Page 18 of Extreme Romancing in Idaho

“How about you help me, or I tell my parents you lied, and that you’ve never worked on a farm before?” She sent me a glare hot enough to fry an egg on a sidewalk.

“Go ahead. Tell them.” Nora was half in love with me, and Tony already treated me like a son. Though I liked to think of myself as a genuinely nice person, I had a knack for getting people to do what I wanted them to do, which made me so good at my job … and picking up women. “Your mom won’t care, and you know it.”

Her fierce look eased into a frown, then she crinkled her lips to one side.

“Three: you have to do everything I say.”

She held up her hand. “I’m not going to jump off a bridge without a parachute if you tell me to.”

Like I would purposefully get her killed or maimed in any way. “I, in turn, will ensure your safety.”

“I feel like I’m making a deal with a Loki.”

I smiled in my best Tom Hiddleston impression. “I guess you’re going to have to trust me.” My impression of Loki was spot on. I kept going, “Four:” To be honest, I was making up these conditions on the fly. “You have to teach me how to drive your big tractor.”

“That’s like a half million-dollar risk—”

“Those are my conditions,” I interrupted and stuck out my hand for her to shake it. “Deal or no deal?”

She scrutinized my hand like I had a communicable disease. Taking in a short breath, she agreed in one word. “Fine.” She gripped my gloved hand, not even shrinking away at the cow excrement dotting the new leather.

“Then let’s get to work.” I released her hand, and, yanking off one glove, I held my open palm to her. “Give me your phone.”

She hesitated. I’d bought my way into a cushy couple of weeks. No more getting kicked in the nuts.

“What’s this guy’s name?”

“Daniel Smoot.”

“Smoot? His last name is Smoot?” I couldn’t hide my reaction. Surely, with a name like that, she couldn’t be considering a relationship with him. I mean, if all went well, assuming she’d choose to take his name, her end game would give her the name AngieSmoot.

She didn’t respond and lifted one perfectly groomed eyebrow at me.

“I get it. His name is off limits. Your phone.” I wiggled the fingers of my still outstretched hand.

She unlocked her cell and placed it in my palm.

I snapped a picture of the view, typed one sentence, and hit send. “For the record, I don’t think you can pull this off.” I tossed the phone to her.

She caught it in the middle of her angry huff. “I can too, you skunk ass.”

“Skunk ass is the best you can do?”

“Papa and I have this thing about being creative with our swear words, and a skunk ass is far worse than jackass, in my opinion.”

I laughed.

“Finish feeding the cows. Don’t forget to lock the gate.” She jumped in the truck, but when I went to climb in, she clicked the locks. “You can walk back,” she called through the open passenger window and drove off in a puff of dust.

I cut the last twine and whistled on my way to the farmhouse.

Let the games begin.

Chapter 6

Angie

Thegravelpathtothe pigpen wound its way around the barn; Remi followed. I ignored him while I pointed out the chicken coop, the barn, and horse pasture, all places Remi would be well acquainted with once I unloaded his full list of duties. Booster the Rooster crowed as we passed him and his harem.

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