Jeannie Watt - To Court A Cowgirl

There was something in the unflinching way he assessed his career that touched her. She quickly brushed the feeling aside. “Have you ever torn down a barn?” Or swung a hammer? His father had owned a construction company, but as far as she knew, Jason had never been involved in anything except for sports.

“No. I figure it’s all a matter of logic. Start from the top and work down and from the outside in. One piece at a time.”

Again there was something in his honesty that tugged at her. He didn’t know how to tear down a barn, and he didn’t pretend he did.

“Do you have the equipment necessary to do that job? And to haul away the debris?”

“I have contacts.”

She bet he did.

“Here’s the deal,” he said, tilting his head as he held her gaze. “My dad had a heart attack and almost died. I came home, but if we continue to live in close quarters, he’s very liable to have another because I won’t let him take over my life. I need to be close for the next couple of months in case of emergency, but I also need something to fill my time. Something where I can just...” He shrugged.

Be alone with his thoughts, work through stress. Allie could have finished that sentence for him because she knew the feeling well.

“...do something physical.”

For a moment common sense battled with empathy. She needed the barn hauled away and Jason honestly looked like he needed the job, for reasons other than the money, but this was Jason Hudson. Did she want him on the property, putting her on edge? Because that was what the guy did. He put her fully on edge. On the other hand, the feed-store advertisement he’d taken was one of many, and not one of the ads had produced results.

“One-day trial,” she finally said. “And you have to sign an agreement releasing me from indemnity if you happen to hurt yourself. And I only pay minimum wage.”

His expression didn’t change. “I don’t know how much I can get done in a day.”

“If I’m not unhappy, we’ll talk about another.” He raised an eyebrow and she said, “I don’t like commitment. Take it or leave it.”

She expected him to leave it, but the half smile, which in turn triggered a slow warming sensation in her, told her he wasn’t going to leave it. “Don’t try to charm me,” she warned.

“Into what?”

Bed was the first word that popped into her head. He’d probably charmed a number of women into bed. “Anything,” she said with a snap.

“You got it. No charm. When do I start?”

“Tomorrow,” she said matter-of-factly.

“Sure thing. I’ll go find some tools.”

“And I’ll find those agreements.”

CHAPTER FOUR CHAPTER FOUR CHAPTER FIVE CHAPTER SIX CHAPTER SEVEN CHAPTER EIGHT CHAPTER NINE CHAPTER TEN CHAPTER ELEVEN CHAPTER TWELVE CHAPTER THIRTEEN CHAPTER FOURTEEN CHAPTER FIFTEEN CHAPTER SIXTEEN CHAPTER SEVENTEEN EXTRACT COPYRIGHT

JASON PULLED INTO the family driveway hoping Kate didn’t walk out in a frustrated huff as he walked in. He wanted a little backup when he told the old man about his new “job.” Max was getting stronger every day and had made it clear that he no longer required a sitter. As long as someone was with him when he took his walks—which Jason intended to keep doing—Max didn’t mind some time alone. But that didn’t mean he didn’t want Jason on call.

After he broke the news to his dad, he needed to buy some work clothes and gloves. Boots. And a hard hat. It would be ironic to have spent years in a physical occupation and then get taken out by a falling board or beam.

Except he was pretty certain Allie would laugh her ass off.

Let her. Safety first and all that.

Jason pocketed his keys as he walked into the house. “Hey, Dad. Ready for the walk?”

The dogs jumped to their feet. “Yeah.” Max pushed himself out of his chair. “You’ve been gone awhile.”

“I, uh, took a temporary job.”

“Doing what?”

“I’m tearing down a barn for Allie Brody.”

“I’m not even going to ask how this came about,” he said, grabbing his Vandals cap off the sideboard. He sounded so disgusted that Jason had to fight the urge to laugh. Yes, he was turning out to be quite a disappointment now that he was no longer ripping up the gridiron “Have you ever torn down a barn?”

“No.”

Max simply shook his head and headed for the door, the dogs on his heels. He stopped with his hand on the doorknob. “Are you still living here?”

“Until I buy a place...if that’s okay with you.”

Max nodded and pulled the door open, but Jason had the distinct feeling that the wheels were turning in his head.

* * *

THE NEXT MORNING when Jason showed up at the ranch wearing his new boots, with his new gloves stuffed in his back pocket and the tools he’d borrowed from his dad riding in the back of the truck, Allie was sitting on the porch with a mug of coffee cupped in both hands. As he walked up the path, her gaze traveled over his squeaky clean new work clothes, making him glad he’d left his hard hat in the truck. “You look well outfitted,” she commented.

“I’m hoping to be here for more than one day.”

“We’ll see,” she said, picking up a folder of papers sitting beside her. “I just need some signatures.”

Jason signed and then she gestured at the collapsed barn. “Have at it. I’ll be back from work by four. Do you need anything?”

“I don’t think so.”

Allie drove away not long after, leaving Jason to analyze the structure he was about to disassemble. It’d fallen into a heap after the roof had blown off, and the easiest thing to do would be to dismantle the roof, which lay several yards away in a crumpled mound. His dad had offered to send equipment and operators to dispose of the barn in a day or two, but Jason thanked him and said no. The purpose of his temporary job was to have something to do with his hands as he thought. Watching a guy bash the building with a front-end loader wasn’t going to be the same.

Jason went back to the truck, put on the hard hat, grabbed a crowbar and hammer and set off across the field to where the roof had landed. After circling the thing, he chose a place to start prying wood away from wood and began the dismantling process. Within a few hours, his shirt was soaked from the unseasonably hot May weather and he was getting hungry. He had a nice pile of salvageable two-by-fours, a pile of scrap, a bucket full of old nails...and a whole lot of work ahead of him. He ate while sitting on the tailgate of his truck, studying the ranch. All the buildings had been reroofed recently and most of the buildings had been freshly painted, with the exception of the big barn. There was a large building next to the big barn, canvas stretched over ribs, which had been damaged by debris from the building he was working on. Curious about what was inside, he opened the man door on his way back to the demolition site. There was sand inside. A lot of it. And judging from the barrels stowed in one corner and the tack hanging from the wall, the thing was some kind of a horse arena.

Did Allie ride?

He sorted through what he knew about her and came up with very little other than tying for valedictorian and both belonging to chess club. Not that she ever spoke to him there—not even when they played. They’d pretty much coexisted at Eagle Valley High without a lot of interaction. But he’d known who she was. Thought she was attractive in a cool and distant sort of way. She still was attractive, but he saw now that cool and distant hid a rather prickly personality.

What made Allie Brody so prickly?

Did he care to find out?

Better question—did he dare to find out? Allie was kind of scary.

Jason went back to work, putting in his hours without a break until Allie’s little white car turned into the ranch driveway. Then he grabbed the only tools he’d used that day—the crowbar and hammer—and headed back to his truck as Allie got out of the car. She shaded her eyes as he approached, a smile tugging at her lips. An amused smile. And then he realized he was wearing the hard hat.