Need Me (Broke and Beautiful #2)(44)

Hot, delicious pressure settled in her belly. She stared down at the sheets twisted around her hips, baring her thin, white tank top and matching boy shorts. Had he seen her like this? Jesus, had she been snoring? A sound from outside broke into her thoughts. The tractor. Her father must be doing her job while she languished the morning away in bed. Not good.

She propelled herself from the bed, spending a mere minute beneath the shower spray in the bathroom across the hall, brushing her teeth at the same time? before yanking on jean shorts and cowboy boots. Brushing her hair would have to wait. It took her only five minutes to get down the stairs and burst through the screen door onto the porch. Where she almost ran smack into her mother’s back.

Her mother said nothing, didn’t even spare her a glance. She just handed Honey a glass of sweet tea and continued to stare out over the planting field. Honey took the offered glass and followed her mother’s line of sight. The tea paused halfway to her mouth.

No, she was seeing things. Had to be. Her tweed-wearing English professor wasn’t shirtless on top of the family tractor, handling it like a certified professional. First of all, no one without Perribow blood running through their veins had ever succeeded in handling the temperamental piece of farming equipment. Second of all? Second of . . . all. What had she been thinking about? Sunshine bounced off Ben’s perspiring chest, arms flexing as he turned the tractor around and headed back in their direction. He was wearing jeans. Low-riding jeans. The kind that sat a good three inches below the navel and clung to strong thighs like a hungry lover. Hungry. I’m so very hungry.

She shot her mother an incredulous look. “What is happening—?”

“Shh.” Her mother held up a finger. “Don’t question it.”

“You really are standing here shamelessly ogling a man half your age. Aren’t you?”

“Just appreciating. Nothing wrong with that.” Her mother tipped her head in Ben’s general direction. “And don’t look now, but I think he’s found a way to end your fight.”

Honey scowled at him, even though he was concentrating and not looking at her. “By being shirtless, useful, and . . . and way more muscular than I’d originally thought?”

“Effective, ain’t it?”

They both took long pulls from their sweet tea. When Ben saw her standing on the porch, his mouth spread into a smile. Her mother mumbled something under her breath that sounded like Lord help you before heading back inside and leaving Honey alone. Ben cut off the tractor and hopped off in an irritating and sexy-as-all-get-out show of masculine grace. She stood there for a few seconds, watching him approach in slow motion, but decided she better meet him halfway so her mother couldn’t eavesdrop on this conversation.

“Ben Dawson.” She came to a stop, crossed her arms, and cocked a hip. “You can’t just go around sneaking into people’s rooms and turning off their alarm clocks.”

“Honey Perribow.” He ran a hand through his sweaty hair, leaving it slicked back. Damn. “You’re lucky your mother is watching us from the kitchen window, or I’d kiss that sulk right off your face.”

“You run a tractor for one morning and all of a sudden you’re talking like a Southern boy.” Her arms dropped to her sides. “How did you get it working, anyway? It only works for a Perribow.”

“That’s preposterous.”

“There’s the professor again,” she murmured. “Which one are you?”

“Maybe I’m both.” He eased into her personal space, smelling like salt and earth and man. “I read a guide to classic tractors this morning, that’s how I figured out how to work it. Everything can be found in a book.”

“The town library doesn’t open this early.”

He took off his glasses, wiping away a smudge with his thumb. “I’m not a caveman, Honey. I own a Kindle.” The snobbery in his tone drew a laugh from her. Ben’s head popped up at the sound, his gaze zeroing in on her mouth. “You were talking in your sleep this morning when I went it to turn off your alarm.”

Oh God. “What was I saying?”

“You must have known I was there.” His attention dropped to the hem of her shorts. “You told me I’d . . . made it hurt again. You also mentioned something about tweed. I didn’t get the correlation.”

“Well.” She pressed her hands to her cheeks. “Never you mind.”

“Oh, I mind. I f*cking mind.” He grazed her tummy with a knuckle, dipping it into her belly button and pressing. Such a simple move shouldn’t have made her insides quake, but it did. All the way down to her boots. “I’d like to mind you on your hands and knees out in that field.”

“Ben, stop.”

His eyes were heated as they searched hers. “Why?”

She didn’t know why. Only knew that every word out of his mouth confused her body. Her mind kept trying to reason with it, but her body kept giving her mind the one-finger salute. There was a reason she hadn’t already jumped his bones, and she needed to remember that. He’d only gotten here last night, and she was already considering sleeping with him. The way she’d felt on the flight to Kentucky, or after the scene in the bar back in New York, hadn’t faded in her mind, though. Even if the reasons for those painful feelings dimmed whenever she was around him. She felt certain about one thing, though. She didn’t want to be confused by him the next time they were physical. This enigma that was Ben needed solving, and she wanted that to happen before he made her his shameless love slave again. So she threw up a barrier, a bluff, even though she really didn’t want to. Maybe part of her wanted to see if he’d work harder. If he really wanted to know her, too. “If all you want is to have sex with me, you should have just said so.” She stepped closer to toy with the button of his jeans. “There’s a wildlife preserve not too far from here. We can take my truck and park somewhere private. Fog up the windows.” She looked up at him from beneath her eyelashes. “We’d be back in time for lunch.”