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Ben wasn’t calling to accept his offer. But it was because of him that Ellen would have to pay her employee a great deal more. And she was already working on slim margins. “I’m excited for you,” he said, trying to sound as if it were true.
“I owe it all to you, really, so... I’d love to take you out for dinner when you’re free.”
No way was Hendrix going to accept anything for what he’d done. But he couldn’t say that without revealing his regret. “Sounds good. I’ll give you a call when I have the chance.”
“Great. Thanks again.”
Hendrix cursed as he hit the Disconnect button. He should be happy, he told himself. He’d landed a solid blow to his only competitor, who hadn’t been playing fair to begin with. That was what he’d intended to do, wasn’t it?
It was. But somehow it didn’t feel like much of a victory. She’d probably been telling the truth about being unable to afford such a raise. If anyone knew how difficult it was to run a drilling crew, it was him. There’d been plenty of years when he and Stuart had struggled, and Stuart had a lot more ties to the community since he’d grown up in town. Not only did he have an established reputation, he didn’t have any tattoos or a nose ring that might make the people of Coyote Canyon look askance at him.
But the damage was done. Hendrix couldn’t see any way to fix it now.
With any luck this would finally make Ellen leave. Moving would be expensive and difficult, especially since she had several jobs lined up. But most of those jobs should’ve been theirs to begin with.
He got out of his truck and went inside to shower and eat. But, somehow, he couldn’t stop thinking about Ellen. She was the David in this scenario, and he was the Goliath. He couldn’t allow himself to take advantage of having more power. It made him feel like a bully after spending years fighting bullies for the sake of his cousin.
He ate and cleaned up. Then he watched a college basketball game and had to tell himself to relax all through it. He just...couldn’t.
Finally, he got up and grabbed his keys. He hated to do it, but he was going to have to go talk to her.
Ellen was asleep in her grandfather’s old recliner—her grandparents had been downsizing when they moved to warmer climes, so they’d left her with most of their furniture—when she heard a knock. At first, she thought it was the TV, which was droning on. But when she heard it again, she assumed it was Talulah, who came over two or three times a week to have a glass of wine or chat when Brant was off doing something at his family’s ranch.
She answered the door without even checking the peephole. Then she froze. Hendrix was standing on the stoop. After living there for nearly three years during which he’d avoided her like the plague, she couldn’t believe he’d shown up at her jobsite yesterday, her father had appeared at her jobsite today and now Hendrix was at her house. What was it with all the sudden contact? “Has something changed that I don’t know about?” she asked.
He seemed confused. “I’m not sure...what you mean.”
“You’ve ignored me for two and a half years. Acted as if I didn’t exist. Which I prefer, by the way. And now you’re popping up everywhere. I don’t get it.”
He shifted uncomfortably. “Look, I know things have been...awkward between us. I won’t pretend that I’m happy to be here. But I just couldn’t... I wanted to...”
She tightened the belt on the fluffy robe she’d pulled on after her shower. She wasn’t wearing anything underneath except a pair of panties, so she felt awkward and exposed, even though she was adequately covered. “To...” she prompted when his words fell off.
His gaze dipped to where her robe came together; she could tell he was a bit rattled by her attire. “To apologize for what I did at Hank’s last night. I should never have offered Ben a job. I’m sorry,” he said and walked off.
Ellen was so surprised she didn’t react. Hendrix had justapologized? Why would he care enough to even bother?
But then she understood. He knew he had it better than she did, that he was in a more favorable position. “Don’t you feel sorry for me!” she yelled after him. “Don’t youeverfeel sorry for me!”
He didn’t respond. He just got in his truck and drove away, and she was left feeling rather strange—angry but sort of breathless at the same time as she remembered the flash of interest on his face and how decidedly he’d jerked his gaze up after it’d fallen to the opening of her robe.
Four
Hendrix believed he’d done the right thing by going to Ellen’s. So why did he feel worse instead of better?
On second thought, he couldn’t say he feltworse. It was more that he felt...unsettled. His mind kept presenting him with the image of her standing in the doorway looking as cute as any woman he’d ever seen, with her short hair spiking in every direction, her big, expressive eyes studying him as if he were the Big Bad Wolf, her body swallowed up in that furry robe and her bare feet peeking out underneath. Her toenails had been painted bright red, a detail that was so incongruous with the heavy work boots she wore during the day he couldn’t help but notice.
Actually, he hadn’t just noticed; in spite of all her efforts to appear tough—to make him believe no one could ever hurt her—he’d found her dainty feet incredibly sexy.
Rolling his eyes at his own reaction, he gave his truck more gas as he sped away from her house. If he was thinking aboutEllenthat way, it’d been far too long since he’d been with a woman. In the past few days alone, she’d made him feel furious, guilt-ridden, frustrated and...attracted?
No. No way. He wouldn’t allow it.
Pulling out his phone, he called Veronica Salvo, who worked for a small local branch of a commercial insurance agency. She flirted with him whenever they interacted—had given him her cell number two months ago when Stuart sent him in to renew their policy—but he’d never asked her out. He wasn’t all that interested, and he didn’t want to start something that could end badly only to face her again whenever he had an insurance issue.
But tonight, he was willing to take her out for a drink. Anything to get his mind off Ellen. He would’ve called Jennifer Pullman, the woman he’d been seeing for the past several years, but she’d moved away. Although they still spoke on the phone once in a while, mostly because he missed Loki, the Alaskan Husky he’d given her, he knew she’d lost patience with him. Since their relationship had never developed into the marriage proposal she’d been hoping for, she’d cut him off six months ago and relocated to Flagstaff, Arizona, where she was dating other men.
Jennifer must’ve meant more to him than he’d thought. Or living without a woman wasn’t as easy as it’d seemed so far. That had to be the reason he’d had such a strange reaction to Ellen a few minutes ago...
