Page 21 of Unforgettable Cowboy
“I work too hard,” she replied instantly.His eyes crinkled at the corners as he got her drift.Turn a positive into a weakness.
“That is a demerit.What else?”
“You also have to say, ‘Tell me of a time when you solved a problem creatively,’ and also ‘tell me a time when you took a leadership role.’”
“You might have clued me in ahead of time.I told you I was a rookie.”
She gave him an arch smile that caused a little arrow of desire to shoot through him.“I wanted to see how you solved a problem creatively.”
It was all he could do not to touch her.But he wasn’t going to start down that path again.
“I’m going to have to threaten Wade, I think.”
“You think that will work?”
“I hope.Estelle is right.Pain makes people lose their filters.”
“Does Wade have a filter?”
Hayes made a scoffing sound.“Yes.But he doesn’t use it often.”
“Then it probably needs to be cleaned or replaced.”
Hayes laughed and Bailey fought an answering smile as she glanced down at her boots.“I need to get going.The silver awaits.”
“Where’s your next show after the Copper Mountain Rodeo?”Was he prolonging his time with her after strong-arming her into staying for the interview?
Yes.Yes, he was.
“Laughlin, Nevada,” she said, taking a couple of backward steps as she spoke.“It’s a biggie.Lots of orders come in.”She was about to turn toward her truck when she stopped to add, “Thanks for lending me the shirt, by the way.I’ll get it back to you after the weekend when I do my wash.”
“Where do you do your laundry?”
Bailey blinked.“The laundromat.”
“You’re free to use our machine.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” she said in a way that told Hayes that she was not going to take advantage of his offer.Once again, she started for her truck and, once again, he opened his mouth to stop her.
“Bailey?”She looked back at him.“Thanks for staying.”
She gave him a smile edged with irony as she reached for her door handle.“I’m getting better at that.”
Chapter Six
“Acaretaker.”
It was the second time that Wade had said the words, as if expecting Hayes to say “Just kidding” if he repeated them enough times.
The truck rolled to a gentle stop at the hospital exit, where Hayes waited for a woman pushing a stroller to cross in front of him.She waved her thanks and Hayes started the truck moving again, wincing as the front tire hit a pothole.
“Are you doing okay?”
Wade, who had the front seat pushed back as far as possible to accommodate his injured leg, gave a solemn nod.“Fine and I don’t need a caretaker.”
“She’s more of a housekeeper who helps if you need it.”
“They said I could move around the house.”
