Page 30 of Wrangling a Texas Hometown Hero

The last thing Hallie needed was her entire family witnessing her yelling at Jace. Mimi seemed to know that too.

“Let her go, Darla. We’ll catch up with her later.”

Hallie wasted no time getting over to Sweetie and Decker’s house. When she got out of her truck, she heard the dogs barking a greeting from inside and the loud whirl of a lawn mower coming from behind the house. She followed the sound to the backyard. The sight that greeted her took her breath away.

Jace was mowing the lawn . . . shirtless.

The morning they’d spent together, she’d come to realize he’d acquired a lot more muscles than he had in high school. Manly muscles all through his shoulders and back that took turns flexing and showing off as he pushed the lawn mower in a straight line. When he reached the end of the lawn, he turned and headed back toward her. His front muscles were more impressive than his back. Bulging biceps, hard pecs topped with brown nipples, and two rows of abdominal muscles she couldn’t help counting.

Eight.

Eight neatly stacked muscles.

Every inch of those muscles was covered in a shimmer of sweat. As she watched a trickle of that sweat drip down from his collarbone over one hard pectoral muscle, then along his rib cage and all of his abdominal muscles to be absorbed by the waistband of his athletic shorts, Hallie suddenly felt like she was suffering from heatstroke.

The sound of the lawn mower cutting off jerked her gaze from the front of his shorts. When he pushed back his straw cowboy hat, his piercing eyes caught the sun and looked like two pools of crystal-blue water she wanted to jump into. While he looked like a glistening Greek god, she looked like a hot mess in her dirty clothes and pulled-back braids. She wanted to crawl under the nearest rock when his gaze swept over her. Although when that gaze lifted, he didn’t look disgusted. His eyes looked as hot as she felt.

“Hey.” His breathy one-word greeting made her feel even hotter. It took a real effort to stay focused on the reason she was there.

“You’re leaving? You’re just up and running off when Decker and Sweetie need you? And why didn’t you take the foreman job?”

“I don’t want to be a foreman.”

She huffed. “You’re like my daddy. You just don’t know what’s good for you.”

His mouth tipped up in the lopsided smile. “And I guess you do?”

“I know sitting around feeling sorry for yourself isn’t.”

He took out a bandana and wiped his forehead. The sight of his bulging bicep and dark underarm hair left her feeling like she’d run all the way from the Holiday Ranch. “I’m done with feeling sorry for myself, Hallie.” He lowered his arm and tucked the bandana back in his pocket. “But ranching is your thing not mine.” A twinkle entered his eyes. “Although I feel honored you think I’d make one hell of a foreman.”

“Don’t be getting a big head, Jace the Ace. I’ve seen you get tossed off a horse. Now stop being ridiculous and take the job. It doesn’t have to be forever. Just take it until Decker gets back on his feet.”

“He has lots of family to help. You included.”

“But I have to get back to Austin and look for a place to start my brewery.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure that’s what you want to—” The sound of a car pulling into the driveway had him cutting her off. “Deck’s home.” He took her hand. “Come on.”

She was so surprised by Jace taking her hand that she didn’t continue to argue. Of course, he released her as soon as they came in view of the driveway where Jesse was helping Decker out of his truck. Liberty and Sweetie were taking get-well flowers and plants out of the bed of the truck. Jace hurried over to help Decker while Hallie went to help her sisters.

It took a while to get all the flowers and plants and Decker inside, especially when George and Dixie busted out the screen in the screen door—or George did for Dixie—when they realized their owner was back and went wild with excitement. Hallie had to hold George back so he wouldn’t jump on Decker. Once he’d given both dogs plenty of attention, they left the dogs outside while they all went inside.

Decker was moving around pretty well for a man who had just been shot less than a week before, but Hallie could tell that the trip home had taken its toll. Sweetie realized it too.

“We need to get you to bed, Deck.”

Decker shook his head. “I’m not going to bed, Sweets. I’ve spent way too much time there, as is.”

Sweetie started to argue, but Jace cut in. “You must still be loopy on pain meds, Deck. If a good looking woman wanted to take me to bed, I wouldn’t be arguing.”

Decker grinned. “Good point.” He hooked an arm around Sweetie. “I’m all yours, Sweets.”

“Men.” Sweetie shook her head and laughed as they headed to their bedroom. But when they passed the spare room, both of them stopped in their tracks and Sweetie placed a hand to her chest.

“Oh my gosh. Look, Deck.”

Decker looked dumbstruck. “Who did this?”

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