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I shot a dirty glance at Beau. He simply grinned. I’d get him back later for putting me on the spot like this.
“That won’t be a problem. I’ve taken care of her before.”
Callie made a non-committal noise.
“I’ll let you know when you can drop by later.”
Her tone said,that will never happen.
Then she held her hand out, eyebrows raised expectantly.
“I can take my horses back now.”
Oh.
As I passed Tennyson’s reins and Hera’s rope to Callie, my fingertips brushed her palm. The touch of her skin sent an electric jolt up my arm.
“You should be more careful,” I said, gruff in an attempt to cover my shock of touching her. “Could have broken your neck.”
She narrowed her eyes.
“I’m aware,” she replied, crisply. Turning back to Beau, she said brightly, “It was a pleasure to meet you.”
Beau touched the brim of his hat with a wink. I clenched my teeth so hard that my jaw ached. I’d learned a long time ago to make peace with Beau’s ability to fall in love with women at the drop of a hat. This time, it grated at my insides though. To see him getting along with Callie after I’d so thoroughly wrecked my chances with her only rubbed salt in the wound.
And it was all my fault. I had no one to blame but myself.
Beau watched as Callie led Hera and Tennyson back to the barn. When she was out of hearing range, he spoke.
“You weren’t kidding, partner. Callie McClaren is certainly easy on the eyes.”
I kicked at a clump of dirt and ducked under the fence, marching to my own barn.
“She won’t be here long.”
Beau shoved his door open, trailing after me at an unhurried pace.
“Why do you say that?”
I shrugged, retrieving my tools from where I’d dropped them earlier.
“City girl. Doesn’t know the first thing about running a homestead, no matter how many times she visited Cora in the past.”
Beau made a noise of disagreement.
“That’s not very gracious of you, Landon. You never know what a woman is capable of when she sets her mind to something. She might surprise you. Besides, with your history, I thought you would be a bit more understanding of people.”
I bristled. Under normal circumstances, Beau didn’t mention my past. He knew it was a touchy subject and always would be. I gestured to the pile of lumber.
“Make yourself useful, would you?”
Beau didn’t budge. He glanced back toward the McClaren homestead.
“So…are you interested? Or not?”
I froze. “What do you mean?”
It was obvious what he meant, but I needed to hear him say it.
