Page 15 of Lovewell Lane (Honeyfield Dreamers #1)

Derek

“Heater’s broken.”

“Thought so,” Margo said. She had a smug look on her face, so she must have tried fixing it herself already. She lowered her head and started walking toward the back door. I put my hand on her elbow to stop her.

“You can’t sleep out there, it’s freezing.”

She pouted at me. I wished she would stop that. “I’ve prepared accordingly. These pants are insulated. And I have body heat.”

“You paid to stay in that guest house, right?” I asked. She nodded and cocked her head. “Then by law, I have to give you proper accommodations. Freezing cold temperatures could kill you.”

She tapped her sock-clad foot impatiently. “The couch would be fine. Just for tonight. I can replace the heater in the morning.”

“ I’ll be replacing the heater in the morning, and you take my bed. I’ll take the couch.”

“Hold on, you don’t have a guest bed? I was suggesting the couch to be polite,” Margo scoffed. “This house is giant, you must have at least four bedrooms.”

“Slick wanted to stay in the guest bed this week for his ‘last hoorah’ before sleeping in an RV for four months.” I walked to the closet to start pulling out extra bedding. “Tess is in her room. One room is used for storage, the other is my office, which leaves my room.”

“Huh.”

“I’ll change the sheets on my bed, so you know it’s clean.”

“Wait.” Margo put her hand on my elbow. Just like I did to her minutes earlier, except this time, my heart nearly stopped. “What if we just shared it?”

She was definitely messing with me. “What?”

“I don’t want you to have to sleep on the couch, and from previous… scenarios, I’ve learned you’re pretty stubborn.” Margo shrugged. “We’re both adults. I’m sure we can share a bed without it being weird.”

I stood, frozen. “Or I can just take the couch, I’ve already bothered you enough and–”

“Let’s just go to bed. I’ll change the sheets,” I spoke before I could even think. It was like my brain caught up to everything she just said and needed to respond immediately. What the fuck was I thinking?

“Okay,” Margo breathed out. “I promise I don’t snore.”

I chuckled if only to let out the anxiety I was feeling. “You should take off a couple of coats first. I’ll go change the sheets.”

Then I stormed out of the living room as fast as possible.

In my room, I threw the clean bedding on an armchair sitting in the corner of my bedroom.

What. The. Fuck. I was a grown-ass man. I had a daughter, a farm, and a 401k.

Why was I inviting a twenty-six-year-old woman I barely knew into my bed ?

She clearly made me incapable of thinking logically. It was too late to back out now. Something told me if I tried to sleep on the couch she would get revenge. Maybe even leave to go sleep outside again, the thought of which made my skin crawl.

I decided to stop thinking about it and just make the damn bed. I could just wait until she fell asleep to sneak out and sleep on the couch. There was no way I’d be able to sleep with her next to me anyway.

She appeared in the doorway as I was putting fresh pillowcases on. Her silhouette was significantly less circular with the loss of a few coats and the ski pants. She still wore a hoodie and thick sweatpants, and I thanked the heavens she didn’t undress any more than that.

I fluffed the pillow and sat down on the bed unceremoniously. “I can just sleep on the couch.”

“No,” she argued. “I will.”

“No.” I sighed. We could go in circles all night. “Let’s just go to bed.”

After brushing my teeth for as long as humanly possible without making my gums bleed, I put on extra deodorant and retreated back to the bedroom. Margo was still wearing her navy hoodie and sweatpants while lying on my bed as stiff as a board.

“Last chance, I am happy to take the couch.” I wasn’t happy to, but I was less happy to make a woman uncomfortable in my bed.

“I’m all good,” Margo chirped. Her body posture reminded me of a vampire sleeping in a coffin.

“Do you want to get under the covers?”

Margo nodded. “Sure, if that’s okay.”

“Fucking hell. Margo, if you want me to let you sleep in here alone, I will. I fall asleep on the couch all the time.”

“No, I’m good. It’s just— weird. To sleep next to someone.”

Oh. “It’s been a while for me, too. I’m not going to pull anything. Just want to sleep.”

That made her laugh. She sounded nervous, her laugh was a little too hard. “Trust me, I have no doubt that you aren’t interested in me.”

What the hell did that mean? I didn’t have the mental capacity to figure it out with her lying in my bed next to me.

“Then we should be all good to sleep.”

