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‘A little drizzle of maple syrup, and a whole lotta love.’
‘Nice combo.’ She licked the remnants from her fingertips. ‘Would you like me to get cracking with some toast?’
Stirring a hefty dollop of butter into the sizzling mushrooms, he nodded. ‘Yeah, that’d be great, cheers.’
She manned the toaster, all the while unable to keep her eyes off the way his back muscles pulled his polo shirt taut, or how nice his butt looked in his board shorts. Startled when the toast popped up, she turned to see one of the pieces was jammed. After flicking the switch off at the wall, she used her fingertip to try and edge it out.
‘Ouch, bugger.’ She raced to the tap and turned it on, sticking her finger beneath the stream of water.
‘Crap, Sammie, are you okay?’ Tossing his tea towel, Connor came to her aid.
‘Yeah, all good, I got attacked by the toaster.’
Taking her hand, he assessed the red skin as if it was made of the most delicate glass. ‘You’re going to have a whopper of a blister.’ He looked at her, way more concerned than a slightly scalded finger warranted. ‘Do you know if there is any aloe vera in the garden?’
Chuckling, she placed her hand against his chest. ‘Bless your sweet heart, Connor Gunn.’ Her smile was soft. ‘But honestly, I’ll be fine.’
‘You sure?’
‘Yes.’
She got to work buttering the toast, after he’d retrieved the offending piece, while Connor dished up their feast. Cosied up on the verandah, they devoured it like a pair of hungry teenagers and then kicked back, with their feet up on the railings of the front verandah, and enjoyed their cups of tea that Samantha had made.
‘I suppose I better head home and get some jobs done.’ Connor looked to her, his woeful expression telling her just how much he didn’t want to go. ‘I could stay here and happily hang out with you all day, but the agisted horses won’t feed themselves.’
‘I can come and help, if you like,’ she said, a little too hastily.
‘Yeah, actually.’ His face lit up. ‘I’d love that.’
‘Great, I’ll go grab my boots and meet you at the LandCruiser.’
‘Righto, I’ll take this lot and dump it in the dishwasher.’ He collected the dirty plates, cutlery and cups from the coffee table.
‘Leave it, Connor, I can fix it up when I get back.’
‘All good, it’ll only take me a sec.’ He gestured to the door with a tip of his head. ‘You go sort yourself out.’
‘Okay, thanks.’ Samantha couldn’t help but fall for him that little bit more, with his kind, simple gesture.
An hour later and they’d loaded his ute up with feed. Climbing behind the wheel, Connor took a glug from his water bottle and then revved the engine, turned around and they headed down the bumpy track. He pulled up at the start of the agistment paddocks.
‘If you want to swap, Sammie, you can drive, and I’ll do the heavy work up back.’
‘Actually, do you mind if I do it?’
‘You sure?’
She nodded, eager to get her hands dirty. ‘Positive.’
Jumping out and then up on the tray, she got to work, heaving the bales of hay to the edge and over the fence to the waiting horses. Connor rolled from one paddock to the next, each time checking in to make sure she didn’t want to swap. Which she didn’t. She loved the hard yakka. Had missed it, actually. They reached the last paddock that housed Connor’s horse, Banjo, and pulling to a stop, Connor jumped out. Tail high in the air, the gelding gave a loud snort, then pig-rooted all the way over to them. Skidding to a stop just shy of the timber fence, he flicked his head and whinnied cheekily, his teeth bared in a horsey grin.
‘I think he’s showing off in front of you, Sammie.’
‘Is he now?’ Samantha pushed the last bail out and over the fence, and then laughed at Banjo’s flamboyant arrival. ‘I think he’s a bit like his owner.’
Connor’s sideways glance was sexy as hell. ‘Fair play, Evans.’
She offered him a sassy smile in response. ‘Ha, you love it.’
