Page 43 of Her Cowboy Baby Daddy
“Let’s map out a plan of attack. Obviously, you’ll want the wood.”
“Obviously.” Hayley set the chainsaw back on the tailgate of the truck. “I’ve only cut logs into rounds. I’ve never tackled a whole tree, you know, with limbs and everything.”
“There’s an art to it. I don’t know it, but...”
She laughed again, and Spence became aware of a slow curl of warmth moving through his body. Hayley had the most excellent laugh. Low and husky. The kind of laugh that left you feeling gratified if you managed to spark it. Which he’d just done. Twice.
“If it wouldn’t be too much like taking over, I’ll give it a shot,” he said.
“Have you done this before?”
“Lots of times. We have windfalls too.”
“Good. I’ll watch and learn, because next time I may well be tackling it alone.”
“You shouldn’t use a chainsaw alone.” The words came out, echoes of his dad’s safety talks which Reed and Em ignored, and he and Cade listened to.
She tilted her head at him, giving him the feeling that she’d do as she damned well pleased.
More power to her. But... she shouldn’t use a chainsaw alone. And the nutty thing was that he wanted to extract a promise from her. He wouldn’t, because that would be overstepping boundaries.
But he couldn’t quite let it go. “You know that, right?”
She nodded. “I had a protective father.”
“Who turned you loose with a chainsaw.”
“Who knew he wouldn’t be around forever and wanted his daughter to know how to do everything.”
Spence leaned back against the truck. “Everything?”
“There’s not much on the ranch that I can’t tackle. I may not be a master, but I can hold my own.”
He believed her. “You hid your light well.”
“Counseling helped me stop doing that.” She gave him a direct look. “Turned my life around. I could have been like my dad and holed up on the ranch because I felt uncomfortable elsewhere—like anywhere with people. Instead, I’m holed up on the ranch with some kick-ass social skills that I get to use every now and again. Like at your niece’s barbecue.” She cocked her head. “They know you invited me, right?”
Spence nodded, keeping his expression carefully neutral. They would know. Today. He jerked his head toward the tree. “I’ll start and you can spell me.”
Hayley nodded. “Sounds good, boss.”
*
Watching Spence layinto the old pine tree with the chainsaw was kind of awe-inspiring. He worked with the focus of a guy who knew exactly what he was doing. A guy who was used to machinery and power equipment and working with his hands. She’d been serious about learning to do everything on the ranch, but she didn’t think that anyone would find it as fascinating to watch her work as she found watching Spence. She could see the muscles working beneath his blue-plaid Wrangler shirt, the thin fabric sticking to him here and there. She’d love it if he’d take his shirt off but knew that sawdust sticking to damp skin was super uncomfortable, as was hay, which was why one didn’t see many shirtless cowboys, except on the cover of novels.
But it would be nice if the sightings were more common.
The saw sputtered and Spence turned it off, wiping the back of his hand over his damp forehead and leaving a smear.
“Your turn.” He looked as if he didn’t want to say the words, but knew that he’d better give her equal time.
“I’m only good for two tanks, then I sputter out too.”
“We should be able to get it done with one.” He picked up his water bottle, taking a long swig.
This would be a good time to suggest taking off his shirt.
Hayley kept her expression neutral as she turned her back to the man and filled the chainsaw tank with gas, but she was pleased that she was able to poke fun at herself. Work was eating away at any residual self-consciousness—although it appeared that she was the only one who still felt self-conscious. Spence seemed to have fully recovered from her kamikaze, baby-daddy request.
