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Authors: Austin, Andrews & Austin
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“Which means?”
“Means some guy’s missing out.” She raised a playful eyebrow and I felt my face flush.
“Then there are those who eat off their shirt.” I nodded toward the drops of ice cream hitting her shirt front.
She glanced at her chest and began to devour the dripping cone, trying to mop herself up at the same time, talking in between.
“Meaning I eat like a kid?”
“Now why would I think that?” She looked at me for a moment and a giant chunk of chocolate fell into her lap. We both giggled.
Her remark about the way I ate ice cream reminded me that she seemed to have sex on her mind all the time, but didn’t all young women. I’d missed that stage of sheer lusting. Instead I’d gone from dreaming of Prince Charming to suddenly being pursued by a guy who seemed to know, way ahead of me, that we were meant for each other. I remembered having to get used to his taste and his smells more than being attracted to them.
“You don’t talk a lot,” Cash said, crunching the remainder of her cone.
“I do if I have something to say.” I finished off my ice cream and started to put the truck in gear.
She grinned, seeming, for some mysterious reason, amused by me. She suddenly wriggled around in her seat looking for a napkin and pulled out the sack I’d brought from the dry-goods store. “Hope I didn’t squash something in here or I’ll never hear the end of it.”
“Actually, it’s yours.” I tried to sound casual. She looked surprised and opened the sack, extracting the soft, yellow deerskin gloves. “I wasn’t sure of the size. Don’t try them on now with your hand hurt.”
“These are beautiful.” Her tone changed to wonder as she laid them against her cheek as I had done, as if caressing the deer who gave them to her. She tried to put the right glove on but her left hand obviously stung. “Would you?” She handed me the glove. I held it open and she slid her hand in easily, but after that, she couldn’t tighten the fit, so I slipped my finger between each of hers, slowly pressing the doeskin into the curves of her hand to avoid hurting her.
As I fitted the last finger, she grasped my hand in her gloved one.
“Isn’t that the most amazing feeling ever?”
“Deerskin.” My breathing momentarily halted but my heart raced as if I were a dove trapped by kindly hands, nonetheless fearful, having no knowledge the frightening pressure signaled safety.
“How did you know my size?”
I pulled away. “Good guesser.”
“Thank you for the gloves and the tetanus shot, which now hurts worse than my palm—”
“Sorry about that.”
“—and for letting me stay with you.”
“You’ll earn your way this summer. No need to thank me.”
Talking with her made me want to run away. Yet another part of me wanted to drive her somewhere farther from the city where no one knew me and just sit like this forever. Maybe after so many years without a female friend, I yearned to be able to say what I was feeling to someone who might understand.
“What are you thinking?” she asked softly.
“That we both have work to do.” I put the truck in gear and headed back to the ranch, keeping my conversation to a minimum.
What little I said related to the things I’d like Cash to get to work on, starting with unloading the feed sacks from the back of the truck, despite her hurt hand. She’d just have to cowgirl up.
CHAPTER SIX
Afew days later I drove into town for what I fondly referred to as my dose of Donnetta, traipsing into the 2-K, where I slugged down a cup of her rich ground coffee.
“I don’t know how she managed it but she busted open the feed sack while unloading it, which is damned near impossible because the sacks are double lined. She didn’t notice she’d torn it until she’d strung half the sweet feed across the driveway. Then she tried to sweep it up and got dirt, gravel, and wind-blown garbage into the mix and would have put it into the feed bin and fed it to the
“Means some guy’s missing out.” She raised a playful eyebrow and I felt my face flush.
“Then there are those who eat off their shirt.” I nodded toward the drops of ice cream hitting her shirt front.
She glanced at her chest and began to devour the dripping cone, trying to mop herself up at the same time, talking in between.
“Meaning I eat like a kid?”
“Now why would I think that?” She looked at me for a moment and a giant chunk of chocolate fell into her lap. We both giggled.
Her remark about the way I ate ice cream reminded me that she seemed to have sex on her mind all the time, but didn’t all young women. I’d missed that stage of sheer lusting. Instead I’d gone from dreaming of Prince Charming to suddenly being pursued by a guy who seemed to know, way ahead of me, that we were meant for each other. I remembered having to get used to his taste and his smells more than being attracted to them.
“You don’t talk a lot,” Cash said, crunching the remainder of her cone.
“I do if I have something to say.” I finished off my ice cream and started to put the truck in gear.
She grinned, seeming, for some mysterious reason, amused by me. She suddenly wriggled around in her seat looking for a napkin and pulled out the sack I’d brought from the dry-goods store. “Hope I didn’t squash something in here or I’ll never hear the end of it.”
“Actually, it’s yours.” I tried to sound casual. She looked surprised and opened the sack, extracting the soft, yellow deerskin gloves. “I wasn’t sure of the size. Don’t try them on now with your hand hurt.”
“These are beautiful.” Her tone changed to wonder as she laid them against her cheek as I had done, as if caressing the deer who gave them to her. She tried to put the right glove on but her left hand obviously stung. “Would you?” She handed me the glove. I held it open and she slid her hand in easily, but after that, she couldn’t tighten the fit, so I slipped my finger between each of hers, slowly pressing the doeskin into the curves of her hand to avoid hurting her.
As I fitted the last finger, she grasped my hand in her gloved one.
“Isn’t that the most amazing feeling ever?”
“Deerskin.” My breathing momentarily halted but my heart raced as if I were a dove trapped by kindly hands, nonetheless fearful, having no knowledge the frightening pressure signaled safety.
“How did you know my size?”
I pulled away. “Good guesser.”
“Thank you for the gloves and the tetanus shot, which now hurts worse than my palm—”
“Sorry about that.”
“—and for letting me stay with you.”
“You’ll earn your way this summer. No need to thank me.”
Talking with her made me want to run away. Yet another part of me wanted to drive her somewhere farther from the city where no one knew me and just sit like this forever. Maybe after so many years without a female friend, I yearned to be able to say what I was feeling to someone who might understand.
“What are you thinking?” she asked softly.
“That we both have work to do.” I put the truck in gear and headed back to the ranch, keeping my conversation to a minimum.
What little I said related to the things I’d like Cash to get to work on, starting with unloading the feed sacks from the back of the truck, despite her hurt hand. She’d just have to cowgirl up.
CHAPTER SIX
Afew days later I drove into town for what I fondly referred to as my dose of Donnetta, traipsing into the 2-K, where I slugged down a cup of her rich ground coffee.
“I don’t know how she managed it but she busted open the feed sack while unloading it, which is damned near impossible because the sacks are double lined. She didn’t notice she’d torn it until she’d strung half the sweet feed across the driveway. Then she tried to sweep it up and got dirt, gravel, and wind-blown garbage into the mix and would have put it into the feed bin and fed it to the
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