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Damn. “I can only imagine what you went through, particularly during the rodeo finals.”
Finally her features relaxed. “Nothing a good pair of glasses didn’t cure.”
That wouldn’t have deterred him, or most of the guys he knew. “Congratulations on being resourceful, and thanks for allowing me to get to know you better.”
“I know you a bit better, too.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah. You want people to know you’re not just a bull rider. You like the finer things in life but you downplay your wealth. You eat like a field hand and, most important, you’re an incorrigible flirt.”
She definitely had him dead to rights. “Am not.”
“Are, too. I saw you trying your best to charm that poor, exhausted waitress with a wink and a grin.”
He immediately jumped into defensive mode. “I didn’t wink. I only smiled at her. In my book, that doesn’t qualify as flirting. I was being polite, like my mama taught me.”
She held up her hands, palms forward. “Hey, don’t get your chaps in a twist. I didn’t say it was a horrible trait. It’s just part of your personality. Something that is second nature to you. And it’s obvious you know how to contain it. You’ve not once ever attempted to flirt with me to get your way.”
Did she want him to flirt with her? “Would it have worked?”
“Absolutely not.”
Figured. “If you think about it, you’ve only seen me at my worst. Banged up and pissed off.”
“And cranky.”
He grinned. “Cranky Calloway. That’s the best one so far.”
They shared in a laugh until Ashley came back with the tray filled with his food and the requested pot of coffee. For the next few minutes, Jill picked at her honey-covered toast while he shoveled his food down like it might disappear. He looked up from the last bite of pancakes to find one pretty amused athletic trainer staring at him.
Houston pushed his plate away and sat back against the booth. “That hit the spot.”
“I can tell, and you weren’t kidding when you said you would eat fast.”
The way she wet her lips brought about all kinds of questionable thoughts. “I guess you’re going to tell me it’s not good for digestion.”
“No. I was going to say I’m glad you enjoyed it.”
Her mouth held his fascination, and man, oh, man, he liked a woman with a great mouth. He also liked her slightly upturned nose and the dimples creasing her cheek, one more prominent than the other. He liked the way her slender hands moved when she spoke, and the intensity in those green eyes peering at him from behind the glasses. “Good food and good company. Nothing better after a long night.” A long frustrating night, in this case. He hated the damn cast on his wrist and the fact he could be out of commission for weeks, if not months. He really hated that he didn’t know her well enough to kiss her good morning. Or good night. Or all day.
Where the hell did that come from?
“I bet I know exactly what you’re thinking, Houston Calloway.”
Only if she could read minds, and he sure as heck hoped not. “Huh?”
“You’re lamenting the fact you’re injured.”
He wasn’t too injured to stop fantasizing about her. “It is what it is, and I’ve had worse. Dallas is going to be happy to have me home to work on Texas Extreme, although he’s going to question what a one-handed cowboy can accomplish.” In fact, Dallas already had.
“I’m sure you’ll improvise,” she said.
He could improvise when it came to her needs. Too bad he wouldn’t have the opportunity to show her if Dallas offered her the job. Then again...
Houston could just hear his mom now, warning him to remember his raising and to never disrespect a woman. Unfortunately his lying, cheating dad hadn’t followed that advice. He shook off those sorry memories and cleared his throat. “You’re right. I’ll manage.”
Jill dabbed at her mouth and set the napkin aside. “Exactly what will your role be at this rodeo fantasy resort?”
“I plan to be the bull-riding instructor, as soon as I get this contraption off my wrist.”
She moved her plate to one side and pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “When is this venture supposed to be up and running?”
Should’ve been long before now. “We were supposed to be ready to go by next month, but now it looks like after the first of the year. We were warned about constructing a project this big. Expect delays and an increased budget. We’ve got both.”
“You are going to have medical facilities, aren’t you?”
No surprise she’d ask about that, and it was the perfect lead-in to Dallas’s request. But he still wasn’t sure he wanted to bother with doing Dallas’s bidding. “We have a building, with nothing in it yet.”
