What The Heart Wants (5 page)

She considered knocking on the big silver door and quickly disregarded the idea. She had no idea who might answer.

She kept walking instead, set on finding the baby goats. She knew they must be grazing somewhere and that was where she was most likely to find Sam.

As Anna walked, she saw a grazing pasture about a hundred yards away. Tiny little figures ran around rapidly, jumping up on hay and down again, often kicking each other in the process.

As she got closer, she saw the outline of a man. He was working an old-fashioned water pump, the water splashing into a bucket as he pumped the metal lever. He leaned down and grabbed the bucket, hefted it over the fence of the pasture and dripped the water into a troth on the other side. He went back to the pump, repeating the process six times before the troth was finally full. A few goats rushed to the troth, baaing as they dipped their heads in for a drink.

She got a few steps closer and Sam stopped to wipe the sweat from his brow. He laughed as one of the goats jumped into the troth and yelled threateningly at the other goats who immediately backed off.

Then he squatted down under the faucet and reached back to pump the handle once, sending water cascading over his head. He stood up, looking at the sky then reached behind his neck and in one swift motion, pulled his shirt up and over his head and dropped it on the ground next to him.

Annabelle sucked in her breath. She had thought Sam must have been in fair shape with his broad shoulders and trim waist, but she hadn’t expected this. He had muscled shoulders and defined biceps and his stomach had the lines of abdominal muscles that disappeared into a v-shape into the waistband of his jeans. He rolled his neck as if working out a kink, sending a bead of water down his strong chest and flat stomach before sneaking into his jeans.

Anna’s mouth went dry.

“Oh hey,” he called, and she jumped.

“H…hey,” she managed, turning red. How long had he known she was there? Her belly dropped at the thought that he knew she had been there staring at him half-naked.

“When did you get here?” he asked and she felt a flood of relief.

She took a few steps closer. “I was just walking up,” she fibbed and he nodded.

He made no move to retrieve his shirt as he approached her and she didn’t know if she was relieved or not because his body was proving distracting. “Rough day?” he asked, gesturing to her body and she looked down at her dirt-stained jeans and t-shirt. Even her hands were covered in soil. She hadn’t even thought about her appearance when she left, but there standing in front of him in all his gorgeous glory, she felt disgusting and insecure.

She looked down at her hands, feeling helpless for a second before finally recalling how awful her day had been.

Sam chuckled, “That bad huh? Come over here and wash that dirt off and then we’ll go get you a drink.”

She nodded and followed him over to the pump. He pulled the lever twice and Anna yelped at the coldness of the water as it hit her skin. “God, that’s cold,” she said, scrubbing her hands in the bucket and trying not to think about how the water had cascaded down his chest.

“Yeah that’s well water for you,” he said as she shook the excess water off her hands. “So what are your feelings on mint lemonade?”

“I’ve never had it,” she admitted.

“Well then, lets go get you a sample then,” he said starting toward the house.

Anna was left to trail behind, admiring the strength of his back muscles.

“Come on slowpoke, your legs aren’t that short,” he called and she scurried up to walk beside him.

They walked in companionable silence for a few minutes and Anna was relieved that Sam wasn’t the kind of person who needed to fill every silence.

“So what is giving you such a hard time today?” he asked as they got closer to the back porch.

“Everything,” she admitted with disdain in her voice. “Constantly being covered in dirt, and getting sunburn, and not really knowing if the plants are even going to grow after all this work. Oh,” she continued. “and the bugs! Potato bugs here, beetles there. Revolting mama spiders with a bagillion freaky baby spiders on her back with all of their sets of eyes looking at me at once,” she shivered at the memory and Sam burst out laughing, throwing an arm around her shoulders.

“Aw kid,” he chuckled. “just think how many bad bugs they will keep from destroying your plants when they grow up and spin their own webs.”

“Yeah sure,” Anna grumbled. “or maybe they are all planning on taking up residence in my bathroom to scare the bajesus out of me when I am half awake in the morning.”

Sam laughed harder, removing the hand from her shoulders. She felt slightly less comfortable with the lack of physical contact with him.

