Total pages in book: 44
Estimated words: 42171 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 211(@200wpm)___ 169(@250wpm)___ 141(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 42171 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 211(@200wpm)___ 169(@250wpm)___ 141(@300wpm)
I cut him off and give him a look that he’ll understand. “Beau, this is Madelyn. Madelyn, this is my youngest brother, Beau.”
Beau starts to put his hand out, and I grunt at him. I can feel my face get hot from my caveman behavior. This is not who I am, but the thought of Beau touching Madelyn—even just to shake her hand—goes all through me. I ignore the stares from each of them, and Beau drops his hand. “So the Bentley is yours?”
She nods and asks her own question, directing it at me. “Wait, there’s more of you? Delilah told me about Fletch, but I had no idea there were more of you.”
I scrunch my nose up. Why would Delilah mention Fletch? Is it because he works for her dad? Or was she thinking of fixing Madelyn up with him? I clear my throat. “Yeah, there’s six of us.”
Beau points at me. “And this is the grumpy one, in case you couldn’t tell.”
“Har har. Did you get that irrigation system fixed on the south side?”
He shakes his head. “No, but we figured out the problem. I had to come in and get a bigger wrench and got sidetracked with the Bentley.”
“Okay,” I tell him, looking between him and the door.
He laughs and holds his hands up. “Okay, I got it. I’m out. Nice to meet you, Madelyn.”
She calls after him softly, “You too, Beau.”
The smile she had for my brother disappears when she looks at me. “Soooo…”
From where I’m standing, I can see the freckles on her nose and the gold specks in her eyes. I would have sworn her eyes were blue earlier, but now they look more green. “I thought your eyes were blue.”
She seems taken aback. “Uh, yeah, well, they’re hazel really. My grandma always said she’s never seen anything like it. Depending on where I’m at in the light, they can appear green or blue.”
I stare into her eyes as if I’m searching for something. For the longest time, I’ve put off women. I’ve been down this road, and it only led to heartbreak. There’s no way I’m interested in going through all that again.
I take a step back and then another. It’s like I’m having to move away from her just to be able to think clearly. Surely I can do this. I can hire Madelyn even if I’m attracted to her. I can remain professional and follow through with my promise to Chief Taylor.
CHAPTER 3
MADELYN
He’s staring at me as if he’s a caged animal or something. He shoves his hand through his dark hair and shakes his head. “This is a bad idea.”
I point at him. “You think so. I think it’s perfect.”
He points toward the window, and I’m assuming he’s pointing at the peach trees. “Trust me, this is far from perfect. It’s hard work, long days—”
I cut him off. “I swear I’ve never been interviewed for a job where the boss tries to talk me out of wanting it. You’re telling me things I already know. This is not the first farm I’ve worked on.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. You’re qualified and have all kinds of experience. I got it.”
I put my hands in the front pockets of my jeans. “Why don’t you like me? Did I do something—say something—to offend you?”
He shakes his head. “No.”
“So it’s because I drive a Bentley? You have something against foreign made cars?”
He smirks, and my heart does a little flip in my chest. Geez, it’s probably good this man is known for being grumpy because when he smiles, it is something else. I want to reach up and fan myself because I feel ten degrees hotter.
“No, I have nothing against foreign made cars.”
Now it’s like a game for me. “So it’s the fact I’m a woman?”
I was expecting a smile, but what I get turns my legs to Jell-o. His brown eyes get even darker, and his nostrils flare. “No, no, I can appreciate you’re a woman. I have no problems with that.”
I roll my hand at him, wanting him to explain to me why he can’t or doesn’t want to hire me. He can keep trying to say the position’s filled, but even though I’ve known him for all of ten minutes, I know he’s not the type to offer one person a job and then give it to another. No, there’s something else.
“Spit it out. Why don’t you want to hire me?”
He shakes his head. “Because it’s not a good idea.”
I laugh. He acts as if hiring me is going to automatically make all the peaches rotten or something. None of this makes sense. I probably should have paid more attention or at least asked more questions when Delilah tried to warn me about Asher. She made it sound like he was some old guy, and she didn’t even mention how hot he is. “Tell me why. It seems that all the reasons you’ve given me are you’re worried about my clothes, me getting dirty and how I’ll handle it. I’m telling you I can handle it, so just let me prove it to you.”