Page 39 of Ethan

He turned and headed back to the house. He had feed to order, paperwork to get through, and he was going to plant himself at that desk and stay there all day and keep a reasonable distance from her before he did something impulsive.

Like toss her over his shoulder and carry her to bed.

Chapter Six

Naomi had been thinking about it all morning.She’d told herself she was focused on Vader, and she was, mostly. He was coming along beautifully, his turns getting cleaner every session, the hesitation she’d noticed in him the first day almost completely gone. She was proud of the work they’d done together.

But she was also aware of every time Ethan appeared in the barn. He’d come in twice that morning, checked on a couple of horses, exchanged a few words with Rowdy, and Kurt, and both times he’d stopped by Vader’s corral for a minute and watched her work. He didn’t say anything. He didn’t need to. She could feel him watching and she pretended she couldn’t and they both knew she was pretending. The sexual tension hung between them, and it was suffocating.

By midafternoon, the barn had emptied out. Johnny and Serena had finished for the day, Rowdy and Kurt had headed out, and the only sounds were the horses and the barn swallows and somewhere outside a hawk screeching above the pasture.

She was putting Vader back in his stall when she heard Ethan come in behind her.

She latched the stall door and turned around.

He was maybe ten feet away, and he stopped when she turned, like he hadn’t quite decided what he was doing in here.

She closed the distance between them, reached up, took his face in both hands, and kissed him.

He went still for exactly one second.

Then his arms came around her, and he kissed her back like he’d been waiting all day for exactly this, just as she had.

When she finally pulled back she looked up at him.

“I’ve been wanting to do that all day,” she said.

His arms were still around her. “I was hoping you would.”

She laughed softly and he looked down at her with an expression she was starting to recognize. The one where he was working very hard to be sensible.

“We’re alone in the barn,” she said.

“I noticed.”

“And it’s after five.”

“Also noticed.”

She tilted her head. “So, we’re off the clock.”

“Technically.” His jaw tightened slightly. “Doesn’t change anything, Naomi.”

She sighed. “I know.” She stepped back and he let her go, which she appreciated and resented in equal measures. “You’re very disciplined, Ethan Harrison.”

“One of us has to be.”

She laughed at that and turned to collect her things from the rail. He fell into step beside her as she walked toward the barn door and they stepped out together into the early evening sun.

At the bottom of her stairs, they stopped.

“Have dinner with me again,” he said.

“When?”

“Friday.”

She considered making him wait for an answer. She didn’t bother. “Alright.”