She'd like to say everything changed at the moment Gold kissed her. But it didn't. In fact, things returned to normal. Or at least as normal as she could imagine when your boss had kissed you both were conflicted about it.

They danced around each other in the days after the kiss. It wasn't mentioned though she thought about bringing it up more than once. She thought about replaying it more than once too, but had never quite gotten the nerve. It had been a moment, she supposed. She had invaded his space and it had led someplace she had never quite expected.

But it brought about a truth she wasn't quite ready to face. Every time he touched her, and he didn't very often really, she felt the crackle of electricity, the somewhat harsh snap of attraction. She had tried to deny it. He was a difficult man to spend time with, often sarcastic, sometimes downright nasty if the pain got the better of him. He shied away from her touch and from personal questions. She knew almost nothing about him and while she had been open with him on much of her life, he still knew little about her as well.

He didn't ask.

And she wasn't sure if that was for lack of interest or because he simply didn't want to invade her privacy.

But then they had kissed.

And she expected there to be some change.

Soft looks, softer touches, something, anything. But she had not gotten that. He went back to being irate over his missing Scotch. She went back to making his meals. And the passionate kiss in the library was the sort of elephant in the room. It loomed large and yet both pretended it wasn't there.

It had to break sometime.

But something told her he was stubborn, perhaps even more stubborn than she was and that was really saying something. So he would refuse to acknowledge that something had clearly happened between them.

And she would work quietly, subtly, to get him to finally speak of it.

She had to. Or she might go nuts. It was really really bothering her and the more time that went on, the more bothersome the whole thing got.

She often wondered what would have happened if they had ended up in bed together. They almost had. She was as sure of that as she was anything else. But then he had stepped back, and realized what he had done, and apologized. As if he were the only one involved in that kiss. As if she had not wanted it as much as he did in that moment. Instead of going to bed, he had gone back downstairs, her following behind not long after. He had demanded his damned Scotch and she had yelled at him for being stupid enough to attempt the stairs in his condition. They had gone from near-lovers to a fight in what seemed like seconds and instead of spending the night in his bed she had spent the night alone in her own bedroom, locked away from the pain and anger coming from downstairs.

But she thought about that kiss. Often. Probably more often than she would have liked, really. It wasn't the first time she had been kissed. But it had been the first time she had truly felt something and she couldn't let go of that quite so easily as he seemed to.

It was some three weeks after the kiss that Gold finally got off the crutches. He found her in the kitchen as she was making a couple grilled cheese sandwiches for them.

"No time for that now," he said and she whirled around to face him. He stood framed in the doorway and she realized exactly how handsome he really was. His hair was just a touch too shaggy, his nose just a touch too hooked, but he cut a dashing figure in the knitted sweaters he favored and he looked much better leaning on the gold-handled cane than the crutches he had been using.

"The doctor cleared you again," she said with a smile.

"Indeed he did."

"Good." And she wanted to hug him again but she wasn't sure what kind of reception that might get. Nor where it would lead to. So she allowed him to take the lead this time.

"We have work to do," he said and attempted to wave her out of the kitchen.

She shook her head. "Not before lunch we don't." She wagged a finger at him. "You're still on pain medication…"

"For a couple more days," he pointed out.

"And that medication requires food," she finished.

He sighed. "Fine. But once I'm off this medication…"

"You'll get your damned Scotch back," she finished for him. "But not before." And she smirked. He still hadn't discovered her newest hiding place and she suspected he never would. He rarely went into the attic and he certainly didn't bother climbing up the rickety stairs in his condition. It was her little spot to hide things as she saw fit. When he was done with the last of his pills, she'd give it back to him.

She finished grilling the sandwiches and flipped them onto plates. Gold had rather dutifully taken his seat at the table and he grabbed the sandwich almost as soon as she put it down in front of him. He'd get a burned tongue for that one but it didn't even seem to bother him. It was gone before she even got one bite of her own.

"Aren't you done yet?" he asked.

"Eager, are we?" She gave him a look with a raised eyebrow and took a bite of her sandwich.

"We haven't gotten out there with Bandit in over three weeks," he pointed out.

"Well, you haven't." She smirked at him. "Bandit and I have been practicing commands."

"Really now?" She liked that not only was surprise evident in his voice, but also a bit of respect. He was impressed. Oh, he wouldn't admit it. She knew that. But she could also clearly see it in the way he leveled his gaze on her.

She finished her sandwich quickly and as soon as she was done, he was up and moving. She'd never seen someone who had to use a cane move quite so quickly. But he was obviously ready to get out there with the dogs and the sheep and resume everything they had been doing before her disastrous fall and his injury.

