LITMIR.BIZ

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is a certain cowboy who took the time to shave before coming out here to clean cabins. I expected you’d still have the scruff.”

      “And I expected to steal kisses, so the scruff had to go. I don’t like giving ladies whisker burn.” He backed away. “But I’m staying out of the temptation zone until we get something accomplished. FYI, there’s an outlet under each desk.”

      “Does this happen to be your cabin?”

      “It was, in fact, although the built-ins change the look so it feels a lot different. But the outlets stayed the same. Oh, and the vacuum’s old and cranky, but everybody’s used to it so Mom keeps getting it repaired instead of buying a new one. It’s sort of an heirloom.”

      “I like that.” She leaned down and gave the canister vac a pat. “Don’t worry, sweetie. I’ll treat you with the respect you deserve.”

      He figured she was kidding, but as he turned over the mattresses and checked for anything tucked in corners and crevices, he noticed that she used the vacuum efficiently but gently. She didn’t bang it against the furniture or drag it by the cord. Every minute he was finding more reasons to like her, more reasons to make her a part of his personal life as well as his professional one.

      The mattresses didn’t take long and he only found some gum wrappers, a couple of small purple hair clips and a crumpled picture of a popular boy band. Obviously girls had been living in this cabin. Although he’d known all along that the academy was coed, he hadn’t grasped the concept that girls might occupy the same cabin where he’d spent his pivotal teenage years. That was more of a shock than the loft beds.

      Geena shut off the vacuum. “I found a gold anklet. At least I think it’s an anklet.” She dangled it from one finger. “Could be a bracelet. I’m glad I didn’t suck it up. Her name’s engraved on the little gold heart, which means Rosie can mail it back to her.” She tucked the delicate gold chain in her jeans pocket.

      “I don’t think these are worth mailing, though, even if Mom found out who lost them.” He showed her the hair clips.

      “Nope. Those are easily replaced, but I’ll take them. Rosie might want to add them to her stash. I don’t know if she has hair doodads, but she might keep some on hand in case the girls lose theirs.”

      Matt handed them over. “I’ll bet she gets a kick out of having girls around for a change.”

      “She and Herb never considered taking in foster girls, too?”

      “Not that I know of. I think when they started with boys, it might have been simpler to stick with that.”

      “Probably.” She shoved the clips in her other pocket and gazed at him. “You know...” Then she blew out a breath. “Never mind. I should go get the water.” She gestured to the vacuum. “Your heirloom awaits. I finished the left side of the room so the right side is all yours. Be right back.”

      “Wait. You obviously had something to say.”

      “There’s no point. You won’t like it.”

      “I might. You never know.”

      “Yeah, I do, but I might as well finish my thought. Finding that engraved gold chain brought it home to me that there were teenage girls living here last semester, girls who would go wild if they knew Matt Forrest had been on cleanup duty in the very cabin where they stayed.”

      A yellow caution light went on in his brain. “Maybe.”

      “No maybe about it. I realize you hate the negative publicity being generated, but—”

      “Don’t you hate it, too?”

      “Yes, absolutely. I’d much rather see positive promo out there for all my clients. But the negative stuff’s accomplished one thing. I guarantee most everyone knows who you are, including the teenage girls who lived in this cabin. They’d be super excited to discover you were here in the same space they so recently vacated.”

      “Even if they think I’m the kind of guy who would seduce a married woman?”

      “Like I said before, bad boys are popular, too.”

      His gut tightened. “I don’t want that kind of reputation.”

      “I know you don’t. But I doubt you’d agree to a cute little story about the hot movie star who volunteered his time to clean cabins used by the students of Thunder Mountain Academy.”

      “You’re right. I wouldn’t agree to that.”

      “I can promise you the girls would be over the moon and even the guys might relish the idea that they had a connection to a celebrity, especially one who can ride and rope.”

      “They might, but I don’t want reporters on this ranch invading Mom and Dad’s privacy. Or Cade and Lexi’s, for that matter.”

      “I understand.” Her gaze was filled with compassion. “But you might end up having to make a choice. If you’re determined to protect everyone’s privacy, you may be stuck with the bad boy reputation.”

      The tightness in his gut turned into a slow burn. “I thought you said this was winnable.”

      “It is, but you may not be willing to do what’s necessary to turn this thing around.”

      Bile rose in his throat. “I won’t sacrifice my family for personal gain and that’s final.”

      “I know. I’ll be back soon with the water.” She put on her straw hat, picked up the bucket sitting beside the door and left.

      He turned on the vacuum because then he could swear as loud as he wanted. He’d arrived at the ranch at the age of twelve with a fair number of colorful words in his vocabulary. After hanging out with his foster brothers, he’d added quite a few more. None of the guys used that kind of language around Rosie and Herb, but down in the meadow late at night they used to turn the air blue and laugh like fiends.

      This problem was no laughing matter, but swearing still felt like a cleansing activity. He worked his way through his entire repertoire before he started vacuuming. He didn’t want to lose his temper with the machine after Geena had treated it with such loving care.

      Maybe her assessment of his situation was wrong. But she was smart and she was capable. Except for her initial reaction to the crisis, he’d been impressed with her grasp of the situation. Unfortunately that might mean she was right about his two choices. Too bad they were sucky and suckier.

       Chapter Ten

      Cade was on his way over to pick up the vacuum as Geena trudged back carrying the five-gallon bucket that she’d filled about two-thirds full. He didn’t notice her and she was happy about that. The bucket was heavier than she’d expected, but she didn’t want Cade to figure out that she was struggling and take it off her hands. Matt had given her credit for being strong enough, and she didn’t want to admit she wasn’t.

      Now that she thought about it, chopping wood might not be as easy as she imagined, either. Much as she longed to be a country girl, she was still a city girl playing at country living. That didn’t mean she’d have to stay that way, though.

      Lugging the water had demonstrated that she was soft. She’d slacked off on her workouts at the gym, but that would change now that she had motivation to develop more upper body strength. She loved this place and wanted to spend more time on this ranch or one like it.

      On the way down to the bathhouse, when she hadn’t been burdened with a bucket of water, she’d had time to wonder about her visceral reaction to the meadow and the cabins. She couldn’t be positive, but she had a vague memory of being in such a place with her father. She would have been less than three, because by that age her mother had taken over her schedule and packed it with activities to mold her into a superstar.

      Sometime around

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