With that, I cut out the light next to my bed. I’d just wait thirty minutes, maybe an hour, and I’d take my pillow to the couch. And catch up on sweet sweet sleep.

She smelled nice. Even from the distance we had on the bed— which was as much as possible, the scent of jasmine hit my nose. It was sweet. Distracting. Just like her. I listened to her breathing and matched my breath with hers.

It was interesting to see her like this.

In such a domestic situation as sleeping.

Margo was all energy and action, so laying next to her in the quiet of my bedroom was uncharted territory.

I thought she’d have nervous rambles to get out like she usually did when she felt awkward. But it was quiet. Comfortable, even.

That was the last thing I remembered thinking before I fell asleep.

-

I woke up warm. And relaxed. I often woke up with my muscles sore, depending on what I did the day before. Farm work was a chore, and working at the store often required heavy lifting, too. But I felt well-rested this morning.

Then my eyelids shot open. Shiny blonde hair was in my face.

It was soft against my cheek. Pressed against every inch of the front of my body, was her.

Fuck. I was practically lying on top of her, my arm circling her entire waist as I held her close and pressed her into my sheets.

I rolled onto my back as fast as possible and laid there.

Listening to her breathing and hoping to whatever was out there that she was still asleep.

I got out of bed and took an ice-cold shower before changing quickly.

Quietly leaving my room, I hoped to create distance between us, even with freezing cold water pouring over me, I couldn’t stop thinking about how it felt to have her pressed against me, warm and pliant in my arms. I needed to clear my head.

I didn’t even think to check the time, but my father sitting at the kitchen island told me it was already too late.

“Why do you look like you just got caught necking in church?”

I flinched at his volume. “Nothing.” Fuck. He could not see Margo come out of my room. “Last week before heading out, huh?”

“Yes, I can’t wait to be on the road,” Slick said, leaning back in his chair like he had all the time in the world to enjoy his paper.

“Did you talk to Sam yet today?”

“No, why?”

“I thought you were riding with him,” I said.

“What for?”

“He’s leaving on a big delivery in about an hour. He said you were joining him to keep him company before your trip. You won’t want to miss him, I’m sure.” I took a long sip of coffee and waited for him to take the bait.

He stood up slowly. Hook. Line. And sinker. “I didn’t hear about this. You boys never tell me anything anymore.”

“Sorry, Slick. In my defense, I’m telling you now.”

I impatiently waited for him to get up and leave the house to walk down to Sam’s. I had a short window of opportunity. I filled another mug with coffee and walked back to my room. Knocking quietly, so as not to wake Tessa, I entered my bedroom.

Margo shot up out of bed like she was on fire. “Good morning,” I mumbled, amused.

“Morning,” she muttered while pushing her hair out of her face.

“I brought coffee.”

She looked grateful and stumbled over to take it out of my hands. “Thanks.”

“Sleep okay?” I studied her reaction. Something in me needed her to say yes. That was the best night of sleep I’d ever gotten, and I didn’t want to even think about why that was. I just needed her to say the same.

“Yeah, your bed is very cozy.”

She paced out of the room, clearly as ready as I was to put this night behind us.

We both sat at the kitchen island and sipped on our coffee in silence.

I studied her sleepy eyes. Her hair was a mess, flopping all over the place, but in the best way.

In a way that made me want to run my fingers through it.

If I let my imagination run too far, I could almost imagine her in my bed for an entirely different reason than a broken heater.

“So, uh, Slick was here. And I’d appreciate it if we could keep this between us.”

She nodded emphatically. “I will never tell a soul. I’ll forget it even happened by the time I finish this cup of coffee.”

“Perfect.”

-

My back was killing me, but the custom wrap-around bar and countertop I’d built for Margo was worth it.

I stood up from crouching down to do final measurements and make sure everything was level.

Margo had been banging around in her kitchen for the last few hours.

That was something she often made a habit of doing.

Whenever I was here, she was here. Even if she had nothing to do.

This day, however, she had plenty to do. Her new appliances arrived and were installed, so from the sound of things, she was testing it all out.

I was proven correct when she came strutting out of the kitchen right as I was taking a seat on her newly delivered dining room chairs. They were comfortable. The seats were black and made of leather while the backing and legs of the chairs were sleek chrome.

She put a plate down in front of me at the edge of the counter I’d just finished installing.

“I still have to stain this and seal it, so we can’t spill anything on it.”

She did a dorky little salute. “Got it, boss. I hope you’re not a messy eater.”