Page 31 of The Sweetest Thing
“For what?” She instantly regretted asking.
“Giving you some...space.” He shrugged, rubbing his chest.
“Space?” She managed a smile. “It might come as a surprise, Mr. Knudson, but your involvement today doesn’t make a bit of difference to me.”
“Well, it sort of does.” He nodded at Astrid’s pretty display. “No real competition to speak of means the likelihood of selling all your honey is that much higher.”
Tansy swallowed down a litany of unsavory words. “If you’re saying you didn’t come today so we could get more sales, save your breath.”
“That’s a strong accusation, Miss Hill.” He kept on grinning. “DidI say that?”
“What are you trying to say, Mr. Knudson?” Tansy was definitely in need of space now. “Is there a point, because things are officially getting underway in—” she glanced at her watch “—seven minutes. Feel free to go visit another booth. Any other booth.”
Dane’s chuckle was deep and gravelly. “Are you trying to get rid of me?”
Yes. Go. Leave. Now. “Ididn’t say that, did I?” she mimicked, hands on her hips.
“You didn’t have to.” His gaze locked with hers.
For a minute, Tansy couldn’t breathe. Not when he was looking at her likethat. Intense and heavy and...and mesmerizing. It was irritating.Hewas irritating. “What does that mean?” she murmured, more than a little dazed.Why am I asking?
“Your eyes. They say what your mouth won’t.” His gaze darted to her lips then, the muscle in his jaw clenching tight.
The wholerightbuttonsconversation scrolled through her brain—followed by the vivid imaginings of her being caught up against that chest by those hands.Was it hot?It felt hot. She ignored the urge to fan herself.
“I suppose I should be careful.” He rubbed the likely-sore spot on his chest again. “I don’t want to say or do something that’ll make youaccidentallydump a bucket of color on me at the barn painting.” He eyed the wooden crate. “Like youaccidentallygouged my chest.”
“I didn’t do that on purpose. Itwasa...” She stopped the moment she saw how much he was enjoying this. He was teasing. Fine.Turnabout is fair play. Eyebrows raised, smile in place, Tansy rubbed her hands together. “Nowthatis an idea.” From the corner of her eye, she saw Astrid and Nicole watching them, Astrid with alarm and Nicole with interest.
But beyond them was a far more terrifying sight. Willadeene and Corliss and Ida andsomany more. From the looks of it, the whole Honey Bee Ladies Society was watching with wide-eyed interest. It was one thing to see them whispering and giggling over potential gossip at someone else’s expense butthesewhispers and giggles were about her. No, not just her. Coldness flooded her, setting the hair along the back of her neck on end.
Me and Dane.She took a deep breath and whispered, “Dane, please behave. Please.” She wasn’t just protecting herself here, she was protecting him, too. He was the topic of more than enough gossip as it was—she didn’t want to get pulled into that. She swallowed and added, “I’ll owe you one.”
DANE’SMORNINGHADstarted off bad and showed no signs of improving. After his cup of black coffee, he’d gone out to inspect a beeyard that’d been left unsupervised for three weeks. Turned out his father had fired a beekeeper and Dane had only found out when no time sheets had been turned in by the employee. In three weeks’ time, a handful of hives in one apiary were now under siege by hive beetles.
Bees were hearty, but so were their adversaries. It was the beekeepers’ job to help protect the hive. The most common threats to a bee colony were parasitic varroa mites, honeycomb-devouring wax moths or, their current enemy, invasive small hive beetles. It took time for the hives to recover from the damage the tiny pests could cause.
Instead of getting worked up, Dane had decided it was a good learning opportunity for Leif. Hive beetles were a part of beekeeping and, like it or not, Leif was a beekeeper so...
Leif hadn’t been in his room. In fact, he was nowhere to be found. And since his little brother wasn’t answering his texts, Dane had no choice but to get worked up. It wasn’t the first time Leif had run off to avoid work but, since Leif’s fight, Dane couldn’t shake the feeling that something more was going on.
After his phone calls had provided no leads and he and his father wound up in another pointless shouting match, Dane had climbed into his truck and started driving. It hadn’t taken long to wind up in Elginston. Nothing else was happening close by, so maybe Leif was here looking to get out of work and have some fun.
A quick in-and-out, grab Leif, then home. At least, that had been the plan.
Now he was face-to-face with Tansy and she was asking him for a favor.
But there was no way he’d heard that correctly. No way. He’d hit his chest, not his head, right? It was the only way this would make sense. He was running low on caffeine but, as far as explanations went, it seemed like a stretch. Worse, he seemed to be caught up in some alternative reality where Tansy Hill was almost being playful with him. And...tempting. At least, her very full, pink lips were. He tried to tear his gaze away and, ten seconds later, he was staring at her mouth again.
“Dane?” The sense of urgency to Tansy’s whisper grabbed his attention. “Can you smile or something?”
He blinked. How long had he been standing here? How long had he been staring at her? He straightened, glancing around him.Dammit.Just like that, her request made sense. Not only was the whole Honey Bee Ladies Society ogling them like they were the best thing since sliced bread, but Honey’s own Wicked Witch of the Hill Country, Willadeene Svoboda, was front and center.Sonofabitch.
His stomach was already in knots over Leif, now there was a trickle of dread—and sweat—running down his back. It took everything he had not to round on Willadeene Svoboda and her venomous tongue. He couldn’t count the number of times he’d envisioned telling the woman off, but he knew better. She wasn’t the sort of tiger to change her stripes. She was rotten to the core, and the best course of action was as little as possible and try not to draw attention.
Tansy let out a slow breath, her eyes going wide. “Oh. Dear. Umm... That’s onescary-looking smile you’re wearing, Dane,” she whispered, more panicked than ever.
He hadn’t meant to laugh but, for some reason, he did. “As far as mornings go, this one has been a steaming pile of—”
