Bunking Down with the Boss

Damn if he didn’t love horses. Rebuilding a stable and working with horses again appealed to him. He had spent his young life around ranches. He knew a thing or two about livestock and would enjoy the work, but he still didn’t think this a good idea.

“Not interested.”

Caroline blinked her big baby-blue eyes.

Sam rose from the table, finishing off his beer. “Thanks for the offer.”

Stunned, the blonde sat there wearing a disappointed look.

He set a few bills on the table and strode out of Tie-One-On. If nothing else, meeting Caroline Portman had added a little spice to an ordinary day.

He walked along the sidewalk, heading toward the motel adjacent to the honky-tonk. He’d almost made it to his room, but a shuffling sound from behind alerted him. He spun around.

“Wait up, Mr. Beaumont!”

Caroline Portman walked briskly toward him. Out of breath and flustered, she looked even sexier, like a woman who’d just had a wild night. Sam envisioned putting that look on her face and his momentary slick-hot fantasy made him shudder.

She came up to face him. “I need to know—why?”

“Why?” Sam kept walking, but at a slower pace.

She stayed with him. “Why did you refuse my offer?”

“I don’t recall telling you my name,” he said, as old instincts kicked in.

“It’s a small town. I know a little about you. You’re here looking for work, aren’t you?”

“Yep.”

“I’m offering you a job.”

“Yep.” He kept walking until he reached his motel room. He leaned against the door to face her. Moonlight streamed onto her form like a spotlight and Sam noticed the snug fit of light-blue jeans and a chambray shirt with some sort of rhinestone work on the chest. Not gaudy, but with style, the color bringing out the true blue in her eyes. She was a woman who didn’t flaunt what she had, but yet she couldn’t conceal the perfection of her body. “Don’t men say no to you very often?”

Caroline blinked and shot him a stern look. “Men say no to me all the time, Mr. Beaumont, but that’s not any of your business. I know you’re looking for work. The man I had lined up broke his leg, and now I’ve run out of time. Seems to me we could make some sort of arrangement.”

He glanced at his motel door, raising his brows.

“Not that kind of arrangement,” she hurried out.

Sam chuckled.

She folded her arms and waited.

Sam pursed his lips. He admired this kind of determination. Damn, if he wasn’t the biggest kind of fool. “I need to know something first.”

Caroline nodded.

He pulled her into his arms, and leaning back against the door he brought her with him. She was too stunned to protest, so he did what he’d wanted to do the minute he’d laid eyes on her. He kissed her.

It wasn’t long, and it wasn’t sweet, but rather a deep exploration of lips meeting and mating. Sam steeled himself against her honey-soft mouth. He braced himself against the onslaught of holding a beautiful woman in his arms. He breathed in her female scent, some fruity fresh concoction that reminded him of a lazy summer day, and willed his body not to react. It didn’t. Not in the least. Relieved, he released her immediately. He’d learned everything he needed to know.

He stared into furious blue eyes. “I accept the job.”

Caroline smiled with sugary sweetness and stepped out of his arms. “Good, because now I can fire you, Mr. Beaumont.”

Morning dawned way too fast for a woman who hadn’t slept a wink. Caroline Portman rose from bed, dressed quickly and went out to the kitchen to make breakfast. Her head ached and her eyes burned, but she couldn’t afford to waste any more time. She had work to do. And keeping busy kept her from thinking about Annabelle, her sweet five-year-old, who she had unselfishly sent off to Florida for a vacation with her grandparents.

How she missed her daughter. She and Annabelle had never been apart. But Caroline’s mother and father had insisted on taking Annabelle home with them, especially as they lived just minutes away from every child’s fantasy come true, Disney World.

Her parents’ offer had come once they’d heard Caroline’s plans to refurbish the stables. They had given her their blessing, backing her up one hundred percent. Her parents knew what the stables had meant to her, and how much it had hurt her that her ranch had been run down nearly to ruin. She’d given up her heart and her trust to the man she’d married and he’d abused both. He’d run her livelihood into the ground, putting her so much in debt that she’d only just now surfaced in the black again.

