Page 5 of Christmas in Vines

Most of the guys nodded—I assumed they had heard this all before when doing temp farm work—but a few looked impassive. That was when my eyes landed on Tyler—and my heart lodged itself somewhere in my ears.

He was at the back, clad in thick jeans, work boots and a fleece that covered what I assumed was a black tee. He was on the back wall with one boot up, his arms crossed and his head down, as if he was only listening and not caring to look around his surroundings. His head was down, but I could not miss those long-fingered hands or the curve of his jaw—not after they had starred in my dreams last night.

I stared so long it was a miracle he hadn’t felt my gaze, but it was when I tore my eyes away that I saw him look up and right at me. My skin flushed, and a sudden wave of emotion barreled through me. Thankfully, no one realized, and I forced myself to stay in the game.

Dad turned to me. “This is my daughter Willow, and she and her team will be overseeing the intake while I handle the other operations. You’ll respect her as you would do with me.”

“She might look easy-going,” Marcus, my second, came closer with a grin. “But believe me, mess with her, and she’ll put her size eight boot up your ass. I made the mistake once, and I still have the proctologist bill.”

I rolled my eyes. “Thanks for making me look like a gorgon, Marcus. Don’t listen to him about that; follow the rules, do the work, and we’ll get along fine. There will be no foots up asses.”

Marcus covered his mouth from me and whisper-shouted, “Lies, believe me.”

I saw Tyler’s lips twitch, and amusement painted his face. Dad clapped his hands and pointed to a table with log-in sheets, bottles of water and crates of tools. “Willow will take over from here, so thank you again and have a productive day.”

Moving to the table, I greeted the guys as they came forward, jotted their names down and their time, grabbed their tools and headed out to the orchards. Tyler was last in line, and I don’t know if it was by design or happenstance.

He smiled. “Boss’ daughter, huh.”

“Surprise,” I replied.

His eyes trailed over me as slow as molasses on a winter day, and I held back my shiver. “A very good surprise.” He signed his name on the sheet, got his water and tools, and then headed out.

He was so sexy, his rolling swagger like a puma on the prowl. I couldn’t help but feel the ghost of his kiss roam over my lips again and the heat of his hands as he held me tight against him. How would it feel to have them dance over my bare skin?

“Willow?” Marcus asked while signing off on his sheet. “You okay?”

I snapped out of it. “Yeah. I am. Why do you ask?”

“You just went…space cadet awhile ago with that dude,” Marcus nodded. “Do you know him from somewhere?”

Looking around at the empty room, I gestured for him to come closer. “Yeah. Last night…” I told him the whole story about going to meet Jackie, and how Maxwell had ambushed me outside the bar. I told him how Tyler had stepped in and pretended to be my boyfriend to get Max to step down.

“And then… he kissed me,” I said.

Marcus’s head snapped back. “You don’t say?”

“And…” I nibbled my bottom lip. “By far one of the best kisses I have ever had in my life. I kid you not, Marcus. I felt it to the tip of my toes and back up again. It was like a fire was racing through my veins or some other cheesy idiom about unexpected arousal.”

He waggled his brows. “Would you have jumped into the sack with him?”

I fisted his arm. “What do you take me for? A floozy?”

“Hey, no slut shaming,” he laughed while rubbing his arm. Marcus bench pressed two-twenty a day and looked like a brick shithouse; there was no way my little punch had made any impact on him.

“He’s…” I didn’t know what to say. “He’s a good guy.”

“He’s hot,” Marcus shrugged. “Anyone with eyes can see that.”

I blushed. “Yeah, he is. But nothing can happen, Marc. I mean, he’s going to be gone in a few weeks, and I’m not a summer fling kinda girl.”

“Technically, this would be awinterfling,” Marcus grinned.

I narrowed my eyes to him. “Remind me why I like you again?”

He wrapped me up in a big bear hug and lifted me off the ground, and I hugged him back, utterly incapable of being mad at the big goof. He sat back on the floor, then rested his hands on my shoulders, “Seriously, Willow. How bad could it be to have a little fun for a while? Get the old pipes running again.”

“…Old?” I glared. “Old?”

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