Rushing along behind him, they arrived at the base of the hill together. Taz was at his side. Of course he was. The dog was always there, though Gold would put him away while she worked with Bandit. He sent the dog up and around the sheep and this time she had some idea of what was going on, what the whistles meant and how it all worked.

It wasn't any less beautiful. Gold and Taz worked together like a well-oiled machine. And seeing their communication was breathtaking. But it had lost the mystery somehow and she felt almost sad at that. A few more whistles and the sheep were moving on a direct path to them. As they came close, Gold sent Taz around to the side to halt them and then he stepped up closer.

"Watch," was all he said as he used his cane to help push some of the sheep away from the others. When there was a small gap between the two sections of sheep, the large one on the left, the smaller on the right, he called again to Taz. "In here." And the dog crept in between them. The smaller group of sheep peeled off and Taz and Gold in concert herded the larger group into the pen.

When the gate closed behind them, he released Taz from his duties and turned back to her.

"That's a bit of a tight fit," she said, waving a hand at the sheep filling the pen they normally worked in.

"I know. We won't be working with those sheep." There was a slight smile ghosting across his face. "We'll be working with those."

She eyed the other five with a bit of dismay. "But…"

"No buts, Miss French. It's time you started working Bandit out on the field." She started to speak but he held up a hand. "You said you've been practicing."

"Just the commands. Not with sheep." Truth be told she thought about trying to get the sheep into the pen on her own, but she had no clue how to move the animals herself, Bandit was far from ready to do that kind of work and she and Taz were not any sort of team, though the big red and white dog clearly liked her.

She had been pretty sure she would screw it up though. And then she'd have to call David to help. Or tell Gold what she had done. The last thing she wanted to do was lose his sheep. Not only would he be angry, but she was pretty sure she'd never ever hear the end of it. Gold did not seem like the kind of person to forgive all that easily.

"Well, then today's your lucky day, Miss French. You get to try it with sheep. And with my expert guidance, of course." He smirked at her and waved her toward the central part of the field.

"Do you have to still call me that?" She shook her head as she spoke. They had kissed. It hardly seemed like Miss French and Mr. Gold were appropriate anymore.

"It's your name, isn't it?"

"My name is Belle," she pointed out.

"Be that as it may…"

"We…"

"Don't," he said with a hand raised. And she knew that he knew what she was going to say. The elephant. He didn't want to talk about that damned elephant. "Fine…Belle…you win. I'll call you whatever you wish, just go try to herd some damned sheep, will you?"

She laughed. "Excellent. And I'll call you…"

"Gold," he finished for her.

"What? No…"

"No one calls me by my given name."

"But…"

"No one even knows what it is," he added. "Not even Mr. Nolan and he's the closest thing I have to a friend."

"I know it." She crossed her arms over her chest.

"That was…" He paused here, hand waving rather uselessly in the air. "An indiscretion."

The words hit her hard in the chest. Her voice was tight when she next spoke. "Giving me your name or…"

"The name," he said quickly. Then his voice softened. "Only the name."

She took a deep breath, nodded. "Alright then. Show me what's next, oh great teacher." The last was said to lighten the mood, to pull him away from the dark thoughts she could see churning about in his gaze. She would get him to allow her to call him by his given name someday. Today was not the day for the fight.

He watched her a moment longer. "Outruns, Miss…Belle." He glared at her for a moment and she just smiled in response.

"We've been doing those."

"Not like this, you haven't. Bandit knows to work when she can see the sheep close by. But she needs to learn to fetch them from much further away."

She nodded. "Of course." Glancing upwards, she noted the sheep had gone nearly to the top of the hill. "Can she get them from that far away?" Taz could, she knew. She'd seen him bring back the thirty head of sheep easily, even from so far away she could almost not see the sheep. But Bandit was still so new.

"I doubt it," he answered and whistled to Taz. The dog responded instantly and at his command raced out and around the sheep. He made the lift, that moment when the sheep start moving, look effortless. Once the sheep had come down about halfway, Gold whistled for him to lie down and he did so. He whistled for him to move to clockwise around the sheep and when he got out to where he wanted to, another whistle had the dog stopping. "Taz will hold the sheep until released."

"Now you," he said. "Send her around clockwise, opposite where Taz is."

She nodded and stepped up, Bandit on her left. The dog was almost quivering with excitement, waiting to be released. Just a glance at her told Belle that she knew where the sheep were. And so she released her with a quiet command. "Come bye."

