Justin grinned, the man in him responding to the womanly challenge in her. “I was well cared for, but I didn’t have access to a lot of money. I had chores, the normal allowance for around here. Which made for plenty of incentive to go after a part-time job.”
She wrapped her mind around that. “You worked when you were a student?”
His brilliant blue eyes continued to mesh with hers. “From the time I was fourteen.”
“What did you do?”
He studied her for a long beat. “A lot of stuff, actually. I bussed tables at Sonny’s Barbecue, took tickets at the movie theater, worked in a warehouse, loading boxes onto trucks.” He exhaled. “My last two years of college, I got a part-time gig working in a CPA’s office, which led to my first job after graduation with a big-ten accounting firm.”
“Wow.” Amanda became aware that this was beginning to feel more like a date than a casual conversation. “You are well-rounded.”
The hint of a smile curved his lips, too. “And you...?”
“Never did anything but carpentry.”
He inched closer. “As good as you are at that, you’re also really great with kids. Especially the ones who haven’t had it easy.”
She stepped back. “It takes one to know one.”
He stubbornly held his ground, gazing down at her. “It’s more than that,” he observed. “You have a natural ability to communicate. Just being near you seems to calm Lamar down.”
Amanda shrugged. “You’re good with him, too.”
“Not as good as you.”
She leaned against the washer and felt the vibration of the cycle against her spine. “It’s not a competition, Justin.”
“Good thing.” He sighed in something akin to defeat. “Because if it were, no question, you’d win.”
And that bothered him, Amanda noted. Probably because he wanted to excel at everything he did. Silence, and an aching awareness, stretched between them. Amanda felt compelled to remind him, “You know there are no perks that come with my presence here tonight or at any other time.”
He nodded, accepting her boundary. For now, anyway. “How about we just be friends then?”
Amanda scoffed. Now who was kidding himself? She moved away from the vibrating machine. Looked him up and down. “You and I can’t be just friends.”
He lifted a dark brow. “Why not?”
Amanda was sure he knew, but she decided to demonstrate the pitfalls anyway. She smiled, gliding closer. Keeping her gaze locked with his, she said brazenly, “I’ll show you why not.”
Chapter Four
Amanda told herself she was just going to prove her point—that there was nothing real between them—when, truthfully, she wanted to satisfy the desire that had been building from the first moment she had set eyes on Justin McCabe.
It wasn’t just that he was tall and strong, and rugged enough to make her feel all woman to his man. Or that he had a heart big as all Texas, a heart that would take in homeless dogs and kids who had lost their way.
It was the way Justin McCabe looked at her, as if she was all that he had ever wanted or dreamed he could have. It was the way he smiled at her, the protectiveness of his touch, the way he seemed to know exactly what she was thinking and feeling, that gave her the courage to rise up on tiptoe, wreathe her arms about his neck and press her lips to his.
It was, she thought wistfully, enough to make her close her eyes and revel in that first electric contact. To savor the intoxicating male taste of his lips, the heat and pressure of his kiss, and the feel of his body pressed intimately against hers.
He wanted her, too. She knew it. Felt it. Relished it. And that was why, more than anything, she had to break off the reckless embrace and pull away.
“Not so fast,” Justin rasped, before she could even take a breath. Pulling her right back into his arms, he threaded his hand through her hair and lowered his lips to hers.
Justin had wanted to kiss Amanda for what seemed like an eternity; he just hadn’t figured it would happen until the work on the ranch was complete.
However, her sexy move on him had changed all that, made it okay for him to kiss her. And kiss her he did, savoring the softness of her lips, the heat of her body, the womanly fragrance of her hair and skin. She was strong and lithe, beautiful and seductive, tender and kind. And he wanted her more than the rational part of him knew he should.
Which was why, when she broke off the kiss a second time he had to respect it. Had to lift his head and let her go. She was breathing hard—as was he. Her cheeks were pink, her lips damp. The sweet feminine scent of her dominated his senses.
“That,” Amanda said, trembling with desire, “is why we can’t be just friends. Because the physical attraction will get in the way.”
He was willing to take it to the next level if she was. “So, maybe we should renegotiate our initial agreement...and be friends and lovers.”
Amanda appeared amused but not really surprised by what he was proposing. “Lovers,” she repeated in a whisper-soft voice. “You don’t pull any punches, do you?”
Justin tucked a strand of silky blond hair behind her ear. “I’m honest about what I want, what I need.”
Amanda released a quavering breath. “Then I will be, too.” Her eyes narrowed. “And that won’t work, either.”
“Why not?”
She picked up her laundry basket and walked over to the dryer. “First, men with families like yours don’t get involved with women from backgrounds like mine.”
He watched her bend over and pull her clothes from the machine. “You underestimate me and my family.”
“Second,” she pushed on, “I’m not the kind of gal who can love someone, and leave him and not feel bad about breaking his heart.”
He grinned at her joking manner and responded in kind. “What if I tell you my heart won’t be broken?” he quipped, having an idea what it would feel like to be invited into her bed, and then, just a short time later, summarily kicked out. It would be disappointing as hell to be that close to heaven and then lose it all.
