Free Anything You Ask by Lynn Kellan Page A

every inch of his head, tickling her fingers along the rims of his ears until she spotted a rise of gooseflesh along the side of his neck.
    Danielle was tempted to look beneath his green t-shirt to see how far the shivers went, but she resisted the urge to pull off his shirt. The poor man had a headache, after all.
    Devoting her energies to caressing his head, she smiled when his solid hands unfurled against his jeans and his bare feet hung limp over the edge of the couch. By the relaxed look of him, someone could pinch him right now and he wouldn’t flinch.
    Something soft flopped against Danielle’s bare foot. She peered over the edge of the couch and realized Cocoa’s velvety ear had unfurled across her toes.
    The lab was on the floor, lying on her back just like her master.
    “Your dog looks as tired as you do,” she observed.
    “Mm hmm.”
    “You don’t even have the energy to open your eyes, do you?” Worried, Danielle laid her hand across his forehead to check for fever. He felt warm. Worry pinched her stomach. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
    “Yeah.” He pointed to his hearing aid. “Mind if I take this off? I won’t be able to hear if I do.”
    “Go ahead.”
    Putting the device in the case he always kept in his pocket, Hale turned on his side and slid one of his hands under Danielle’s thigh using her leg as a pillow.
    She trailed her fingers down the base of his neck. His skin was a warm nutty color from all the hours he spent outside. Grateful for how hard he worked to make this farm come alive, she rubbed his shoulder.
    His low voice vibrated deep in his chest. “That feels great. Don’t stop.”
    “You deserve a massage. No one else works harder than you.”
    He didn’t hear her. Danielle bit her lip in regret, embarrassed she forgot he was deaf. He compensated for his disability so well, she often forgot he was profoundly deaf in his right ear.
    Now that he was sidelined by fatigue, his deafness became more self-evident and he missed the conversational cues he normally caught. She tried to think of a time when she’d witnessed him wallow in self-pity and came up with none.
    Transferring her attention to his remarkable back, she caressed the strong contours from his shoulders to his waist. She could tell Hale liked what she did, because he shifted to give her better access. She traced circular designs down his spine toward the ribbon of skin exposed near the waistband of his jeans.
    He let out a soft grunt and shuddered.
    Danielle had to admit she liked touching him. The years of working on a ranch had hardened Hale’s body to perfection. He’d become a rugged, good-looking man.
    He was strong enough to fling a seventy-five pound bale of hay like it weighed little more than a gallon of milk. His strength made her go weak in the knees, but his gentleness melted her heart. On the evenings when her boys fell asleep watching baseball, Hale would carry them upstairs like they were encased in eggshells, frail and delicate.
    Whenever she witnessed such unflagging tenderness couched in such a powerful body, she wanted to jump into the safety of his arms and kiss his face. She didn’t dare give into the impulse for fear of jeopardizing their agreement. She’d promised to leave and give him the farm, so she needed to keep things simple. With that in mind, she settled for kissing her fingertips and pressing them against his shoulder blade in silent thanks for everything he did today.
    The moment was bittersweet. She was beginning to realize she’d loved Mark for what he used to be. Hale, on the other hand, was a man she could love as he was.
    Her cell phone rang, prompting Cocoa to scramble upright to nuzzle Hale’s arm. He cast a questioning glance over his shoulder at Danielle, who handed him a pillow as she got up to answer the call.
    Even though he couldn’t hear her, she carried her phone to the office. When she finished the conversation, she walked back into the living room and