Page 17 of The Beekeeper

I hoisted the two boxes into my arms, jostling them high enough that they felt secure even though they partially obstructed my view.

“Do you have a death wish?”

I gasped at the unexpected voice and spun, catching my heel on the edge of a stone and almost falling—again—if it weren’t for Blaze.

With big hands on my shoulders, he righted me and then scooped the boxes from my arms.

Where had he come from? How had I missed him? That was when I knew my anxiety was bad—when the one man who set off an internal fireworks show every time I was around him managed to slip close unnoticed.

“I would’ve been fine,” I insisted, caught just a little breathless by the sight of him, looking more…haunted than before.

What happened with Wade? I bit down on my tongue to stop myself from asking.

“Where do you want these?”

“Just inside is fine,” I said, but before I could fully turn to the other four boxes, Blaze growled.

“Leave them. I’ll bring them all.”

My mouth wobbled open and shut, only managing a murmured, “Okay,” as he strode by me and into my house.

Blaze Stevens. Inside my house.

What a twisted Twilight Zone this was.

I followed him through the door just as Paisley let out a “Daddy! You’re back!”

“Hey, pumpkin.” He crouched to set the box on my kitchen floor, and I found my stare hooked by the sight of his ass in jeans that seemed—and probably were—tailor-made for him.

My head jerked up just as he straightened and turned, hoping he hadn’t caught me staring.

“Thank you,” I murmured.

“Daddy, what are you doing?”

“I’m helping Harper,” he said and went over to her, pressing a kiss to the side of her head. She didn’t see the deep breath he took just as his lips touched her hair but I did.

“Me too,” she exclaimed.

“Oh yeah?” His eyes skated to what she was working on. “Let me finish bringing these boxes in and then you can show me.”

Paisley’s head bobbed as she hunched back over the counter, refocused on her task.

“I guess you got my message…” I stammered, following Blaze back outside.

“That you were bringing her back here? Yeah,” Blaze said, and I tried to determine whether he sounded upset.

He rounded the truck and hoisted up two more boxes. I lowered my gaze to the ground, but even there the late-afternoon shadows outlined the swell of his muscles on the stone.

“I’m sorry. It was looking like rain and I didn’t want to get caught out in the field in a storm⁠—”

“It’s fine, Harper,” he growled, and a shiver of goose bumps ran down my spine. “I’m…grateful that you watched her while I met with Wade.”

I bundled my arms close, no longer trusting of his compliments or how quickly they’d turn to barbs. “It’s no problem.”

Saying nothing else, he walked back into the house, but this time I didn’t follow. Instead, I climbed up into the bed of the truck to move the last two boxes closer to the tailgate, so they’d be easier for him.

Bending forward, I pushed the largest two boxes of honey jars toward the edge.