A Roll in the Hay, стр. 44
Tess gave her a quick look, but Susannah was focused on the road ahead, apparently deadly serious. “Well, forgive me if I say I’ll believe that when I see it.”
“Fine. I’ll have Babs arrange one of her infamous karaoke nights. Of course, you’ll have to sing too, otherwise there’s no deal.”
“Sure,” Tess felt confident in her assessment now. “I’ll be right up there. Right after you. Maybe I’ll go country. Dolly Parton?”
“Not sure you have the chest for that,” Susannah said, although it was more like she was muttering it to herself.
Tess wriggled a little beneath her seatbelt. It wasn’t like she wanted to be super busty, but she was hardly flat-chested. Most importantly, Susannah was the one bringing up physical attributes, which suggested she’d been thinking about them. Point one to Tess. It was just a shame she had no idea what they were playing, how the points were really awarded, or what a win would look like.
“If you want to stop for coffee or something at any point, I don’t mind,” Susannah piped up a bit later, turning the music down. “It’s the least I can provide, if you’re driving.”
“It’s okay, I’m billing you for the time, remember?”
“Right. Isn’t it nice we’re back on familiar ground, Doctor?” Susannah folded her arms over her chest, looking out the side window.
If Tess didn’t know better, she might have thought Susannah’s feelings were hurt this time. They did keep stumbling into each other that way, finding every sharp edge that hadn’t been sanded away yet, falling over every tripwire when it came to volatile topics. “Just keeping the business side ticking over,” Tess offered. “Doesn’t mean it isn’t…nice to be going out with you today.”
That got her a pointed look, but Tess concentrated on the light traffic in front of them.
“You made it sound like a chore earlier,” Susannah said.
“Going to see some new horses isn’t a chore. And neither is being around you. Just because of that little mistake the other week…well, doesn’t mean we can’t still be friends. We obviously need a bit of practice at it.”
“Was it?” Susannah asked after a moment, staring resolutely at the road ahead as though she were the one driving. “A mistake for you? Only you seemed fine with the idea until you got the wrong end of the stick.”
Tess gripped the steering wheel harder. Great. Nothing made humiliation more fun than reliving it. “I gave you a pass at the time, Your Ladyship. You did something. You regretted it. Sure, you got those regrets a little quicker than most, but I understand.”
“I’m beginning to see you don’t understand at all,” Susannah replied, snippy again.
Unfortunately snippy and bossy both looked extremely good on her. Time for Tess to stare dead ahead, Susannah’s gaze burning into her cheek.
“If you had listened to my explanation, you’d have heard that it was nothing to do with regret,” Susannah said. “In fact, I don’t regret it even now, despite you being utterly impossible.”
“It’s coming up on the right,” Tess said, beating the SatNav to it by a few seconds. “And what do you mean you don’t regret it? Nobody ducks out of a second kiss like that with no reason.”
“I did have a reason. I was pausing, and it wasn’t about you. It was just…reacting to you. To that kiss. And it was very much worth taking a moment to reflect on. Until you jumped to the wrong conclusion, anyway.”
Tess told herself it was the bassline of the song hammering in her ears, but it was barely audible. The kiss wasn’t a regret. The kiss really had been worth taking a moment to appreciate. Did that mean Tess and her temper had skipped out much too soon? Did she really dare hope that the hot, powerful lady of the manor might still be open to yet further kissing? That was definitely something to find out. Preferably not while operating a moving vehicle.
“Well, it was the only conclusion available to me in the moment.” Tess had to hope that sounded like enough of an apology without actually being one.
Susannah opened her mouth as if she was going to argue, but she cleared her throat and nodded instead. “This is it,” she said. “We’re here.”
Chapter 16
As journeys went, it hadn’t been as excruciating as it might have been. Still, Susannah practically jumped out of the car the moment it came to a stop. The ground was muddy even right outside the farmhouse, and she suspected the reason these horses were available would be purely financial.
Tess took the lead without having to be asked—that easy way she had of connecting with people, leaving Susannah at a disadvantage. While it probably didn’t help with her standoffish reputation, it at least gave her a chance to watch Tess, to see her lay on the easy charm and show off her knowledge as they walked out to the paddock. Two grand black horses were wandering around, content in each other’s company.
“We’re moving up to town, where our son has his house. Done well for himself,” the farmer was explaining, beaming with pride, even though he looked exhausted, in his overalls and flat cap. His beard was patchy and his fingers were stained with nicotine. “My wife always said as soon as the farm got too much work, she wanted a touch of the good life. I owe her that much by now.”
“And you don’t have any other livestock?” Tess ducked through the paddock fence to approach the horses.
“No, all sold on now. Or slaughtered. Sorry,” he added, nodding to Susannah, clearly deciding she had delicate sensibilities. “Just how it is on a working farm.”
“I’m well aware, thank you.” Susannah cringed at how uptight she sounded and followed Tess through the wooden bars, swinging her leg through without much thought.
Having made her initial assessment, Tess looked up. “They’re both in