headed for the door, Leighanna stopped and wearily turned. “What?”
Hank gestured to the money stacked on the bar, then scratched his head. “I can’t make the totals match. Would you mind recounting the money for me while I run the tickets again? It shouldn’t take you more than a minute or two.”
She doubted that, since he’d been counting the money the entire time she’d been scrubbing toilets and mopping floors. But it wouldn’t hurt to prove to him that she could do more than scullery work. She tossed her purse onto the bar, climbed up onto a stool in front of it and grabbed a stack of bills. She quickly separated them into stacks of ones, fives, tens and twenties, then began to count, recording the totals of each stack on the back of an order blank.
Unaware that Hank had even moved, she suddenly realized that he had rounded the bar and stood beside her, his head tipped close to hers. She craned her neck to look at him. “What are you doing?” she asked, frowning.
He grinned. “Watching you.”
“Well, don’t!” she huffed impatiently, and snatched up another stack of bills.
“Why? Do I make you nervous?”
“Yes!” she said, and went back to her counting.
His nose bumped her neck and nuzzled. “You sure do smell nice.”
She tried her best to ignore him, even managed to continue to slap down bills, silently counting, but heat raced through her as his nose traced the curve of her neck.
“What scent is that you’re wearing?”
She dropped the money to the counter. “Do you want me to count this money, or not?” she asked in frustration.
“I think I’d rather you kissed me.”
Her eyes widened and she jumped to her feet. “Kiss you!” she repeated, incensed that he would suggest such a thing.
“Yeah, you know. Press your lips against mine.”
Leighanna snatched her purse from the counter and slung its strap across her shoulder. She stabbed a finger at his chest. “Let’s get one thing straight, buster. You hired me to work as a waitress, not to service your more basic needs!”
Hank hooked his hands at his hips and whistled low through his teeth as he rocked back on the heels of his boots. “Man, oh man, but you sure are pretty when you’re riled.” Leaning forward, he crooked a finger and pressed its knuckle beneath her chin, forcing her face up to his. “But, honey, we need to get one more thing straight. Us kissing has absolutely nothing to do with you working for me. It’s inevitable, that’s all.” He let his hand drop and shot her a wink. “But I’m a patient man.”
Hank poked the key into the front door and turned it, glancing, as he did, out the window into the darkness beyond. Leighanna limped across the gravel parking lot, her shoulders stooped, as she headed for a shadowed car parked at the far end. He wanted to laugh at her sorry state, but couldn’t quite work up the enthusiasm required for the task.
He supposed he should feel guilty for working her so hard, especially considering he’d shoved more than half his workload onto her slim shoulders...but he didn’t. Hell, she was the one who’d wanted the job, he told himself, all but forcing him to hire her when he knew damn good and well she didn’t have any business working in a place like The End of the Road.
His eyes went unerringly to the gentle sway of her hips. Even tired, the woman knew how to move. He blew out a slow breath. He didn’t want to be attracted to her. Didn’t even know why’d he’d bothered to tease her. He supposed it was just a natural reflex. Her being a woman, and all, and him being...well, him being just Hank.
A grin slowly built on his face. And Hank did love women. The feel of them, the taste of them, the feminine smell of them. Hell, he just liked women. And the fact that this one didn’t seem interested in him only increased the challenge. For, as much as he liked women, Hank liked a challenge.
While he continued to watch, she opened the door to her car. The accompanying screech of metal made him wince. Squinting against the darkness, Hank looked at the car. It was a junker. Even from a distance, he could see that the windshield was cracked, the front bumper was missing, and the car’s body had more rust than paint.
He heard the engine turn with a dragging waaaa, waaa, waaa before it finally sparked to life, smoke pouring from the tailpipe at the rear. The headlights popped on, one a little brighter than the other, and he listened to the grinding of gears before the car finally chugged off.
What is a classy lady like her doing, driving a piece of crap like that? he wondered. Better yet, he asked himself, what was a classy lady like her doing in a two-bit town like Temptation?
Shaking his head, he pulled down the shade and headed for his room at the rear of the bar. Didn’t matter why she was in Temptation, he told himself. She wouldn’t be back at The End of the Road. Not after what he’d put her through tonight.
Two
“I swear, the man thinks he’s God’s gift to women!”
Mary Claire couldn’t help but laugh as she set a pan of hot, steaming water on the stoop at Leighanna’s feet. “From what I hear, he is.”
Leighanna scowled, remembering the barrel racer mentioned the night before, and levered a heaping tablespoon of Epsom salts into the pan of hot water and stirred. She didn’t want to ask, but couldn’t resist. “What have you heard?”
Mary Claire sat down on the porch beside Leighanna and propped a bowl of peas on her lap. “Nothing specific, really. Just that he has quite a way with the women.”
“He could have fooled me,” Leighanna said dryly. She eased her swollen feet into the hot water and had to bite her lower lip to keep from crying.
Chuckling, Mary Claire patted her arm. “They’ll feel better after you’ve soaked them for a while.” She picked up a pea pod and broke off its end. “Did you make much in tips last night?”
“A little over forty dollars.”
“That’s good, isn’t it?”
“I suppose. But it doesn’t come anywhere near matching the salary I made as manager of the boutique.” She threw up a hand, stopping Mary Claire before she could even offer. “And, no, I won’t accept a loan from you.”
Mary Claire pressed her lips together and went back to her shelling. “I still don’t understand why you got stuck with all of Roger’s debt.”
Leighanna heaved a sigh. “Because we were married. Because the debts were in both our names. Because Texas is a community property state. And because Roger is a jerk and refuses to pay them.”
“Couldn’t you just declare bankruptcy?”
“I could...but I won’t. It’s bad enough that I have to suffer because of Roger’s shortcomings. I won’t allow anyone else to suffer, too.”
“So, you’re
