Page 13 of Catch Me, Cowboy
“I can handle it.”
*
It wasn’t hardto find Ty’s small camp trailer, parked on the edge of the Carrigan property, not far from the cattle guard. He’d set up in an aspen grove and when she turned down the pasture track leading to his camp site, he came out from behind the trailer, bare-chested, his shirt in one hand. She hoped he would do them both a favor and put his shirt on. Soon. This mission was hard enough without the added distraction of trying not to look at his torso.
But this mission also felt right. If she spent time around Ty, the ghosts of the past would be laid to rest. It was very much like sacking out a green colt. By exposing the young horse to the things that triggered or frightened him in a slow and methodical way, eventually the colt accepted them as commonplace and no longer frightening. In this case, she was the colt.
She eased the truck around a water-filled rut, reiterating to herself that this was a good plan.
She and Ty might have their issues, but she trusted him to have Gramps’s back if he hired on to do the job. To look out for her grandfather and keep him from overdoing things physically. Yes. Good plan.
Ty had his shirt on by the time she stopped her truck and got out of it. It was buttoned crooked, but she could live with that. She just didn’t want to see his chest, see the faint scar crossing his pecs that she used to trace with her index finger. And her tongue…
Stop.
Too late. The image filled her mind, made her insides tumble.
“Shelby.” Ty’s gaze was wary. “I can honestly say that this is a surprise.”
“I imagine.” She came around to the front of her truck, felt the heat on the engine on her back. “I’m here with a business proposition.”
“Yeah?”
“Are you still looking for work?”
“I haven’t nailed anything down yet.”
“Would you consider short-term?” When he tilted his head, silently asking for details, she continued, “Gramps has to fence the riparian on the lease. It’s too much for him to do alone.”
“Uriel isn’t there?”
“He’s outfitting. Took the job last year. Gramps has been trying to do everything on his own.”
“Can’t find a replacement?”
“Gramps doesn’t pay all that well.”
Ty’s eyes narrowed as he studied her. “You’ll forgive me if I find it odd that you’re here offering me a job after our discussion last night.”
“I get that. But Gramps needs help, and you did kind of cut him off at the knees when you took off.”
“So I owe him.”
“Pretty much.” Ty shifted his gaze down to his scuffed boots, one of which had a pant leg jammed into it, while the other pant leg fell down over the boot where it belonged. He’d gotten dressed in a hurry—probably when he heard her truck pull over the cattle guard. She glanced at the trailer, then an awful thought struck her. What if he wasn’t alone?
It. Doesn’t. Matter.
In fact, it would be a good thing. Problem solved. Right?
Shelby tore her eyes away from the trailer and met Ty’s gaze once again. She shifted her weight. Despite the crisp early morning air, her thin cotton shirt was sticking to her back. “I trust you to keep an eye on Gramps. Not let him overdo it.”
“Seems anyone could do that?”
“Gramps can’t buffalo you or strong arm you. One less worry for me.”
Ty kicked the dirt at his feet with the toe of his boot. “Can I move the trailer onto the ranch?”
Shelby’s heart kicked. Ty. On the ranch. Several hours a day working with Gramps was one thing. His living there was another.
