Page 9 of No Bed Of Roses

He’d watched her arrange and rearrange the windows as he walked. Frustration, determination, and fatigue all radiated from her body language.

When she’d turned to him, the fear and wariness in her eyes had him freezing in place, like he would with a rattlesnake or a frightened village kid in one of the hellholes he’d worked overseas. The shadows in and under her eyes spoke of exhaustion, the bone-deep kind that took a long time to build and a longer time to erase.

Ridiculously, he’d wanted to hop the fence, pull her into his arms, and tell her everything would be okay. Obviously, he’d been smarter than that.

Add in her self-deprecating humor in the face of that frustration and wariness, and he’d been sucked right into her orbit.

The guys would be floored. Levi wasn’t known for initiating contact with strangers or for eavesdropping. Yet here he was, listening in as his Glass Farmer talked to a stray, hoping he could glean more details about her.

Or what she was thinking about him.

Which reminded him of high school and made him cringe and move his feet. “Hey, Glass Farmer. What do we have here?” He kept his voice low and soft, hoping to channel his buddy Garrett, who’d worked with his K-9 dog as part of their military team.

Glass Farmer had her arms wrapped around the muddy dog that was now sitting in her lap. It flinched at Levi’s voice, but she kept talking softly even as she smiled at him. “See, I told you I had a friend here. He’s a good guy, I promise.”

Levi moved closer and squatted down without crowding the lab. “Hey there, boy. Your new friend here is correct. I’m not going to hurt you. We’re going to help. Are you thirsty? Hungry? Let me see what I can find.”

He moved back into the barn and opened the cooler he’d brought that morning. The turkey sandwich should be okay for the dog, and he had a water bottle. Just needed something to put it in. A quick search found an upturned bucket that was clean.

He moved back outside and squatted down next to the pair, a little closer this time. He poured water into the bucket and then tilted it toward the dog. “Have a drink.”

The dog looked from the woman to the bucket and back. She stroked the filthy head. “It’s okay. Have a drink.”

The dog stuck his head into the edge of the bucket, and Levi tilted it to make it easier for him to drink without getting his head stuck. After a bit Levi set it back upright. “That’s enough for now, boy. If we shove too much in at once, it’ll make you sick. We’ll go easy for a while.” Then he unwrapped the sandwich and held out half.

The dog went through the routine of looking at them both and waiting for the woman’s encouragement. Then, the sandwich disappeared in a blink.

The sprite turned to him. “Thank you—” Then she broke off and grinned. “I don’t even know your name.”

He grinned back as he reached forward to pat the dog. “I’m Levi. Levi Connors. And you are?”

Her eyes sparkled. “I’m Isla Duggan, and it’s very nice to meet you, Levi.”

He nodded. “Same.”

And it was. Which would be another thing that his buddies would find unusual. Levi wasn’t exactly the gregarious type.

He gestured to the barn behind him. “It’s my first day getting a look in the barn, but I bet we can find a hose and get at least one layer of crap off of him. Then we can give him more water and the rest of the sandwich.”

Isla nodded and turned to the dog. “How does that sound? Do you want to get a little cleaner? You’re not going to take off on us, are you?”

Levi was pretty sure the animal wouldn’t go anywhere willingly without her.

Smart dog.

It didn’t take long to locate a hose and get the worst of the mud off the poor animal. Isla wore rubber boots and shoved up her sleeves to help loosen the mud as Levi worked the hose. She didn’t show any concern over the water or mud touching her clothes or splashing onto her face.

She was fully clothed, but he couldn’t stop his imagination eliminating the dog and having the two humans play with the water in a large shower like the one in his room at the farmhouse.

It had been way too long since he’d been in bed with a woman. And he shouldn’t be entertaining these thoughts about the woman living next door to where he was supposed to figure out how to grow hops. If he acted on his thoughts and it didn’t work out, it would be messy as hell. Better to keep his thoughts on the dog and his job.

The dog shook itself and covered Isla from top to toe in mud and water. Her laughter filled the barn and had the lab jumping up to plant his paws on her chest while he licked her face. She laughed again and rubbed his head.

And Levi wondered how the hell he was supposed to keep his thoughts and hands to himself.

CHAPTER 4

Hop To It

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