Page 22 of Her Summer Hope

She felt no unease with this man, but her self-consciousness ratcheted up one hundred percent.

“I’m Kyle. That was Wyatt Evans. Avoid him like the plague.”

“Heard that!” Wyatt called from the bowels of the house, and it reminded her so much of Jackson that she grinned.

Kyle looked relieved that she wasn’t running screaming from the house and she finally took his hand.

Huge. Mistake.

His hand was calloused and warm. His grip was strong, but he squeezed her just right, cradling her hand instead of molesting it. It wasn’t sweaty or awkward and he didn’t hold her too long.

The very worst part was the electric shock that seemed to travel straight from their hands to her heart, and then lower. She found herself wanting to take his hand again, and that made her laugh nervously and clench her fingers into fists.

He smiled at her politely for a moment, as if working out some problem in his head. “Have we met before?” he asked, frowning a bit.

Of course, the line was cliched. If it had come from anyone else, she would have rolled her eyes and trotted on back home, but he was different. He was truly confused.

“I don’t think so,” she said.

I would have remembered you, she didn’t say.

“Well, come on in and I’ll show you where you’ll be working.”

She followed him in and he shut the door. The sound was decisive and sudden, and it sent a conviction straight to her heart.

She might not be who these people thought she was, but she was going to give it her all. She wasn’t going to let them down. One day, she hoped she could come clean, but until then, she would work her butt off— She caught sight of herself in a mirror and wrinkled her nose.

Hopefully literally.

Chapter Six

Kyle

Kyle stared at the woman Wyatt was practically assaulting in the doorway. He hadn’t even invited her in before starting to paw at her and that pissed Kyle off.

There was a measure of respect that should be afforded to women, and women employees in particular, and Wyatt had stepped over that boundary and left it in the dust. He felt his heart start to pound as Wyatt just stood there, holding her hand when she was quite obviously uncomfortable.

She looked like a frightened rabbit, though a very attractive one.

Lush was the first word that popped into his head, and then he dismissed that immediately. She was probably going to be an employee and therefore she needed to be effectively genderless in his mind.

Off-limits—to himself, Wyatt, and any of the others here.

He blew out a breath and wrangled his out-of-character thoughts. They hadn’t been so wayward in a long time, and he wondered why he had chosen right now to start noticing women.

“Evans, go help Murdock,” he commanded.

He used the tone of voice that he reserved for serious occasions, and Wyatt looked a bit shocked. He hadn’t seriously ordered one of his men around since they were in the desert together.

He recovered quickly though and went to help Murdock out back where the gardens needed weeding.

They could have hired a gardener, but Murdock liked dealing with the plants—though he’d submit to waterboarding before he ever admitted it and probably not even then.

He watched her as Evans went away, relief evident in her eyes though she covered it up quickly. He wanted to say something to put her at ease.

“Sorry about him. We tried to housebreak him, but he’s a hopeless case,” he finally said.

He moved slowly as he approached her. He didn’t want to make her uncomfortable.