They drew her into their group, and she helped as they prepared the remainder of the food. She kept glancing out of the window while she worked, hoping nobody noticed. To her disappointment, Nathan didn’t appear to be among the crowd already there. The men were all talking around the spit while the pig turned slowly, wafting a tantalizing fragrance of roasting meat throughout the garden.
“That smells awesome, Joan.” Libby looked out the window again, hoping he had finally put in an appearance.
“Secret family recipe. That’s enough for now, girls. Thank you all so much. Time to go and enjoy yourselves.” Joan put the last dish into the fridge. “Chardonnay or Riesling?” She pulled two bottles of wine from the fridge and presented them to Libby and the other ladies. Libby pondered the selection briefly before making a choice. “Riesling, please.” The other women chose their drink, and after settling Libby and the crew with respective glasses, they trudged outside to join the men.
“That sounds like a good deal to me.” Tom’s words drifted to Libby’s ears, and she sidled over to his side, listening intently, and waited for a chance to insert herself in the conversation.
“Looks like we have those ewes, Libby.” Tom quoted her the price Bill had relayed to him. “Is it doable for that?”
“Just. Aaron will be pleased. Thank you, Bill. I can’t wait to see them.” Libby glanced around, her mind on other things than the sheep.
“My pleasure.” Bill reached out and shook on the deal. “I’ll get them delivered in the next couple of days. It’d be good to get them well settled before they start lambing. Let them calm down a bit. I’ll drop the bill in your letter box, and you can post a check directly to the family.”
“Thanks, I appreciate it. We’ll have to start looking for some more cows soon too, or that bull you sold me will be trying to get to Nathan’s girls.”
“I don’t think you want that to happen somehow, sweetheart.” The voice came from behind her.
Libby’s skin tingled all over as Nathan brushed against her arm. She looked into his dark eyes, searching to see what his mood was like.
“Scared of getting some good, free bloodline in your herd, Nathan?” Bill laughed.
“My girls are all sorted out as you know. I’d like to keep them with the bulls I’ve chosen. Makes it easier to keep the lines pure if you know who the sire is.” He glanced at Libby. “Besides, I’ve noticed the fences are all repaired, Libby, so unless you plan on opening the gate for him, I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
“I don’t think so, Nathan. Petty ehaviour wasn’t what I had in mind.” She plastered a smile on her face and moved away from him, trying to appear as though she were mingling with the crowd. He followed her, his hand under her elbow as he directed her away from everyone toward the sheds.
“I never thought you were petty, Libby. Maybe annoying but not petty.”
Libby turned to face him, her temper rising. “I am not annoying.”
“I beg to differ.” His face was inches from hers. “What would you call it, sweetheart? You come into my house, seduce me with those big, beautiful eyes and then abuse me and walk away. If that isn’t annoying, I sure as hell don’t know what is.”
“Me, seduce you? Give me a break. You were just as responsible as I was.” Standing this close to him had her heart rate spiking and her body responded with a will of its own. “You started at the dance if I remember rightly, and all I did was finish it off afterward, and I don’t seem to recall you putting up any kind of a fight either.”
“You expect me to turn down free sex? You obviously don’t know much about men if you think what I did was wrong.”
“Nathan, stop.” Libby moved away. “We had sex. I wanted it, and so did you. Don’t even try to deny it, but is it going to be the only thing between us or is there more I’m not seeing? Because I don’t do friends with benefits. That was a oncer for me. I wanted sex, and you were it, okay? If you want more, you need to prove it and act like a man, not an animal that just wants a rut in the hay.” Please don’t say it was what you wanted too.
“Why would you think I wanted more than that?” His eyes smoldering as he looked at her.
“I don’t know, Nathan. Maybe because I felt a spark between us and thought it might be more than sex. I’m sorry if I was wrong.” Libby swallowed her disappointment as she turned and walked away from Nathan, leaving him standing by himself. Her breath caught in her throat, and she forced back a sob of frustration.
Libby almost made it back to the house before Joan cut her off, and taking her hand, led her into the kitchen. “Okay, girl, what gives?”
“Just Nathan.” Libby sighed. “I don’t know what’s going on, honestly. We spark each other off, and I thought it was more than just him being pissed I ended up with the station. I mean, after the dance, I seduced him and I hoped there was more than sex in the wind for us.”
“You seduced Nathan?” Joan laughed and clapped a hand over her mouth. “God, I wish I’d seen his face.”
“It’s not funny.” Libby stamped her foot in frustration. “Sure, I was feeling toey and needed him as much as he needed me, but I thought maybe there was more. Maybe he’d like me for myself and not because I wore sexy panties and high heels and own the farm he was promised.”
“Oh, you need to fill me in more than this.” Joan’s eyes shone with excitement. She
