“Guy stuff. I’m not allowed to tell you. It’s part of the guy code.”
She turned back to him, her eyebrows dipping. “Did the two of you have a fight?”
“You clearly have no respect for the secrecy of the guy code.”
“One of my many failings.”
Enzo should’ve gone to the crates to empty his bag, but he stayed where he was. He didn’t want to end their conversation yet. “I haven’t noticed many failings in you.” He shot her a smile. “What are the others?”
“Well, today, one might be worrying when I shouldn’t. Do I need to act as a conflict arbitrator for you and Callum?”
Enzo vaguely remembered Ben telling him that harvesters settled differences that way. “No, it was nothing. The kid just warned me to behave myself.”
“Why would he think you weren’t?”
Enzo nearly said, “It’s a mystery. I’m hardworking and punctual. That’s why I occasionally glance at my watch.” But saying something like that would encourage Charity to talk to Callum. The kid would tell her about his suspicions, and Enzo didn’t want him planting any of those in her mind.
He vetoed several more responses for the same reason until the pause grew too long, and she stared at him questioningly. He had to say something. He was only left with the truth. “He’s concerned about the way I look at you.”
Her head jerked in surprise. “The way you look at me?”
“That was my reaction too.” Best to feign innocence. “I haven’t noticed anything odd in the way I look at you. Have you?”
She blinked, flustered. “No.” A blush crept into her cheeks.
He took a step closer, enjoying her discomfort more than he should have. Her blush felt like a compliment. “People look at each other when they talk. That’s normal, right?” His eyes never left hers. He took in each nervous flutter of those lashes.
“Right,” she said.
He took another step toward her. “Although you do have pretty blue eyes, and I suppose when I’m near enough, I can’t help noticing the white starburst pattern that runs through them. Maybe I’ve gotten distracted by that and stared at them for too long.”
She swallowed. “If you have, I never noticed.”
Oh, she’d noticed, and she was staying here with him, alone, instead of making curt excuses to hurry off somewhere else.
They stood close enough that he could reach out and touch her if he wanted. He found, suddenly, that he did want to. Did her hair feel as smooth and shiny as it looked? It would be so easy to lift his hand and sweep the errant leaf from her hair. His fingers could graze against her cheek, and if she didn’t shy away from that touch…
“You have pretty eyes too,” she said. “They’re so dark. I’ve probably stared at them a time or two.”
Neither of them broke the gaze. Any other man in this situation would either ask if he could touch her or do the boldthing and reach out and put his hands on her shoulders, then pull her closer.
“I never noticed you staring,” he said. A lie. He’d totally noticed. And somehow, he found himself, without planning to, taking the leaf from her hair. He barely refrained from grazing his fingers across her cheek. He showed the leaf to her before dropping it to the ground. “You had a stowaway.”
“Oh. Thanks.” She flicked her hair. “Do I have any others?”
She didn’t. “Let me check.” He ran his hand over her hair, feeling the silky tendrils beneath his fingers. Then he ran his hand over it again. Thoroughness was a virtue.
There was no excuse for the third time, but he did it anyway, watching her face instead of her hair. Maybe Callum was right about the way Enzo looked at her. He couldn’t drag his eyes away. And she watched him just as intently, her eyes wide and welcoming, waiting for him to make the next move.
His hand returned to her hair a fourth time. He would pull her closer and kiss her.
As his hands made their way to her shoulders, a noise sounded on the other side of the tree. Two men were coming closer, talking as they approached the row.
Enzo stepped away from Charity, guilt pinging through him like a thief caught in the act. She turned toward the sound of the men, and the break from her blue eyes allowed him a moment of sanity.
What had he almost just done? How had he forgotten that the two of them weren’t alone?
He took a deep breath and put even more space between them. By the time the men passed by, he was nearly himself again. His voice sounded normal as he said, “I’d better go unload these peaches and stop keeping you from your work.”