Drifting into Darkness (8 page)

I rolled my eyes. “Oh, joy,” I said unenthusiastically. I was really in no place for a guy to be flirty with me. Especially now after everything I learned about Jason. “What’s the deal with him anyway? Has he always been a player?” I asked as I grabbed another bag and got it ready.

She laughed. “That’s the thing. I wouldn’t really call him a player. The girls know he doesn’t date, but they throw themselves at him anyway. He’s the bad boy ‘round here so all the girls swoon thinkin’ they can change him.” She shook her head and laughed. “I told ya, it’s comical. You’ll see eventually.”

“So he’s never had a serious girlfriend?” I asked, just as I heard a truck door close.

“That my friend is a whole nother story.”

I turned just as Landon walked in, and oh, my God. He was wearing the same thing he wore yesterday, holey dirty jeans, a fitted white t-shirt, and boots. But that was not what had me standing there with my mouth partly open. He was wearing a cowboy hat. I’d never seen anyone in real life wear one before and it looked damn good on him. I could feel the girly tingling in the pit of my stomach.

He smiled at Lisa, as he got closer, only giving me a quick glance.
Good, maybe I won’t get flirty Landon
.

“Hey,” Lisa said, “we’ve fourteen bags ready to go,” she pointed toward our pile.

“Okay. Derek said he’d meet ya at the house,” Landon drawled in a deep raspy southern voice.

Oh, boy, his southern accent sounds so sexy. This can’t be a good thing.

I looked up at the ceiling and let out a slight sigh.
Why do men have to be such assholes?

“Hey, you all right?”

I looked down at Lisa standing right next to me. “Yeah,” I said, wiping at my forehead. I looked at Landon who was scrutinizing me.

“You might need some water, city girl. We don’t want you getting dehydrated on your first day.” His comment wouldn’t have bothered me if he didn’t have an edge to his voice.

Where the hell did that come from?
I raised an eyebrow at him and gave him my best ‘fuck off’ look. This was exactly why I was saying ‘screw you’ to all men. I was usually a nice, quiet person, but this guy was asking for my ‘fuck you’ persona.

“Yeah, we do need some water. I’m sweating my ass off,” Lisa complained as she walked over to the small fridge on the far side of the wall, close to where the bags were waiting to be loaded. She walked back to me, with her back to Landon, and handed me a bottle. “If only that expression was true. I’d have a smaller ass,” she laughed. I cracked a smile, but it fell from my face when I noticed Landon standing just behind Lisa staring at us. What the hell was his deal? “Well, I have to head to get the eggs and bring them to the office. I’ll be back in a little bit, so just keep stackin’ the bags.” She backed away with a wink.

“The four wheeler is on the side of the building,” Landon said to Lisa as she made her way outside. “And don’t take all day; we’ve got more loads coming.”

“Shut your face, Landon,” she yelled over her shoulder as she turned the corner, causing the side of his mouth to curl up.

I turned back to counting the corn so I wouldn’t be caught staring at him again. Hopefully, he’d just grab the bags of corn and go, but I wasn’t that lucky. I counted to twenty when I noticed him move out of the corner of my eye. He was walking to the little fridge. The heat had really spiked in the past hour and I was wishing I had one of those mini fans Lisa had. They should think about getting fans. It would be nice to have some air blowing on us even if it was hot air. All the dirt from the ground would probably blow everywhere though, so that would be a bad idea.

I turned my head slightly, watched as he opened a water bottle, and tilted his head back, chugging half of it. Sweat was dripping from his neck down to his V-neck t-shirt, soaking the material. I half wished he’d pour the water down the front of his shirt so it would stick to his skin. Then I’d be able to see what he was hiding underneath. Yes, I said I didn’t want anything to do with men right now, but I wasn’t blind and this guy would probably make me drool. Although the vibes I was getting from him showed a cocky asshole.

After watching him chug the whole bottle, I looked back and concentrated on my counting. I had twenty lined up and needed more. We’d used all the corn closest to the edge, so I’d have to climb onto the bed of the truck and move the corn so I could reach it.

