The tips of his ears turned red, and he grinned and shrugged, his mouth too full to answer.
He swallowed and took a drink of his iced tea. I was fascinated watching his strong neck muscles work as he swallowed. He picked up a piece of the bread, buttering it liberally and tearing off a large chunk, chewing and swallowing before speaking.
“So, Dani Rawlins, what brought you out into the middle of nowhere on a Wednesday afternoon?”
“Oh, I, ah, I needed a break from the office.”
“And you thought you’d visit The Harvest Table?”
I shook my head, trying hard not to look as embarrassed as I felt. “I got lost. I sort of stumbled on to this place.”
He smiled, his eyes warm. “We get a lot of those. Often though, they’re thrilled to have discovered the store.”
“It’s lovely,” I agreed. “I think I need to add some honey butter to my basket.”
He pushed away his empty plate. “What do you do for a living? It must be fascinating if it makes you forget to eat.”
“Consuming, more like it,” I murmured without thinking.
He frowned. “Oh?”
I sighed, patting my lips with my napkin. “I’m a VP at SB Corp. One of their many areas is business acquisitions. I do the number crunching.”
His eyebrows shot up. “You’re pretty young to be a VP.”
“Twenty-eight. The youngest one there.”
“I’m impressed.”
“It’s a job,” I replied, beginning to feel warm. I took a sip of the cold tea, hoping to stop the rising heat.
“What sort of number crunching do you do?”
“When there’s a business they want to buy, I find profit or loss. Recommend what to keep or restructure. Depending on the size of the business, what to sell.” I cleared my throat, setting down my fork, my appetite suddenly gone.
“Huge responsibility.”
“I’m not the only one. I mean, I’m part of a team, but lately, I’ve been especially, ah, busy.”
In fact, it felt as if management had been giving me all the larger projects. My workload increased weekly. So did the number of hours I spent behind my desk. They compensated me with bonuses, but since all I ever did was work, the money sat in my account, unused.
“A much-needed afternoon off, then,” he observed. “Do you like your job?”
Much-needed, but I knew I would pay for it tomorrow. Simply thinking of the office and returning, I felt my neck begin to prickle, and I had to shut my eyes and take in a deep breath. The air felt heavy, and I struggled to get oxygen in.
The feel of Noah’s hand wrapping around the back of my neck startled me, and my eyes flew open. He was crouched beside me, looking concerned.
“It’s okay, Dani. You don’t have to answer. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
I sucked in some more air as his fingers pressed into the tense muscles of my shoulder.
“Relax, Dani. You’re okay,” he crooned, his voice soft and compelling. He lifted my hand, pressing it to his chest, covering it with his long fingers. “Everything is fine. You’re safe and okay. Breathe with me. Slow and easy. Just breathe.”
I matched my breathing to his—relaxed, deep inhales of air. The feel of his hand holding mine and his closeness helped ease my tension. His scent, heady sunshine, and fresh air swirled around me, and I sucked it in greedily, finding it warm and compelling. Calming.
A couple minutes later, I opened my eyes, feeling more composed and embarrassed.
“Sorry,” I whispered, unable to meet his gaze. “I’m sort of having a bad day.”
I stared at our hands pressed together on his chest. My skin looked shockingly pale against the sun-kissed tan of his. I tried to recall the last time I had sat out in the sun and couldn’t remember.
“It’s fine. We all have them.” Gently extracting his hand, he sat back down. Oddly, I missed his touch right away.
He bent forward, resting his elbows on his thighs, studying me. His voice was concerned. “Did something happen?”
“I’m in the middle of a deal—a big one—lots of pressure. I wasn’t feeling very well, and I had to get out of the office.”
“From what I just saw, it was more than you not feeling well, Dani. You had a panic attack.”
I nodded, knowing he was probably right. It made sense. I was healthy, otherwise. I would have to look up more on panic attacks.
“So, you left the office, and you took a drive?”
“Yes.”
He smiled. “And got lost.”
“Yes. I’m very bad with directions, and I left my phone at my desk.”
“Dani?”
I lifted my gaze. Noah was smiling at me, his expression gentle. “I’m glad you found your way here.”
“Me too.”
He pushed my plate back toward me. “Finish your lunch. Please.”
I nodded and picked up my fork, thinking I’d probably do anything he asked as long as he smiled at me that way.
“So, you stock the shelves and look after customers?”