She perked up like a pup. “You should definitely utilize athletic trainers, if not full-time, on a contract basis. You’ll need someone to manage that, and of course, they would also be in charge of ordering supplies, including safety gear. How close is the hospital?”
“They just built a new one off the interstate, about ten minutes or so away from the ranch.”
“Excellent. You’ll have an emergency room staff readily available, and you should have quick access to EMTs, just in case. Also, I suggest you might want to...”
Houston just sat back and watched Jill talk so fast he only heard half of what she was saying. He didn’t like that he was starting to lust after a lady who wouldn’t give him the time of day under most circumstances. More important, he hated to think he might be forced to see her on a daily basis and not be able to explore all the possibilities with her.
But that was okay. He could control himself around her if this whole employment thing came to pass.
“I’m sorry,” Jill said, garnering his attention.
“Sorry for what?”
She let go a low, sexy laugh. “I’m sorry for rambling on about my ideas for your business. Once I let the passion take hold, I have a hard time stopping it.”
Houston downed half a glass of water in response to the fantasies rolling around in his mind. Like that would help extinguish the heat building below his belt. He seriously needed to get a grip on his libido. “Nothing wrong with being passionate about your work. It’s the best way to get ahead in life. Do what you love and love what you do.”
“For you that’s rodeo,” she stated.
“Yep. And ranching.” And making a woman feel really good all night long.
Jill took a quick check of her watch. “Wow. It’s almost dawn. Way past bedtime.”
Not if he had any say-so in the matter. Down, Houston. “Guess that’s my cue that it’s time to go.”
She put her palm over her mouth and yawned. “I could use some sleep, and I’m sure you should grab a few minutes before Tyler returns. Are you heading back home today?”
“Yep. I hadn’t planned on it, but with a bum wrist, looks like I don’t have a choice. What about you?”
“I’m laying over here until next weekend, then I’ll move to a motel near Mesquite.”
That meant she was free for the week, a good thing if she agreed to the interview, provided he asked her about it. Houston pulled out his wallet and tossed a fifty onto the table. “Let’s go.”
Jill eyed the bill for a few seconds. “Don’t you need to wait for your change?”
Houston slid out of the booth and came to his feet. “Nah. She needs the money more than me.”
“Very generous, Mr. Calloway,” she said as she stood. “I’m sure Ashley will appreciate your contribution to the college fund.”
Knowing he still had the job offer hanging over him, Houston trailed behind Jill as she headed out of the glass door and started toward the car. “I can walk from here,” he told her before she climbed inside the sedan. “I could use some fresh air before I enter that musty room.”
“Suit yourself,” she said with a slight smile. “And if you need any advice on your medical facilities, feel free to give me a call or a text.” She set her purse on the hood, pulled out a card and offered it to him. “Here you go. If I don’t answer immediately, it’s probably because I’m trying to put a broken cowboy back together.”
He’d been that broken cowboy before, and she had always been an expert at trying to put him back together. She was an asset to the rodeo sports medicine program. She’d be an asset to any program. Hell, anyone would be lucky to have her, in a medical sense. Any other sense, for that matter.
It occurred to Houston that he wasn’t quite ready to say goodbye to her yet. Not until he posed the question that could lead to a favorable response, at least for his brother, or a literal slam of the door before she drove away, leaving him to eat her dust as easily as he’d eaten breakfast. But if she agreed to consider coming to work for Texas Extreme, he could still look at her, even if he couldn’t touch her. Even if he’d have to take several cold showers a day until he went back on the road. Damn Dallas for putting him in this predicament.
“Before you go, Jill,” he began, “I have something else I need to say. Actually, it’s an offer.”
She looked more than a little leery. “What kind of offer?”
“One that I’m hoping you can’t refuse.”
Two
The comment robbed Jill of her speech, but only momentarily. “If you’re about to proposition me, you can—”
“Do you want me to proposition you?”
She didn’t intend to hesitate even a split second, but she did. “Of course not.”
“Hey, relax. I have a proposition for you, but I promise it doesn’t involve scooping you up and carrying you into the motel for a little predawn delight.”
That stirred up a few inadvisable images in her muddled mind. “What a relief.”
