LITMIR.BIZ

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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 stole over her face and she smiled. Sam saw the joy there and the love she wouldn’t even try to hide. God, if only Sam had shown that same kind of love to his own daughter. If only he’d been…more. “She’s with her grandparents in Florida. They’ve got her for the whole month. I miss her terribly.”

      Sam missed his daughter, too. Only she wasn’t ever coming home. His heart ached and old pain surfaced. Pain he’d tried to run from. He’d endured months and months of agonizing grief and then it had turned to numbness. He liked the deadened feeling best. He’d managed to drift for months this way. Forgetting.

      Good God, Caroline’s daughter was the same age his daughter would have been—had she lived.

      And little Tess would have lived if Sam had been there for her.

      “My parents took her so that I could have this month to bring Belle Star Stables up to snuff again.”

      Sam brought himself back to the present. “So, you need to find help really fast.”

      She nodded. “Time’s a wasting.”

      “Any prospects?”

      “None at all.”

      Sam pondered this for a moment. His first instincts were to get out of Dodge the minute Caroline confessed to having a young daughter. Sam didn’t think he could take the day-to-day reminder, but her daughter wasn’t here. And she wouldn’t be for a month.

      And Sam had had enough of drifting from town to town every few days. He wouldn’t mind staying on in Hope Wells for the month. But he’d already made a big mistake with Caroline and he’d hurt her feelings, as well.

      He figured he’d be doing her a favor if he stayed on. He knew his way around a ranch and truth be told he’d spent the better part of his adult life running one of the largest construction companies in the southwest, the Triple B, his father’s namesake, Blake Beaumont Building. He’d been CEO and top of his game, professionally. He’d helped his father bring in more business than they could handle, building up a small enterprise into a multi-million dollar corporation. To say he had some experience in carpentry was an understatement. Sam had made a fortune, but he’d paid a heavy price for his success. The cost of his dedication to work had been the untimely death of his child.

      Yet as he stood there, looking at Caroline, he knew he could help her. If she’d agree, he could have her place up and running in one month’s time, then he’d move on. Actually, he missed the hands-on work of creating and building something from scratch. Refurbishing her stables would be a challenge he’d love to take head-on.

      And he’d already determined he could work side by side with Caroline, pretty as she was, he simply wasn’t interested in getting involved with a woman. Good thing too, because the whole widow-and-child package would do him in otherwise.

      “Listen, I have a proposition for you. If by the end of the day, you like the work I’ve done, and if no one comes knocking on your door for the job, I’m reapplying.”

      Caroline lifted her brows. “You are?”

      “Yep, if you’re agreeing.”

      She folded her arms, contemplating. “I don’t see as I have much choice.”

      “Fair enough. Is it a deal then?”

      Caroline

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