Quick Info~

Yay! Chapter Four is finally here! After leaving you guys with a cliffhanger, I hope that this chapter will satisfy some of your curiosities! I really hope that it meets your expectations! Please don't hesitate to let me know what you think :) It's a little bit shorter due to the way I've outlined future chapters, but I think it fits its purpose well. To those of you following/favoriting/reviewing/reading, thank you once again! I could probably say thank you a million times and still not feel like I've thanked you enough!

"I'm sorry, what?" Annie blinked once, then twice, and stared at Raeger incredulously.

He merely shrugged. "It was just a suggestion. If you don't like it, just say no and I'll gladly take the couch."

"You're a guest. The couch is off-limits," Annie said, feeling her stomach flip-flop despite the strength in her voice.

"And you kindly took me in. You deserve to sleep in your own bed."

"We're not going to agree on this." Annie shook her head and she wondered if he could feel the heat she was sure was radiating off of her cheeks.

"Seems like it," Raeger agreed. "But just so you know, I would never—"

"No, I wasn't implying that—"

"—do anything inappropriate."

"—you want to sleep with me," Annie finished.

They both stared at each other, Annie's horrified expression combatting Raeger's detached tone. He managed to put things so mildly, like every syllable of his sentence was engulfed in casual bluntness. Annie, however, barreled through her words with the suavity of a bull in a china shop.

Raeger's eyes widened as the faintest tint of pink popped up on his cheeks.

"I guess that falls under the category of inappropriate," he said, his voice quiet yet still slightly amused.

"Sorry," Annie said. "I didn't mean to offend you. It's just that—"

"The rumors?" Raeger raised his eyebrows.

"What?" Annie asked.

He laughed and Annie blinked in confusion.

"You're not going to legitimately tell me that you haven't heard the thousands of rumors about my playboy past?"

Annie thought back to her conversation with Lillie. All of the girls had had crushes on Raeger. Sometimes girls from the City would occasionally visit to give him flowers or chocolates on holidays, but Annie couldn't recall a time that he returned their affections.

"Having girls fawn over you doesn't make you a playboy," Annie said.

The kettle began to whistle loudly as Raeger contemplated Annie's statement. He was right; she did forget about it. Annie stood and made her way over to the stove. She poured the hot water into a carafe packed neatly to the brim with coffee grounds. She hoped Raeger liked his coffee strong.

"You've got to be one of the most open-minded people in this town, then," he said, turning around on the couch to face her while she worked.

Annie quirked an eyebrow, unsure whether or not he was complimenting her. "Well I don't know about that, but I do know that you haven't given me a reason to believe what people say."

She poured the coffee into two mugs and carried them over to the couch. She handed him one mug and then cupped her hands around her own, feeling warmth seep back into her palms.

Raeger laughed, brushing one finger around the rim of the mug absently. "I don't think I can say the same about you, though."

"What?" Annie asked, bringing the mug to her lips.

"A lot of the guys in town say you're one of the most beautiful girls they've ever met, and I've got to tell you that I do believe what they say," Raeger said, smiling at her.

Annie felt the coffee hit her throat at an alarmingly hot temperature. Choking, she attempted to set the mug down but only managed to spill it all over the couch. Sheepishly, she looked up at him and cleared her throat, her eyes watering.

"I'll go grab some paper towels," she said, quickly standing and rushing towards the sink.

Raeger merely chuckled and stood to help her. Annie was entirely flustered by the sudden turn of events and couldn't focus on anything that wasn't Raeger. He had just told her that he thought she was beautiful. And, not only that, but he had told her after he suggested that they sleep together…all while remaining shirtless.

Part of her was hoping that this was all some giant prank orchestrated by the townspeople. She hoped that Raeger was in on it and that the town just wanted to see their tough-as-nails farmer clumsily make a fool of herself. Feelings were too real and far too scary, especially with someone as confident as Raeger was.

"Looks like it'll take awhile for this to dry. It got underneath the cushions," Annie said, bending over and pressing the last paper towel against the soaked fabric.

"I'm sorry if I caused this," Raeger said, his face only a few inches from hers as he dabbed his own paper towel against the cushion.

"No, the heat of the drink just caught me off guard," she lied.

Raeger nodded and kept quiet, although she was sure he saw through her thinly veiled attempt. After they had cleaned as much as they could reach, Annie threw the wad of coffee-scented paper products into the trash and placed her hands on her hips.

"I don't know about you but today has been one of the longest days and I'm ready to go to bed," she said, exhaustion replacing the thoughts swirling around in her brain.

"So does this mean you're going to take me up on my offer?" Raeger asked.

She shrugged. "I guess I don't have much of a choice, do I?"

"Looks like it."

"Well played, Raeger," she said, a flirty smile making it's way across her face.

"I promise I'll be the perfect gentleman," he said, smiling back in his own nonchalantly flirty way.

When they climbed into bed, Annie felt like every move she made was awkward. She couldn't grab too much of the covers and she definitely couldn't sprawl out like she usually did. It was like no matter where she moved he was there. His skin was warm and smooth, and her fingertips found themselves wanting to trace every inch of him. But instead, she resorted to awkwardly curling up against the wall, her back to him.

"We both might be more comfortable if we at least try and act like the other doesn't have the plague," Raeger whispered, turning his head to the side to face her.

"I wish I was awake enough to argue with you," Annie mumbled, rolling over and finding him there.

She nestled into his chest and felt his hand cup the curve of her waist gently. She placed one hand in the space where his left collarbone ended, but before his right collarbone began. She felt his heart beating slowly underneath her fingertips. Blinking a few times, she stared into the night and wondered if he could possibly know how fast her own heart was beating.