Free Plain Jane & The Hotshot by Meagan McKinney Page A

they suspected. They were both also emotionally defensive, and neither was the enemy the other suspected.
    However, she also realized they couldn’t simply be told these things. The heart was no friend of logic. They’d have to learn it the tough way in the school of romantic hard knocks.
    â€œNick, have you heard the expression ‘A burned baby fears the fire’?”
    His eyes met Hazel’s again.
    â€œSure I have. But don’t forget,” he joked, “I’m trained to see how close I can get to the fire without being burned.”
    â€œNobody yet has fireproofed himself against romantic burns.”
    â€œTell me about it,” he admitted. Then he added, “So was Jo burned quite recently? I wondered.”
    Hazel nodded without going into the details. “And it’s not just that. I’ve known Jo for a long time now. She’s had to work harder than most girls to be taken as her own person. Sometimes our parents cast a long shadow over us without meaning to.”
    For a moment, as he patted shaving cream off his face with a towel, Nick frowned. “Sometimes they cast no shadow at all, and that’s worse.”
    â€œI take your meaning.” Hazel nodded again. “ButJo’s got a problem with the former Miss Montana. A tall, gregarious, very leggy Miss Montana,” she clarified. “One who modeled professionally and is still quite a celebrity in our little town. Ranks right up there with our only rodeo champ, AJ Clayburn.”
    Nick mulled this awhile, then nodded.
    â€œMaybe,” Hazel hinted, “if you two could get a little time to yourselves, you might work some of these knots.”
    Nick saw the canny gleam in her Prussian-blue eyes, and a little conspiratorial smile twitched at his lips.
    â€œMight be we could,” he agreed. “But she sure hasn’t made me feel welcome to come visiting.”
    â€œSo what? A faint heart never won a fair lady, buckaroo. Where d’you plan on being tonight, say, around eight o’clock? Maybe…someplace a little more private than this?”
    Nick did a good job of playing along.
    â€œSometimes, on nights off like this, I like to go over to Wendigo Lake just to get some time alone. You know where it is?”
    Hazel nodded, realizing the place would be perfect for her matchmaking efforts. Rustic and romantic, encircled by spruce and pine, Wendigo Lake was within sight of Bridger’s Summit—she could easily excuse herself at that point, knowing Jo could not possibly get lost from there.
    â€œMoon’s in the full phase now,” Nick added. “Light enough I can do a little fishing off that olddock on the south shore. You know the one I mean, don’t you?”
    â€œWhy don’t you stroll over that way this evening?” Hazel suggested casually. “Maybe some company will show up. Maybe not. At this point, no guarantees.”
    â€œAll right, I will. If nobody shows up, fine, I’ll get in some fishing. Bass bite in moonlight.”
    But despite all her encouragement, Hazel felt compelled to add a clear caveat before she returned to camp.
    â€œDon’t get me wrong, Nick. Jo is much tougher than she thinks she is, and I’ve always trusted her judgment. She’s fully capable of making her own decisions. But as her friend, who’s more or less responsible for her up here, I’d hate to see some guy hurt her by sailing under false colors. She’s had too much of that already.”
    â€œI read you loud and clear, Hazel. Don’t worry. I’m not the feed-’em-a-line-of-bull type.”
    â€œThat’s my hunch about you, too,” the cattle queen pronounced.
    But as she returned to her own camp, she had to admit it: the fate of this potential romance was just too hard to call.
    Even if Nick was not the bad sort at all, she could not entirely discount his hint about an unhappy childhood. For reasons beyond his control