Page 29 of Taming the Wild Cowboy

“You need help at night,” she finally stated, cringing inwardly at the unanticipated double meaning.

“Gotta monitor the herd. Wade and I take shifts every two hours, but with his leg, it’d be better if he just stayed in bed.”

“You think he’ll do that?”

“No. But having you there will give me extra leverage.”

“You trust me with the cows? Alone?”

“I think you know what you’re up against and all you have to do is sound the alarm. Wade or I will do the rest.”

Maclyn looked around the stark landscape, at the budding branches still in a skeletal state and the snow near the truck that had been stomped into a muddy mess as she’d gotten in and out. This meadow would be a great place to trespass during the summer when the grass was high, and the trees leafed out. The early spring, not so much.

“You’ll charge me rent?”

He rolled his eyes and Maclyn got the message. Rein in the defenses. The guy was trying to help.

“The house is part of your pay.”

In that case, it really wasn’t charity, was it?

“I’ll work your ass off if it makes you feel better.”

His blue eyes lit with unexpected amusement as he spoke, which in turn stirred a plume of warmth in her midsection. And lower.

Don’t go down this path.

Why was it that hormones never listened?

She cleared her expression in an effort to look, well, normal. “I accept your offer.”

There wasn’t much else she could do, other than find a different parking spot and sleep in her truck.

Trev waited a beat before nodding agreement, as if expecting a caveat. She had none. She’d been beaten by logic and being stubborn about the situation was, as he’d pointed out earlier, kind of stupid.

“Look.” His voice softened. “I don’t like being beholden either.”

It was the sincerity that got to her. He understood. It felt safer when he didn’t.

“Maybe I’m just paying it forward,” he added. “You never know what life might bring.”

“Amen to that,” she murmured before meeting his gaze and wishing she hadn’t. His expression was edged with something beyond concern. Something more primal, closer to what she was feeling.

He wants to kiss you.

Her heart stuttered as their gazes held. Hadn’t she wondered what it would be like to kiss Trev Matthews?

She swallowed, hoping he didn’t notice. Nothing was clear, so Mac did the sanest thing she could think of and forced herself to pretend that she was not dealing with a smoldering-hot cowboy. Just a man. With an amazing mouth.

Trev was her boss. Her landlord.

The guy who saved your ass. Twice.

The guy who didn’t believe you.

Unfortunately, that argument had lost its relevance now that he did.

“I appreciate the roof,” she finally said, before glancing toward her truck where Raisin was now patiently waiting near the door. The breath she released was audible and shaky, making her color rise.