Free To Court a Cowgirl by Jeannie Watt Page A

drill.”
    â€œYou’re the second beat-up guy I’ve dealt with today.”
    â€œWho was the other?” And were you responsible?
    â€œMy ex. He got into a car wreck.”
    â€œNothing too serious, I hope.”
    â€œBroken ribs, black eyes. He’s hurting, but nothing life-threatening. He was lucky.” She said the words in a way that did not invite further comment. “Do you want to go to the house and clean up your leg, or what?”
    Well, yeah, he did. “I don’t want to bleed all over your place.”
    â€œWon’t be the first time,” she said. She jerked her head toward the passenger side of her car, but he shook his head.
    â€œI can walk a hundred yards.”
    â€œSuit yourself.”
    â€œWalking is easier than getting into your car.”
    â€œOh.” Her eyebrows lifted as she considered his size compared to the space available in her tiny passenger seat. “I guess so. And here I thought that you were going all macho on me.”
    â€œI know,” he said with a half smile. She did tend to think the worst of him and he might have to do something about that.
    She waited for him at the gate and then he followed her into the house. She gestured for him to wait in the living room and then walked through the kitchen into the adjoining mudroom. She came back with a plastic bucket of neatly folded terry-cloth towels with gauze pads and athletic tape resting on top. She held out the pail with a small shrug. “Vet bucket. All the towels are clean and bleached. You can get them as bloody as you want.”
    â€œThanks.”
    â€œI hope you don’t mind using the same towels used for animal emergencies, but like I said, they’re clean.”
    He raised his hand. “No. Honest. I’m good with it. Glad I don’t have to make do with wet paper towels.”
    â€˜That was kind of what I was thinking. I usually use duct tape with the animals, but I thought you might be more comfortable with athletic tape.”
    A joke. Cool.
    She pointed the way to the bathroom and Jason headed down the hall, bucket in hand. He casually glanced back before he opened the door. Allie hadn’t moved, but her chin jerked up as he met her gaze. He lifted an eyebrow and then walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.
    Allie Brody had been staring at his ass.

CHAPTER SIX
    W ELL , THAT WAS the very first time ever she’d been caught ogling a guy’s ass and it had happened in her living room.
    Allie scrubbed her hands over her cheeks. That’s what she got for giving in to temptation. What was it with this guy? Why was he her Kryptonite?
    Okay. No big deal. Surely she wasn’t the only woman he’d ever caught staring at him, but...this was different. She was his employer. He was her employee. Temporarily, but all the same.
    But what it really came down to was that it was Jason Hudson, whom she’d thought of as an arrogant jock and who was turning out to be much more together and pleasant than she’d ever expected.
    And attractive. Don’t forget attractive.
    How could she? He was right there. Being attractive.
    She wasn’t comfortable being attracted to him because that wasn’t part of her go-it-alone-and-be-secure plan. She’d had enough heartache over the past several years. Being alone equaled no more heartache.
    Being attracted meant being tempted to not be alone, which in turn tempted heartache.
    Allie lifted her chin and headed off for the kitchen, where she went to the sink and poured herself a glass of water. Maybe if she hydrated, she could gain control of her hormones. She took a long drink.
    Yes. Better.
    Or maybe it was the fact that there were now a couple of walls and a healthy distance between herself and the guy with the great ass.
    Allie emptied the glass, then opened the dishwasher and started putting the dishes into the cupboard, resolutely pulling her thoughts away from Jason until