A Cowboy in Manhattan(13)
He stared back in silence for a long moment. Then he said, “I made you something.”
Though the words took her by surprise, she rolled with it, telling herself it was better to move on. If Reed started flirting with her, she’d have to decide how to react. She knew how she was supposed to react, but it was completely different from the way she wanted to react.
She pulled her feet together and bent forward, putting her hands flat on the floor. “What did you make me?”
“It’s a surprise.”
“You want me to guess?” She stood again and raised her leg to the ledge, stretching her body along its length.
“No, I…” He paused. “How do you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Go all pretzel-like.”
“Practice.” She’d started when she was ten years old, when everything about her body had been extraordinarily flexible. “Is it something to eat?” she asked him. “If it is, you should know I like fruit and whole grains.”
“Is that why you skipped the brownies last night?”
“I noticed you ate mine.”
“Always happy to help a lady in distress.”
She couldn’t help laughing at that. “Ever the gentleman.”
“Yes, I am.”
She straightened. “Okay, I’ll admit, you’ve got me curious.”
His eyes warmed. “You want to come and see?”
“Depends. Where are we going?”
“The barn.” His gaze scanned her body. “You’ll have to put on something warmer than that. And remember, the hands are working out there.”
She glanced down at her simple leotard set. “You know I go up on stage in less than this.”
“Not in Colorado, you don’t.”
“Fine.” She started for the door, passing by him and calling over her shoulder. “You got any more of those cotton shirts? That’ll cover up everything that counts.”
“What’s mine is yours.” He started in behind her. “In fact, I’ve got a nice set of pajamas you might like. Red-and-gray plaid, very boxy. You take the tops.”
And he’d take the bottoms.
Oh, he was definitely flirting. She stopped abruptly in the doorway and he almost barreled into her.
He raised a hand and braced himself on the doorjamb. “What?”
She turned. “You shouldn’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“Talk about sharing pajamas.”
His lips curled up in the barest of smirks. “Is that what you thought I meant?”
“You know you did.”
There was a silent pause.
“Okay,” he admitted.
He stared down at her, and a pulse pounded in her temple, while heat coiled in the center of her body.
He leaned almost imperceptibly in, and his voice went husky. “You should get dressed.”
“I know.”
He blinked. “Now,” he muttered.
He was absolutely right. They’d taken this as far as they dared. She quickly turned and mounted the staircase.
She felt him behind her as far as the main floor. Then, she noted thankfully, he broke off to return to the kitchen.
Back in the guest room, she forced the sexy exchange from her mind, firmly telling herself to get it under control. She changed to some casual clothes and went back downstairs.
Together, they crossed to the main barn, traversing its length to a quiet corner behind a half wall. There she stared in astonishment at the contraption he’d made out of the bicycle.
“How did you do this?” she asked him. “When did you do this?”
The mountain bike was propped up on a rack, with the front wheel removed and rollers pressing against the back wheel. The rollers were attached to a long bolt with a butterfly screw that could be used to change the tension.
“This morning,” he answered. “I told you, I couldn’t sleep.”
“I didn’t think you were serious.”
“About not sleeping?”
“About—” She gestured. “About disabling my bike.”
“It’s what you wanted.”
“It’s not what I wanted. It’s what you offered.” She didn’t know why she was annoyed. Maybe because he hadn’t given her a choice. Maybe she was touchy today when it came to men telling her what to do. Or maybe anger was just the easiest emotion for her to deal with right now when it came to Reed.