“So. We’ll get the lab set up and then hightail it over to the campsite to get the RVs parked,” she said, listening to him breathe. Her shoulder brushed his arm as she pulled down a mug. He still didn’t move. Her body buzzed at the point of contact. And what was she doing, drinking coffee, when she normally drank tea? “Are ground fires still okay?”
He nodded as she splashed coffee into the mug. “I put in a metal ring with deep sides at the beginning of summer. Keep the fire low and it shouldn’t be a problem, but the summer’s been unseasonably dry, so use your judgment and don’t burn my spread to the ground.”
She felt humor lift the side of her mouth. “Imagine that, a dry desert. Those classes at A&M really paid off.”
He harrumphed, then leaned down to her ear with his arms crossed, a shit-eating smirk on his face. “Careful, baby. This Aggie knows how to herd his longhorns. It’s on.”
Goddammit, she blushed again! Oh, his implication was crystal clear, and he didn’t need mascot euphemisms to make his point. He knew how to sit a saddle, and he knew how to sit a woman in his saddle, too. And the more she teased him, the more he was going to dish it out.
A shiver of anticipation rushed up her arms, giving her goose bumps. His eyes dipped to run over those arms in question, and, Great, he notices. He finally took mercy upon her and pushed away from the counter to stride across the kitchen, an unreadable glint in his eyes the only indication that he’d gotten to her.
“I’m gonna hit the shower before that summer camp gets here, ’cause I know I look like death.”
He reached the great room and jogged down the step as her students filed in and out, Kelsey still chatting as if breathing was overrated, banging loose the folding table legs, when he halted with a snap of his fingers as if he’d forgotten something. He climbed back up the step and leaned around the opening, his eyes connecting with hers as she dished out a sprinkle of sugar into her coffee.
“There’s an Indiana Jones marathon starting tomorrow night. In case your crew is interested. The Remington slides aside, and there’s a flat screen behind it. Remote on the sideboard by the window.”
“‘No way. Indy? You’re named after the dog?’” she adlibbed in her best John Rhys-Davies voice. Her eyes widened, and her face dropped. “Oh, I’m all over it.”
A grin split his gorgeous face wide. It was genuine. And yet she couldn’t help but think she’d just walked into the brunt of an inside joke by the way he resisted saying whatever was burning his lips to pieces.
He patted the door frame and turned back over his shoulder. “I thought you might be. You seem like the type who renews her geek club membership right on time.”
Her jaw dropped, and she held her coffee cup in both hands, her middle finger inching upward as she took a deliberate sip.
His grin turned into a laugh. “I saw that. Reflection in that glass is a bitch, ain’t it?”
“Go herd your longhorn to the shower, vaquero,” she shot back.
He glanced back, grin never faltering and, in fact, looking satisfied. But something uncertain entered his eyes. What, she couldn’t determine. It was fleeting, and soon he was rounding into an opposite hallway.
“I’ll fish out a key to the back door and show you the alarm system when I freshen up,” he called from out of sight. “Then you can come and go any time, day or night.”