Laid Open by Lauren Dane Page A

when she was attracted to someone—and they were available of course. So she wasn’t a stranger to flirting, but he made her . . . shy.
    He still had her hand in his. She couldn’t take her gaze from it. So big, his hand compared to hers. Big and callused, work-worn in places. It was the hand of a man who worked with his hands. Who made and managed things.
    It sent a shiver through her and when her gaze returned to his face, he was looking down at her, a hungry look on his features.
    Her breath caught a moment as he stood so close. There was something between them. She didn’t know what exactly, but certainly attraction. She could work with that.
    “I should go.”
    He let go of her hand before opening her door. “Drive safely, Jules. Maybe I’ll stop in to Tart this week.”
    She nodded after she slid into her seat and got her belt on. “I think you should.”
    He shut the door and stepped back, leaving her in total silence for a moment before she turned the engine over and Chemical Brothers poured from the speakers. He stepped back and gave her a small wave and she pulled away.
    A new deal and an interesting man who made her warm and sort of, well, tingly. The sweetness of the beginnings of a maybe-something spiced the zing of the attraction between them.
    Possibility.
She could totally get behind some of that.
    * * *
    Gideon watched her pull away and head back to town. His heart beat a little faster as he caught the subtle scent she wore. Low and sultry. He’d have pegged her for a brighter, more classical scent.
    But Jules Lamprey wasn’t all that she seemed on the surface.
    At first glance, Jules was brilliantly-blonde-girl-next-door beautiful. Sunny hair she wore in a high, sleeked-back ponytail. Her eyes were large and sky-blue. A wide, open smile. Her clothing flattered. She was friendly, funny, a little flirty. The pretty girl he’d grown up with.
    But another layer in? Well, that red-lipped mouth had a little cant up at the left. Like she had a secret. The turtleneck she wore was cashmere. And her perfume was rich and sexy. Like her laugh.
    He watched the way she drank her coffee. She’d held the cup, cradling it to take its warmth. Her first sip had been with her eyes closed and a happy sigh. She had enjoyed the hell out of the different fruits she’d tried when they’d been working over schedules.
    Jules Lamprey was a sensualist. There was something fairly irresistible about a woman who took pleasure in everything around her.
    On top of all that, she was articulate, successful and fair in her dealings with his granddad. Independent and intelligent too. The whole package.
    Unless he was sorely mistaken—and he didn’t think he was—she was attracted to him in equal measure.
    Gideon wanted a taste of the rather delicious Ms. Lamprey.
    With a pleased sigh, he sat back on the porch with his granddad. “Is she seeing anyone do you know?”
    All around them was land his family had lived on and worked for generations. He’d been away from ranching for a while so it had taken a week or two to really get back into the life of a farmer. He wasn’t a stranger to farming, wasn’t a stranger to hard work with hands and body. And this was his in a way the Bar M never was.
    Even better, he’d done it at Patrick’s side, which had filled him with humility and pride. His grandfather trusted him to take Carter Farms into the next generation. It was a weight, but one he’d chosen freely.
    Patrick gave him a sly smile and an elbow nudge. “Don’t think so. She sure is a pretty one. All that pale hair and those big blue eyes. She’s like a soap ad from the old days.” Patrick chuckled. “Tart is always busy. She’s built it up from nothing. That diner her parents ran did all right, but I never much got the feeling they did it for love of it. You walk into Tart and you know someone who loves the place is running it. And she makes a mean cherry turnover. So really if you get sweet on her, that’s a win