by Jill Sanders
Chase wiped the sweat from his brow and stood back. “Not a bad job.” He looked down at Buddy and Dingo who sat at his feet, both of their tails wagging as they looked up at him. Buddy's head was tilted like he was trying to understand. “I just hope she doesn't skin me alive when she sees this.”
Just then he heard a noise behind him. When he spun around, he saw Lauren standing inside the doorway. There was a thick layer of dust covering every inch of her. Her hair had straw and hay sticking out of it. Sweat had streaked down her brow, clearing the dust in long lines down her face. Her jeans and shirt were brown from dirt and she smelled like cow. She'd removed her boots and stood in front of him in her socks.
“What is that?” She pointed behind him.
“Well, it's what we've been working on all day. Do you like it?” He turned and looked at the large French doors that led to the back deck.
She shrugged her shoulders and started to walk past him towards the bathroom. He caught up with her just as she pulled her dirty shirt off and tossed it into the dirty clothes bucket. He had expected something, some sort of response, but her lack of caring concerned him.
“You aren't mad?” He leaned back against the door and watched her strip off her pants, exposing a small pair of red panties that made his mouth water.
“It's not like I can make you put back my wall.” She walked over and flipped on the water, checking the temperature before stripping off the rest of her clothes and stepping in and shutting the glass doors.
He walked over and stood outside the steamy glass, watching her hazy image as she rinsed her body off. He couldn't keep his body from reacting to hers as she did her unintentional erotic show. Quickly removing his clothes, he stepped in behind her. She didn't even open her eyes as he pulled her closer and ran his hands over her slick body.
“Rough day?” He leaned in and placed a kiss on her forehead.
“Hmmm. We're short staffed.” She leaned her head against his shoulder.
“Why didn't you call me? I could have helped.” He pulled back and looked down at her. It stung a little, knowing that she hadn't thought to ask him for help.
“You said you had things to do. I had no idea one of those things was cutting a huge hole in the side of my house.” He could feel the tension leaving her body as she spoke. Her arms hung on his shoulders and her body pressed up tight against his.
He had led her to believe he'd be busy all day. Had he known that they needed help in the fields, he would have gladly postponed his surprise. He felt like a fool for spending his day working on something so unimportant when there had been real work that needed to be done. Well, the good thing about him was that he was a quick learner. First thing, he was going to have a talk with Jimmy about giving him a call when he needed help.
For now, all he could do was make sure Lauren felt better. He ran his hands down her body, turned her to face away from him, then took a handful of soap and scrubbed her hair clean of the dust and dirt. She moaned and placed her hands against the tiled walls, trying to steady herself. Once he had rinsed her hair clean, he soaped up his hands and ran them over every inch of her body as she held onto his shoulders. He made sure she was rinsed off, then he shut off the cold water and wrapped her in a large towel, picking her up and carrying her to the bed. She sighed and looked up at him, wrapping her arms around him. “Don't go anywhere.”
“Never,” he whispered, then followed her down to the soft bed, pulling her close as she snuggled next to him.
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