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“You’ll see.”

He wouldn’t say anything else. He took her through the yard beyond the fence and down a trail to a pasture. Maybe the Chapmans had horses and Nate wanted her to see them.

They weren’t horses. They were miniature donkeys. “Oh, my God,” she said when she saw them. “How cute are they?”

Nate laughed. “I thought you’d like them. The brown and white spotted one is Lady and the other one is Buster. Levi gave them to Dana right before he proposed.”

The donkeys had come to the fence the minute they saw them and were demanding to be petted. Charmed, Damaris complied. “That sounds like a story. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard of miniature donkeys as an engagement present.” She pet both the donkeys, crooning to them as Nate looked on, smiling.

“Ask Dana for the whole story. You’ll like it.”

After she finished playing with the donkeys, she thanked Nate. “That was fun.”

“Good.” He put his arms around her and pulled her close. “I had an ulterior motive bringing you down here.”

Her senses went on high alert. “Nate—”

“Damaris.” He kissed her.

His lips were warm and firm. He tasted like…peppermints? She could have moved, should have moved, but she didn’t. Instead she drank in the kiss, the touch of their tongues, the thrill that shot through her as he explored her mouth leisurely. As his hands stroked slowly up and down her back. Reveled in the feel of his body, her breasts pillowed against his hard chest. When the kiss finally ended she stared into his eyes and said the first thing that popped into her head.

“Why do you taste like peppermints?”

Nate laughed and turned her loose. “That was not what I expected you to say. I had some peppermints at the house before we came down here.”

“You need to stop kissing me like that. There was no one to see.”

“We both know that kiss wasn’t for show.” He took her hand and started back to the house.

“Nate, are you trying to seduce me?”

He continued walking and kept hold of her hand, but turned to look at her. “What would you do if I said yes?”

Damaris stopped, yanked her hand away and put her hands on her hips. “Are you freaking kidding me? I’d tell you to make up your damn mind. Last time we talked about this, you said us being friends with benefits would be a mistake.”

“I changed my mind. I think the benefits are worth the risk.”

“You think having sex is worth risking our friendship.”

“We’re not going to lose our friendship.”

“You can’t be sure of that.”

“Yes, I can. But until you believe it, nothing’s going to happen. So don’t worry about it. We’ll just take it as it comes.”

“And you’ll quit trying to seduce me?”

“Where’s the fun in that?”

Chapter Twelve

Nate wasn’t dissatisfied with the way things were going with Damaris. Of course, he wasn’t satisfied either. Still, Levi’s party had been encouraging. Damaris hadn’t totally flipped out when he’d all but admitted to trying to seduce her. But he hadn’t been with her since then so he couldn’t be sure what she’d decided afterward. At least she hadn’t called and said the whole charade was off.

He’d been working almost nonstop since the party but he finally had a day off. He was about to call Damaris to see if he could talk her into going for a ride. He figured he’d have better success getting her to ride horses than anything else. Before he could, though, his phone rang. Grandma’s ringtone. He snatched it up.

“Grandma, are you okay?” She didn’t call often so when she did, he always worried something bad had happened.

“I’m fine. Can’t I call my grandson?”