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.He contemplated how she was not going back to work, even though it seemed her choices might be putting her career in jeopardy.It seemed to him that despite both their best efforts to control their worlds, they were failing, as if it was impossible to fight something else that was going on.Something that was greater than both of them.It wasn’t until he left, a few minutes later, a stack of posters under his arm to distribute around town before he came back out to the farm in the morning, that Sam was able to think clearly again at all.And his thoughts?Sam, you are getting in way over your head.It was easier, once her scent was not tickling his nostrils, to see this as a business opportunity.And, to see, ever so clearly, it was up to him to keep it that way.Even if they never ended up doing a deal after all.CHAPTER TWELVEHANNA CAME AROUND the corner of the workshop and crashed headlong into Sam.He righted her and then quickly put her away from him.She was aware that today he was trying to keep the distance between them, and she was also aware that while she should be nothing but grateful to him, she was finding his chilliness frustrating.“What are you doing?” she asked.“Nothing,” he said, too quickly.He ground something into the snow under his foot.“Oh, my God, Sam Chisholm, were you smoking?”He glared at her.She leaned into him, and sniffed.How wrong was it to find that faintly smoky aroma dangerous and sexy?“You said you only smoked when you were stressed.What on earth are you stressed about? It’s a Christmas tree farm!”His eyes flitted to her lips.So, he wasn’t quite as indifferent to her as he had been letting on! she thought, trying to squash the curl of satisfaction she felt.“I’m not stressed,” he said.“I’m freezing.It snowed last night.I’ve spent the whole morning shaking snow out of trees.”“You’d think you would figure out that there is not a leather coat for every occasion,” she said, eyeing his beautifully distressed bomber style jacket meaningfully.She could smell the aroma of that, too.“That’s sacrilege,” he warned her.“No, sacrilege is smoking at Christmas Valley Farm.This is a wholesome family operation.”Or had been.Until—“Like Disneyland,” he said sardonically.“Exactly.”He took a slow look around.“Okay.Maybe not exactly like Disneyland.Still, there’s no room for crankiness here.If you don’t have the right attitude, I might not be able to sell you the farm.”It felt as if she had told him a secret.And herself, too.“Are you reconsidering selling me the farm?” he asked her.She didn’t say anything.“Because of my crankiness?” he demanded softly, “or because of something inside you?”“Because of your crankiness,” she said, firmly.She was not ready to look at the longing being home on the farm was creating in her.“Huh,” he said with utter disbelief.“If you are not going to sell me the farm, there is absolutely no reason for me to be freezing my backside off shaking snow from trees.”“I didn’t say I wasn’t going to sell it to you.I said you need the right attitude.”“Oh,” he said, “wholesome.”He took a step toward her.The look in his eyes was about as far from wholesome as you could get!She felt her eyes go wide.Was he going to kiss her? Just to show her he was not the least bit interested in being wholesome? And never had been? She gulped.She ordered herself to step away from him, but she didn’t.She held her ground and tilted her chin.He moved slowly toward her, a wicked light gleaming in his eyes, and an unreadable smile on his lips.And then he ducked down, picked up a handful of snow and began to form it into a ball in his hand.She read his intent immediately.With a small shriek, she turned and ran.The snowball whistled by her ear.“How’s that for wholesome?” he called.She ducked behind a stand of trees, picked up her own handful of snow.If there was one thing he could not beat her at, it was a snowball fight! She stepped out from behind the trees, and threw.The snowball hit a glancing blow off his shoulder, and exploded.He looked astonished, and then with a war cry, the fight was on!Hanna shrieked with laughter, ducking in and out of the noble firs as his snow missiles landed all around her.Finally, he caught her, tugged her to the ground, and straddled her.He shoved snow down her coat until she begged for mercy, and then he rolled off her, and they lay side by side in the snow gasping for air, looking at the sky.“How did you leave all this?” he asked her.“Why didn’t you ever come back? You must have missed it.”She contemplated that.“I think I’d convinced myself I didn’t miss it.I remembered all the hard work and not any of the good parts.My relationship with my parents wasn’t good by the time I left here.Returning seemed painful.”“It wasn’t good? That surprises me.You just seemed like one of those families who could weather any storm.”“I know,” she said pensively.“It surprised me, too, when we couldn’t weather the storm, when we just all fell apart.”“It must have been a hell of a storm.”Suddenly, she did not want to ruin this perfect moment revisiting that storm.“Are you warm now?” she asked, changing the subject.“Yeah, fine,” he said gruffly.“Trust you to have a wholesome way to warm up.”She hesitated and then she said, softly, “I’m not as wholesome as you think I am.” In fact, that was at the heart of the rift between her and her parents.She had the awful feeling if he showed even a hint of interest, she would unload the whole seedy story on him.He lifted himself up on his elbow and stared down at her
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