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the bridle and then twisted his torso and stretched behind him to unzip the chaps. The suede fell open around his legs as his fingers quickly undid the tiny buckle on his hips. Taking the chaps off, he laid themon one of the trunks and took off his hat and placed it onthe chaps.
    “Did youfixthe fence thing?”I asked, finallyfindingmyvoice. “The fence thing?”He snorted.
“Onthe southeast.”
“South side,” he corrected, “and yes, I found the problem and repaired it.”
    He went to the corner and opened the door ofa smallfridge I hadn’t noticed was there. Pulling out two bottled waters, he handed one to me, lettinghis eyes lazilyroamover me.
“Youlook like youcould use one.”
    “I did the grain and water and stacked the hay,” I said, eager to please. His brow rose, but he didn’t say anything, only nodded. Clumsily, I opened the water and brought it to my lips, easily drinking it all at one time.
“Finishthis saddle and meet me inside for lunch.”
     
He strode out, leaving me to my work and my erection. It was going to be a long, frustratingfew weeks.
    An hour later, I was clearing my dishes from the island, washing them before piling them in the dish rack. Chase had already finished and gone to work on the tractor. He hadn’t said anything when I’d walked inside wearing my dirty T-shirt and a flush on my cheeks. Mike hadn’t been exaggerating about Chase’s solitary lifestyle. He only acknowledged myexistence whenI did something wrong or asked a stupid question, and those didn’t always get a reply.
    Before he left, he’d given me a list of afternoon chores, including mowing the front lawn, watering the vegetable garden, and moving the bags ofgrainfromthe storage barnnext to the mainbarn.
    Taking off my shirt again, I climbed onto the riding lawnmower. I’d never mowed before; there weren’t exactly a lot of lawns in New York City. The engine roared to life, but died the second I released the clutch. Sighing, I tried it again and smiled as it lurched forward. The sun beamed down on me the entire two hours it took to cut the grass, and I’d just finished when Mike pulled up with my footlocker in the back of his Chevy. He helped me carry it to the porch, and after a short conversation about how I was doing, he left. I returned the mower to the side of the garage and noticed a covered sports car parked inside next to Chase’s huge truck. I wondered what use he and Owenhad for a sports car.
    When the garden was soaked with water, I walked to the storage barn, immediately finding the twenty bags of grain that needed to be moved.
“Shit,” I grunted as I lifted the first fifty-pound bag onto my shoulder and trekked over to the other barn.
    By the time I was halfway through the pile of bags, my thighs, arms, and shoulder burned. I tried switching sides a few times, but it felt awkward. Each time I entered the barn, I walked past Chase bent over the front of the big green tractor. I knew nothing about tractors, I had no idea what he was doing or what tools he was using, but my eyes willingly glanced in his direction each time I walked by, enjoying the way his ass jutted out as he bent over.
    With a huff, I placed the last bag on the stack. I was exhausted and it was only five in the afternoon. Taking my T-shirt frommy back pocket, I wiped myface withit before slippingit over myhead.
“Ya know youcould have used the tractor and trailer for that, right?” Chase announced, his head buried inthe tractor.
     
Actually, I hadn’t known that, but it didn’t matter anyway. “You’re fixingit,”I reminded him.
     
“There’s two more.” He motioned to the side of a storage shed where a smalltractor, complete withtrailer, was parked.
    That asshole. He’d watched me carry twenty fifty-pound bags of grain, breathingheavilyand workingmyass off, whenI could have done it ina few trips.
    “Little late,” I retorted. As I turned to walk off, I swore I heard him chuckling.
At the other end ofthe barn,