Amanda arranged the clothes in her basket so the frilly undies were beneath her plain T-shirts. “What if I tell you that mine will?”
Silence fell between them. She could tell by the expression flitting across his handsome face that he was weighing the truth behind her teasing words. “You have a lot going on here, Justin. A lot to accomplish in just a few weeks.”
As if he didn’t know that. He folded his arms across his chest. “It’ll get done a lot faster with you here helping me.”
“And then I’ll be helping my granddad—and his company—by moving on to the next rural gig. I don’t want to miss you when I’m gone. I don’t want to miss—” she rose up on tiptoe and lightly kissed his lips “—this.” Backing away again, she finished with an earnest look, “So it’s better we just not start.”
* * *
“HOW IS THE job going?” Granddad asked later that evening over the phone.
“Good.” Amanda paced the length of her travel trailer. Usually she loved her cozy little space. Tonight, since she’d finished her laundry and brought it back to put away in her limited storage space, she felt trapped and hemmed in.
“You sound...stressed.”
How well her grandfather knew her. “I’m just tired,” she fibbed.
“McCabe treating you well?”
Amanda stepped outside into the muggy heat of the night and gazed up at the star-filled Texas sky. She looked over at the lodge. The lights in Justin’s office were on. He was probably still working on all the paperwork for those grants.
She rubbed her temples and continued pacing, thinking about the sweet sensuality of his embrace and her passionate reaction to it. “He’s a reasonable client.” Never pushing her to work too hard.
Always wanting her to spend more time with him—as friends. When what she wanted was...
“And?” Her grandfather prodded, sensing there was more.
Amanda struggled to describe Justin without betraying her growing feelings. “He’s the kind of man who takes on impossible challenges and sees them through. The kind who never got sent to the principal’s office when he was growing up.”
“A real role model, hmm?”
She heard the caution in her granddad’s tone and felt it, too. “It appears that way,” she admitted, telling herself that Justin was not like Rob in any way. Judging by his work on the ranch, when Justin committed to something or someone, he would not back away simply to make his life easier.
“From what I can gather, he’s held in high esteem throughout the community, too. Generous. Kind...”
Granddad chuckled. “The same could be said about you, honey.”
Amanda felt her halo begin to slip. Her granddad might think she had grown up to be perfect, despite her teenage troubles. She knew otherwise.
“I’m sure Justin thinks you’re amazing, too.”
“At the moment, maybe,” Amanda allowed with a sigh.
She couldn’t help but think if she stayed around too long, she would do something that would demonstrate just how wrong she was for a guy like Justin.
She didn’t want to see that look in his eyes, the one that said she’d let him down or somehow embarrassed him in front of his family. She didn’t want to go back to feeling less than admirable. And the way to prevent that, she knew, was to stick to the tried and true. Her carpentry, life on the road, her devotion to her grandfather, and little more...
“But back to business,” Amanda said, pushing her conflicted feelings aside. “How are things on your end, Granddad?”
“Busier than usual, that’s for sure. I’ll have to fill you in when you come home.”
Amanda ducked back into the air-conditioned comfort of her trailer. “That sounds good.” She let out a wistful sigh
Granddad paused; as always he read more of her thoughts than she would have liked. “You know, if you’re tired of traveling, you could work here in San Angelo exclusively again.”
She chuckled. “And miss out on all those high-paying gigs?” The ones that brought an extra cushion of solvency to the family business and made up for the overall loss of revenue as her grandfather made the transition into retirement.
“I understand why you took over for me after you ended your engagement to Rob, that you needed a change of scene,” Granddad continued soberly. “But you don’t have to keep running away.”
Amanda harrumphed. This was an old argument, one neither of them was likely to win. “I’m not running away, Granddad.”
“Mmm-hmm. When I was sixty-eight, I would have believed you. Now that I’m seventy, I know better.”
She laughed out loud. Leave it to her granddad to make a joke to break the tension. “I do miss you, Granddad,” she said fondly.
“Then how about you come home this weekend? Spend a day or two in San Angelo so we can really talk.”
Knowing that “conversation” would end up being a full inquisition into her current situation, Amanda hedged, “I’ll have to see how things go work-wise, but maybe I will.” Leaving the ranch and Justin—if just for a night—could put everything into perspective.
On the other hand, maybe rushing through to the end of this job was the best way to go. The sooner she stopped seeing Justin every day, the sooner she would stop risking another kiss. The sooner she would stop fantasizing about him.
Aware that her grandfather was waiting for an answer, Amanda said, “I’ll just have to see.”
She heaved a sigh of relief when he agreed to leave it at that.
* * *
“I SMELL THE bacon cooking, too, fellas,” Justin told his canine companions at eight-thirty the next morning. “But you’re out of luck because I don’t have any to give you. And Amanda has not invited us to share.”
All five dogs remained at the back door of the lodge, eyes looking up at him hopefully, tails wagging.
“We can’t just barge in on her,” Justin continued. “Especially since she started working before the sun was even up this morning and is now on a well-deserved meal break.”
