Page 27 of Her Cowboy Baby Daddy
“Uh-huh.”
She continued to hold his gaze, but the color in her cheeks had deepened, and he took a swaggering step forward. “What’s changed, Hayley?”
She tilted her head, pretended to consider, and he wondered if her heart rate had amped up as they faced off as his had.
“I’m having a hard time reconciling this you with the lanky kid I drove to the basketball finals.” He lifted an eyebrow and she said simply, “You’ve filled out.”
Spence made his mouth a hard line to keep from laughing, but he flexed an arm. “I’ve been working on my guns.”
“Me too.”
“Let’s see.”
Hayley gamely rolled up her sleeve and flexed. Yes, she had been working on her guns, or daily life on the ranch had done it for her.
“It didn’t sound like you want to take the job.”
“Yeah. But I should. It’s short and I’d be back before the surgery. Unless things go sideways.”
“So you’re not taking it in case things go sideways?”
“I want to be here when the folks need me. Henry was supposed to retire a few months ago, but he isn’t. He just keeps working, and even my dad, the guy who bulldozes his way through any situation, hasn’t had a sit-down with him. They just keep paying his monthly salary, and he just keeps earning it.”
“Huh.”
“So I have no reason not to take a short contract.” Now he was talking more to himself than to her. Saying it out loud didn’t change the fact that it felt wrong, and Spence was a guy who followed his gut.
“Once Dad’s back on his feet, I’ll have plenty of contracts.”
“Why no roots, Spence?”
He gave her a look. “Sometimes I wonder that myself.” He had no answer other than he didn’t like being tied down. Never had.
“There’s a reason.”
“Yeah?” he asked on a softly challenging note. “Any guesses as to what that might be?”
“Middle child between the wild older brother and the adorable twins. I think you grew up going your own way and have no reason to live any other way.”
“Is that a note of approval I hear?”
“I think”—she said slowly—“that you’re being true to yourself.”
“I guess I am.” And he’d never thought about his independent streak having something to do with his birth order, but it probably did. He’d discovered the benefit of being the odd man out decades ago. While the folks were focused on whatever Reed was up to, while simultaneously being exhausted by the workload of young twins with vivid imaginations, he’d been left to his own devices. And loved it.
But it also might have made him a touch self-centered. He did what he wanted when he wanted. And he had to say that he was a smoother operator than Reed. When he and his friends had embarked on adventures that may have landed them in deep trouble, they made contingency plans. Reed had not.
“How about you?”
“What about me?”
“You’ve changed.”
“I have. Worked hard at it too.” She pushed off the doorframe. “If you take this job, the corrals will still be here when you get back. They’ve been nothing but a pile of pipe for nearly four years, so a few weeks won’t change anything.”
“Noted.”
“I’m serious, Spence.”
