Flirting with Love(4)

“Let’s go,” he said to Storm.

Storm came to his side as Ross surveyed the property. His heart sank at the sight of Cora’s old Trusty Pies delivery van. She hadn’t used it in years, but it brought back memories of Ross and his brothers hanging out in town, waving as she drove by on her way to the diner or some other destination. If they caught her at one of her stops, she’d cut them each a slice and tell them not to tell anyone else or she’d have no pie left. Now the van was rusted all the way through above the front tire, the two rear tires were flat, and the grass around the van was waist high. He swallowed the sadness of losing his neighbor and turned in the direction of the barn and the chicken coop. Just beyond the barn was the pasture where Cora’s cow, Dolly, and two goats, Chip and Dale, grazed. Ross smiled at their names. Cora always did have a good sense of humor.

He crossed the lawn to the two-story farmhouse. The steps creaked as he ascended them to the wide front porch. He heard music coming from beyond the screen door. Ross peered into the wide hallway, straight through the back screen door, where he caught a glimpse of something black that looked suspiciously like part of a woman’s ass and leg, but his vision was obscured by the back door, propped halfway open. He stepped off the porch and walked around to the back of the house.

The music wasn’t coming from inside; it was coming from the backyard. He rounded the side of the house and stopped at the sight of Elisabeth wearing a pair of black yoga pants and a skintight tank top. Her hair was pulled into a high ponytail and her body was contorted into some kind of knot with her incredibly hot ass up in the air. Christ, you are sexy. Ross’s mind immediately went to her long legs wrapped around him, over his shoulders, and—she unknotted herself and turned, catching him leering at her.

“Oh.” Her cheeks flushed.

Ross couldn’t even pretend he wasn’t staring, so he did the only thing he was capable of. He smiled. “Hey.”

“Ross. Dr. Braden. I didn’t see you standing there.” She rose, and Ross wanted to kiss the feet of whoever had developed yoga pants and tank tops. Elisabeth looked like a young Christie Brinkley. She definitely had the California-girl image, and Ross couldn’t find a damn thing wrong with that. She grabbed a towel and patted her glistening face, neck, and chest.

Damn. He’d love to be that towel.

“Ross, please,” he finally managed.

“Ross,” she repeated. “And who’s your adorable friend?”

Ross glanced at Storm. “Free dog,” he said to the pup and unleashed him. The command let Storm know he was off duty and free to play.

“This is Storm. He’s a service dog in training.”

She knelt to pet the puppy. “He’s beautiful. Six months?”

“Yeah, about that.” Ross was about to ask how she knew so quickly, but then he remembered she’d owned some kind of crazy pet bakery and spa. He couldn’t just stand there ogling her, so he made an attempt at small talk. “Yoga?”

“Yeah. It’s the only thing that centers me, and you know, new place, starting over. I definitely need centering.” She looked down at her clothes. “Please excuse the sweat.”

Ross nodded, unsure what else to say, because he was pretty sure, Babe, I’ll center you, and you can put that sweaty body against mine anytime, wouldn’t go over very well. Besides, getting involved with a neighbor was a bad idea. Even a neighbor who looked like she was put on this earth to fulfill his every fantasy.

“Are the pigs in the barn?” He shoved his thumb in the direction of the barn.

“Yeah. I’ll go with you.”

She fell into step beside him and Storm, and, he noticed, she pet his pup the entire way.

“So, you’re training a service dog?” She pulled the elastic from her ponytail and shook her hair free, sending the scent of fruity shampoo into the air.

His new favorite scent.

“I work with the prisoners in Denton and teach them how to train the dogs, and on weekends the dogs go to foster homes to get acclimated with the sights and sounds of the real world.” He pulled the barn door open. The sun had dipped low on the horizon, slanting the last of its light across the pasture.

“I’ll get the lights.”

Ross watched her walk away, then forced himself to tear his eyes away and turn his attention to the piglets. He dated plenty of women, but he’d given up thoughts of settling down until recently. His brother Luke was engaged to Daisy Honey, who had grown up in Trusty, and was now the only family-practice doctor in town, and his younger brother Wes was living with Callie Barnes, a transplant from Denver who had recently taken over Alice’s position as head librarian. Both of his brothers had been scoundrels when it came to women. His oldest brother, Pierce, had treated women as if they were expendable, and even he had recently fallen in love. His fiancée, Rebecca Rivera, was from Reno. A far cry from Trusty, but she’d quickly become everything to Pierce.

