Bunking Down with the Boss. Charlene Sands

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СКАЧАТЬ he lifted his eyes to hers. “You’ve got, uh, something wet splattered on your blouse.”

      Caroline glanced down. She’d been through too much this morning to be embarrassed, but the fact remained that she’d been splattered with cooking spray, and grease stains made her blouse almost transparent. And of course, the moisture had hit the most protruding target. Her breasts. She folded her arms over the wet area, hiding what he’d already seen. “Hazards of wet cotton.”

      Sam agreed, “Yeah, what a bummer.”

      She caught his smile, but he had the good grace to maintain eye contact with her.

      “Will you answer my question?”

      He set both hands in the back pockets of his jeans and sighed quietly. “Why does a man kiss a beautiful woman?”

      Caroline soaked up the compliment. Oh God, did it feel good to hear those words. Yet she steeled her resolve, not letting him off the hook so easily. She had to know. “You tell me.”

      Sam averted his gaze, looking off in the distance. She doubted he was studying the scenery. After all, broken-down barns and stables, along with a neglected yard chock-full of weeds, weren’t all that interesting.

      “Okay,” he said, “you deserve the truth. It was a test.”

      “And I passed? Or failed?” Caroline tried to make sense from his words.

      He shook his head. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but the test had nothing to do with you. It was my test. I had to know something.”

      “What? What did you have to know? I offered you a job and you kissed me? What kind of test was that?” Caroline asked, exasperated. She didn’t understand any of this. The man seemed to be speaking in riddles.

      Sam just stood there, looking guilty.

      It was that look that got her to thinking. Then, as if a light clicked on in her head, she figured it out. “You kissed me to see if you were attracted to me,” she stated with certainty. “And…and once you did…you accepted the job.”

      Sam’s mouth twisted.

      “Meaning, you decided you could work with me…because…because…” Caroline blinked her eyes, keeping both fury and tears in check as the niggling truth began to surge forth in her mind.

      “Look, it was a mistake, a damn fool thing to do. But you’ve got one heck of an ad campaign, lady, walking up to me in that bar claiming you’re looking for a man. I’m just looking for work. Period.”

      “I could have phrased that better,” she said defensively, “but you had no right to put me to your test.”

      Caroline closed her eyes, willing away the pain as realization dawned quite clearly. Sam Beaumont had made her come alive last night, with a hungry mouth and steady embrace. He’d made her feel things she hadn’t felt in years, while she, on the other hand, had been so uninspiring that he’d decided he could work with her. She wouldn’t be a temptation at all. Caroline Portman wouldn’t shake his resolve in any way.

      Caroline didn’t think her day could have gotten any worse. Sam Beaumont had touched her last night with an embrace and sexy kiss that had revived what she believed dead inside in one quick unexpected moment.

      “Look, I’m here to apologize. I know I made a mistake. And I’m real sorry.”

      Caroline heard the sincerity in his tone. She stared deeply into his eyes and saw it there, too. His expression never faltered, the apology written all over his handsome face. For some strange reason, she believed him. Which was saying something. After what Gil had put her through, Caroline didn’t put much faith in any man. “Okay, I accept your apology.”

      “Listen, let me put my words into action. Since I’m here anyway, and I know a thing or two about carpentry, I can fix your cabinets for you. Unless you’ve hired someone already?”

      She shook her head.

      “It’ll take me the rest of the day, but I’m not heading anywhere special, so I don’t mind doing the work.”

      Caroline inhaled deeply. The offer had merit. “I don’t know if I can afford you.”

      “No charge,” he said immediately.

      “That’s not what I meant, Sam.”

      He stared into her eyes for a long moment. Too bad he had a sinful body, a handsome face and dark eyes that could burn into your soul, because sexy Sam Beaumont found Caroline completely lacking as a female. Boy, she didn’t know if she’d ever get over that one.

      “I’ll be on my best behavior.”

      She could bank on that but the thought didn’t comfort her. Sam wasn’t good for her ego, but Caroline had put that part of her life on hold anyway, so what did it matter if she wasn’t the kind of woman Sam Beaumont thought attractive? Right now, all she needed to know was if he could help her out with her cabinets. “You sure you know how to fix cabinets?”

      “I’ve had some experience.” He peered at the damage with a gleam in his eyes as if calculating exactly what he needed to do and how he’d accomplish it.

      It was good enough for Caroline. She surely didn’t know anything about repairing them and it didn’t look as if anyone else was coming to her rescue today. “You’re on.”

      He nodded, then approached her with a purposeful stride. Their gazes locked as he stood before her. “Tell me something.”

      His probing look told her she wasn’t going to like his question. “What do you want to know?”

      “When I was behind your door, I heard you scream out. So, who’s Gil?”

       Two

      Caroline appeared shaken by his question. She’d flinched when he’d mentioned Gil’s name, and then a somber expression stole over her face. For a moment, Sam thought she’d keep that information to herself, but then she spoke up, albeit quietly. “Gil was my husband. He died about four months ago.”

      “Sorry. That’s rough.” How well he knew about losing someone you loved. How well he knew the heartache involved, the day-to-day agony of living without the ones you love. Sam hadn’t been able to face his demons any longer. He’d taken off trying to escape the truth, to dull the pain, to find some way of surviving.

      Caroline sighed, a brief smile emerging before she spoke. “As long as we’re being honest with each other, I can tell you that Gil only did two really good things in his life. He gave me a daughter for one. She’s five years old and the light of my life. And two, he kept up his life insurance. We have enough money to live and, if I’m real careful, there’ll be enough to refurbish our ranch.”

      Caroline had a five-year-old daughter? Sam’s gut clenched. A searing jolt shot straight through him and he winced as if he’d been sucker-punched. He hadn’t suspected, though he should have known she might have been married, she might have had a family.

      “Where is your daughter?”

      “Annabelle?” A winsome expression СКАЧАТЬ