Page 34 of Dandelion Sighs

“Yeah.” She sighed and dropped her legs from my waist. “We’re definitely in agreement.”

I pushed a hand through my hair and forced myself to step out of the crux of her legs. My boot hit the hat she’d knocked off my head when we’d first started kissing. I picked it up and slapped any dust off my pant legs. I plopped it on my head. “So then what? Every time I see you, I just want to put my hands and mouth on you.” I winced at my plain statement. “If you don’t want me to, I won’t.”

“I want you to. That’s a big part of the problem.”

“I want you to as well.” I stroked my gaze down her body, from the outline of her hard nipples through her shirt to her bare legs.

She pushed her hands into her hair and slipped off the desk. “Not at work. I’ll lose what little respect I have.”

“Got it.” I should be elated. This might be happening. No more coming together and flinging apart. But there was a hesitancy weighing on my conscience. I wanted to go all the way with Sheridan, but I didn’t want to let her down. Best to temper her expectations. “I should mention that I’m not looking for a relationship.”

“Oh.” She fluttered her fingers. “Yeah. Me either. You don’t want to be the ex I talk shit about when I get drunk with my next handyman.”

Fuck that guy. He was made up, but I hated him. I also didn’t like her referring to me as an ex. All the more reason to set boundaries now. Sheridan deserved honesty, and she should know it wasn’t her who had scared me off relationships. “I was engaged once, and it didn’t end well.”

A thready chuckle left her. “Want to exchange shitty ex stories? Oh wait. I already did that.” She turned her back to me. “I’m not looking for a relationship either.”

I’d rather see her face when she said that, but it was better I didn’t so I could get this out. “I lost my job, and I was useless to her.”

She whirled around. “When you needed the support, she ditched you?”

Her righteousness soothed an old, achy wound inside me. “Sort of. I might’ve languished for a while.”

“Is that how she said it?”

I shrugged. Basically. “I had a career I’d gone to school for and enjoyed, and they cut me loose. My job replaced me with the code I helped build.”

“Jasper.”

“And then I couldn’t get another job.” I didn’t need her sympathy. There’d been no reason I couldn’t have tried harder, something to be worthy of her. “Didn’t help that she was picky about where she’d move to.” I clenched my jaw. “And what salary she’d move for.”

“She blamed you.”

“I dragged my feet. It’s not all on her.” When she cocked a brow, I swallowed. I wasn’t defending my ex. I was a realist. “Then when she left, I stayed in that rut, living off my investments until they were drained. When Lily met Eliot, he gave me a hand up.”

I hadn’t cared if it was a handout. I had learned quickly that ranch work wasn’t charity. Four seasons of toiling away outside, manual labor each day, but I’d been getting paid and enjoying my work again. Kind of like now. “When the ranch no longer needed me, you were there.”

The corner of her mouth lifted. “My mom was—from beyond the grave.”

“Mrs. Bishop had my back.” I exchanged a grin with her. “But this isn’t a forever job. I like it, Sheridan, and I like working for you—office make-outs aside. I’m going to have to find something more stable. With benefits.” They were the kind of things a guy getting into a relationship would have.

“Yeah.” Her smile faded. “I have all the people of this resort relying on me.” She scrubbed her face. “And I’m probably going to lose them all to the competitor. They’ll offer more money, more benefits. Hell, they’d probably snatch you up too.”

I gripped her shoulders. Bad idea to touch her again. I just wanted to yank her into me. “It’ll be okay, Sheridan. We’ll figure this out.”

She tipped her head. “We?”

“If I can keep myself from getting those legs around me again.”

She giggled and dropped her head. “Okay. No more make-outs.”

The finality didn’t sit right with me. “No more—at work.”

She jerked her gaze back up. “Just at work?” she asked almost cautiously and picked up the little gift I had made. She rolled it in her fingers, and it was like her touch ghosting over my skin.

“We’re adults. We want casual.”

“What about anyone finding out?”