Jerk: A Bad Boy Romance by Tawny Taylor

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    By then the barn would be completely full of shit.
    Half the steer would be in the neighbor’s pasture because the fence would be totally knocked down.
    And I would be dead from exhaustion.
    Ugh.
    Was he lying again? Was he just pushing my buttons and trying to make me beg? I was not going to do that. I’d never give him the satisfaction. But I would call his bluff. “You can do better than that. You just don’t want to.”
    “No. Really. I can’t.” He tossed a roll of paper towels into his cart and wheeled down the aisle way, forcing me to follow him. “The crew is under contract—”
    “Contract?” I cut in. I would not beg. Would. Not. “They’re laborers. Who makes a laborer sign a contract?”
    “Anyone who wants his job finished, that’s who.” He stopped checking out the dish soap to study me for a minute. I didn’t drop to my knees. I didn’t even give him a pleading look. I clamped my mouth shut and waited. “If it’ll help, I can come out there tomorrow.”
    An olive branch.
    It wasn’t exactly what I was looking for. I would have preferred he stay away and just send his men. But obviously that wasn’t happening. I’d learned the hard way there was no changing it.
    “Okay. Sure.” I hesitated. It nearly killed me to say the next word. But I knew I had to. “Thanks.” God, I almost choked on it.
    “No problem. So tell me, how bad is it? I’m impressed you made it a week.”
    “I’m afraid if I tell you, you won’t come back.”
    He laughed, his eyes twinkled and there went the tingles again.
    My body was so freaking stupid! How could it go getting all tingly like that when this bastard’s eyes twinkled? How was it that there could be such disconnect between one’s head and body?
    If I had to work with Clay, I was going to have to find a way to keep my body in check. Because I could not let my guard down around him again.
    It was far too dangerous... and stupid.

Chapter 12
    A t seven-thirty the next morning Clay found out exactly how bad things had gotten since I’d fired him (and his crew). I had to admit the stunned (and slightly scared) expression on his face was hilarious, even if the reason for it wasn’t. The ranch was a mess. A total disaster. And now he was all alone, having to fix it.
    Poor baby.
    He had me and Cockroach, of course, to help him. Interestingly (but I suppose it should have come as no surprise), the two knew each other. Cockroach let out a loud guffaw as Clay loped into the barn.
    “Fancy seeing you here,” Cockroach said, eyes shimmering with amusement. “I heard you was fired.”
    “Yes. But I’ve been re-hired.”
    Cockroach crossed his scrawny arms over his concave chest. “What’s the crew goin’ to do without you, Walker?”
    “They’ll be fine for a few days.” Clay gave the old man a pointed look, and I wondered what that was all about.
    Cockroach, in response, slanted a gaze my way then clammed up.
    Huh. Maybe Cockroach and I needed to have a little chat later.
    In the meantime, we had a lot of work to do. All of us.
    ***
    C lay dragged Cockroach off to help him, which made me happy. Maybe, with Clay’s help, I’d get more work out of him than just mouse-hunting. While the boys worked on the fences, I worked up a serious sweat shoveling horse manure out of the barn, cleaning the chicken coop, and feeding and watering all the animals. By the end of the day I felt like our tiny crew had at least made up a little of the ground that had been lost over the week. Having the boys tackle the heavier work—tasks that I couldn’t do, or took me longer—meant I was able to get a lot done.
    I owed Clay a thank you for his help.
    He was still out there somewhere, working on the fences. I was guessing he’d lost track of time.
    Unsure how to express my gratitude, I headed in the direction I’d last seen him go. A thick line of trees cut through the property between the two largest pastures on the ranch. I assumed, since the farthest fence was