Amanda Berry - His Small-Town Sweetheart

She squeezed him slightly. He held his breath, willing his body not to respond to the temptation of her pressed against him. It was only a friendly hug. It didn’t mean anything. Certainly not what the lower half of his body wanted it to mean. He shouldn’t be thinking about her that way at all. This was Nikki. His best friend who left when he was fourteen, barely a teenager.

“Maybe I should take up cow lifting.” She stayed cuddled against him. “I could definitely use some definition in my arms. But then that would be a lot of work and someone would have to spot me, because I can’t lift a cow on my own.”

As she leaned against him, he didn’t know what to do with his arms. The top of her head almost reached his chin.

She lifted her head and looked up at him. “Would you spot me?”

With her this close, he could lift her the few inches he needed to be able to kiss her pretty pink lips. Would she taste as rich and darkly seductive as she smelled? Or would she taste like the spring her eyes promised? Strawberries and mint.

“Sam?” Her smile kept his eyes glued to her lips. “Would you spot me?”

Her words made no sense. He shook himself and lifted his gaze to her smiling eyes. “What?”

“In cow lifting? You would definitely keep a cow from falling on me. Wouldn’t you?”

“What?” Apparently she’d lost a few marbles in California.

She released him, and the lack of her warmth hit him the wrong way. “I guess you’re right, cow lifting isn’t for me. I’m sure there are other things that could help me improve my figure while I’m here.”

She bent down and picked up her shoes.

“You don’t have to improve your figure.” The words slipped out.

“Thanks.” Her cheeks flushed pink. “You always were sweet. I can’t wait to see what you’ve done with the house and the farm. Did you keep those rocks we collected? The ones that had the crystal-like appearance?”

“From the creek? Yeah.”

She was like a whirlwind that he had no chance of escaping or keeping up with. A very unintentionally sexy whirlwind. When they were younger, there’d never been anything but friendship between them. More often than not, she’d beat him at racing. Now the only thing racing was his heart; if it weren’t for the attraction pulsing through his veins, he’d be worried that another fainting episode was about to happen.

“So what are you doing in the woods at this time of day? Searching for fairies and dragons? The twins are out in the field, joyriding.”

Her smile was a constant that he was beginning to appreciate. People didn’t smile at him this much. As soon as he opened his mouth and said something, they generally stopped smiling. He didn’t mind keeping his distance from folks. It made things easier.

“Checking the fence.” He put his hands in his pockets and looked back toward the fence.

“I’d offer to come with you, but—” she held up her shoes “—I haven’t quite reacclimated to farm life. Can you believe this is what I’ve been wearing since I left here?” She pulled her skirt out to the side. The sunlight made the thin material almost transparent.

He swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat at the remembrance of what was under that skirt. “It’s nice.”

“Thanks, but it isn’t really right for strolling through the fields. I just couldn’t help myself. I didn’t want to wait to find the right clothes or shoes to come out here. It’s been too long.”

He stepped back to discourage her from hugging him again.

“We really need to get together. I left the house without even grabbing my phone.” She laughed. “It’s been ages since I’ve left it behind without worrying that I’d miss something from work. Do you know what I mean?”

He shrugged. His brothers had bought him a cell phone and made him promise to keep it on him because of his condition. It was in the bottom of a drawer somewhere. He wasn’t sure if it was even charged currently. “I have to get back to work.”

“Of course, but I’m holding you to going out with me for a beer, or maybe I’ll wander over with a six-pack, so we can catch up on the past seventeen years.”

He nodded and whistled for Barnabus, who had wandered off while they’d been talking.

She closed the distance between them again and wrapped herself around him for the third time. “I’m glad I ran into you.”

He awkwardly patted her back this time. His body felt charged with electricity everywhere she touched him. He stared down at her dark hair. She wasn’t like the women in town who tried to draw his attention. Most of those women were divorced or widowed. He didn’t have a problem with them, but he wasn’t sure he was the best choice for a long-term relationship, which is what at least some of those women had wanted. As long as he picked the right ones, things worked out just fine.

But Nicole had been his buddy. Her father, John, would kill him if he messed with her; besides, they’d never been like that. They’d gone frogging together back when she wore braids and T-shirts and walked like a boy.

There was nothing boy-like about her now, except those underwear that he shouldn’t be thinking about. He wouldn’t even know about the different styles of underwear if he hadn’t been forced to go back-to-school shopping with his sister-in-law and niece. The only reason they apparently had taken him was to get him out of the house more often.

Nicole would be better off if she didn’t get to know the guy he’d become and just remembered the boy she’d left behind.

She released him, graced him with another smile and spun in a circle. “I feel better already. See you soon, Sam.”

As she sashayed away from him toward the fence, his eyes were drawn to the curve of her bottom. If she was enticing in a skirt, she’d be irresistible in a pair of jeans. Barnabus rushed out of the bushes and sat patiently at his feet. This summer had just gotten interesting.

Chapter Two

Nicole straightened her shirt, tucked her hair behind her ear and shifted the six-pack from one hand to the other. She stood in front of Sam’s screen door, which he could walk by any minute and see her standing out here in the dark like a ninny. This was Sam. Her friend, her confidant.

Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door. She could hear some shuffling from the other room, and then he was walking toward her. Holy crap, it hadn’t just been her imagination. He was tall, dark and handsome. Not at all the kid she’d left behind.

Earlier today, his blue eyes had been amazing close-up, sparkling in the sunlight with flecks of dark blue mingled with light blue and even hints of gold. Not that she’d been staring earlier. It had taken most of her willpower not to check him out the way he’d done to her. Farming had definitely been good for his development. His chest was broad. His arms were muscular, but not overly so. And she’d bet money that he was packing his own six-pack under that AC/DC T-shirt.

As he drew closer, he ran his hand through his thick, shaggy hair and she wanted to do the same, except, in her fantasy, when she wove her fingers in his hair, she would jerk his full lips down to hers. When he stopped at the door, she held up the six-pack and smiled.

She needed to stop thinking of Sam as eye candy. Their meeting today had caught her off guard. She hadn’t thought, just reacted. And it had felt good.

With everything that had happened in her life recently, she could really use a friend. Maybe Sam could use a friend, too. She’d kept his friendship close to her heart when she’d moved to California. Sam, who’d always known the right thing to do. She’d written him letters as she maneuvered through a new school and social situations she never would have experienced in Tawnee Valley. She’d never sent the letters that shared all her secrets and fears. Just a few when she’d first moved away. Right now, she needed a friend more than sex... At least, that’s what she reminded herself of when he stood on the other side of the door looking like sex on a stick.