Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 57350 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 287(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57350 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 287(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
“It’s fun and good money, plus a way of life, I guess.” Hawk moved slower than usual, careful of the cast, but he stayed at it. Sitting still had never been one of his strengths.
They worked in silence for a bit, the only sounds the rain, the thud of the post driver, wire rasping, and horses shifting uneasily in the far field.
Hawk tied off an end. “How was dinner last night?”
“Fine.” Adam drove the post harder than necessary.
Hawk’s mouth twitched. “Fine?”
“Don’t start,” Adam said.
“I’m not starting,” Hawk said. “I’m asking.”
Adam bent and pulled the wire taut, forearms burning. “It was dinner. That’s it.”
Hawk tied off a loop with his good hand. “Town seems to think otherwise.”
Adam’s head snapped up. “Town?”
Hawk glanced at him, amused. “Word travels.”
“Fantastic,” Adam muttered.
Hawk went on, unbothered. “She’s pretty.”
Adam snorted. “That’s your contribution?”
“Just an observation,” Hawk said.
Adam shook his head and went back to the post. He didn’t want to think about Bianca’s mouth, or the way she’d watched him when he talked, or how easily the conversation had become warm and charged. He didn’t want to think about how long it had been since anyone had looked at him that way.
They worked another minute. Rain pattered against the wire, and a cottonwood’s leaves slapped wetly in the wind.
“She seems smart and likeable,” Hawk said.
The woman had been funny, too. “Yeah, but she’s from the city and likes her money.”
“Shit. Who doesn’t like money?” Hawk muttered, lifting his good arm to wipe mud off his cheek as rain beat against his drenched cowboy hat. “Nothing wrong with that.”
Adam shrugged. “Not my type, you know? My mom was a professional gold digger. I’ve told you stories.” Sitting around campfires at night, everyone told stories. “In fact, Bianca’s mom sounds a lot like mine. Hers ultimately married a Hollywood mogul and mine a tech genius. For the money.” The woman had never been happy, though. Probably still wasn’t.
“You’re different than your mom,” Hawk said reasonably.
True. “But I ain’t wearing designer jeans, now, am I?” Adam shook his head.
“You don’t have the body for it.”
Adam snorted. “Look who’s talking.” There were more rips in Hawk’s jeans than Adam’s, and that was saying something.
“It’s not like you’re poor,” Hawk said.
“My finances aren’t anyone’s business. Especially a Hollywood scout who’ll be gone before the huckleberries bloom.” Adam drove the post again, too hard. The impact jarred his arms. “Though I wouldn’t mind dating her while she’s here.”
Hawk snipped off the wire. “Ah. The famous let’s-have-the-month move. You know that never works, right? Someone always falls hard and then gets hurt.” He slid in the mud and quickly recovered. “Maybe you’ll be the one to fall. I saw how you looked at her.”
Adam wiped rain off his face with the back of his wrist. “Like I said, she’s pretty. But I’m not interested in knowing more about her than what I already do.”
Hawk glanced at him. “You’re lying.”
Adam stared at him, then looked away. “I’m not.”
Hawk didn’t push. “Maybe she wants to know more about you. Maybe she actually sees you. Most people don’t.”
Adam barked a laugh. “She sees a business owner who can help her do her job.”
“Maybe,” Hawk said. “Or maybe she sees a man who shows up. Who fixes things. Who takes care of people.”
Adam clipped the wire with a sharp snap. “You’re giving her a lot of credit.”
“I’m giving you credit,” Hawk said. “You do a hell of a lot for everyone around here.”
“That’s different.”
“How?”
Adam straightened, rain pouring off the brim of his hat. “Because someone has to.”
“Yep, and that’s solid. Maybe the pretty Hollywood lady is looking for solid. Might as well give her a real chance,” Hawk said quietly.
Adam didn’t answer.
Hawk pressed on. “You make sure the town’s okay. You make sure neighbors are okay. You make sure I’m okay. And then you go home alone and act like that’s just how it is.”
Adam scoffed and barely kept from reminding Hawk how hard he’d fought against loving Dawn. The entire town had finally gotten involved and brought the moron to his senses. “So now that you’re settled, everyone else has to follow suit?”
Hawk smiled faintly. “I’m not saying everyone. I’m saying you deserve the option.”
Adam shook his head hard. “No way. Bianca isn’t—” He stopped, exhaled. “She’s not staying. She likes momentum. She likes what comes next. That’s fine. But it’s not this.” He gestured at the fence, the land, the soaked morning pressing in around them. “It’s not here.”
Hawk watched him for a long moment. “Doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be real.”
Adam looked away, out toward the trees blurred by rain. “Real still leaves.”
Before Hawk could answer, the sound of hooves cut through the rain.
Adam turned as two riders came over the rise along the fence line. Both rode easy and confident, their horses picking the way through the mud without hesitation, heads low, ears flicking, accustomed to bad weather and worse ground. Oilskin coats were darkened nearly to black by the rain, and the cowboy hats were pulled low with their brims dripping steady streams of water.