Page 4 of A Little More

He pushed the painful memory to the corner of his mind where it belonged. He was back now and wouldn’t leave again. Especially not for a woman. He belonged to the farm and, soon, the country store he’d build, letting at least one of his dreams come to life.

He’d thought about telling Lexi to meet him at his house. Wouldn’t make the best first impression on someone that high class. On the outside, the old farmhouse his grandmother left him looked like it might fall with a stiff wind. It was sound but other than the essentials, he’d not had much time to fix it up.

As he approached his mom’s house, a shiny blue sedan sat parked in front. Anyone pedaling goods for a worthy cause hit the jackpot with his mom. She could not say, “no,” to kids. She’d already pushed the two dozen tubes of wrapping paper she’d purchased from the 4-H kids off on him.

He stepped up onto the front porch, two female voices carrying out of the screen door. Didn’t sound like a salesman. Nash looked back at the car. Someone in town might’ve gotten a new car.

“Hello.” Lexi appeared at the screen door, pushing it open slowly.

Nash swallowed. She was here. In his mom’s house. And like before, her soft brown eyes threatened to pull him under. He blinked to clear his daze. “Hi. You’re early.”

A worry line appeared between her eyebrows. Stupid. That wouldn’t earn him any points. Probably not something Charlie would’ve said. But, then again, Charlie admitted he needed a little extra time to charm Lexi into dinner.

“Sorry, I didn’t want traffic to make me late—”

“No,” he said, moving a little closer before stepping away. She’d end up with red dirt and tractor grease all over her. “I didn’t mean it that way.” He motioned to his shirt. “I’d hoped to clean up first. I’ve been out in the field fixing the tractor.”

“Nash, is that you?” His mom asked from the living room with a polite voice, like she spoke sweetly to him all the time. Not likely.

Lexi stepped back inside, watching him the way he watched her. Did she feel the attraction between them? He’d not felt real attraction toward another woman since before his divorce.

“I’ve had a wonderful chat with Ms. Caden,” his mom said. She sat perched on the edge of an old winged-back chair looking like a typical old lady in her pastel pink sweater and house slippers. But underneath was a matchmaking, poker-loving woman, pretending to keep herself uninvolved but sticking her loving nose into his business every chance she had.

“Please, call me Lexi.” Lexi caught her lower lip between her teeth. “Will it mess up your day if we go ahead and look at the property? I want to have plenty of time to adjust my designs if you still want us to break ground within four weeks. I like to look at the landscape to make sure the design will flow.”

He’d wanted to change his clothes. Take a shower. Appear like something a little better than a filthy farmhand. He didn’t know why it bothered him. He and Lexi’s business relationship wouldn’t dictate that he dressed in his Sunday best every day.

“Son, Lexi asked you a question.” His mom’s eyes were bright and scheming. She wanted him married again and settled down. Kids. He wasn’t beyond casually dating a woman, but another marriage was out of the question. Been there, done that. It’d taken him from his family once, and he wouldn’t risk having to make that choice ever again.

“Let me change my shirt, and then we can go.” He hustled down the hallway to where he’d stored his clothes earlier. After a fast, cold shower, he reappeared, both feeling and smelling a little better.

Now that he’d met Lexi, he didn’t want her viewing him as a small-town hick with an unachievable dream. He didn’t want to be lumped in with a businessman like Charlie, either. He damn sure wouldn’t need Charlie’s extra time to make a move if he had the gumption to make one.

“I can follow you there.” She stepped onto the narrow front porch.

“Let me drive. We can swing by the cotton gin for a tour before you head out.”

Lexi looked toward his blue work truck. Well, it was blue once it was washed. His nice truck stayed parked in his driveway, away from the dirt and dings that came along with riding through cotton fields.

“Okay.” Her hesitation didn’t offend him.

As they walked to the truck, he adjusted his gait so that he matched hers. “Did you find a solution to whatever upset you yesterday?”

“I wasn’t upset.”

“You looked pretty upset to me.” She’d looked like her dreams had been crushed. And it’d bothered the daylights out of him all evening.

Lexi tilted her chin up a notch. “Iwasn’tupset.”

“I guess you usually set your head on the desk and mutter to yourself?”

“I wasn’t muttering.”

“Was it another client?” He grinned, but she missed it, her focus locked straight ahead on his truck, chin stuck out in a stubborn way he liked. “Are they being difficult?”

She stopped at the passenger door of his truck, crossing her arms and finally turning her attention toward him. “Right now, you’re the only client being difficult.”

She was even cuter when annoyed. Nash opened her door. “The next time you’re ‘not’ upset about something, let me know. I’m pretty good at fixing things.”

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