Hearing Landon behind me, I turned to see him carrying two bags of corn. I could see his biceps and forearm muscles straining with the weight. I was betting he didn’t even have to work out. Working on the farm probably caused all kinds of ripples to form on his body.

Get it together, girl. Focus on the job and not his body
.

Looking back at the corn, I decided I’d hop up onto the truck as lady-like as possible. Turning so my lower back was against the tailgate, I rested my hands flat against the truck and hopped up into a sitting position. I could feel the dirt and pieces of cornhusk sticking to the sweat on the back of my legs, but I knew I’d get dirty and hell would freeze over before I started complaining. I’d never been one of those girls and I didn’t plan on turning into one either.

Pushing myself up, I stood and looked at what I had to work with. About a quarter of the corn had been bagged, so the rest of the bed was filled high. I just needed to figure out a way to push it closer to the edge without all the ears rolling off into the dirt.

Not knowing what else to do, I leaned down and gently started rolling the ears toward the edge so they wouldn’t roll off. I reached to the back of the pile, thinking I should start there. If I could make the pile not so high, it would be easier to move later on. Digging my hands under the corn, I pulled toward me causing corn to roll and topple all over my legs and feet. The one thing I noticed about bagging all this corn is that it’s wet and sticky. So now, I had it all over my legs and some of it really smelled bad.

“What’re you doing?” There was that edge in his voice again.

I turned to see Landon standing at the end of the truck.

“Hello, Captain Obvious, what does it look like I’m doing?” Answering sarcastically probably wasn’t the best way to answer the boss’s son, but I couldn’t help it. He fueled the smartass in me. Maybe I had a problem with blurting things out too.

He raised an eyebrow at me and I could have sworn I saw the start of a smile on his face, but I wasn’t sure. “Hop on down,” he gestured with his gloved hand, “and I’ll move it for ya.”

I wanted to say, ‘no, really, I’ve got this under control,’ but then I saw his gloves.  I definitely needed a pair. It must have been sweetcorn because the juices were all over my hands causing my fingers to stick together. Plus the smell that was wafting up from the corn sitting on top of each other in this heat was really foul, making my hands stink. So instead, I said, “Great, thanks,” as I walked to the edge and jumped off, not so gracefully.

He jumped into the bed of the truck like a pro and stood there for a moment assessing the pile. I, on the other hand, stood there and assessed him from the backside. The back of his shirt looked soaked through with sweat and I could tell his butt really filled out his jeans. It was definitely round and muscular and I wouldn’t be lying if I said that was a real turn on.

Then, without hesitation, he reached in, grabbed an arm full of corn from the top of the pile, and brought it down closer to the tailgate. He repeated this process eight times. Then he gently shoved the corn closer to the edge with his boot.

I stood there and watched the entire time. He snuck glances at me a few times, but kept quiet. Then, without a word, he hopped off the truck and walked toward the bags of corn.

“Thanks,” I mumbled to his retreating back. I’m sure he didn’t hear me, but I really didn’t care. He was nice to look at but his talking skills needed some improvement.

I continued filling my bag as Landon walked back and forth, carrying the bags to his truck. When he got to the last two bags, I watched him walk out. I knew he wouldn’t be coming back in, but I wanted to make sure he left so I could focus on what I was doing. His presence had a magnetic pull and I was forced to watch his every move. It was weird.

I heard the truck door close and sighed with relief. I lifted my hand to my face to wipe away the sweat, but as soon as my hand got close I almost gagged. Reaching down, I grabbed my shirt and used that to wipe my face instead, not wanting that awful smell all over my face. Then I went to the little fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. I drank half of it then used the other half on my hands. I had to keep bagging corn, but at least the smell wouldn’t be so bad.

I wasn’t sure how much time went by before Lisa showed up, but I had bagged another 8 bags by myself. She walked in with a smile on her face. “Hey, sorry that took so long. Nan wasn’t feeling well so she asked me to stay up there for a bit to take care of the customers.”

I finished tying up my bag and dragged it over to the pile. “Oh, I thought you went to see Derek,” I said as I used my forearm to wipe the sweat from my forehead. I was pooped. This had to be the hardest work I’d ever done. But it wasn’t even the work. It was the heat. If it was air conditioned, I’d be fine.