Gil Portman hadn’t the mind for business. He’d entered into one bad deal after another, running up bills that he couldn’t pay, then trying to recoup the loss by entering into one dubious deal after another. The last one had been investing in a shady stud-service scheme that had nearly bankrupted them. Caroline had been busy raising Annabelle, placing her trust in her husband, but she’d learned a hard lesson with Gil, and she’d never place her life or her livelihood in the hands of another man again. Caroline had vowed when Gil had run off, abandoning his family, that she’d never allow a man to run roughshod over her good intentions again. She knew better now. She could only rely on herself and her two very loving, supportive parents.

Edie and Mike Swenson knew that their daughter would need time alone to achieve her goals without a five-year-old distracting her. They wanted the ranch to succeed again, because they knew that the ranch meant stability for Caroline, but it also meant something more. It meant independence. Caroline needed both now, for herself and for her daughter. Her parents hadn’t flinched, but had stepped in, offering to help with her little bundle of energy. And, as they’d put it so tenderly, they’d missed seeing Annabelle. Spending time with their granddaughter would be good for all of them.

Caroline had finally relented, agreeing to let them have Annabelle for one month. In that time, she planned to work harder than she’d ever worked to get her stables back up to par. She’d come up with a new name to signify all the changes she’d planned to make. Annabelle Star Portman would be excited to know that Portman Stables would now be known as Belle Star Stables.

Caroline stuck a piece of sourdough bread in the toaster oven, set the coffeepot to brewing, then sat down at the table to check the classified ad she’d placed in yesterday’s Hope Wells Reporter .

The telephone wasn’t ringing and no one was breaking down her door looking for work. Her last hope had been dashed yesterday, with Sam Beaumont. But she wouldn’t think about him, not when she had a problem to solve. Finding a suitable worker on a temporary basis wasn’t easy. But Caroline knew without a doubt she’d have to find someone or her plans for Belle Star would crumble.

Fatigued, Caroline slumped in her seat, struggling to keep her eyes open. She glanced at the Reporter, blinking her eyes, but the newspaper print blurred, her eyelids drooped and her mind all but shut down. Maybe if she just slept for a few minutes, she’d feel better.

Maybe if she laid her head down on the table, just for five minutes…

The explosion rocked Caroline to a sitting position. She snapped her head up from the kitchen table where just minutes ago, she’d laid her head down to rest. Dazed from her little nap, it took a moment for her to come to grips with what just happened. Her toaster oven had overheated. The appliance, literally “toast” now, had ignited the can of cooking spray she’d left nearby. Caroline was covered with the greasy effects of that combustion.

And within seconds, flames erupted, catching on to the overhead oak cabinets.

Caroline screamed, “Oh God!”

She ran for the fire extinguisher on the wall next to the refrigerator and yanked it free. Fumbling with the handle, she couldn’t get it to work. She’d never used an extinguisher before. Heat burned her cheeks and smoke billowed from the cabinets. The fire spread.

Panicked, she fidgeted again with the extinguisher and cursed the husband who’d left her in this mess, the husband who’d abandoned his wife and child when the going got rough, the husband who had recently died, leaving her a widow. “Damn you, Gil!”

She didn’t take time to worry about speaking ill of the dead. Since Gil had abandoned his family, nothing much had gone right in her life. She couldn’t help but lay the blame where it seemed to fit. Marrying Gil had been the biggest mistake she’d ever made, yet without him, she wouldn’t have had Annabelle. That was the only good thing he’d ever given her.

Caroline gave up on the extinguisher, opting to call the fire department instead. Of course, she knew her entire kitchen might burn to the ground before they arrived, but she had little choice.

And then the choice was taken from her.

A pair of masculine hands reached out to grab the extinguisher. Stunned, Caroline turned sharply to find him, the man who had caused her sleepless night, standing beside her, taking control.

“Get back,” Sam Beaumont said, commanding her with a quick nod.

Caroline stepped back and watched as he pulled the pin and operated the fire extinguisher, putting out the flames with long sweeping motions. He did a thorough job, making sure all the flames were put out, before turning to look at her. “You okay?”

Numb, she nodded, biting her lip.