“I am.” In the late-afternoon sunlight, his eyes were the most amazing clear aqua blue. Caribbean Sea–blue. He gave a slight shrug and said, “I’m here about the job.”
“Why?” The word burst out of her mouth.
“Maybe I need to pay my dues,” he said without one hint of irony.
“You aren’t paying your dues here.” She gave a soft snort. “Why would you want to pay your dues here?”
“It seems as good a place as any.” A few seconds of charged silence ticked by as Allie waited for Jason to either expand on his answer or leave. He did neither. Finally she gave up and shook her head. “I don’t see this happening.”
“Because you have so many applicants to choose from?”
“Yes. Exactly.” Allie felt color start to rise in her face. She was an awful liar.
“I stole your advertisement off the feed-store bulletin board.” Her jaw literally dropped. “Heat of the moment,” he continued. “And now I’m here to either tear down your barn or put up another advertisement.”
She studied him, wondering if he’d been hit in the head too many times, although there was nothing foggy in the way he was studying her back. He looked like a guy on a mission. Why would he want to tear down a barn when he probably had a whole lot of money sitting in the bank, drawing interest?
“You can’t tear down my barn, so I guess I’d better print out another advertisement.”
“I think you should at least give me a shot.”
Allie blinked at him. “At the risk of repeating myself, why?”
“I need gainful employment.”
“Jason, no offense, but can’t you catch pizzas or something more in line with your talents?”
“I could catch pizzas if I were still playing ball,” he said. “But not many companies want an ex-player as a spokesperson unless they were truly great. I wasn’t.”
There was something in the unflinching way he assessed his career that touched her. She quickly brushed the feeling aside. “Have you ever torn down a barn?” Or swung a hammer? His father had owned a construction company, but as far as she knew, Jason had never been involved in anything except for sports.
“No. I figure it’s all a matter of logic. Start from the top and work down and from the outside in. One piece at a time.”
Again there was something in his honesty that tugged at her. He didn’t know how to tear down a barn, and he didn’t pretend he did.
“Do you have the equipment necessary to do that job? And to haul away the debris?”
“I have contacts.”
She bet he did.
“Here’s the deal,” he said, tilting his head as he held her gaze. “My dad had a heart attack and almost died. I came home, but if we continue to live in close quarters, he’s very liable to have another because I won’t let him take over my life. I need to be close for the next couple of months in case of emergency, but I also need something to fill my time. Something where I can just...” He shrugged.
Be alone with his thoughts, work through stress. Allie could have finished that sentence for him because she knew the feeling well.
“...do something physical.”
For a moment common sense battled with empathy. She needed the barn hauled away and Jason honestly looked like he needed the job, for reasons other than the money, but this was Jason Hudson. Did she want him on the property, putting her on edge? Because that was what the guy did. He put her fully on edge. On the other hand, the feed-store advertisement he’d taken was one of many, and not one of the ads had produced results.
“One-day trial,” she finally said. “And you have to sign an agreement releasing me from indemnity if you happen to hurt yourself. And I only pay minimum wage.”
His expression didn’t change. “I don’t know how much I can get done in a day.”
“If I’m not unhappy, we’ll talk about another.” He raised an eyebrow and she said, “I don’t like commitment. Take it or leave it.”
She expected him to leave it, but the half smile, which in turn triggered a slow warming sensation in her, told her he wasn’t going to leave it. “Don’t try to charm me,” she warned.
“Into what?”
Bed was the first word that popped into her head. He’d probably charmed a number of women into bed. “Anything,” she said with a snap.
“You got it. No charm. When do I start?”
“Tomorrow,” she said matter-of-factly.
“Sure thing. I’ll go find some tools.”
“And I’ll find those agreements.”
JASON PULLED INTO the family driveway hoping Kate didn’t walk out in a frustrated huff as he walked in. He wanted a little backup when he told the old man about his new “job.” Max was getting stronger every day and had made it clear that he no longer required a sitter. As long as someone was with him when he took his walks—which Jason intended to keep doing—Max didn’t mind some time alone. But that didn’t mean he didn’t want Jason on call.
After he broke the news to his dad, he needed to buy some work clothes and gloves. Boots. And a hard hat. It would be ironic to have spent years in a physical occupation and then get taken out by a falling board or beam.
Except he was pretty certain Allie would laugh her ass off.
Let her. Safety first and all that.
Jason pocketed his keys as he walked into the house. “Hey, Dad. Ready for the walk?”
The dogs jumped to their feet. “Yeah.” Max pushed himself out of his chair. “You’ve been gone awhile.”
“I, uh, took a temporary job.”
“Doing what?”
“I’m tearing down a barn for Allie Brody.”
“I’m not even going to ask how this came about,” he said, grabbing his Vandals cap off the sideboard. He sounded so disgusted that Jason had to fight the urge to laugh. Yes, he was turning out to be quite a disappointment now that he was no longer ripping up the gridiron “Have you ever torn down a barn?”
“No.”
Max simply shook his head and headed for the door, the dogs on his heels. He stopped with his hand on the doorknob. “Are you still living here?”
“Until I buy a place...if that’s okay with you.”
Max