“Come on in,” he said as they approached the French doors. When she paused, he smiled down at her. “I promise I’ll protect you from any scheming spiders.”

They walked right into an enormous eat-in rectangular kitchen. The walls, cabinets, and counter tops were all spotless white. Her mother would have referred to this as a gourmet kitchen, all stainless steel appliances and cooking gadgets everywhere. “Oh, you have a beautiful home,” she said absentmindedly.

Sam walked over to the refrigerator and opened it, glancing back at her as she leaned against the counter across from him.

“Thanks. I designed it myself,” he said, pulling a huge glass pitcher out of the fridge. It had an infuser in the center, full of lemon slices and tons of lush green mint. “Hope you don’t mind,” he said, placing it on the counter. “I sort of… borrowed this mint before you moved in.”

Anna let out a fake gasp. “You thief,” she teased with a laugh that got caught in her throat as Sam came right up to her, his chest to hers and reached up behind her into the cabinet. She could feel the outline of his hipbones pushed up against her pelvis and she swore she stopped breathing even as her heartbeat thudded harder in her chest.

She heard the clink of glasses tap together as he brought them down. He looked down at her, his bright brown eyes scanning her face for a long moment. Feeling dry mouthed, she licked her lipss and his breath hissed out of him.

“Excuse me,” he said, his eyes intense but crinkled at the corners as he smiled and stepped away.

Anna nodded numbly as she took a deep breath. Her nerve endings all felt frazzled. She felt her pulse in odd places: her wrists, her neck, her temples.

Sam poured her a cup and held it out to her. He watched her as she raised the glass to her lips and took a sip.

“What’s the verdict?” he asked, drinking half of his in one gulp.

“It’s really good,” she admitted truthfully. It was lemony and minty and insanely crisp and refreshing.

“Glad you like it,” he said, still watching her. “Well, Miss. Goode. How about a tour?”

“Oh, I don’t want to keep you from your… goat stuff.”

Sam smiled. “We all welcome distractions sometimes. Come on.”

He led her toward the front of the house. His living room with it’s burnt orange walls and black furniture. A huge television hid inside a massive entertainment stand that held an impressive amount of cds. Across from there was his formal dining room with a huge wood table and green walls. He led her up the staircase, showing her three guest rooms before finally leading to the master bedroom with deep blue walls and it’s monstrous sized bed with a green and blue plaid comforter.

Somewhere in the back of her mind she wondered how many women he had shared that bed with. Ashamed, she looked quickly away.

Sam had been looking at her oddly, seeming deep in thought. A muscle in his jaw was twitching slightly. “Go through there,” he said, nodding toward the door.

Anna let herself into the most luxurious bathroom she had ever seen outside of a decorating catalog. The floors, counters, soaking tub, and enormous shower that could easily fit five grown people were all tiled in a warm sandy color.

“When you spend as much time as I do getting filthy, it’s worth it to splurge on a bathroom like this.”

“Oh my god,” she groaned, walking over to the shower stall’s glass doors. There were six shower heads and a built-in seat. She held her hand up to the cool glass. She glanced over her shoulder at Sam who had a quizzical furrow to his brow. “Mam only has this teeny bathtub. It’s like a bath for your hips and legs,” she said, wrinkling her nose.

Sam chuckled. “Why don’t you give it a test drive then?” he said, his voice unusually deep.

“No no. I couldn’t.”

“Sure you could,” he said, walking over to the linen closet and pulling out a huge fluffy towel and placing it on the rail outside the shower door. “In fact, I insist.” He backed up toward the door before she could try to object again. “And help yourself to a t-shirt and pants or whatever might fit you in my closet. No use getting all clean and putting dirty work clothes back on.” He went out, pulling the door closed slowly. “Take your time,” he said through the closed door.

Annabelle reached into the shower and pulled the faucet handle until hot water cascaded from all six shower heads. She stepped back, stripping out of her dirty clothes and letting them fall onto the floor before slipping into the little piece of heaven that Sam called a shower.

