up some strength he “hmmmed” at her, and worked a different area. It was like the thought of pushing him away made her tense up.
That made no sense. Was she supposed to let him get closer to her? How did accomplishing the major job that lay before her become less stressful if she also had to deal with a budding romantic…whatever this was?
True, she did feel safer with him around. When they had been out on the perimeter the afternoon before and he’d mentioned wolves, his presence back on the ATV had calmed her almost instantly. Then there was the way he’d caught her just this morning, as if sweeping her off her feet, before delivering an ultra-cheesy line that somehow still fit the situation! Cheryl hadn’t even blinked when he’d said that and then kissed her.
Hell, she’d loved it.
This was just too complicated.
“Stop it,” he growled in that masculine tone of voice that no matter how hard she tried she couldn’t emulate when she needed it.
“Stop what?”
“Whatever you’re doing to tense up. Just sit there and let me work. You need it.”
Okay. If he insisted. Glancing at the time, she made a mental estimate. “Okay, but only if you promise to stop in fifteen minutes.”
Rowe coughed. “I’m continuing for another fifteen minutes am I?”
Cheryl didn’t reply. She was too busy sinking into the moment, letting his fingers relieve stress that had likely been building for longer than she could recall.
All at once it was over. She sat up, blinked, and realized to her dismay that the whole fifteen minutes was over. That had gone by far too fast.
“Damn. Already?” she moaned, heaving herself to her feet with a sigh. “Okay, well, let’s get ready then.” She took a long sip of coffee. It had cooled to a bit below what she preferred by that time, but it was still drinkable.
“I’m ready. What’s the plan for today?” he asked eagerly.
“Today is going to be stressful. The first group of laborers are arriving to start putting things back into working order. So we’ll have to divvy them up, and then supervise to make sure stuff gets done the way we want it to.”
Rowe nodded. “Got it. I guess I’ll come along as the hired muscle today, to keep them in line?”
She laughed, nodding along. Outwardly it was all about humor.
Inwardly though, she was thankful for him just then. Rowe might have all the faith in the world in her to get the job done, but the farmhands would have no such belief. She was more than a little worried to discover how they might react to knowing they not only had a woman as a boss, but one who’d never run a project this large before.
She feared she would need Rowe’s muscles before it was all over.