Free Drifting into Darkness by J.M. La Rocca Page A

doing?” Answering sarcastically probably wasn’t the best way to answer the boss’s son, but I couldn’t help it. He fueled the smartass in me. Maybe I had a problem with blurting things out too.
    He raised an eyebrow at me and I could have sworn I saw the start of a smile on his face, but I wasn’t sure. “Hop on down,” he gestured with his gloved hand, “and I’ll move it for ya.”
    I wanted to say, ‘no, really, I’ve got this under control,’ but then I saw his gloves.  I definitely needed a pair. It must have been sweetcorn because the juices were all over my hands causing my fingers to stick together. Plus the smell that was wafting up from the corn sitting on top of each other in this heat was really foul, making my hands stink. So instead, I said, “Great, thanks,” as I walked to the edge and jumped off, not so gracefully.
    He jumped into the bed of the truck like a pro and stood there for a moment assessing the pile. I, on the other hand, stood there and assessed him from the backside. The back of his shirt looked soaked through with sweat and I could tell his butt really filled out his jeans. It was definitely round and muscular and I wouldn’t be lying if I said that was a real turn on.
    Then, without hesitation, he reached in, grabbed an arm full of corn from the top of the pile, and brought it down closer to the tailgate. He repeated this process eight times. Then he gently shoved the corn closer to the edge with his boot.
    I stood there and watched the entire time. He snuck glances at me a few times, but kept quiet. Then, without a word, he hopped off the truck and walked toward the bags of corn.
    “Thanks,” I mumbled to his retreating back. I’m sure he didn’t hear me, but I really didn’t care. He was nice to look at but his talking skills needed some improvement.
    I continued filling my bag as Landon walked back and forth, carrying the bags to his truck. When he got to the last two bags, I watched him walk out. I knew he wouldn’t be coming back in, but I wanted to make sure he left so I could focus on what I was doing. His presence had a magnetic pull and I was forced to watch his every move. It was weird.
    I heard the truck door close and sighed with relief. I lifted my hand to my face to wipe away the sweat, but as soon as my hand got close I almost gagged. Reaching down, I grabbed my shirt and used that to wipe my face instead, not wanting that awful smell all over my face. Then I went to the little fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. I drank half of it then used the other half on my hands. I had to keep bagging corn, but at least the smell wouldn’t be so bad.
    I wasn’t sure how much time went by before Lisa showed up, but I had bagged another 8 bags by myself. She walked in with a smile on her face. “Hey, sorry that took so long. Nan wasn’t feeling well so she asked me to stay up there for a bit to take care of the customers.”
    I finished tying up my bag and dragged it over to the pile. “Oh, I thought you went to see Derek,” I said as I used my forearm to wipe the sweat from my forehead. I was pooped. This had to be the hardest work I’d ever done. But it wasn’t even the work. It was the heat. If it was air conditioned, I’d be fine.
    “Yeah, I did. He was up there with me and then Landon showed up with the corn. It seems like he’s in a bad mood today. Ya know how sometimes ya can just look at someone’s facial expression and can tell when they’re pissy?” she asked me and I nodded my head. “Well, that’s exactly what he looked like when he arrived at the office.”
    “Hopefully, he keeps it to himself, because sweating your butt off in the heat does not equal a great mood by the end of the day,” I laughed.
    “Don’t I know it? Durin’ that time of the month, I need to wear a sign that says ‘Don’t fuck with me!’ Derek learned the hard way.” We both laughed. I was not looking forward to that time at all. I had horrible PMS. I guess