Raspberries and Vinegar (A Farm Fresh Romance Book 1) (11 page)

Might he be willing to take on a partner? Nah. That meant cows and horses and goats. It meant emergency calls to manure-studded barns. City pet practice paid better and kept humane hours, for the most part. And didn’t stink as bad.

Zach glanced forward again, checking the fence line for the upcoming corner.

Someone stood not far in front of the tractor, both arms waving frantically, with a dancing Border collie beside her.
Jo. Domino
. His heart lurched. Must be an emergency.

He shifted down and eased the brakes, hoping she’d know this machine didn’t stop on a dime and would keep Domino out of his way this time. Where had the pup come from, anyway? The tractor ground to a halt, and he pulled the levers to seal the fertilizer injectors.

Jo stood with her feet firmly planted and her hands on her hips. The flash in her eyes didn’t look like the panic that might come if one of her friends had been injured or something.

Couldn’t be so bad, then. “Hi there, Jo! Beautiful day.” He pulled out his water bottle and took a long swig.

No response.

Zach mopped his dripping forehead with his denim sleeve. He leaned both elbows on the steering wheel. “Is something wrong?”

One hand shot out and pointed behind him. “What do you think you are doing?”

Whoa
. She’d bit every word off with precision. Zach glanced at the pressure tank. Was it leaking or something? No, it looked okay. He turned back to her with a frown. “Pardon me?”

“You’re spraying the field with…with
poison
.”

Zach slid off the tractor and approached her, but she backed away, eyes flashing fire. She grabbed onto Domino’s collar.

“It’s not poison. It’s fertilizer. Nitrogen, to be precise.”

“Didn’t you read the directions? You’re supposed to be suited up to handle that stuff.” She took a step closer. “Did it ever occur to you that if you should wear protection, and if there is a big danger sign on the tank, you shouldn’t even be using it?”

“I suited to load the tank. I’m not stupid.”

She narrowed her eyes. “You could’ve fooled me.”

And he’d thought she might be something special. Not that he wanted her to be,
but at least he’d found out before it was too late for his heart tha
t she really was just as narrow-minded as his first impressions had been. She had no better grip on reality than his grandmother.

“Not only are you not suited, you aren’t following appropriate procedures.”

She’d lost him. Zach frowned. “What do you even know about it?”

“That?” Her hand shot out, pointing at the tank again. “Far too much. My stepfather uses every kind of commercial chemical there is to produce higher yield on his mega farm. I’ve smelled them all. And this one is rotten.” She pursed her lips together, obviously biting back a further tirade.

Her whole face, flushed. Her eyes, flaming. Her hair, flying every which way out of the long braid that attempted to contain it. Her lips. Enticing.

He bent his head to hers and kissed those tantalizing lips. A shock ran through him at her passionate, welcoming response. He held her shoulders for a brief instant, then as the kiss intensified, slid his hands around her back and snugged her tight against him. Zach trembled as her arms rounded his waist, clutching him as completely as he held her. He gave himself over to the moment, reveling in the contact, in the tiny but powerful woman in his arms.

She pulled away all too soon, and Zach opened languid eyes just in time to see her hand flying at his face. He lurched back, but not quickly enough to avoid her open palm as it stung his cheek.

“How dare you!”

It took him a second. “Deny you kissed me back.”

She couldn’t. That kiss had been absolutely mutual, even though he’d started it. His lips still tingled. So did his cheek, but that was a different matter, nothing to do with the memory of her mouth under his. His gaze locked onto her lips. He wanted more in the worst way.

“Zach. A. Ry.” She spit his name out in bite-sized pieces. “Stop it.”

He didn’t want to. But he’d better pay attention. This wasn’t the time or the place to pursue the attraction that now lay out in the open. He had to woo her, but what would he do with her once he caught her?

A little voice reminded him he hated rural life—that he couldn’t wait to be gone from Galena Landing. The voice also knew Jo wasn’t going to join him in Coeur d’Alene. But none of it mattered. There was just now. The two of them. The future would work itself out.

The three of them. Jo squatted on the ground with her arms around Domino’s neck, her face buried in his coat. Domino wiggled and tried to lick her face to no avail, then looked up at Zach with a happy smile and tail wag.

