Redneck Romeo (Rough Riders #15)(55)

Which reminded him that first lunch date he’d sworn to romance the hell out of her. And what had he done besides the candlelit seduction?


Not. A. Damn. Thing.


He needed to rectify that.


But how?


Then the perfect idea occurred to him.


She’ll think it’s lame. How can you even consider that romantic?


Better to try and fail than not try at all.


Dalton made a mental note for the additional items he’d need from the hardware store.


Four sharp knocks sounded on Dalton’s door at three fifteen.


At least the kid was prompt. Dalton yelled, “Come in,” and pulled his box cutter out of the yellow and brown linoleum before he rolled to his feet.


Kyler stood by the front door, ill at ease and Dalton couldn’t fault him. Even before Dalton had left town, he and Cord’s oldest kid hadn’t spent time together besides attending McKay family gatherings. The odd thing? The age gap between him and Kyler was the same age gap between him and Cord.


“Hey, Kyler, what’s up?”


“Not much.” He looked around, hands jammed in the pockets of his jeans.


“How’d you get here?”


“I walked. My mom gets done around six so I gotta be at her massage studio then so she can give me a ride home.”


“No problem. I’ll leave it up to you if you want me to drop you off or if you wanna walk. We’re workin’ in the kitchen.”


“Should I take my boots off?”


“Not unless they’re covered in cow shit.”


Kyler ditched his coat. “Wearing shit covered boots to school—not cool.”


Dalton returned to the kitchen. “When I went to school some guys wore their barn boots to class, tryin’ to prove they were real cowboys.”


“Still got a few of them guys. It’s worse when ranch kids try to be gangsta. Give me a freakin’ break. Nothin’ gangsta about livin’ in Wyoming.”


“You want a soda?”


“Sure. If it’s no trouble.”


So polite. But he didn’t expect less from Cord’s kid. Dalton passed him a can of Coke and cracked one open for himself. “So, I have to ask what you told your dad about why you’re helping me out.”


Kyler grinned. “A version of the truth. You gave my truck a jump and when I asked how I could repay you, you mentioned needin’ a little help over here.”


“Smart.”


“Besides, Mom and Dad bust me every freakin’ time I lie so it’s not worth it. Most of the time.”


“But this girl?”


He grinned again. “She is so totally worth a lie or two thousand.”


Dalton laughed. “I remember them days. Hell, I remember them girls.”


“That’s the thing. I don’t think my dad remembers what high school is like. He’s got all these crap rules.”


“I’d guess the crap rules are in place for you because Cord remembers exactly how he was in high school,” Dalton said dryly.


“That’s what Hayden thinks too. I swear my dad and Uncle Kane are way stricter than Uncle Cam is…and he’s a cop.”


“I imagine it doesn’t do you any good to complain.”


“Mouthing off just gets my phone and my truck keys taken away so I’ve learned to have all the arguments in my head. That way, I always win.”


“I might’ve saved myself a lot of grief if I’d adopted that attitude at your age.” Except Casper saw silence as an admission of guilt. He saw arguing as defending guilt. Dalton had been screwed either way. He noticed Kyler staring at him, waiting for further instructions. “We’re stripping linoleum today. Don’t know if we’ll get to the point where we can move the appliances. I’ll warn ya it’s tedious stuff.”


“Dang. I was hopin’ we’d be bustin’ cabinets with a sledgehammer or something.”


The kitchen flooring had three layers of linoleum. The second layer had been glued on the first layer, which meant the flooring had to be removed in small sections, a layer at a time. Dalton showed Kyler how he wanted it done, handed him a box cutter and let him be.


After half an hour or so of zero conversation, Kyler sighed.


“Bored already?”


“Nope. But don’t you listen to music while you’re workin’?”


“Sometimes. Why?”


“It’s kinda quiet in here. Music makes the time go faster.” He shot Dalton a grin. “Might make us work faster.”


Dalton pointed to the living room. “Sound system has an iPod dock. Or if you flip on the TV there are satellite music channels in the seven hundreds.”


“I’ve got my iPod.” He pushed to his feet. “But I don’t wanna screw something up so maybe you’d better show me how to run the system.”


Dalton needed to replace his blade anyway. He gave Kyler a basic rundown of the system, suspecting he was way more tech savvy than him. He watched Kyler dinking with buttons on the remote. Damn kid looked so much like Cord it was spooky. Even his mannerisms were the same.