Lone Star Bachelor

A bite of green beans froze halfway to Sawyer’s mouth. “Say that again.”

She shrugged. “Harassment made me tougher. I wasn’t about to wimp out after that.”

“Still.” He didn’t like the idea of some creep shooting innuendoes in her direction. He and the brothers would bust some chops if anyone did that to their sisters. Which brought to mind her family.

“Didn’t your brothers want to knock some heads?”

Her gaze was cool. “I didn’t tell them. Why would I?”

A revealing confession. She faced the world on her own. “Because men stand up for their women.”

“Let’s get this straight, Mr. Buchanon. I don’t need or want a man to take care of me.” She tossed a wadded napkin onto the table. “Not now. Not ever.”

Ouch. Raw nerve. Somebody had done a number on her. Somebody who needed a knot jerked in his neck.

Sawyer was normally a lover, not a fighter, but he wouldn’t mind meeting up with the culprit. Preferably alone.

Chapter Five (#uf53c2fd0-216e-5019-b7a7-57eb13835e64)

The next evening Jade pushed back from the small wobbly, laminated motel desk and read over the notes she’d typed into a computer document.

She’d spent the day interviewing the rest of the Buchanon family, including Dawson, who reminded her constantly of his twin. They were both too good looking for words, but so very different in personality. To her consternation, it was the playboy twin she couldn’t stop thinking about.

A psychological default, she suspected, and one which she would fight with all her might. She refused to be a stereotype, falling for the same kind of man over and over again.

Dawson had been her focus today. Sawyer could wait, though she would have to talk to him again soon, regardless of her misgivings. Dan Buchanon wanted her focus on Sawyer, and the big boss was the man paying the bill.

With seven Buchanon siblings and the two parents, she’d asked the standard questions and written a lot of notes, but nothing raised a red flag. Whoever was vandalizing the Buchanon properties covered their tracks well. At this point, she needed a clue. Any clue. Sawyer had been little help.