“But you clearly need it,” he said.
“Not from you.” She pouted, still clinging to the handle on the front end of her cart. “I don’t even know who you are. How amI supposed to know whether you’re really an expert? Maybe you really are some kind of con artist.”
He pulled the cart alongside rows of lumber, all lined up according to size. Then he stalked around the cart and offered his hand. “The name’s Cole,” he said. “And you are?”
She stared down at his hand, refusing to take it. “Katherine. But my friends call me Kat.”
Once again, he burst out laughing. “So you really are a lost kitten. Well, well, well. Looks like the cat distribution system has smiled on me today.” He quickly took her hand and shook it despite her stubborn refusal to do so herself.
“How many times a day do you get slapped by women?” Kat said, yanking her hand back and glaring as hard as she could while fighting back a smile.
Cole didn’t even flinch. “Would you believe it’s zero?” He didn’t wait for her answer, instead picking out some boards for her. “How many boards do you think you’ll need?”
“How do you know what size I need?”
“It’s a ranch fence. Most of them are similar. I’d be willing to bet this is the right size.” He held out one board and winked down at her. “Is it? The right size, I mean?”
Her eyes grew wide, and then she wrinkled her nose at him disgustedly while snatching the boards away. “I’m sure it is.”
“And the wire?” he said, cocking his head. “Is this a patch job, or… are you looking for something that will last?”
OK, this man was a professional flirt. That was clear enough. He was trying to get under her skin, but she wasn’t going to allow it.“It’s a patch job for now. Later, I’ll build something to last.” She narrowed her eyes and concluded, “With someone else’s help.”
He laughed again, and she was becoming irritated by how funny he seemed to find her. Nothing she said to him made him the least bit angry. She couldn’t decide whether he had a great sense of humor or if he wasn’t quite picking up what she was putting down. Before she could come to a conclusion, he said, “What you really need is a feed store. There’s a great one just outside of town. I can take you there if you like.”
Kat took a deep breath and decided to put a stop to this before it got out of hand. “Look,” she said to the unbearably handsome man beside her. “I think I can see where you’re trying to take this, and I’m just going to be clear from the start. I’m not looking for anything right now. I’m just here to fix up and run a ranch. I don’t have time to deal with dating.”
“Dating?” He took the boards back from her. “I’m only helping a lost kitten out. I promise not to ask you out, if that’s what you’re worried about.” He grinned. “I just need some good karma, OK?”
She shook her head but gave in anyway. “Fine. Thank you for your help, I guess. But I’m sure I can find the feed store on my own.”
“You need any help taking these to your truck?” He hoisted the lumber to indicate he intended to carry it.
“I don’t have a truck,” she said with a shrug.
“How’d you get here then?” he asked.
“A car, obviously.”
“Tell me it’s at least a hatchback.” He jostled the boards again. “Otherwise, these won’t fit.”
It took her a second to figure out what he was getting at. As soon as she did, she slapped her own forehead and muttered, “Stupid,” to herself. How had she not even considered what she could carry back in her car? This man had her all flustered, that’s how. She hadn’t meant to buy lumber today, but he’d swooped in, and now she had lumber to buy. “You can put those back,” she finally concluded. “I’ll come back for them some other time.”
“Hmm…” He stared at the lumber in his hands with a downcast expression. “But I chose these especially for you. They’re the best of the bunch. Let’s make a deal. I’ll buy these and keep them in my truck. When you need them, give me a call, and I’ll deliver them to you. If you never call, I’ll use them for something else. Just so you know, I could help out with other things if you ever need a temporary hand. I have plenty of ranch experience, and I’m currently sleeping right up the street at the cheapest motel in town.” He reached into his pocket, pulled out a pen, and wrote his number on the packaging for the nail gun. “Fair warning, though, I’ll probably sayI told you sowhen you call.”
“Predictable,” she muttered.
He gave her one last smile and a wink that sent the blood right back to her cheeks. “Oh, kitten, the last thing I am is predictable.”
As soon as Kat got back inside her car, she let her head drop onto the steering wheel with a frustrated groan. “Well, that went swimmingly,” she said to herself. “You just couldn’t stop blushing like a high school girl, and now he thinks you’re some kind of wannabe rancher with a weakness for small-town cowboys.” The only problem with that assumption was that it wasn’t quite as far from the truth as she would have liked it to be.
CHAPTER 6
KAT
Kat spent the next several days activelynotcalling Cole, and it took a Herculean effort to resist the temptation. His number was still scrawled on the packaging for the nail gun, promising an easy solution to her many, many problems. But she wouldn’t let herself cave in this time. She was determined to show him she was not even close to being a “lost kitten.” She was a perfectly competent and capable adult cat. Maybe even a tiger. A puma, at the very least.
She’d finally gotten a working hot water heater installed in the cabin, so she was able to take a nice, long shower. When she was all put together and ready for the day, she went to the trailer to start organizing that mess of paperwork. It was going to be important to put together a reliable budget if she was going to write up a good business plan.