He never thought he’d be jealous of a dog.

Zach shifted from one foot to another as his thoughts slowed and came into some sort of alignment. “Jo? I’m sorry.”

“Sorry for what?” Her voice was muffled in Domino’s shoulder.

Not for kissing her. Not really. “For surprising you. For not asking.”

She turned her face enough to peer at him. “What?”

Good, he’d startled her again. This time in a good way. He hoped. “Jo, if you want me to say I’m sorry for kissing you, I can say it. But I’d be lying.”

Her face still flamed, and her gaze met his for only the briefest of instants before sliding away again.

He had to know. “Are you? Sorry we kissed?”

She buried her face in Domino’s coat. Lucky dog.

***

Jo clutched Domino so tightly he whimpered, but letting go meant facing Zach.

The nerve of him. She didn’t know which was worse, her body betraying her, or Zach kissing her in the first place. She’d responded like some desperate woman. Her first kiss, and it had caught her off guard and turned her knees to jelly.

He couldn’t possibly love her. He’d only been trying to fluster her. Oh, wow. If that were the case, it had totally worked.

Jo gathered her courage and stood, careful to keep Domino between them. “Don’t distract me. We were talking about your toxic rig here.” She kept her trembling hands down and pointed with her chin.

Zach kept staring at her mouth. Finally his gaze rose to her eyes.
 

J
o did her best to regain the ire she’d had earlier, but he’d shaken her to the bottom of her size six boots. “Seriously, that stuff is dangerous.”

Zach opened his mouth to protest, but Jo held up her hand. Pretty steady. Good. “One, you absolutely need to be suited up. It is toxic, regardless of what you think. Two, it’s way too warm for the pressure tank today. The gas dissipates quickly at this temperature and sinks straight into the ground water.” She took a deep breath.

He waited for her to continue. They were getting somewhere, then.

“And three, it’s
our
drinking water you’re affecting as well as yours. We all get our water from the same spring. Do you really want to be drinking poison?”
 

“I have goggles and gloves on the tractor, and I wore them when I adjusted the injectors.”

Trying to redeem himself. “Good start. But how about just not using it in the first place?”

Zach frowned, drawing her attention to his close-cropped beard. It had prickled slightly while they kissed, but in a pleasant way. If only she believed he really meant it, she’d be happy to try all over again. She yanked her gaze back to his eyes.

Which danced as though he’d caught her out.

Maybe he had.

The heat hadn’t ever left her face, so Jo doubted this new surge would add any telltale color to her cheeks. She raised her chin. Probably shouldn’t have. That position would only make it easier for him to kiss her again.

She needed out of here in the worst way. Primal instinct churned in her gut, urging her to throw herself back in Zach’s arms, to
pull his face to hers and resume where they’d left off. She wanted to tangle her fingers in his thick curls, and trace his facial hair with her lips.

Jo backed up. Her environmental authority evaporated more every second she stood in Zach’s presence. What was more important? Their water supply and the health of the land beneath their feet, or her desire to be fervently kissed? And why did her brain even hiccup over that question?

“Please, Zach.” It was hard to keep her righteous indignation in place after that electrifying kiss. “All else aside, today’s too warm. Go look up optimum conditions on the Internet. Or better yet, find some natural product to fertilize with. Like sheep manure.” Of which they must have plenty, with all those woolly animals traipsing around their pastures.

He nodded slowly. Only to placate her? Maybe. Didn’t matter, so long as he followed through.

“And much as I like Domino, take him home. He shouldn’t be around that toxic sludge, either.”

Zach’s gaze dropped to the pup, wagging his tail at the mention of his name. Zach frowned. “Where’d he come from?”

Dumb question. “From your place, I assume? I certainly didn’t come over and steal him.”

His face flushed. “I didn’t accuse you. But I left him in the run.”

Jo hardened her will. “So he’s opened the latch again.” More likely Rosemary was home and had let him in the yard to play. She turned away, still trembling from the confrontation. Or something else.

“Jo?” Zach’s voice came out raspy then his hand rested on her forearm.