Ross wasn’t a scoundrel. If anything, he was a careful dater. He’d always had plenty of women to choose from, but Ross liked smart women with a strong sense of self, and he preferred natural beauty to manufactured. He had yet to find a woman who suited him long term. Once women found out that he had a trust fund, they were all about the money. But lately, after seeing how happy his brothers were with their newfound loves, he wasn’t giving up hope. Ross was more like his sister, Emily, than his last remaining bachelor brother, Jake, a stuntman in LA who Ross couldn’t imagine ever settling down. Ross believed in love, no matter how much he scoffed at it to his brothers. A guy had to keep his image up. He’d even like a family. A big one, and he wasn’t blind to the fact that he was thirty-five—and only getting older.

The lights illuminated the barn, bringing Ross’s mind back to the issue at hand. Piglets. The mother pig was on her side with the piglets lying nearby. She stood as soon as he stepped into the pen.

“Careful. Sadie gets a little testy. She doesn’t like anyone near her babies.”

He nodded, eyes on Sadie, and crouched down low. “Hey there, Sadie. I just want to check out your babies.” The hair on the back of her neck stood on end. He’d been around enough sows to know she could charge at any second.

“This is when I usually get out of there,” Elisabeth warned.

He held a hand up in her direction and nodded. “Sweet Sadie, it’s okay. I’m not going to hurt your babies.” Ross eyed Storm. “Settle,” he instructed, and Storm sat obediently. Ross brought his attention back to Sadie, but spoke to Elisabeth.

“Pigs can’t see up very well, so getting down to eye level helps. Humming, as I mentioned earlier, also helps.” He noticed she had a hand on Storm again. Lucky dog.

Sadie grunted and Ross hummed, first one tune, then another, until he found the one that calmed her. Eventually, she came to his side, and he continued sweet-talking her.

“I’m just going to make sure your babies are okay.” After a few minutes of bonding, Sadie allowed him to check out the piglets. When he was assured that they were well, he thanked Sadie and stepped from the pen.

“I think they’re in good shape. Just keep an eye on Kennedy.”

“I will. Thank you, and I’m so sorry about your pants. You’re covered in mud.”

She touched his arm as she had done in the clinic, and Ross wondered if she did that with all men. The thought made his stomach clench. He decided not to think about Elisabeth and other guys.

“That’s why they make washing machines.” They turned off the lights and walked out of the barn. The sounds of crickets filled the air as darkness settled in around them.

“I love the sounds of night here,” she said as they walked back toward the house.

“I’d imagine it’s a bit different from Los Angeles.”

“Oh, you can’t even imagine. LA is very…” She looked up, as if the answers were in the sky. “I don’t know. Not as natural, I guess. You know, the difference between city living and country living. Have you always lived here?”

“Never wanted to live anywhere else.” He and his family had lived in Weston, Colorado, for the first five years of his life, but he didn’t need to go into his family’s sordid past at the moment.

“What do I owe you for coming by?” she asked.

“Don’t sweat it. It’s on my way home.”

She smiled. “How about a glass of wine, then?”

The warm night, her amazing yoga body, and that welcoming smile of hers pulled an unexpected answer from him. “Sure, why not.”

Sure, why not?

He knew better than to accept a glass of wine from a woman he was attracted to. He reminded himself of the reasons he shouldn’t follow her inside. She’s a neighbor. She’s already the subject of town gossip. She’s from LA, not exactly the land of the wholesome. Combined with the fact that she was hotter than hell, they were good reasons to keep a little distance. It took only one reason for him to open a bottle of wine and pour them each a glass as they sat down on her patio beneath the stars. He wanted to be there. He couldn’t remember the last time he wanted to spend an evening getting to know a woman, but there was something so open about Elisabeth that he found her refreshing—despite Margie’s comments. Trusty gossip was usually fed by jealousy. Elisabeth’s looks alone could spark enough gossip to set the grapevine afire.