The Ultimate Texas Bachelor

“It’s doubtful.” He regarded her, eyes alight with interest. “Since there are numerous places for them to burrow and there’s plenty for them to eat where I let ’em loose.”

Lainey scooted to the end of the counter. “What do they eat?”

“Grubs, earthworms, insects, sometimes berries and bird eggs. Not that I saw any bird’s nests in the area.”

Lainey realized there was no way to get down off the counter gracefully. She fervently hoped Brad would realize that and turn away—but he didn’t. “How did the armadillos get in here in the first place?” she asked, carefully swinging her legs over the side of the counter.

Brad watched as her skirt slid higher than she would have liked.

Wordlessly, he reached for her. Hands on her waist, he lifted her down to the floor. He held on to her just long enough to steady her and make sure she had her balance. That was all it took for Lainey to feel a surge of desire more potent than anything she had ever felt.

She sucked in her breath, stepped back.

He stepped back, too, looking just as stung, as they struggled to claim the threads of the conversation.

“We were talking about how they got in here,” Lainey prodded, trying to appear cool.

“Beats the heck out of me.” He shrugged, the powerful muscles in his shoulders straining against the fabric of his shirt. “I didn’t see any holes in the wall. The guest house sits on a cement slab, so they certainly didn’t burrow through that.”

Lainey bit her lip as she noticed the flush of sun on his face. And something else…something interesting…in his eyes. “And they’re too big to come up through the plumbing,” she said.

Clearly enjoying toying with her, he looked her over from head to toe. “They don’t like water anyway.”

So full of facts, he was practically an encyclopedia of Texas life. “So how did they get in here?” Lainey challenged. If he knew so much, he must know that.

“Must have walked in last night.”

Lainey regarded Brad skeptically.

Reluctantly, he explained. “The place had a musty smell, so Lewis propped open both doors and a few windows to get a nice cross-ventilation going. It was after dark, and armadillos are generally nocturnal this time of year. Big Mama probably thought this looked like a good shelter, or maybe she was just foraging for food with her babies and got shut in here when Lewis closed up.”

Lainey walked over to survey the place where the candle had fallen. She did not appreciate having the wits scared out of her for the second time that afternoon. How was she ever going to sleep in here tonight? “Well, don’t open up the place to whatever might inadvertently wander in here again,” she warned him haughtily.

Brad angled a thumb at his chest. “I didn’t do it the first time.”

Lainey swung around to face him, bumping her face on his shoulder in the process. “You weren’t concerned about the musty smell?”

Once again, Brad put out a hand to steady her. “Why should I be when my brother already was?” he asked, his capable fingers radiating warmth through her shirt to her skin. “Besides, I didn’t hire you to help us get organized.”

“And why is that?” Lainey demanded tartly.

“I don’t see any sense in paying someone for something you can do yourself.”

Lainey pushed away the ridiculously romantic fantasies his nearness was evoking. “Except you two haven’t done it yourselves,” she pointed out.

“So?” he shot back. “We would have gotten around to it eventually.”

She smirked, not about to let him get away with that whopper. “How long have you been living out here?” she asked.

He stepped toward her. “We closed on the property two weeks ago.”

She felt a completely uncalled-for fluttering in her middle. “And continued to live in this chaos?”

He poked the brim of his cowboy hat up with maddening nonchalance. “Why not? Doesn’t bother me any more than armadillos, field mice, snakes and porcupines do.” He lifted a brow. “Course if you’re not comfortable coming face-to-face with wild animals, you could always head on back to Dallas.”

That sounded like a dare. Lainey stepped toward him this time, not caring that her move left them mere inches apart. “Excuse me?” She angled her head up at him.

“This is a ranch, you know.” He leaned toward her ear and whispered conspiratorially, “Animals of all sorts are supposed to be all over the place.”

It was the stalking males that worried Lainey.

“I know where I am, thank you very much!” Not that she would ever let herself fall prey to someone as demonstrably fickle as Brad McCabe. Even if she had always wondered just how ardently he could kiss….

“Good.” He paused, gave her a self-assured, faintly baiting look. “’Cause for a moment there, you bein’ so surprised and all, I was beginning to wonder just how much you remembered about life out in rural Texas.”

“Enough,” she replied sweetly, “to know a great big pile of horse bucky when I see or hear it.”

“Excuse me?” He mocked her earlier reprimand to a tee.

Finally, for Lainey, everything fell into place. “I know what you’ve done here, Brad McCabe. And I am not amused,” she told him heatedly. “Not in the least!”

Chapter Three

Well, that was good, Brad thought with no small trace of irony, because he sure as heck didn’t have a clue what she was talking about.

“You planted those armadillos in here to chase me away!” Lainey declared with an indignant toss of her head.

“Now why would I go and do a darn fool thing like that?” he demanded right back, furious at being once again erroneously suspected of being the bad guy, and at the same time amused because she was so far off track in her assumption.

Lainey ran a hand through her tousled blond hair, pushing it off her face. “You made it abundantly clear yesterday afternoon that you did not want me here!”

Brad adapted a no-nonsense stance, legs braced apart, arms folded in front of him. He figured he would let her make a fool of herself first, then set her straight. “So?”

Lainey’s green eyes glimmered hotly. “So I accepted Lewis’s job offer anyway.”

Brad released an exasperated breath. “An action I am sure you will quickly come to regret, if you haven’t done so already.”

“Well, these silly little hijinks of yours are not going to work!” She stomped closer yet.

Brad hooked his thumbs through the belt loops on either side of his fly and rocked back on his heels. “Sure about that?”

“I have just as much right to work on this ranch as anyone else.”

“Maybe so. But can you handle it?” Brad stepped closer, purposefully invading her space, not stopping until he had backed her against the sideboard in the center of the room. “Can you handle me?” Not sure why he had started this, except somebody had to set her straight, Brad flattened a hand on either side of her, caging her between his arms, and leaned in close. “You know my rep.” He let his glance drift lazily over her softly parted lips before returning, ever so deliberately, to her eyes. “I’m bad news with all the ladies.”

To Brad’s surprise and grudging respect, Lainey inhaled deeply and stoically stood her ground. “A fact that makes no difference whatsoever to me, since I am a widow.”

And thereby off the market—perhaps forever—in her estimation. Not in Brad’s. Lainey may well have felt she had already been there, done that, but he hadn’t. And being around Lainey, even for a short period of time, had him thinking all sorts of crazy things. Like what it would be like to have her in his bed. Or his life. And not as a thorn in his side. But as a lover, confidante, friend.