Page 9 of Peacocks

I cleared my throat and looked around. “But I could getyouearplugs. I think I have some in my workbench. Hold on.”

I made my way past the piled-up scrap wood, the coils of dried wisteria vines, and other random shit until I was at my workbench with the packed shelves above. “Pretty sure they’re in one of these Cool Whip containers.”

Lane moved from one bird to the other, giving them all a cursory looking-over. “Stop, Jay. I can’t accept your earplugs.What would I do ifyouwere the one chainsaw massacred? I’d sleep right through it. Which isn’t neighborly at all.”

“I’d want you to sleep right through it! You don’t get enough sleep as it is. And just imagine what a hellish day you’d wake up to. No. You need your sleep.” I found the earplugs and shook out a few into my hand before piling the Cool Whip container back on the shelf.

Lane watched me pick my way back over to him. “I’d need my sleep on account of the…?”

I frowned at him. “Crime scene brouhaha. Emergency vehicles and whatnot. It would be a mess, I’d imagine. Here.” I held out the earplugs, but he refused to take them. “Lane. Take them. You need your sleep. And this asshole’s going to keep you up all night.”

He met my eyes. When he spoke, his voice was softer. “Not sure I’d mind if this asshole kept me up all night, to be honest.”

Tension sparked between us as I wondered if it was possible he was implying what I thought he was implying.

Me?Me?

“You…” I began. “Me… I… Wait. You think I’m an asshole?”

Lane opened his mouth to respond, but I quickly cut in. “Don’t answer that. Stupid question. What person brings up a chainsaw massacre right before bedtime? An asshole, that’s who. I didn’t mean to make things weird. I just—” I stopped and ran my fingers through my hair. “Hell, I just?—”

I didn’t know what Ijust.

“Jay. Pretty sure I’m the asshole if you think I’d rather get my beauty sleep than help defend you from homicidal maniacs.”

“I didn’t say you’drather. I said youshould,” I corrected.

Lane stepped closer and held out a hand to me. I took it to help keep him steady while he climbed over the baby gates. The feel of his strong hand in mine made the little hairs on my arm prickle. “Doesn’t neighborliness go both ways?” he asked.“Isn’t it okay for you to expect people to give you the same consideration you give them?”

Once he was standing on my side of the gates, I couldn’t bring myself to let go of his hand. “The peacock,” I blurted, remembering we were here for a reason.

I noticed Lane didn’t seem all that ready to let go of my hand either. “Your cock is fine,” he said with a wink. “I think Dave’s just out of sorts from being moved around. It happens. It could just mean that he’s curious or that he’s trying to display dominance. Peacocks need exercise and entertainment, which means we need to get them a roost and maybe some other things to occupy them. But it doesn’t have to be tonight.”

Lane’s thumb slid over the back of my hand. “Oh,” I breathed. “Good. Uh… thanks for taking a look. I was worried something was wrong with him.”

The air crackled around us, broken periodically by the insistent cries of the peacock flaunting his wares behind the handsome veterinarian.

Lane continued, the curve of his lips almost flirty, if such a thing was possible. “Or maybe he just likes to show off for you. Maybe you were right earlier when you said his mating senses were going haywire. Sometimes a peacock wants what it wants.” He grinned. “Even when it’s not in mating season.”

My stomach tumbled. I couldn’t take my eyes off his lips. “Idolike a man with plumage,” I murmured.

He shifted and reached up to touch my chin, tilting my head back so my gaze naturally moved up from his lips to his eyes. “I don’t think you’re an asshole. The furthest thing from it, Jay. I was just making a bad joke earlier. I’m sorry.”

I sucked in a breath. “No apologies necessary. I can definitely be an asshole sometimes.”

Lane’s eyes flicked back and forth as if studying me. “You brought me soup when I was sick. Not an asshole move.”

I swallowed. His nearness was making me dizzy. “Just a neighborly thing to do.”

“You rehabilitated my reputation in town when I came off as grumpy and harried in the beginning. Not an asshole move.”

I shrugged. “I could tell you were out of sorts. People only needed a chance to see the real you.”

His hand moved from my chin to caress my cheek with the back of his fingers. “Jaybird. You chiseled ice off my car this morning and offered to put winter air in my tires. You’renotan asshole.”

I leaned into his touch and tried not to preen like the bird still flaunting behind him. “Sometimes it seems like you don’t like me all that much. I worry maybe you?—”

Lane lurched forward and pressed his lips against mine, shocking me enough to grunt in surprise. Maybe I shouldn’t have been so shocked—he’d had his hand on my face, after all—but I was. My brain couldn’t quite grasp how a beautiful, smart, successful man like Lane Desmond could want someone like me.

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