Page 6 of Giddy Up, Daddy

“I didn’t need to. The last thing I need is to hire another woman who will spend all their time plotting how to get themselves into my bed. I’m looking for a housekeeper and a companion for my grandfather, not a wife, not a girlfriend, not even a quick fuck.”

Wow. When she blushed, it wasn’t just her cheeks that went red it was her entire face and neck. He guessed that she’d slink off in embarrassment now. And good riddance. He had other things to do.

“You . . . I . . . what? How presumptuous of you!”

What?

“Just because I made a comment on your eyes, you think that I . . . that I want to . . .” She straightened her shoulders. “Well, I’m going to leave now because this is not going to work.”

“That’s what I just said. Wait! Why do you think it’s not going to work?” He moved to block her from getting in her car.

“Because you just made a huge, incredibly insulting assumption about me!” she told him.

He had?

“So you commenting on my eyes wasn’t you coming on to me?” he asked.

Her eyes narrowed, and he suddenly realized that she wasn’t red with embarrassment . . . nope, that was all anger on her face.

Shit.

He’d really fucked this up, hadn’t he?

“Do women really come on to you in the first minute of meeting you?” she asked.

They used to. Before he turned into an overworked, grumpy old bastard.

“Umm.”

“Don’t answer that,” she said hastily. She folded her arms, then winced and dropped her hands to her sides.

Why was she wearing gloves?

Were they the reason she’d winced? Were they compression gloves? How could she do this job if she had sore hands?

“I don’t want to know,” she added. “What I can tell you is that I was not coming on to you. I was just commenting on your eyes. They’re amazing and I know it was inappropriate and I apologize for that. But you were rude!”

He found himself holding back a smile. He wouldn’t have been shocked if she’d started to stomp her foot to emphasize her point. She had spirit. And a bit of a temper. But those things didn’t put him off.

She was going to need some grit if she was going to go head to head with Grandpa Jack.

“Now, if you’ll just get out of my way, I’ll leave.”

Yep, definitely some temper there. And pride, he was guessing too. Because it was more than obvious that she needed this job. Her car had seen better days. So had her clothes.

“No,” he stated.

“Move aside.”

“Nope.”

“Well, why not?” She put her hands on her hips, then grimaced and lowered them.

“What’s wrong with your hands?” he demanded.

“Nothing is wrong with them,” she replied.

Clearly a lie.

---