Page 48
Son of a—
“I was checking the terrain,” she argued.
Because we call hot men ‘terrain’ now.
“Of course you were.” He rubbed the back of his neck. Even in the shade of his cowboy hat, Jodie could see his face reddening.
“Shut up.”
He laughed and walked toward her. The closer he got, the more the parking lot came back to her. His eyes dropping to her mouth. The way he’d stepped closer. The way neither one of them had seemed willing to leave.
Until Sand Wash had kicked the whole thing sideways.
Mac stopped at a perfectly respectable distance and kept his gaze on the clipboard Jodie was now clutching like a shield.
“I missed you this week.”
Oh.
Jodie’s heart thumped hard enough to make her grip tighten on the clipboard.
Then he added, “Every time I made it into the office, you were gone.”
So, missed as in, I missed you, or missed as in, I missed handing you a stack of paperwork in person.
She looked down at the ground. “Yeah. Our timing sucked.”
“The detail ran long every day. Client had more problems than he told us about when we took the job.”
“Of course he did. They always do.”
Mac reached out and took the clipboard from her, his hand brushing hers. He studied it. “Where’s the handling area going?”
Jodie pointed. “Past the shelter, but not directly against it. Arden wants enough room to separate a horse if she needs to without moving everybody else.”
Mac nodded. “And the chute?”
“There. We’re only setting the footings for it today. It’s welded panel and a head gate and it doesn’t get delivered for three more weeks.” She tapped the plan. “The shelter’s the same story. That’s next month. Today is fence and pens, or there’s nothing standing for an inspector to look at.”
Mac turned a slow circle, then pointed with the clipboard toward the driveway. “How does a trailer get in here?”
“Down past the barn and back up flush against that gate.”
“Room to swing the doors? You don’t want a horse coming off with daylight on either side of her.”
“Twelve feet. I measured it twice, because Kyle told me it was fine.”
Mac’s mouth twitched as he glanced from the plan to the pasture. “That’ll work.”
Warmth spread through her chest as he agreed with her plan.
They spent the next hour moving between crews, checking measurements and correcting the occasional ‘creative interpretation’ of Jodie’s plans. Mac hauled posts and panels with the others, but every time he circled back, he found another excuse to pull her into whatever he was doing.
“Where do you want the water trough?”
“Where do you want the brace on this corner?”
And every time, he listened to her answer.
