Rocky Mountain Heat by Vivian Arend Read Free Book Online Page B

slipped from the truck and followed her, his eyes mesmerized by the sight of faded jeans cupping her trim ass as it swayed from side to side. She dropped her armload outside the wire surrounding the coop structure and snuck into the yard with an experienced air, shooing the chickens before her into the enclosure. Once she rounded them up, she closed the door firmly and spun to fetch her tools.
    A flush crept over her skin as she spotted him standing beside the fence watching her. Then she grinned, and he reacted involuntarily to how her smile lit up his heart.
    His whole body ached.
    “What you doing?” He had to get a handle on himself. This is what he’d been trying to avoid, being alone with her. The setting was far from intimate and should be safe, but the edge of uncertainty was there.
    Any situation with Jaxi was potential trouble as far as he was concerned.
    She pointed to a section of the fencing that had worked loose, a hole dug partway under the wire. “Someone’s trying to make a break for it, either in or out, and I don’t want to wander the ranch looking for eggs.” She propped open the gate and reached for the boards at his feet.
    “You don’t need to do that. One of us will fix it. Ma never told us there was a problem or we’d have done it already.”
    She leaned on the gate, her bright eyes sparkling at him. “I know you can fix the hole, but so can I. The sunshine is nice, and getting into the yard for some fresh air feels good.” She waved the hammer at him briefly. “You go ahead and get your work done. I’ve got this under control.”
    Blake shifted back on his heels, a grin sneaking onto his face as he watched her haul the boards beside her and kneel to tackle the stiff chicken wire. She did know what she was doing—pulling the staples while holding the wire in place, twisting the hammer with enough leverage the wire popped into line rather than rolling away from her. The sun shone off her skin, a dusky tan showing on the muscles of her arms as she worked.
    Jaxi glanced over her shoulder as she leaned back on the hammer, loosening an exceptionally tough staple. “You done with work for the day or what, Blake Coleman? Or have you never seen a fence fixed before so you want to learn some tips from me?”
    She winked.
    Minx. “Well, I haven’t seen you fix a fence in a long time, Slick. Maybe you do it differently nowadays.”
    The hammer jerked and slipped from her grasp, her body falling back to land hard on her ass in the middle of the hen-scratched dirt. Blake stepped forward quickly to help her, and she chuckled, brushing the dirt from her jeans as she smiled sheepishly. “Maybe I do.”
    He checked to make sure she wasn’t hurt. Seeing nothing but amusement in her eyes, he joined in the game. Nodding seriously, he teased, “I’m sure the last time I fixed a fence I didn’t end up on my backside, but I suppose this method is more modern and sophisticated.” He tugged the hammer she’d retrieved from her fingers and scooted around to remove the final staples, handing them one at a time for her to hang on to.
    It was as if they’d gone back to the days when Jaxi would follow him around the farm all summer long, talking her head off about everything and anything. They worked together, putting the new boards into place and pounding in a stake to hold the chicken wire tight to the ground. All the while, Jaxi shared stories about taking care of the doctor’s little ones, and her work at a local greenhouse the past spring. She even rambled about a book she’d just read that taught how to build a fishpond.
    “That’s interesting, but we don’t need to stock a pond around here. It’s a short ride to the river and part of the fun of fishing is heading out to somewhere unsoiled and untouched by human hands to sit for a while.” Blake tugged on her ponytail gently like he used to when she was a kid. It had been good to work with her for a few minutes doing an everyday task. Something