By the time he lifted his eyes to hers, she had her eyebrow raised and was watching him with such an intensity that a spark of awareness flowed through him.
“Oh, I think he might have it, folks,” she said in a game show–style voice. “Come on. You never were as fast as I was, but I thought since you grew up so damned tall... When did you get that tall?”
“Nikki?” He couldn’t keep the awe from his voice. The corners of his mouth twitched into a quick smile. This couldn’t be the same tomboy with hair falling out of her braids and dirty jeans. She’d been straight as a rail and proud of it.
She grinned. “I go by Nicole now. Mom thought it sounded more mature, and who was I to argue with her?”
“You left.”
“All right. Apparently it’s going to take you some time to catch up. Yes, my mom and I moved to California when I was fourteen after the divorce. I’m back now. Staying with Dad until I can get back on my feet.”
“Are you sick?” He took a partial step forward, searching for signs of sickness. His own brush with illness was still a fresh wound, though he was almost completely healed.
Her brow furrowed and she shrugged. “No, just having issues with life in general.”
He rubbed his hand over the back of his neck. His brain was still trying to reconcile the beautiful woman in front of him with the rough-and-tumble tomboy best friend he used to know. “What were you doing in the tree?”
She swung around and looked up into the tree. “I wondered if I could still climb it.”
“In a dress?”
She looked at him over her shoulder and smiled. “It’s a skirt. I didn’t think anyone would be out in the field at this time of day. I just remember how many days we spent up there and wondered if I could feel that way again.”
“What way?” He squinted up at the old tree house. “Dirty with splinters in your feet?”
Her laughter made his gut tighten. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to hear it more, or not at all. It made him feel strange.
“Maybe,” she said before she turned back to him and closed the distance between them until her toes were only a few inches from his boots. She put a hand on top of her head and moved her hand toward his chest. “How did you get so tall? We were the same height when I left.”
“I grew.”
Her hand reached out and touched his arm lightly. He automatically flexed his muscles beneath her touch.
Her green eyes looked up at him with a twinkle in them. “You certainly did. Do you spend all your time bench-pressing cattle?”
The image struck him as funny, and a slight laugh, more like a release of air, escaped before he could stop it.
“Did you lose your funny bone, too?” She squeezed his elbow. “Nope, it feels like one is still in there.”
His lips tried to curve up again. She was something else. He didn’t know what to say, so, as usual, he remained silent, trying to figure out this situation.
She breathed in deeply and wrapped her arms around his waist again, resting her head against his chest. “It is so good to see you again. I was afraid you’d changed too much, or that, once I saw you, I wouldn’t recognize you, but here you are. Oh, my goodness, we always had so much fun together. Climbing trees, running through the fields, snowball fights.”
She squeezed him slightly. He held his breath, willing his body not to respond to the temptation of her pressed against him. It was only a friendly hug. It didn’t mean anything. Certainly not what the lower half of his body wanted it to mean. He shouldn’t be thinking about her that way at all. This was Nikki. His best friend who left when he was fourteen, barely a teenager.
“Maybe I should take up cow lifting.” She stayed cuddled against him. “I could definitely use some definition in my arms. But then that would be a lot of work and someone would have to spot me, because I can’t lift a cow on my own.”
As she leaned against him, he didn’t know what to do with his arms. The top of her head almost reached his chin.
She lifted her head and looked up at him. “Would you spot me?”
With her this close, he could lift her the few inches he needed to be able to kiss her pretty pink lips. Would she taste as rich and darkly seductive as she smelled? Or would she taste like the spring her eyes promised? Strawberries and mint.
“Sam?” Her smile kept his eyes glued to her lips. “Would you spot me?”
Her words made no sense. He shook himself and lifted his gaze to her smiling eyes. “What?”
“In cow lifting? You would definitely keep a cow from falling on me. Wouldn’t you?”
“What?” Apparently she’d lost a few marbles in California.
She released him, and the lack of her warmth hit him the wrong way. “I guess you’re right, cow lifting isn’t for me. I’m sure there are other things that could help me improve my figure while I’m here.”
She bent down and picked up her shoes.
“You don’t have to improve your figure.” The words slipped out.
“Thanks.” Her cheeks flushed pink. “You always were sweet. I can’t wait to see what you’ve done with the house and the farm. Did you keep those rocks we collected? The ones that had the crystal-like appearance?”
“From the creek? Yeah.”
She was like a whirlwind that he had no chance of escaping or keeping up with. A very unintentionally sexy whirlwind. When they were younger, there’d never been anything but friendship between them. More often than not, she’d beat him at racing. Now the only thing racing was his heart; if it weren’t for the attraction pulsing through his veins, he’d be worried that another fainting episode was about to happen.
“So what are you doing in the woods at this time of day? Searching for fairies and dragons? The twins are out in the field, joyriding.”
Her smile was a constant that he was beginning to appreciate. People didn’t smile at him this much. As soon as he opened his mouth and said something, they generally stopped smiling. He didn’t mind keeping his distance from folks. It made things easier.
“Checking the fence.” He put his hands in his pockets and looked back toward the fence.
“I’d offer to come with you, but—” she held up her shoes “—I haven’t quite reacclimated to farm life. Can you believe this is what I’ve been wearing since I left here?” She pulled her skirt out to the side. The sunlight made the thin material almost transparent.
He swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat at the remembrance of what was under that skirt. “It’s nice.”
“Thanks, but it isn’t really right for strolling through the fields. I just couldn’t help myself. I didn’t want to wait to find the right clothes or shoes to come out here. It’s been too long.”
He
