"Tess? Lord,
woman—" Gabe stood at the backdoor with his hand
wrapped around the doorknob, "What are you
doing?"
She took note of
her disheveled surroundings, realizing maybe
she'd been wrong and Gabe was every bit as much
of a neat freak as Richard.
With flour strewn
across her cabinets, on the floor, and herself,
and dozens of chocolate chip cookies cooling on
the table, there wasn't much she could offer up
in defense of the mess.
He inhaled the
aroma, eyed the cookies on the table. "I haven't
smelled anything this good in this house in
years. I don't suppose you baked those just for
me?" He gave her a teasing smile, but the
appreciation shone in his eyes.
She wanted to tell
him yes, he was exactly right, but her tongue
seemed solidly glued to the roof of her mouth.
Her brain was stuck in neutral as she stared
openly at the man. She knew what he wore was
ordinary for physical labor, but on Gabe, even
the ordinary was breathtaking.
The cotton t-shirt
he wore fit snug across his sculpted chest and
he still donned his suede work gloves. Combined
with the Stetson and the denim jeans that
conformed to every part of him her knees
threatened to give way. She reached out,
carefully clutching the countertop and tried not
to gape like a trout on a wall plaque.
He took off his
hat, and held up his cup, thankfully ignoring
her inability to speak. "I found this on the
porch railing outside. I think its mine from
this morning, just wondered if you had any
coffee left. I've got the back wall finished on
the barn."
She nodded and took
his cup. An otherwise ordinary gesture, yet it
was all she could do to refrain from jumping
into the man's arms and hugging his neck. If he
said "ma'am" she might just do it.
"There's a bit
left, let me rinse this out and I'll get you
some." She lifted the coffee pot and noticed the
blotches of flour and dried dough staining her
sleeve. Biting her lip, she glanced down her
shirtfront and saw more of the same.
Old fears and
insecurity popped into her mind as she
remembered how Richard insisted on a spotless
environment. Even though he hadn't spent much
time in their apartment, much less with her,
after they married, he still insisted on living
a corporate image. She'd never really, measured
up to his standards and at first, she often
wondered why he even married her. Of course, she
would find out later the cold realization that
he most likely married her to use her finances
to gain his future.
"I'm sorry about
the mess." She handed him a full cup suddenly
feeling the need to apologize. Old habits were
hard to break once driven into your system. "And
the coffee's a bit strong since I made it early
this morning." She saw his gaze soften and a
questioning look flickered through his eyes.
"I can see you get
into your work." He grinned, placing the cup on
the table. He slid the glove off his hand and
without warning reached out, playfully swiping
her nose with the tip of his finger.
Her eyes widened,
but she didn't move.
Flour." He wiped
his finger on his jeans holding her gaze for the
span of a heartbeat. "Better get back to work."
He picked up the mug and turned toward the door.
"I'll try to get the west wall done before it
rains and hopefully get up to that roof." He
paused before shutting the door. "Uh…I'd be
happy to test out those cookies a little later."
He pointed his thumb over his shoulder as he
grabbed the door to shut it behind him.
Tess gripped the
countertop as he flashed her a boyish grin.
"Ma'am."
