Free Anything You Ask by Lynn Kellan

my device. I can hear better now, but sometimes my ear hurts if I wear it for too long.”
    “Do you get headaches often?”
    “Once in a while.” He looked down at the frosty glass in his hands. “I’m surprised Drew got so mad about going to bed. He never complains about that.”
    “He’s ready for summer vacation. Once school finishes, I’ll let him stay up a bit longer.”
    “When you put your hands through his hair, he seemed to relax.” Hale shot her a curious glance. “Would you do that for me?”
    An arc of surprise made her pulse ricochet. Up until now, he’d never asked for a thing. Was he looking for comfort from his pain, or trying to find out if she was willing to bestow more than just medicine?
    Awash with a sudden spike of uncertainty, she gazed at him.
    The muscles along his jaw flexed and he broke eye contact, placing the half empty milk glass on the coffee table before reaching down to shape his palm along Cocoa’s side. The dozing dog acknowledged the touch with a faint snore.
    Poor comfort for a man whose head probably felt like a hammer pounded against his temple. Danielle pulled his arm from the oblivious canine. “She’s not much good to you while she’s asleep. Let me try.”
    With a casual shrug, he braced his forearms on his thighs. “Forget about it.”
    “Shh.” She touched the thick growth of blond hair cropped close to his temple, threading her fingertips through the coarse strands along the side of his head.
    Hale sucked in his breath and jerked his gaze down at the floor.
    She repeated the caress, her cool fingertips tingling from the warmth of his scalp. Now that she was touching him, she didn’t want to stop. He felt good  strong and warm and male  but she wasn’t sure he liked what she was doing.
    His broad shoulders were rigid, his hands fisted, and his gaze averted.
    Compelled to do something for him in return for all he did for her, she curved her fingers along the shape of his head, pulling her hand through his short hair slow enough to watch every straight sand-colored strand flip back into position.
    A distinct shudder passed through him.
    “Here, turn this way a little bit.” She cupped his jaw, turning his face so she could slide both hands into his hair and massage his scalp.
    A thick grunt came out of his throat.
    “No wonder you’ve got a headache,” she murmured. “You got up at the crack of dawn and worked the fields for six straight hours while I was on campus. When I came home, you washed my car and cut the grass. Somehow, you managed to straighten the mailbox before devoting the rest of the day to fixing the grain truck.”
    “How’d you know I worked on the truck?” he mumbled.
    She touched the thin red scrape along his forearm. “I figure you got this from reaching under a metal hood.”
    “Smart.”
    His simple praise made her blush with pleasure. Taking her hands out of his hair, she poked his shoulder. “Lie down.”
    “Huh?”
    “Stretch out on the couch and put your head on my lap.” She scooted back and patted her thigh.
    He did as she asked and looked up. “I’ll buy more chocolate cookies if you keep rubbing my aching head.”
    She pretended to need a bribe to keep touching him. “Those cookies sure are good.”
    “I’ll get as many as you want.”
    “That sounds a little steep.” She stroked his temple. “I think you’re charging yourself too much.”
    “Totally worth it.” He closed his eyes in blissful surrender.
    “You don’t have to get me anything,” she admitted as the clean fragrance of his shampoo wafted up to her nose. Tonight, he’d showered right before supper so he wouldn’t track dirt through the house, which was one of the many thoughtful things he did on a daily basis. She threaded her fingers through his hair and realized he’d gotten blonder after spending so much time in the sun. The thick strands felt vastly different than her sons’ baby soft hair.
    He let out a long sigh as she caressed