“Besides, that would be tough to do with my hand in a cast,” he said, topping off the comment with a wily wink. He leaned back against the car, as if he had no intention of going anywhere. “First, a couple of questions.”
So much for getting that snooze any time soon. “All right.”
“Where is your home base?”
“Actually, I don’t really have one. At least not a place of my own. I list my permanent address as my parents’ house in Florida.”
“You travel that much?”
“Most of the year. I live in hotels and motels and the occasional corporate apartment. I don’t even own a car, so I have to rely on rentals, like that sedan you’re polishing with your behind. Why?”
He shifted his weight from one leg to the other. “When you were gone earlier, I called Dallas. And when he found out you were with me, he suggested you might be a good candidate for the medical position at Texas Extreme.”
That threw her for a mental loop. “He’s offering me a job?”
“He wants to interview you first. It’s my understanding you’d have full control over the medical program, hire anyone you want and make all the decisions.”
She considered several problems with that setup and prepared to bat all his arguments away like a practiced tennis player. “Thanks, but I like the job I have.”
“You’d have your own apartment. A brand-new apartment.”
“I have no problem traveling. Makes life less boring.”
“He’ll double your salary.”
He’d just served up a surprise backhand. “How can Dallas promise that if he doesn’t even know how much I get paid?”
He pushed away from the car and smiled. “Doesn’t matter. We can afford it.”
That she didn’t doubt. Still, she realized one serious obstacle remained, and she planned to lob it right to him. “No offense, Houston, but I’m not sure I could work for you.”
“Not a problem. You wouldn’t be working for me. You’d be working for Dallas. Besides, I’ll be back on the circuit before you know it and you won’t have to deal with me.”
Having Houston’s brother as a boss could be a major concern if Dallas Calloway happened to be as stubborn as his younger sibling. And she would still encounter Houston on a regular basis until he took off again for the next rodeo. That wouldn’t be for another two to three months.
But double the salary? She’d be foolish not to give it some thought. She might be a bigger fool if she accepted without knowing all the particulars. “Look, I’d be lying if I didn’t say I wasn’t tempted, but—”
“I can tempt you even more.”
Jill reacted to the deep grainy quality of his voice with unwelcome goose bumps. One more reason she should walk away from him and his blasted offer. Maintaining complete professionalism in his presence could be difficult outside the rodeo circuit considering his persistence, the fact that he wouldn’t be her patient and this idiotic attraction to him that had begun to rear its ugly head. “I believe I have enough to make an informed decision, and my answer is—”
“A ride on a decked-out plane, complete with a fully stocked bar, in case you’re nervous about flying.”
“I’m not nervous.” The slight tremor in her voice betrayed her, but it had nothing to do with the flight. “I can’t count the times I’ve been on a plane.”
“A private plane?”
If he only knew. “Actually, I have.”
He cracked a crooked smile. “Yeah, but you haven’t been on mine.”
Why did everything that spilled out of his mouth sound suggestive? “And your point?”
“I just thought that since I’m done for the season, and you don’t have to be anywhere until this weekend, we could mosey on down to the ranch so you can take a look around before you decide. We have plenty of places for you to stay overnight.”
Overnight? No way. “I believe I’ve heard enough and I really don’t think—”
“Pack an overnight bag, and I’ll see you at four in the lobby,” he said as he started across the lot toward the motel. “And FYI, I won’t take no for an answer.”
Wouldn’t take no for an answer? Ha. Maybe that worked for most women, but Jillian Elizabeth Amherst wasn’t just any woman, a fact he would soon learn. She’d spent a good deal of her adulthood telling people no, from pesky men to her own parents.
Come on, Jilly. Take a chance, for once in your life.
Jill shoved aside her onetime best friend’s words and allowed caution to come into play. She had a decent life, a satisfying job. She liked the travel even if she didn’t care for the solitude at times. She didn’t really desire to have a permanent home or a larger salary, although she wouldn’t reject extra money in most cases. But she surely didn’t need the hassle of trying to avoid a cowboy who had begun to capture her fancy, and imagination. She worried she might not want to turn him down, if the opportunity presented itself.
