Linda Goodnight - Lone Star Bachelor

“He and Manny are hauling bulls to the sale.” Allison pumped her arm once. “Cha-ching. Gotta buy baby some pretties.”

She reached for the doughnut box on the counter and flipped the lid open with an approving moan. “These are amazing. Which do you think is healthiest? The Bavarian cream? Does that count as dairy?”

Jaylee snorted. “If you’re going to eat one, pick the one you like best. Healthy and doughnuts are incompatible terms.”

Sawyer reached across the counter and took a chocolate-iced pastry. “Coke, popcorn and doughnuts. My breakfast of champions.”

Jaylee swatted at him with a stack of paper. He laughed and added, “I promise to eat a salad for lunch. Anything I need to know before I head on over to the job site?”

“Dad’s in the back. He wants to talk before you leave.”

Beyond the office space was a conference area for family and vendor meetings and anything else that required a gathering place. Quinn, the family architect, worked there for peace and quiet and because he’d been a reclusive grump since moving home from Dallas a couple of years ago. However, since falling in love with Gena Satterfield, the local nurse practitioner, Quinn was a lot easier to be around.

“Sure thing.” Sawyer sauntered through the doorway, mouth full of fried dough. Dawson followed.

When he saw the woman standing stiff as the Statue of Liberty at the end of a long table, he nearly choked.

The fiery attraction he’d hoped was a fluke seared up the back of his neck.

His father, standing next to her, waved them in. “Sawyer, I think you’ve met Jade Warren from the private investigation firm.”

Sawyer battled the doughnut and managed to swallow down the thick lump.

The attraction was an entirely different matter. It raced through his bloodstream like molten lava. Nice. And weird.

He liked fun-loving, happy women with sunny dispositions and lots of laughter. Why did he find the serious, unfriendly Jade so compelling?

“Well, if it isn’t Nancy Drew.” He offered an intentionally flirty smile, hoping to loosen her up a little.

Her icy stare knocked the smile right out of him. She nodded once, a head bob that was both dismissal and acknowledgment.

Did anything rattle Miss Prim and Grim?

“Let’s have a seat,” Dad was saying as he pulled out a chair for Jade. Sawyer would have done that. Wanted to do it. Instead he seated himself across from her and noticed she’d changed clothes. She was still buttoned to the top in a choke hold that could take out a sumo wrestler, but the light purple color looked good with her eyes.

Yeah. He was noticing way too much about a woman who really didn’t want to like him.

He folded his arms on the tabletop and let his gaze linger on her deceptively sweet face while she talked in that crisp, no-nonsense manner that made him straighten his posture.

“Your father is creating a list of disgruntled employees.” She flipped open the spiral notebook. “I’d like each of you to do the same for cross-referencing purposes.”

Sawyer exchanged looks with Dawson and they both laughed. They still had the twin radar at times, knowing what the other thought. “Disgruntled? Would that include us brothers? We stay disgruntled.”

“But Dad won’t let us stop working.” Dawson lifted his coffee cup in a salute.

Dan Buchanon smiled slightly. “My boys like to joke around.”

“I see that.” But she didn’t crack a smile. “Does anyone come to mind immediately? Anyone who was fired, injured on the job, or caused a problem? No matter how small or seemingly insignificant the issue, I need to know.”

The four men mentioned a handful of people but stalled out quickly. They ran a reputable business and treated employees well. Dan, a workaholic, could be tough and demanding, but Brady, Mom and the three sisters kept things running smoothly so that most employees loved to work for the Buchanons.

Everyone wanted to come to the Buchanon Built Christmas party and the Fourth of July cookout, the place where Dan handed out bonuses and gifts and goodies to show appreciation for the previous six months of success.

“This business goes back many years to Grandpa. Maybe our bad guy goes that far back, too.” Dawson’s usually serene face was troubled. “I’ll give the list more thought.”

Sawyer nodded. “Sure. I will, too.”

“Have we provided enough to get started?” Dan pushed up from the table. He really was a workaholic. Sitting around for too long made him antsy.

Jade stood as well and tapped a pen against her notebook. “I want to see the vandalized sites today if possible.”

“No problem.” Dad aimed a finger toward Sawyer. “Sawyer will show you around. You can use the time to discuss anything in his past that may have set someone off on a vendetta.”

“Dad! Come on. I’m not the guilty party here. And I have important work to do.”

Dan held up a hand, his universal signal for “don’t argue.”

“Dawson can handle your load today.” To Dawson, he said, “Call Clare Hammond to help out in Sawyer’s place.”

“Works for me.” Dawson knocked back the last of his coffee and pushed to a stand. “Clare’s a pro, almost as good as us.”

Sawyer liked working with her, too. He could actually make Clare laugh, something he couldn’t say for the PI. But maybe if he and Jade Warren spent some time together, if she got to know him better, she might loosen up. Maybe he’d even convince her that he was a good guy—a long shot, he thought with humor, but he was always up for a challenge.

And when had he ever refused a day off with a beautiful woman?

* * *

Jade’s sensible shoes crunched on the gravel parking area outside the Buchanon offices as she made her way to her practical white Chevy. Even after driving her motel neighbor to the store and back, she’d arrived with plenty of time to spare for the meeting with the Buchanon boss. Now that she’d met the main man in person Jade felt better, more in control.

She wished her feelings were the same about Bailey Shaffer. The kid with the cute baby boy was barely seventeen and completely alone. No education, no job, no transportation. If not for public assistance, she and baby Ashton would have nothing. Bailey seemed like a sweet girl, and her love for Ashton showed on her face and in every action. She was a good, if too young, mother in a very bad situation.

Jade shook her head, knowing she should be focused on the job instead of the teenage mother. But she hurt for the girl and worried about her and the baby.

Sawyer Buchanon was behind her a few paces, having stopped to grab a doughnut from his sisters. He’d offered her one but she’d refused. She didn’t know why. She loved doughnuts, especially the ones with chocolate icing and lots of sprinkles, but she didn’t want Sawyer to think he could beguile his way under her skin.

Again, she couldn’t put a finger on what it was about him. He ruffled her and she didn’t like the feeling. It felt like attraction and that scared her. She had always been a sucker for handsome, smiling men until Cam Warren taught her a lesson she couldn’t forget. She knew her weaknesses, so she had to be careful. She would not be a victim again.

“Hey, Jade. Hold up.”

She stopped, one hand on her car door, keys ready. Sawyer ambled in her direction, the sun glinting on his black hair. He was built tall, like his brothers and father, lean, well-proportioned and fit, with long legs that ate up the ground in no time. She observed him as she would a suspect, wondering what kind of man lived inside that too-perfect body.

Her stomach clenched. Or was that flutters? Awareness flutters.

Annoyed to think it might be, she bit out a reply. “What?”