Page 24 of Between a Rock and a Hard Cowboy

As she struggled to stand, she let out a huff. “The lock this fits has to be somewhere.”

“Does it? What if it’s a lock from John T. Wilder’s childhood home? That key could be from anywhere at any time in the past. In another state. From the Civil War. Who knows?”

She scowled then her eyes widened. “Is there an attic here?”

His brows shot up. “There’s a vaulted ceiling with exposed beams, so no.”

“No storage space under the eaves off the bedrooms?”

“No.”

“A basement?” she asked.

“An eighteen-inch crawlspace with dirt and rocks.”

“There could be something—”

“There’s not.”

“How do you know for sure?” she accused.

“Because an animal crawled under there and died this summer and when I couldn’t stand the smell anymore I crawled under there and got it out. I promise you, there’s nothing with a lock. But hey, if you want, have at it. Go check it out yourself.”

Her scowl returned. “No, thank you.”

With her clearly defeated, Linc held out his hand. “I’ll take back that key now.”

“Fine.” Looking most unhappy, but not looking where she was going, Eva attempted to stomp over to where he sat, and caught her foot on the leg of the end table.

She pitched forward, hands thrust out to catch herself, but the only thing for her to grab onto was Linc.

As he reached out to wrap his hands around her waist to try to steady her, her hands landed on his shoulders and her butt in his lap as she lost her balance completely.

He couldn’t remember the last time a girl had sat in his lap. It had probably been his high school girlfriend, back when, being horny teenagers, they’d make out for hours. That was a bad memory to have with his crotch trapped firmly beneath Eva’s bottom.

They might have been working together but this was the closest, physically, he’d ever been to her. He could smell the light scent of her. Was that from perfume or maybe shampoo? He couldn’t tell.

He felt the warmth of her in his lap. And from this close he could hear the sharp intake of breath she took as she struggled to get her feet back on the floor and stand.

Her wiggling didn’t help the situation in his pants. He was a man, after all. And even if she did do everything she could to battle him at every turn, she was a woman.

Luckily she managed to get herself upright and standing before he embarrassed himself completely. Even so, it was obvious it was time to say goodnight.

The grandfather clock chiming eleven confirmed his assessment.

Clearing his throat, he said, “It’s getting late. I’ll grab those sweats for you and show you the spare bedroom.”

Contrary to her usual need to have the last word, all Eva did was nod and hand the key still clutched in her hand back to him.

ChapterTwelve

In the narrow bed in Linc’s house, Eva decided that this pioneer-living was for shit.

The bed had flannel sheets and a fluffy down comforter, and she was wearing sweatpants and a sweatshirt, but it wasn’t enough to combat the chill of the air that made the tip of her nose feel like an ice cube.

It seemed the choices were to sit up all night in a chair in front of the roaring fire downstairs or nearly freeze in the bed upstairs.

Yes, there were big floor grates that allowed the hot air from below to seep into the bedrooms above, but for someone used to the toasty warmth from the big cast iron radiators in the apartment above Rosie’s, the bit of warm air that found its way up through the grate wasn’t going to cut it.

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