She stared at it for a long moment before turning slightly to face him. He was so close. Too close. Not close enough. She couldn’t look up.

Zach cleared his throat. “Jo? You need to know. I didn’t kiss you to stop you from yelling at me. Honest.”

She studied his work boots and nodded slightly.

“I’m just... you’re just...”

Scuffmarks lined his boots, proving their familiarity with farm work. Why didn’t he finish his sentence?

“I’m sorry I acted in haste.”

No way was Jo meeting his eyes. She had a fair idea what would happen if she did. She forced another nod.

“Jo?” Softer, now.

She held her breath.

“May I kiss you some more?”

Yes! Yes, yes, yes, YES. Please kiss me. Never stop
. Jo clenched her fingernails into the palms of her hands until the pain began to bite. She could hardly blame the guy for his ignorance, shared with millions of other farmers. But that didn’t excuse him. They’d never be compatible, not with an attitude like his. Slowly she found strength and straightened her posture, daring to meet his gaze for a brief instant.

Emotion flared in his brown eyes.

“No, Zach. That’s best not repeated.” Jo turned away and paced evenly to the barbed wire fence. Why didn’t she feel his hands on her waist or shoulders, holding her back? Why did he let her walk away from him like this? Jo ducked between the wire strands and never looked back.

Chapter 10

Jo stalked past Claire — not daring to glance her way — up the steps, and into the trailer. She did not slam the door. She marched into the bathroom, locked the door, and leaned over the sink.

Her reflection stared back. The likeness of a woman who’d been kissed. She looked wild. Wisps of hair escaped down the length of her braid. Her face was blotchy and red, more from anger and embarrassment than the unseasonable early-May heat.

Jo put her hands to her cheeks and the reflection did the same. What had Zach seen in her? For the spark had been undeniable. That wasn’t just a friendly peck between friends.

The door handle jiggled. “Jo? You okay?”

Couldn’t answer that. Claire must’ve seen everything that happened. Maybe even heard the conversation over the tractor’s idling. Jo tried to steady her voice. “I’ll be out in a minute.”

“That’s not what I asked.” Finally Claire sighed. After a moment her footsteps sounded down the corridor and Jo heard running water in the kitchen.

She turned back to the sink and splashed cold water on her face, then undid her long plait and brushed out the mess. Rebraided it. Stared in the mirror some more. Stared at her lips, as Zach had seemed to do.

Why? Had it all been a ruse to shut her environmental mouth? But what of the other evening out by the picnic table? She hadn’t been spouting off then, just staying away from his praise of Sierra’s cooking and all the talk of womanly tasks such as quilting. Hiding. Lest her attraction to the man should show.

Hiding. Again. Claire didn’t deserve this.

Jo unlocked the door and stepped out.

***

Zach watched Jo stomp across the field and climb through the fe
nce. Watched Claire follow her into Grandma’s old trailer. He shivered, suddenly chilled as though the sun had slipped behind a cloud. He even glanced up to check, but only blue sky resided above him.

Domino whined, recalling Zach to the present.

“C’mon, buddy. Let’s go home, and I’ll see how you got out this time.” He’d leave the tractor here and come back for it when he’d decided what to do. Was Jo pulling his leg about the issue? He couldn’t imagine it.

Gary Waterman had loaned him the ensemble, saying Dad’s fields looked like they could use a boost. Zach followed Waterman’s instructions, and the guy had been farming for long enough Zach hadn’t thought to doubt him.

A few minutes later he unplugged the cable from his folks’ desktop computer and attached it to his laptop. If he was going to stick around for a while, he should rig up a wireless router. Hard to believe he’d been home over a month now and hadn’t fired up his MacBook once.

Domino flopped down in the corner, nose down but keeping watch while Zach opened the fridge and poured a glass of raspberry vinegar. By the time he returned, his email home page had loaded. Twenty-eight unread. Would’ve been more if most of the guys from his graduating class weren’t into texting. He clicked to review the list. Halfway down an unfamiliar name flagged his attention.
 

East Spokane Veterinary Clinic? Had he applied there?

Zach’s heart sped up and his hand shook as he clicked on the email.