That reason alone led her to the appropriate decision. When Houston Calloway walked into that lobby this afternoon, he wouldn’t find her there.
* * *
Houston was kind of surprised to see Jill standing there, a blue canvas bag hanging over her shoulder, a larger suitcase at her feet and a ticked-off look on her face. She struck him as one of those organized people, and she probably didn’t appreciate the fact he was ten minutes late for the rendezvous.
“Not much on punctuality?” she said as he approached her, confirming his suspicions.
“Sorry,” he muttered. “I overslept.”
“I didn’t sleep at all.”
She’d said it like that was his fault. “Why not?”
“Aside from having to turn in my rental car, I kept rolling your offer around in my mind, weighing the pros and cons. Instant insomnia.”
No shock there. “Fair enough. Now follow me.”
After picking up her suitcase, Houston escorted Jill out of the lobby to the black limo waiting at the curb. The driver opened the rear door and took the suitcase while Jill climbed inside. She claimed a spot on the lengthy seat on the far side of the limo, while he sat opposite her to maintain a wide berth between them. Otherwise he’d be battling the urge to coax her down onto the gray leather.
Like she’d be open to that. And he sure as hell didn’t understand why he’d suddenly become so damn attracted to a woman who’d been a burr in his butt for two years. Maybe it was just the challenge and the chase. Maybe he’d gone too long without female attention. Maybe it was those dimples and that shiny auburn hair and the way that peach-colored T-shirt enhanced her finer attributes. And damn she smelled good, like the lavender his stepmom, Jen, planted everywhere she could find a scrap of dirt. Jillian’s finer qualities, coupled with her no-BS attitude, presented a mighty fine package. He could so take her on one, hot ride...
“Nice ride,” she said, breaking through his fantasies.
“Only the best. The bar’s fully stocked if you want a drink.”
“No, thanks. When I drink, which is extremely rare, I don’t ever do so before seven.”
He could use a shot of whiskey, but he’d refrain in order to maintain some control over his libido. “Did you have any lunch?”
“I grabbed a sandwich a couple of hours ago.”
When she flipped that thick hair over one shoulder, he wanted to grab a cab and get out of there before he forgot his manners. “We’ll have dinner with the family tonight,” he said.“That would be a welcome change of pace. I tend to have a lot of fast food.”
“I hear you. Nothing better than a home-cooked meal.”
“I agree,” she said before glancing out the window.
Houston still couldn’t quite get a grip on the fact she’d agreed to accompany him in light of all her earlier arguments against it. He sensed Jill might be questioning that decision when she shifted and turned her attention onto the smoky glass partition separating the front from the back. The conversation died during the twenty-minute drive to the private airport and didn’t resume even when they boarded the D Bar C corporate jet.
They settled into the beige leather seats kitty-corner from each other in the main cabin near the onboard bar. Jill stared out the window without speaking, leading Houston to wonder why she would find a hangar so damn interesting.
He snapped his seat belt closed and cleared his throat. “How does this plane compare to the others you’ve been on?”
She tore her gaze from the tarmac and looked around. “About the same,” she said before finally looking directly at him. “Plush seats. Full kitchen with white marble counters. The ultimate in technology, right down to the WiFi. I assume the sleeping quarters are in the back.”
“Yeah. Feel free to stretch out after we take off.”
She rifled through her bag, took out a magazine and began to flip through the pages. “No, thanks. I’m fine right here.”
All talk ceased as they taxied down the runway, and once they leveled off midair, Houston got up and grabbed a beer from the bar fridge. “Want anything to drink? I make a mean gin and tonic.”
“No, thanks,” she said without looking up.
“Glass of water?”
“No, thanks again.”
Jill seemed bent on ignoring him, and that royally ticked Houston off. He took a swig before settling back in the seat. “Did I do something to piss you off?”
She sent him a fast glance and went back to flipping. “Not today.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
After closing the magazine, she looked at him straight on. “I’m sorry. I’m tired. I didn’t intend to take it out on you.”
He suspected there was more to it than fatigue. “Are you sure something else isn’t bugging you?”
