Always On My Mind (The Sullivans #8)(4)

His chickens weren’t used to being out around cars and the stranger was coming up the long dirt drive so fast that one of his prize Buff Orpington hens squawked and opened her wings to get away from the vehicle. Unfortunately, the chicken was nearly fileted under the spinning tires when the driver swerved to the left to avoid hitting her...and then crashed her car into one of his brand-new fence posts.

Chapter Two

The door flew open and the driver got out. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry! That chicken came out of nowhere. I’ll fix your fence.”

Grayson heard what she said, but couldn’t manage a response. Not when he couldn’t believe his eyes.

He’d never seen a woman this beautiful in all his life. Long, dark hair spilled down over her nearly bare shoulders to her waist, and her big eyes, high cheekbones, and full, red mouth were every man’s wet dream. She was wearing something tight and soft looking and in the sunlight it was almost as if she were naked with every one of her spectacular curves on display.

And those legs...even though she wasn’t particularly tall they went on forever, ending in spike heels that had no place whatsoever on a farm.

Shit. What the hell was wrong with him? Even if it had been a while since he’d taken a woman to bed, he’d never had any problems controlling his reaction to one.

“Who are you?”

She blinked up at him and simply stared for a few moments, before her gorgeous lips finally curved up into a smile.

Grayson silently instructed his heart to keep beating, his chest to keep pumping air. He just needed to survive the next few minutes, send her on her way, and then his life could go back to the way it needed to be.

Quiet.

Simple.

Completely devoid of gorgeous women with smiles that knocked him flat.

She was clutching a piece of paper in her hand and she uncrumpled it before answering, “The new farmhand, I hope.”

Another man might have laughed at her ridiculous statement.

He didn’t.

“Who put you up to this?”

She frowned. “No one.” She took a step toward him and he nearly took a step backward in response to all those luscious curves coming nearer. “I’m here to apply for the job.” She smiled again. “My name is Lori. Lori Sullivan.”

Was she really serious? He schooled himself to forget how pretty she was as he studied her earnest expression.

Crap. It looked like she was. Which meant that instead of only wasting five minutes of his day, it was likely going to take him a good half hour to get her out of here.

“Is Grayson around somewhere?” She looked around him for someone else.

“I’m Grayson.”

Her eyes widened. “Why aren’t you older?”

He had no idea how to respond to that. Not, of course, that he’d had much of an idea how to respond to any of the conversation he’d had thus far with the stunning woman who had blown into his life without even the slightest hint of warning.

Instead of answering her strange question, he told her, “My ad wasn’t a joke.”

“I’m not joking,” she said with a stubborn tilt of her chin.

His heart raced again from nothing more than seeing the flush in her cheeks while she stood her ground in front of him.

“Look, I’ve got a lot of work to take care of today before the sun sets.” He gave a pointed look at the fence post. “Like fixing the post you smashed into, for one.”

Anyone else would have left by then, given the way he was snarling at her, but did this beautiful girl get the hint and get back in her car to leave him the hell alone?

No.

Instead of leaving, she took another step toward him on the most gorgeous pair of legs he’d ever seen in his life. “I can help you.”

He made himself sweep a hard, unimpressed look over her, even though in his previous life he would have drunk her in with extreme pleasure.

“What experience do you have working on a farm?”

When she bit her lower lip, his blood pressure shot so high he could actually hear it rushing in his ears over the ongoing complaints of his chickens, who were still in high excitement over the car, the crash, and the very unexpected visitor in her glittering outfit.

“Well,” she said slowly, “none yet. But I’m very determined.”

He laughed out loud at that, a rusty sound that held absolutely no pleasure in it.

“Determination isn’t going to get the new coop finished or the fence post replaced. I need someone who can actually do the work I need them to do.” Jesus, he couldn’t believe he was actually standing here debating her qualifications with her. “You can’t be my new farmhand.”

She looked momentarily distraught as she stared at him and then back down at his want ad clutched in her fist. He could almost hear the gears churning in her pretty head, before she nodded as if she’d made a decision.

“Tell me something you need done and I’ll do it. Right now, in front of you, so you can see that I’m serious.” She faced him squarely. “I want this job, Grayson.”

The sound of his name on her lips, her slightly husky voice playing out the vowels a little longer than the other letters, made his gut clench tight. He didn’t like the way he was reacting to her.

Didn’t like the fact that he was reacting at all.

He looked down pointedly at her shoes. “You’re telling me that you’re going to get to work on my farm in those?”