But with a lot of patience and a dose of tenderness, he’ll wind up being a fine companion.” He winced at his own words. “Not that I’m comparing you to a horse.”
He busied himself getting the grilled hot dogs to the buns and on the paper plates. She wanted mustard, no ketchup, and he wanted ketchup and no mustard.
“Why didn’t you go to the dance with the rest of your friends?” she asked once they each had a plate and he’d tossed two more hot dogs on the grill.
“I was hoping I’d be here with you,” he replied easily.
She looked at him as if he had grown two heads. “Why would you want to be here with me?”
He studied her in the light of the full moon that had appeared overhead. Why, indeed? “Beats me,” he finally replied honestly. “Why did you agree to come out and sit with me?”
“Beats me,” she echoed him.
“To be honest, you’ve intrigued me since you first arrived here.”
“Are you some kind of a masochist? Are you usually drawn to mean women with viper tongues?”
Forest laughed. “None of the above. I’d just like to get to know you a little better, maybe see what’s beneath the mean-woman attitude.”
“And what if you discover there’s only more mean woman underneath?”
He grinned at her. “Then I’ll just say it was nice knowing you and won’t plan any more barn dances with you.” He pulled the other two hot dogs from the grill and was surprised when she agreed to eat another one.
They both fell silent as they ate, but it wasn’t an uncomfortable silence. She probably thought he was a nut. She was right. He’d been a little nutty since the first time he’d seen her.
Even before ever talking to her, she’d been in his head as he’d watched her interact, or more accurately, not interact with others. He’d watched the sun spark on her hair whenever she stepped outside of the tent and had wondered if it was as soft to the touch as it looked. He’d wondered what her laughter might sound like, what kind of a person she was when she wasn’t working. He’d spent a lot of time wondering all kinds of things about her.
When they’d finished with the hot dogs, he moved the small grill some distance away. The night air was warm enough without the closeness of the heated charcoal. Once he returned to his chair, he turned up the radio, not so loud that they couldn’t talk, but so that they could hear the foot-stomping country music.
“I won’t ask you about your findings so far, but tell me a little bit about the work you do as a forensic anthropologist.”
“Surely you aren’t really interested in that,” she protested.
“But I am,” he replied. “I only went to school through tenth grade. I’m always interested in learning new things.”
The fact that he had so little formal schooling wasn’t usually something he talked about, but tragic circumstances and fear had forever changed the path his life was supposed to have taken.
He was interested, but more than that he liked the sound of her voice. When she wasn’t screaming or yelling at somebody to get out of her tent, she had a pleasant, almost musical voice that was quite appealing.
He pulled another beer out for each of them and settled back in the chair as she began to talk about soil analysis and the measurement of bone length and density.
Her face came alive when she talked about her work. Her eyes sparkled brightly and her features took on an animation that only made her more attractive than he already found her.
The moonlight lit her hair to a fiery red and bathed her face in an illumination that softened all of her features. By the time she’d finished talking, he wanted more than anything to draw her into his arms and dance with her.
“Facts, that’s what I deal in. Scientific facts that never lie,” she finished.
“Facts are important, but a little flight of fancy isn’t too bad, either,” he replied.
She grew silent, and he had a feeling she didn’t do flights of fancy often. Instead of discussing the issue, he began to point out the many star constellations that were visible in the night sky and explained how cowboys used the stars to navigate in the dark.
“So, if you ever find a grave of old bones, I’m your girl and if I ever find myself alone in the dark in a pasture, I’d want you by my side,” she said.
“I guess that about sums it up,” he agreed.
The music had changed to a soft slow rhythm, and on an inward dare to himself, he stood and held out his hand to her. “A barn dance really isn’t complete unless you actually dance.”
“Oh, I don’t know how to dance,” she replied and shrank back against the chair.
“It’s easy, just follow my lead.”
“I’m not used to following anyone’s lead,” she said with a tiny edge to her voice.
“Jeez, Patience, it’s just a simple dance, not a lifetime commitment,” he replied.
She hesitated a moment and then set her beer bottle down on the ground. She stood, her body straight and rigid, as if she were being forced to walk a plank to her death.
He took her in his arms, keeping a healthy couple of inches between their bodies. Her hands automatically landed on his upper arms, reminding him of how tiny she was and that reaching up to his shoulders would be a real stretch for her.
“Just relax,” he murmured.
She looked up at him. “Easy for you to say.”
He laughed and moved his feet in an easy two-step and was pleased to discover that she was a quick study. Within moments she did begin to relax.
The floral scent was more prevalent as he fought the desire to pull her even closer. He knew that if he did, she’d make a hasty retreat back into her room and he wasn’t ready for the time with her to end.
It didn’t matter what he wanted. The minute the song stopped, she stepped away from him and her body displayed the posture of a deer about to bolt. “I’ve got to get to bed,” she said as she backed up to her door. “This has been pleasant, but it’s not something we’re going to repeat. I’m here to work and that’s all I really care about.”
Before Forest could say anything, she disappeared into her room and shut the door after her. Disappointed, he returned to his chair and sank back down, replaying each and every moment of their time together.
He’d half hoped that he’d find her to be as disagreeable as everyone else had deemed her. He’d almost wanted to believe her to be the dragon lady to stanch the inexplicable draw he had to her.
But that hadn’t happened. Instead he was more interested in her than he’d been before. His attraction to her was visceral. Perhaps it was just a matter of him suffering a burst of too much testosterone. Maybe he needed to go lift a tree trunk or carry a cow over his shoulders for a couple of miles, he thought
