“You Texans don’t have as good a sense of humor as I thought you would.”
“That’s just Trap,” Colt said. “He takes a while to warm up.”
“Does he?” Lila Mae said. “I feel like I’ve been talking to him for about a year now.”
“It’s been six months,” Trap said. “And trust me, it feels like six years.”
A sting of hurt moved through Lila Mae. She lifted her chin slightly. “Well, I’m sorry if my project has put you out.”
“He loves your project,” Colt said. “Don’t listen to him at all.”
She looked at Trap. “Is he right? Do you love my project?”
“It’s fine,” Trap said.
“You’re going to be out later this week, right?” she said. “I believe Thursday.”
“Yeah, Thursday morning.”
“Great,” Lila Mae said, something new and slightly sinister entering her mind. “I’ll give you until then to figure out why you dislike me so much and what I’ve done to offend you.”
She picked up her napkin and her plate and stood. “I won’t torture you with my presence any longer.”
“Come on, Lila Mae,” he said.
Lila Mae gazed at him. “If we can’t get along, Mister Walker, I’ll simply hire someone else.”
“Don’t go,” he said, but Lila Mae walked away, thinking maybe these Texas cowboys had a different sense of humor than she had, but if that were true, she didn’t like it.
She didn’t want to be ridiculed or have to wonder if every word out of Trap’s mouth was a joke or meant to genuinely hurt her.
She’d give him one more chance to explain on Thursday, and if he couldn’t, Lila Mae knew Three Rivers offered plenty of other construction firms to choose from.
3
Trap felt like he was watching his entire future walk away from him. Lila Mae’s curls bounced with every step she took, and his ire only deepened when she paused next to none other than Jessa, asked her something, and then took the seat beside her.
“That’s bad news,” Colt said under his breath.
“She’s not my ex,” Trap said, but he couldn’t look away from the two women. An internal war started within him. He really needed Lila Mae’s job, as it was the first one he’d found all by himself.
It was a huge, sprawling ranchy mess, and Trap struggled with all the pieces of it. But he wanted the job, and in fact, he and Jason had successfully designed, built, and finished Lila Mae’s tiny house, and he was really proud of it.
His heartbeat pounced at him, and his mind screamed that Thursday was too far away to let Lila Mae’s irritation with him fester. He pulled out his phone to text her, but the afternoon heat made him hesitate.
He looked over to Finn, then met Alex’s eyes. “I’m not usually that salty,” he said. “She just….”
Finn nodded with an encouraging smile. “It’s hot today.”
“We didn’t mean to make things worse,” Alex said.
“You do love her project,” Colt said.
Trap nodded. “Yeah, it’s challenging, but I do want the job.” He really couldn’t lose it, and he had no doubt Lila Mae would pull the rug out from under him. She had particular tastes, and she was used to having her way.
Trap didn’tdislike her, but she confused him. He glanced over to where she still sat with Jessa and Jack Arnold, and he knew he couldn’t wait until Thursday to explain.
“I can’t text her, can I?”
