Page 7 of Giddy Up, Daddy

He narrowed his gaze. “I don’t like being lied to.”

“Well, I don’t like being held against my will.”

Shit. What was he doing? He stepped away from the door of her car and a hint of relief filled her face.

Fuck. He was being a complete asshole. Not only had he accused her of coming on to him for commenting on his eyes, and he knew his eyes were unusual, so it wasn’t like he hadn’t had those remarks from strangers before, but now he was basically holding her here against her will.

“I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said gruffly.

She was reaching for the car door handle when she paused and glanced up at him. “What?”

“Sorry if I scared you. I didn’t mean to. It’s just . . . one of the housekeepers I hired started paying me more attention than my grandfather and one night I walked into my bed to find her in it. Naked.”

“Whoa. Seriously?” she asked.

“Yes. So when you mentioned my eyes —”

“You thought I wanted to climb naked into your bed? I told the lady at the coffee shop yesterday that she had beautiful hair, but I didn’t end up in her bed.”

He ran a hand over his face. “Yeah, I might have overreacted. I apologize. I’m Stafford Hill, by the way.”

“Um, it’s okay. I guess. I’m Blakely Ellis.”

“Will you stay? Meet my grandfather?”

“I suppose I could.”

Chapter Three

Relief flooded Blakely as Stafford turned away and headed back to the house.

She’d nearly lost this job without even being given a chance.

“Uh, here’s the thing, Blakely.” Stafford stopped at the bottom of the porch stairs and turned to face her.

“Yes?”

“This job isn’t just about housekeeping.”

“I know, you also want someone to help with your grandfather. How much help does he need? The ad didn’t really specify. I have some experience with looking after someone elderly. After my parents died, I lived with my grandfather for several years. But I’m not qualified in aged care.”

“Uh.” He looked slightly taken aback.

Probably because of your big info dump, idiot.

Right. She should probably keep her personal information to herself. He didn’t want to know about her grandfather.

“Well, he doesn’t need a lot of help. It’s more about having someone here with him in case anything happens. We need someone to make meals and keep the house clean, but I also want him to have company. My grandmother died a few years ago and he sort of retreated into himself. And then about a yearago, he fell and broke his hip. He had to go into the hospital and then to a rehab center. Since coming home, he’s rarely left. Sometimes he’ll come out onto the porch, but it’s not that safe out here for him and he won’t let me do any repairs or changes to the house or surrounding grounds.”

Oh. That was really sad.

“All right. Well, I can do all of that,” she said optimistically.

“Yeah, the thing is, he thinks you’re only here to take care of the house. He won’t have you here if he thinks otherwise. Okay?”

“Got it!”

“All right. Come meet Grandpa Jack, then.”

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