“Yeah, I did. He was up there with me and then Landon showed up with the corn. It seems like he’s in a bad mood today. Ya know how sometimes ya can just look at someone’s facial expression and can tell when they’re pissy?” she asked me and I nodded my head. “Well, that’s exactly what he looked like when he arrived at the office.”

“Hopefully, he keeps it to himself, because sweating your butt off in the heat does not equal a great mood by the end of the day,” I laughed.

“Don’t I know it? Durin’ that time of the month, I need to wear a sign that says ‘Don’t fuck with me!’ Derek learned the hard way.” We both laughed. I was not looking forward to that time at all. I had horrible PMS. I guess we’d see how that all worked out.

“I’m really glad I met ya the other day.” She smiled at me genuinely.

I gave her a half smile. “Me too.” I could definitely use a friend around here. “So, what’s next? Are we supposed to keep bagging corn? Because I have to be honest, I’d like a change of scenery and this smell is bad. I need to clear out my nose,” I said disgusted.

She laughed. “Yes, actually. I was coming to get ya so we can go to lunch.”

I looked around. “It’s ten thirty already?” I asked in disbelief. There was no way I had been working for four hours already.

“No, actually. It’s only ten, but I’m hotter than hell and want to take a dip in the pool. Ya game?”

She smiled at me like she knew I would be and she’d be right. I smiled back at her. “Damn right I’m game.”

The thought occurred to me that everyone might have the same idea, but I’d worry about that after I cooled off in the pool.

Six

After stopping at the office to clock out and grab my purse from the car, Lisa and I got on one of the four wheelers and rode to the Johnson’s house. I was looking forward to jumping in the water and cooling my skin off.

When Lisa pulled up to the house, she parked the four-wheeler under a big oak tree. “I’m parking it here so the sun isn’t shinin’ on it the whole time we’re over here. You’ll thank me later by not having your ass melt to the seat.”

I laughed at her sentiment. “Thanks.”

We walked the few yards to the house and entered the back gate. The house was two stories with blue siding. There was a carport attached to the side and a big screened-in patio on the back, which was where Lisa was leading us.

“Are you sure it’s all right for me to be here?” I felt weird walking into someone’s house when I hadn’t even met them yet.

“Yeah, you’re fine. Mrs. Johnson knows ya started today and I told her I’d bring ya for lunch. Besides, Derek told ya she prepares lunches that day in the diner.” She smiled. “I promise she’s nice. You’ll like her.”

With nothing else to say, I followed her to the patio where I was hit with a blast of cool air and I sighed with happiness. It was so nice to get out of the heat. I took a look around at the patio and it was probably one of the nicest I’d ever seen too. There were two different seating areas. One area had a two-seater couch with a table in front of it, with two chairs off to the side and the other was an iron table with six chairs pushed in around it. All the cushions had a floral pattern, but it seemed to fit. A big window closed off the screened section that you could slide open. I was sure it would be really nice to have in the spring and fall, but for the moment, they were closed and they had an air conditioning unit hanging out a window cooling off this whole area. It would definitely be my haven on the farm.

I followed Lisa in as she opened the door to the house. We walked into a bright white kitchen where a short, petite woman with a brown bob stood at a counter on the other side of the room, with her back to us. Everything in the kitchen was stark white except for all the fat chef décor. There were dishes lying around and miscellaneous items on the counters. It looked very homey.

“Hey, Mrs. Johnson,” Lisa said in a singsong voice.

She turned and looked directly at me with a smile. “Hi, you must be Sadie,” she said as she walked to me with her hand outstretched.

“Yes, Mrs. Johnson. It’s nice to meet you,” I replied, shaking her hand.

“Oh, please, call me Maureen. Lisa over here refuses, but I insist.” I smiled at her and then looked to Lisa who was slightly shaking her head at me. I guess she was trying to tell me not to call her Maureen? I’d have to ask her later.

“How are things working out on the farm for you, Sadie? I know it’s extremely hot and for some who aren’t used to it, it can be really hard on your body.” She looked at me with the concern of a mother.

“Things are good. I just have to get used to everything, but so far everything is good. It’s just really hot.”

“Yeah, she’s doing a great job out there already,” Lisa beamed.