Professor whimpered with excitement. Roamer let out a short, demanding bark. Then Sleepy, overwhelmed with excitement, began to sniff and circle. “Oh, no,” Justin said. That was all he needed—a hot mess on the mudroom floor.
Swiftly grabbing Sleepy’s collar before the dog could squat, Justin ordered sternly, “All right, fellas, I’m letting you out, but you stay with me.” He gave the dogs the hand signal to heel and opened the back door.
To his relief, they stayed by his side.
He led the way down the steps to the grassy area favored by the dogs. Sleepy immediately got down to business. Woof followed suit. Professor sniffed the air and sprinted off.
His four friends darted in pursuit.
Muttering under his breath, Justin raced after them.
He caught up just as they reached the door to Amanda’s trailer, where the tantalizing smells of freshly cooked bacon, waffles and strong coffee abounded.
Woof let out a loud bark. Then another. The rest joined in, and suddenly it was like the inside of a kennel. Justin put two fingers between his teeth and let out a long, sharp whistle. “Sit!” he commanded.
The trailer door opened and Amanda stepped out. Damned if she wasn’t a sight for sore eyes, with her butterscotch-blond hair swept into a clip on the back of her head, cheeks flushed pink and her eyes glinting with humor. She wore a hot pink T-shirt and cream-colored overall shorts that showcased her long, tanned legs. On her feet were the steel-toed construction boots she wore when she worked.
She smelled like breakfast and warm maple syrup. It was clear, from the empty plate in her hand, that she had just finished eating. She mugged affectionately at the dogs, who were now sitting patiently in a semicircle, begging for scraps. She smiled at them, then turned to Justin. “Everything under control as usual, I see.”
Her teasing hit the mark. “No kidding,” Justin retorted drily.
His lovable mutts couldn’t seem to stay away from her any more than he could. Chuckling, Amanda went inside and came back with crisp slices of bacon. She broke them into pieces and tossed a section to each dog.
They downed it quickly, licked their chops and stared at her as if in love. Justin knew how they felt. There was something captivating about her. Something that made him want to stand here and talk with her all day.
“I called the heating and air-conditioning company,” he said. “The unit they were waiting on finally came in. They’ll be out to hook up the bunkhouse HVAC today, so starting tomorrow you’ll be able to work in air-conditioned comfort.”
“That’s nice.”
“I feel bad you’ve had to work in such blistering conditions.”
“That’s okay, I’m used to the heat...it’s nothing I can’t handle. But thanks for thinking of me. I’m sure Lamar will appreciate it, too. Though he hasn’t complained, I know he’s not as used to working in the sweltering temperatures as I am.”
Curious, he moved closer. “Are you going to need his help today?”
She met his gaze. “If you can spare him, I’d love it.”
Justin nodded. Beside him, the dogs continued to pant and look at Amanda adoringly. “I’ll send him over to help you as soon as he arrives.” Could this conversation get any more inane?
“Thank you.” She paused as her next thought hit. “Have you had breakfast yet?”
He grinned. Now they were getting somewhere. “Does a bowl of cereal at dawn count?”
Her smile broadened. “Hang on.” She slipped inside the trailer. Half a minute later she returne
d with a foil-covered plate and quarter-full bottle of maple syrup. Breakfast to go. Not exactly what he’d had in mind...
Amanda handed the food over, being careful not to touch him during the transfer. “This will make us even,” she said cheerfully, “since you cooked me dinner the other night.”
Justin would have preferred to be invited in, even for a few minutes. But it was clear that wasn’t going to happen. Amanda had set the boundaries the night before. She was going to maintain them whether he wanted her to or not.
* * *
AN HOUR LATER, Lamar had arrived and was hard at work helping Amanda. Justin was in his office compiling more data for the grant applications when he received a phone call from Libby Lowell-McCabe. She asked him to drive into town for a meeting at the Lowell Foundation offices, to discuss the particulars of the fund-raising dinner he was going to be hosting.
When Justin arrived, he was not surprised to see three of the Laramie Boys Ranch board members. They were a hands-on group. He greeted Miss Mim, the retired librarian and long-time community leader first, then social worker Mitzy Martin and finally Libby, the board’s chairwoman.
Libby motioned for everyone to sit down then turned to Justin. “Do you want the good news first, or the bad?”
That was easy. “The good.”
Libby smiled. “The guest list for the fund-raising dinner at the ranch is coming along nicely. We’ve got firm commitments from all the board members, plus reporters from the Dallas Morning News and the Houston Chronicle, and two TV news folks who are considering doing features on the ranch for their respective stations, as well as representatives from several major charitable foundations in Fort Worth and Corpus Christi.”
Suddenly feeling the pressure mounting to make the event a success, Justin said, “So what’s the bad news?”
“The only time we can get everyone together is Saturday evening.”
Saturday. “As in tomorrow night?” Justin needed to make sure he understood.
Miss Mim lifted a hand. “We know it’s short notice,” she said quietly.
The Long, Hot Texas Summer Page 6