The hot water had a calming effect on her frazzled nerves. She had a sneaking suspicion that she was more worked up over her time with Sam than she was about the stresses of farm life. She pulled down the shampoo and massaged it into her hair- realizing that Sam had never put a shirt back on. That kind of confidence astonished her. Not that he didn’t have a reason to be so comfortable in his skin. His body looked like it was chiseled out of stone. She could still feel the hard line of him pressed against her and she felt a flutter in her belly at the memory.

She found a bottle of men’s body wash and opened it, inhaling the rich spicy scent. This was the smell that always clung subtly to his skin. Scrubbing his scent into her skin felt absurdly intimate and she felt flushed. Suddenly the water felt scalding and she turned the faucet in the other direction.

What she really needed was a cold shower.

--

Sam sat down on his bed for a second once he heard the water turn on. He was relieved to have a moment to himself to calm down. Though the thought of her one room next to him naked in his shower wasn’t exactly helping either.

Seeing her standing next to the pasture all covered in dirt and utterly flustered had been like a punch to the gut. And then she went on to let down that careful guard she had and was funny and sarcastic and utterly adorable.

He knew he had purposely pushed her up against the counter. He felt the outline of her shapely legs against his, the flare of her generous hips, and her breasts against his chest. And then when he looked down, damn her, she had licked her lips. It took every ounce of his self control to not grab those hips of hers and lift her onto the counter and get a taste of those lips for himself.

He was still too bothered for his own comfort when the tour had finally led to his bedroom. Watching her look at his bed, all he would think about was stripping her out of her clothes and laying her down on that bed and…

Sam cursed at himself and stood up. He needed to do something to distract himself before he stormed back into that bathroom.

--

Clothed in one of Sam’s white t-shirts and a pair of green plaid pajama pants because they were the only pants he had with a drawstring, Anna made her way down the stairs feeling a bit more relaxed. She followed the sounds of pots and pans clinking together and found Sam redressed in a gray long-sleeved t-shirt, barefoot padding around the kitchen.

“And he cooks,” she said from the doorway.

“I can throw some food together and get it hot. No biggie,” he shrugged.

“Well it’s more than I can manage,” she admitted.

Sam poured rice into a pot and threw a dishtowel over his shoulder. He glanced at her, taking in her outfit with an amused smirk. He walked over to the counter, poured her a glass of red wine, and handed it to her. She took the glass in her delicate fingers, inhaling before sipping. And then to his dismay, she licked her lips again. She smelled like him, he realized with a start. To him that seemed even more intimate than the fact that she was wrapped in his clothes, her cold-hardened nipples visible beneath the thin cotton material.

He was staring at her, she realized feeling self-conscious. “So, um, what are you making?” she asked, sounding nervous.

Sam backed away quickly, turning his back to her to  chop vegetables. “A stir fry. I hope you’re hungry.”

“Always,” Anna said, drinking more of her wine, looking with a bemused expression at the massive pile of vegetables he had piled in a bowl. “I knew there was some ulterior motive,” she said, smirking.

Sam stopped chopping, looking back at her. “What’s that?”

“You’re trying to make me eat vegetables,” she said, wrinkling up her nose with disgust.

Sam let out a surprised laugh. “Damn straight. And you wont be allowed to get up from the table until you eat every last one,” he said, making her laugh.

They passed dinner in active conversation about her herb gardening and his goat products and drinking too much red wine. Anna had never been much of a drinker, sharing the occasional glass of wine with her mother but never drinking to any kind of excess. She felt overheated and tingly.

After she cleaned her plate, Sam insisted on walking her home. The evening air was crisp, just cool enough that you knew it was still spring but hinting at warmer weather soon. The crickets chirped a rhythmic, comforting song as they walked in companionable silence, enjoying the expansive night sky. It never occurred to her before how little she enjoyed nature back home. She caught glimpses of the sky as she hauled off to work and the stars when she walked into her home when she returned. She had never considered herself an outside person. But there, surrounded by nothing but pure untouched sky and land, she couldn’t imagine ever going back.

He insisted on walking her right up to her back door. “Thanks Sam,” she said, avoiding eye contact. He was standing too close and she was feeling wine-tingly. “I really needed today.”