Page 20 of Winning His Wager
“Probably soon, actually. I saw your reports and have read the studies you left on the table too. It’s fascinating, really. And I have lots of questions. Especially about the drones.” She patted him on the chest absently while stretching up to grab the dry pasta she wanted off the top shelf. Her little sweater, red this time, clung in every perfect spot. “And I googled the W-Deane Ranch. I found his experimental reports—including white papers he helped author. The guy knows his stuff. I did see some things I am very curious about from a scientific perspective. You were very smart to get in on his work early. I do think it’ll pay off in the end. The technology he is utilizing is some that I remember being curious about a few years ago when it first hit the agricultural market, but the cost was very prohibitive then. I’m glad to see they got the price more reasonable, even if it is still really high. I can see so much growth potential. Early adopters will benefit financially. I can’t wait to see the drones in action.”
She stretched. Far more than she should.
Fletcher swore and grabbed the pasta himself. She was practically climbing the shelf right in front of him. “Get down before you hurt yourself.”
She hadn’t put on a damned bra. He was almost certain of it. It was highly distracting.
Fletcher tossed the spaghetti into the cart and then hooked his arm around her waist and pulled her closer when the shelf squeaked alarmingly. He had a vision of jarred sauce spilling everywhere and Dylan being right in the middle of it. Hell, the woman needed to be protected, probably from herself. At least for his sanity. “You are nothing but trouble, aren’t you?”
“Funny, I have heard that before.” She wiggled. Right there against him. Fletcher took a deep breath. He shouldn’t have. He felt those breasts pushed against him now. “Probably better put me down. Don’t want to set the gossips atwitter. Hate for people to really think I am shacking up with you. What would Quade say?”
It was the last question that had him doing it. Or maybe the wiggle. Fletcher pulled her even closer, her feet dangling six inches from the tile. “I don’t give a damn what anyone in this town says. You…are far more trouble than anyone could ever expect.”
“Well, it’s one thing Dylan Brown is known for, you know. Just ask my father.” She wiggled again. More deliberately. His entire body stood at attention. He was surprised she couldn’tfeelthat. As close as they were together now. “Come on. Put me down. People are watching. We’ll play and spar later. I have to get to the inn. I can’t be late. The last time I was late to the inn, Darcey glared at me and gave me a complex. She is likeseriouslyscary sometimes. And I kinda think she doesn’t like me very much at all, really. Marin finally showed up and explained about the small emergency at the diner I had to help Marin fix first. Marin saved my rear end, you know. Marin just sort ofknowswhen I need rescued. Darcey really scares me sometimes. I think she does it on purpose since I am pretty certain I get on her nerves all the time.”
Damn it. She wiggled again.
“Put me down. Now. Be a good boy. You can’t just keep lifting me, you know. I don’t think Mike Brady went around lifting Alice. And IknowGeorge Jetson did not lift Rosie the Robot. Men just don’t go aroundlifting their housekeepers.We have talked about this before.Fletchie.Put me down, dear. Right now.”
It was the final wiggle that did it.
The final wiggle was the one that had Fletcher falling off the edge completely. Hell, he did not want to put her down. At all. The exact opposite.
He just wished they were in a more private place.
“You are his housekeeper, you said?”
Fletcher turned. Dylan still held captive in his hold.
Another damned Tyler stood there, watching him, now. Two of them. Damn it. Derrick and his youngest brother, Deacon, were right there. Staring.
“Can it, Derrick,” Fletcher said. “Go away.”
“A housekeeper. I so need to get me one of those someday.” Derrick shot Dylan a smile. There was realinterestin the asshole’s face. “Darlin’, when you are done being Fletcher’s housekeeper, how about moving out to my ranch and becomingmine? I heard Fletcher’s job offer is temporary. Well, mine would be a permanent position. You could even stay for life. I will give you whatever you want if I can hold you like that too.”
“What does it pay, pal?” Dylan asked. “Have we even met?”
“I don’t believe we have, or I would have remembered. I am Fletcher’s better cousin, Derrick. This is my kid brother Deacon. I have a ranch just as big as Fletcher’s of my own. You can keep it for me. Do you like kids? Dogs? I love kids and dogs. We Tylers have a reputation with housekeepers. You can figure it out yourself. Later. Or we can discuss it over dinner sometime?”
Like hell.
Derrick could go soak his head in the creek. He wasn’t getting Dylan.
Fletcher growled. “Go away. Both of you.”
He lowered her to her feet. She crossed her arms and looked at him chidingly. “Don’t growl at your cousins. It’s very rude. Now, come on. We are only halfway finished with the grocery list, and I have to be at the inn at seven, or Darcey will growl and hiss at me again. Derrick, maybe…someday. Right now, I am a bit too busy keeping Fletcher. He needs a real keeper, you know. It’s a massive task.”
“I have heard that before. He’s always been difficult,” Derrick said.
“Well, can you watch him for a moment? I forgot something on the next aisle over, and I’d hate to leave him unattended. I will be right back.” Then she darted off. Fast, like she always was.
Derrick looked at him and smirked. “Housekeeper, huh? Lured her right to your ranch, didn’t you? Not wasting any time there. Not that I blame you. The nights can get really lonely for a rancher. As I have discovered. It’s about time I find me a woman like that and just keep her too. Maybe I’ll put an ad on Craigslist? Wanted: Housekeeper. For life. She’s one of the new Talley girls, right? I don’t think I’ve met them all yet.”
Fletcher just nodded.
There was real loneliness in his cousin’s face. Well, Fletcher could understand that. But he didn’t want Derrick looking at Dylan like that. He just didn’t.
“I’ve seen her in the diner before. She’s just as hot as her sisters,” Deacon, all of fifteen, said. “And she’s living with you? Oh, man. You are so lucky.”