Expecting The Rancher's Baby?. KRISTI GOLD
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turned the ignition and asked, “Where to now?”
“We need to find someplace to eat.”
She sent him a sideways glance. “I’m too tired to eat.”
“Well, I could eat a whole side of beef. And don’t forget I promised you breakfast.”
“Maybe later.”
For some reason he wasn’t quite ready to part company with her. “I know you’re itching to tell me ‘I told you so,’ and you can do that over a cup of coffee.”
She sighed. “I’ve had at least four cups of coffee over the past five hours.”
“That leads me to believe you won’t be falling asleep soon.”
She shifted slightly to face him. “You have to be the most persistent man I’ve ever met.”
“Persistence pays off most of the time.” He tried on a persuasive smile. “Come on. Join me. I promise to eat fast and talk less.”
She put the car in Reverse and guided it out of the space. “Oh, all right. We can go to the diner next to my motel.”
“Where are you staying?”
“The place where everyone tied to the rodeo stays,” she said.
“The Buckout Inn?”
“The one and only.”
He couldn’t imagine her taking a room in a dive populated with crude cowboys. “That’s where I’m laying over, too.”
“No four-star penthouse suite?”
He stretched his legs out as far as they would go in the cramped sedan. “Nah. I’m more of a down home kinda guy.”
“A down home kinda guy with a private plane.”
Apparently she wasn’t all that impressed. “Technically, the ranch owns the plane. I just use it now and then.”
She sent him a skeptical smirk before pulling onto the street. “Ah. That explains it.”
As they drove down the Fort Worth streets in silence, Houston couldn’t seem to stop stealing covert glances at Jill. He took note of how well she filled out that white tailored shirt stamped with her name right above her breast. Nice, full breasts. And if she caught him staring at that immediate area, she’d probably slam on the brakes and kick his ass to the next curb. Good motivation for avoiding that. He didn’t care to call a cab at the moment.
A few minutes later, they arrived at the deserted diner and claimed a booth near the window. Houston scanned the menu for a few minutes while Jill checked her cell. He raised his gaze to find her frowning.
“I’ll be back in a minute,” she said as she grabbed her purse, slid out of the booth and stood.
Houston figured she either planned to climb back in the car and leave him, or she needed to make a call. “Do you want me to order something for you?” he asked as she walked away.
“A glass of orange juice,” she said without looking back.
Must be the phone theory, and that pleased him. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but something about Jillian Amherst intrigued him. He decided to spend the meal trying to peg exactly what that something might be, provided she cooperated. First, he had to make a call, too.
After fishing his cell out of his front pocket, Houston pulled up his contacts and chose the number listed as The Tyrant. He waited through two rings before Dallas answered with, “What do you want at this time of the morning?”
“You’re always up by five.”
“Yeah, and Luke had us up until two.”
“Sorry, but this is kind of important. I had an accident last night and—”
“Did you fall on your head again?”
“Nope. Got my hand tangled up and it’s fractured, so I’m pretty much done for the next couple of months. Since I can’t find Tyler, I need you to send the plane this afternoon.”
“Fine, but you’ll have to arrange for transportation to the airport. I’d say having you at the ranch might be a good thing, but not if you only have the use of one hand.”
He started to argue that he could do more with one functioning hand than some men could do with two, but thought better of it. “It’s my left hand and I can still manage.”
“I damn sure hope so. And while I have you on the phone, I need to talk to you about Fort’s latest demands.”
Houston didn’t have the time or energy to deal with Worth’s twin. “Look, can it wait? I’m having breakfast with someone and she should be joining me at any minute.”
“You must not be too banged up if you’re with a woman.”
“She’s not a woman.” Hell, that sounded weird. “I meant she’s not a date. She’s the rodeo’s athletic trainer and she took me to the ER.”
“Oh, yeah? How old is she?”
“Why does that matter?”
“Does she have a lot of experience in the medical field?”
“You could say that. She’s tough as hell but she knows what she’s doing.”
“Then see if she might consider the job here.”
Sleep deprivation had obviously robbed his brother of his senses. “You don’t know a damn thing about her.”
“Right now I’m pretty desperate. I’ve made a few calls but athletic trainers are in such high demand, there aren’t a whole lot available around here. At least not any who are qualified to manage a program or who are willing to move to the middle of nowhere.”
Houston could debate why Jill might not be a good fit, then he realized having her around wouldn’t be so awful since he wouldn’t be her patient, or her boss. “I’ll ask, but don’t get your hopes up. She seems pretty happy with her current position.”
“Okay, but I expect you to use your powers of persuasion. By that I mean persuade her that it’s a good opportunity without trying to seduce her. I’ll have the plane there by four.”
Before Houston could respond, Dallas hung up the phone in time for Jill to return to the booth, sporting black-framed glasses. “Sorry,” she said. “My contacts were killing me. I had to take them off.”
“You look good with glasses.” And she did—smart and sexy.
She released a short laugh. “Oh, yeah. You know the old saying about women in glasses never getting passes.”
“That old adage has never been in my verbal repertoire.”
Her eyes went wide with surprise. “Verbal repertoire? I’m impressed.”
He leaned forward and smiled. “I might look like a hayseed, but I don’t just climb on the backs of cantankerous bulls. I have a degree in business with a minor in marketing.”
“Really? I suppose that comes in handy with all those energy drink ads featuring your smiling face that I keep seeing everywhere.”
Hell, he didn’t like thinking about those, much less talking about them. “They made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.”
She opened the menu and turned her attention to the limited offerings. “I’m sure it helps pay the bills, like all the expenses involved in owning a private plane.”
At least she’d said it with a smile. “Yeah. That, and horses and entry fees.”
After setting the menu aside, she finally focused on him. “Those entry fees are pricey, especially for the cowboys just starting out. I don’t know how they manage the rodeo life and a family, like many of them do.”