It didn’t matter that Josh hadn’t actually diddled Hope—though he had come close to doing just that in the truck. All that mattered was Roger had believed that sex was going on, and it’d been enough for him to pull out of the deal. Which, in turn, had sent Hope and Josh into moping mode.
Losing the horses was a low blow, and that, along with his concerns about losing the ranch hands’ respect, had been enough for Josh to rethink everything. He’d kept his zipper up and his hands off Hope. Not easy, but it was easier to do when he didn’t have to see her. Josh had managed that by fastening his butt in his office chair and working on plan B, which was trying to get the palomino stock from another seller. That had failed. So had the next ones.
He was now mulling over plan G.
Hope must have been in the rethink and mull mode as well because she hadn’t sent him any of those smoldering looks, and he was pretty sure she hadn’t skipped wearing panties. Of course, it was best if he didn’t think of Hope’s underwear choices. Or the dream he’d had about the two of them acting out page sixteen of the sex book.
“You gonna go in there, boss man?” Josh heard Termite ask. “Or are you figuring the boss lady’s still sleeping?”
Josh had been so deep in thought that he hadn’t heard the hand come up behind him. Termite came to stand beside Josh, put his hands on his bony hips and stared at Hope’s house—the very thing Josh had been staring at for a couple of minutes while he mulled over their situation.
“She’ll be awake,” Josh assured Termite. Like him, Hope was an early riser, and since it was already eight, she would have been up for a couple of hours. “I’m just trying to figure out how to word this proposal I’m working on,” Josh said. But when he heard his own words, he quickly added, “Business proposal.” He even lifted the printout he was holding in case Termite doubted that.
“Ah.” Over the past week Josh had learned it was one of Termite’s favorite “words.” Along with uh and huh. “This is about buying those blondie horses y’all both like so much.”
Josh nodded and wondered how Hope was going to take the news that plan G was going to cost her double or more than buying them from Roger. Maybe she would take it better than Josh had because he was plenty pissed off at himself for ruining this deal for her.
“There’s a lot of talk about you and the boss lady,” Termite went on. “Talk of y’all kissing and such.”
The such—what had gone on in his truck—would have caused a lot more talk if folks had actually known about it. “It won’t affect how Hope and I do the job here,” Josh assured him.
Termite made a face, the kind of expression a man might make if someone had just stated the obvious. Termite shook his head. “Never figured kissing would mess up ranch work. I mean, you probably wouldn’t want to kiss at the same time we’re worming the livestock or maybe on stall mucking day, but those are my chores, not yours or the boss lady’s.”
Those were wise words. Surprisingly wise words. “The other hands might not feel the same way,” Josh pointed out.
Termite snickered as if that was a fine joke, and he hitched his thumb to Shane Ellery, who was training a mare in the corral just off the barn. Then to Davy Martin, who was riding in from the pasture where he would have been repairing fences. “We talk about you and the boss lady a lot, and they don’t care if you kiss her, either. Davy thinks she looks kinda sad and mopey when you and her don’t spend so much time together.”
Apparently, Termite and the others had too much time on their hands, and Josh needed to add more work to their schedules. Still, it eased his mind a little to know that he hadn’t screwed that up for Hope, too.
“Well, if you run out of ideas about where to get those horses,” Termite went on, “just come see me. I know a guy who might know a guy.”
Josh wouldn’t hold his breath on that, but he mentally chalked up Termite as plan H. He thanked the hand and got moving to the house. The back door was open as it usually was in the mornings, but Josh couldn’t see inside because of the dark screen slider that kept the bugs out. When he reached the porch, he was about to knock, but then he heard Karlee’s voice.
“So, does this mean you forgive me?” Karlee asked.
He hadn’t seen Hope’s friend arrive, which meant she must have gotten there before he’d started his backyard staring session/chat with Termite, and Karlee had likely parked in front of the house.
“No, I’m not forgiving you for throwing away my pants,” Hope answered. From the sound of it, they were at the kitchen table, which was just to the right of the door. Also from the sound of it, she was eating something. “But if it hadn’t been for the red dress, Josh might have never noticed me.”
Actually, he’d noticed her plenty of times before that, but the dress had just allowed him to notice more of her. The noticing had been hard enough, but now that he’d kissed her, it was impossible to push Hope out of his mind.
Since he didn’t want to stand out there and eavesdrop, Josh was about to leave, but then Karlee said something that stopped him in his tracks. “You’re falling in love with Josh.”
He figured Hope would laugh and say it was just a lust thing.
She didn’t.
“I think I’ve been falling in love with him for years,” Hope said.
His heart stopped, too. Flat-out stopped. No beats whatsoever. What the hell? Hope was falling in love with him? That couldn’t be.
“Yes,” Hope continued a moment later, “I take things slow with him and me. Well, except when I don’t go slow like at the party last week. Don’t ask for details because I’m not kissing and telling.”
Karlee chuckled. “Whether you take things slow or fast, or whether you kiss and tell, just know that I approve. Josh is a good guy, and I’m pretty sure he’s been falling in love with you for years, too.”
“Say what?” he blurted out, but he wished he’d stapled his mouth together to stay quiet. Or unglued his feet from the porch so he hadn’t heard a word of this.
Judging from the horrified expression on Hope’s face when she opened the screen door, she had the same wish.
“I should be getting to work,” Karlee said, checking the time that he was certain she didn’t need to check. She gave Josh a silent apology and hurried out, heading toward the front.
“How much did you hear?” Hope asked him, but she waved that off, sighed and motioned for him to come in.
Josh wasn’t certain he wanted to go in, but Hope took hold of his arm and pulled him inside anyway. That’s when he caught her scent. Cinnamon and sugar. And that’s when he saw the source. There were huge stacks of boxes of Applewood cookies on the table.
“Mom sent them,” she said when she followed his gaze. “It’s her way of saying she’s sorry for pressuring me to be with Mark. By the way, Mark asked out your flirty doctor friend, and according to gossip, they seem to be hitting it off.”
That was good. It would stop the pressure from his mom. At least until she found someone else that she thought was suitable for him.