“If you must know, my mother left me a voice mail and I listened to it right before I left the motel room. She reminded me that my sister is getting married next weekend and I’m expected to attend. Sometimes her demands rub me the wrong way.”
Houston decided Ms. Amherst had some serious mama issues. “You don’t sound too excited about the nuptials.”
“I’m not. I’ve never been that close to Pamela. She’d didn’t even invite me to be in the wedding party. But I’m five years older and let’s just say she’s always been the favored child.”
He sensed a sorry story there. “Why is that?”
“Pamela is a conformist. She went to college at my parents’ Ivy League alma mater, and she had the good fortune to find the perfect, wealthy, shallow guy. I’m sure she’ll go on to be surrounded by lots of socialites and have two point five children and a membership to the best country club in the country.”
The resentment in her tone took him aback. “Not your scene, huh?”
“Not hardly. I’m the rebel of the family. I went to school in Sin City and didn’t take the time to meet any guys, let alone get engaged to one.”
That was one helluva bombshell. “You didn’t date a single soul in college?”
“I was focused on my career, although I did consider seeking out a professional poker player just to add fuel to the family fire.”
They both laughed for a few seconds before Houston posed another question to keep the mood light. “Don’t you think bringing home a cowboy would’ve done the same thing?”
She mulled that over for a moment. “I wish I’d thought of that. My mother would have been completely beside herself, but at least she might have stopped trying to set me up with some rich, boring, misogynistic narcissist every time I went home.”
Man, she didn’t mince words. Big words. But he’d started to relate a little more to the always serious athletic trainer. He wasn’t a stranger to complicated family dynamics, and he was curious to confirm if they shared another aspect in their background. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but it sounds to me like you come from money.”
She folded her arms beneath her breasts and sighed. “Yes. A lot of money. I had a trust fund that I didn’t bother to touch because it came with conditions.”
That explained why she worked her way through school. “Conditions as in Ivy League schools and no cowboys?”
“Exactly.”
A short span of silence passed before Houston decided to end the quiet for a second time. “I’m glad you let me in on the family problems. For a minute there I thought you were mad at me for forcing you onto a plane.”
Her smile came back out of hiding. “You didn’t force me, and no, I’m not mad at you. I am a little mad at myself for not declining the invitation. This could be a total waste of both our time if your brother isn’t interested in hiring me. Provided I actually want the job.”
“Or it could be a win-win situation. You’ll have a better salary and a permanent place to land, and I’ll earn some points with Dallas.”
She frowned. “Are you holding some sort of competition?”
“Yeah. See who can find the prettiest prospective employee.”
“That’s rather sexist, Calloway.”
“I’m kidding, Amherst. Dallas thinks I haven’t been doing enough for Texas Extreme, so I figure finding someone as qualified as you to head the medical team will help prove my worth.”
“Ah. Now I know your true motives. I could be a notch in your bedpost. I meant notch in your belt buckle. Or is it just belt? Never mind.” Her face looked a little flushed. “What is Dallas like?”
“I thought you’d probably met him.”
She shook her head. “No, but I do know his reputation as an all-around champion cowboy.”
“Do you know Austin?”
“Again, only by reputation. I did catch a glimpse of him during the national finals when I was interning, but I never had the chance to meet him.”
“Is that his rodeo reputation or his reputation with the ladies before he got hitched?”
“His rodeo reputation. With you, I’d say both.”
Ouch. “Aw, come on now. I’m not a player.”
She narrowed her eyes and smirked. “That’s not what I’ve heard.”
“You can’t believe everything you hear in the rodeo world. People like to exaggerate.”
“I’m sure.”
He didn’t care for her cynical tone, or that she believed he was some skirt-chasing cowboy. That would be his half brother Worth, and the minute she met him, she might change her tune. Compared to Worth, he’d look like a saint. “To set the record straight, I had a girlfriend for a couple of years.”
She leaned back and crossed her jeans-covered legs. “Really? What happened to the relationship, if you don’t mind my asking?”
He did mind a little bit. “She got tired of me being gone all the time.”
“She wasn’t into rodeo?”