“Hello? Is anyone here?”
“Damn! It’s Jo-Jo!” Roused instantly to wakefulness, she leaped from the bed. “What are we going to do?”
“Not much we can do.” Keith shrugged, tossing her a boot as she snatched up her clothes. “Either we ignore her and hope she gives up looking for you, or we go out there and admit we’re caught.”
“I can’t let her see us like this!” she hissed, frantically wriggling into her jeans.
“Coward.” He jerked his on as well and stomped into his boots. “Do you really think we can hide this from her?” His gaze narrowed. “Or is that what you really want, Miranda? To keep our relationship a secret?”
“Of course not!” she protested. “But how is it going to look to her? You just got here, and we’re already…”
“We’re what?” He cocked a brow.
“We’re…we’re…” She flushed deep pink.
“Can’t say it, Miranda?” he taunted.
“I could if I knew what it was!” She threw her arms into her blouse. “What are we doing anyway, Keith?”
“Your shirt’s inside out,” he remarked calmly.
“Crap!” she cried.
“Miranda? Keith? Are you here?” Jo-Jo pushed the bedroom door open.
Miranda gasped. Keith was still shirtless, and Miranda’s was inside out. She also wore only one boot. Jo-Jo regarded them, her forehead puckered and lips pursed, as her gaze raked over their half-dressed state. “I…um…we were just…er…ah…” Miranda stammered.
Keith stepped forward. “Miranda was just helping me to get settled.”
Jo-Jo’s frown deepened as she took in the disheveled bed. “I can see that,” she replied.
“I know how this looks,” Keith said, “but I swear I meant no disrespect to you, Miz Sutton. Maybe I should go.”
“Please, no,” Miranda whispered, almost a prayer. She held her breath for several agonizing seconds. She feared she’d pass out from lack of oxygen before Jo-Jo finally exhaled an exasperated sigh.
“I don’t think it needs to come to that.”
Miranda blew out an echoing breath.
“I just came by to see if you needed anything.” Jo-Jo averted her eyes as Miranda handed Keith his shirt and adjusted her own clothes.
“I don’t think so,” Keith replied evenly. “But thank you for asking.”
“We need to go to the co-op tomorrow for fencing supplies,” Miranda said. “After that, I figured we’d drive up to the Wal-Mart in Butte. If he needs anything, I’ll take care of it.”
“Absolutely not. You’ll take my credit card and charge whatever you need to my account,” Jo-Jo said.
“Don’t trouble yourselves on my behalf,” Keith interjected. “If I need anything, I’ll get it myself.”
“Don’t be silly,” Jo-Jo said. “You came here to help us.”
“I didn’t come as a hired hand, Miz Sutton. I’ll pay my own way.”
“Please call me Jo-Jo,” she insisted. “I don’t think we need to stand on ceremony, especially now,” she added dryly. She then turned toward the door. “Supper’ll be ready in an hour. I’ll expect you both.”
Miranda stared after her grandmother for a long, speechless moment.
“Is she always so open-minded?” Keith asked.
“In some things I suppose, but this is all new territory,” Miranda replied. “I’ll talk to her as soon as I go inside. I don’t want this to get any more awkward than it already is.”
“I should talk to her. I’m the one who committed the trespass.”
“You certainly weren’t alone, Keith. And if anyone is really guilty, it’s me. I knew you wanted to keep things platonic.”
“Maybe that was my initial intent,” he said, “but that plan went out the window the minute I saw you.”
“Really? I never would have guessed it by the way you acted.”
“Because I’m better at hiding my feelings than you are. You wear everything on your face, Aiwattsi.”
“Then you have me at a strong disadvantage. I don’t know how to read you at all.”
“Am I really so hard?” he asked.
“Yes. You are.” She frowned. “I can’t seem to figure you out, no matter how hard I try.”
He smiled. “Then I’ll try and make it easier for you.”
“I wish you would,” she replied with a slow grin. “I feel like I’ve been riding a roller coaster since I met you.”
One corner of his mouth curved upward. “That makes two of us.”
“What are we doing, Keith?” she asked. “I’m not trying to pressure you. I just need to know. Is this just fucking?”
“I thought you hated dirty words.”
“I do,” she said. “But if that’s all this is, there’s no point in sugarcoating it.”
“Is that what you think this is?” he asked.
“No,” she replied. “It’s never felt like that with you. What we just did and how we did it was really naughty”—she blushed—“but in a fun way. It didn’t feel cheap or dirty.”
He grinned. “Maybe in time you’ll grow to like cheap and dirty.”