Bandit was off like a shot. The arch started perfectly. She went out to the left a little bit, but then started to come in too close. "Use your 'get out' command," he said quickly.

She took the whistle to her mouth and issued the proper command. Bandit didn't respond fast enough and as she came in, the sheep started to panic. The dog was too close, moving too fast. Belle issued one long, loud blast on the whistle and Bandit stopped immediately, laying down and continuing to stare at the sheep.

"Release her," Gold said quietly and as Belle did so and Bandit loped back to her, he continued. "She has to learn respect for the sheep. She doesn't work properly, doesn't listen, she doesn't play the game."

"Is it just a game?" Belle turned to look at him.

His face was serious when he turned to her. "No. It's life." She didn't know what to say to that and so let him work with Taz to put the sheep back where he wanted them. "Again," he said.

All together they ended up doing it about five times before Belle and Bandit got it right together. Bandit had a tendency to want to go too close to the sheep and Belle had a tendency to use the whistle just a hair too late. But with Gold behind her, guiding her, she was starting to be able to tell when Bandit was going to make the move to go closer and she was able to whistle for her to get out.

Gold had actually been impressed with the last outrun. Bandit had gone around right where she was supposed to and managed to lift the sheep and start them moving toward Belle. It wasn't perfect. It wasn't the amazing communication he and Taz had.

But it was a start.

From there, he had her practice the same on the right side and after two semi-successful outruns, had Bandit bring the group straight down to her. Up and back. Nothing more complicated than that. She felt quite accomplished, really. It wasn't much. It was simple. But they had come so far.

"Release her," Gold said quietly after Bandit had driven the sheep almost right to their laps.

"That'll do," Belle said and immediately the dog relaxed and ran toward her, tongue lolling out of her mouth. Gold made his way over to the larger pen and released the sheep and together the group of them fled back up the hill.

Belle watched as they took off, feeling a little dismayed and Gold just grinned at her. "I'll get them this evening, as always." She continued to watch them for a moment and he remained there with her. Finally he spoke again. "Come Miss French…"

"Belle," she said softly, allowing a bit of an amused tone to enter her voice.

"Of course. Come along then, Belle. I believe you've earned the rest of the afternoon off."

She smiled at him and stepped closer to him and for a moment he looked almost frightened. And then she linked her arm through his. He froze. She pulled herself closer and look up at him, grin on her face.

"Come on Tavish. I think you deserve the afternoon off too." She saw him flinch at his given name.

"Didn't I tell you not to call me that?" he grumbled at her.

She laughed. "No, I don't think you did."

"Well, don't call me that."

"Whyever not?" She raised one eyebrow at him. "It's your name, isn't it?"

"Well, yes..." He paused and gave her a frustrated look. "But I'm your boss."

She just shook her head. "Aren't we a bit beyond that now?" She was skirting dangerously close to that elephant he didn't want to talk about. The look he gave her at that was desperate and she could see the plea in his eyes. Don't talk about it. Don't bring it up. I can't face it.

With a sigh she released his arm. "I'll see you back at the house." She strode off with Bandit at her side, leaving Gold to follow slowly behind her.

Well, you screwed that one up old man. But what choice did he have, really? He had thought about going to David Nolan, asking for advice, though he just couldn't quite manage it. He couldn't quite bring himself to admit that he had taken advantage of her.

No, it wasn't quite that.

She had kissed him back and had clearly wanted it as much as he did. He was sure of that the more times he went back in his mind to that moment.

That surprised him of course, but he was perhaps even more surprised that he wanted it like he did. He honestly couldn't remember the last time he had kissed a woman. Ten years at least, maybe longer. He had been divorced for eight, but his wife had left him long before then. Any sort of passion, and there had been admittedly little to start with, had long since gone by the wayside. Before he had the proof she was cheating right in front of him, he was certain of it.

And so it had been a long time. A very long time. He chalked up his inability to get the feel of Belle French in his arms, the feel of her hands tangled in his hair, out of his mind to that fact. He was not one for tender feelings. At least not about women. Treacherous creatures, all. Now dogs? Dogs he could trust. They gave you their loyalty and their love and never once betrayed you, didn't leave you for someone else. The only betrayal he'd ever had by dogs was their dying far too young. In a lot of ways, he still hadn't gotten over the death of his childhood dog. He had been the best of the best, though Taz certainly came close.

While Belle French seemed guileless, seemed like the type of woman who would never ever betray someone, he knew better.

Bloody hell.

He really had to stay away from this woman. Perhaps he'd give her the evening off too.