Wild for the Girl by Starr Ambrose

for doing nothing.”
    His dad chuckled. “She’s worth it. I really like that girl.”
    Responding to that didn’t require any thought. “I do, too.” Since his dad seemed to be waiting for more, he added, “Too bad she didn’t want the manager’s job herself.”
    “She’s got her own place to run.”
    “So I heard.”
    Michael stopped outside his bedroom and leaned on the crutches, watching him. “Said she doesn’t care to have a job where she just meets a lot of tourists.”
    “Right.” Reese couldn’t figure out why he was getting such a thoughtful look, but it made for an awkward silence, so he filled it. “She told me she doesn’t like to work with people, only horses.”
    That seemed to get some serious thought. “I don’t think that’s true.”
    “I think you’re right,” Reese replied.
    “She’s very outgoing, and has a lot of friends.”
    “That’s nice.” He hoped one of them wasn’t a boyfriend, but he didn’t think so. Or if there had been one, Reese was pretty sure the guy was history after today. He didn’t like to brag, but that had been one satisfied look on her face.
    “She’s good with people, too. I think she’s just pulling back temporarily. You ask me, that’s a woman who’s been hurt and needs some special care.”
    “Uh-huh.” That had been Reese’s conclusion, too, but he wasn’t sure why his dad had given it so much thought. “Why are we talking about T.J.?”
    Michael blinked innocently. “You’re the one who brought her up.”
    Whatever; he was the one ending it. Talking about T.J.’s personal life felt too . . . personal. Besides, he had the odd feeling that he was missing something. This conversation was starting to remind him of talking with Caroline, full of hidden meanings, and he’d had more than enough of that.
    “What’s for supper? Leftovers?”
    “They’re gone. I thought you were going to bring something home.”
    Damn, he’d meant to ask the chef before he left. “I forgot.” An unexpected situation had wiped any thought of food from his mind.
    Michael shrugged. “Then I guess it’s bachelor fare. Pizza.”
    * * *
    T.J. didn’t know what excuse Beth had given for not coming to the barn with Tad, and she didn’t care to ask, not that day or for the week following it. She was just glad the girl had sense enough to stay away.
    Tad could use a little of that sense, since she obviously wasn’t getting through to him. The picnic basket he set on the tack room floor started an annoying buzz in her mind. “What’s that?” she asked.
    “Lunch.”
    “It’s eight a.m.”
    “Then call it brunch. It’s for after my lesson.” He reached inside, dispelling any doubt that she was included in his plans as he pulled out a bouquet of wildflowers and held them in front of her. “But the lady should have these now.”
    She ignored the flowers that nearly brushed against her shirt, focusing her frown on Tad. “Tad, what didn’t you understand about no ?”
    “I heard, Not now, Tad, I need to be persuaded .”
    The line would have been cute two weeks ago, when she hadn’t already said no fifty million times. “You think you’re irresistible, don’t you?”
    “That’s what I’m told, and I have box office numbers that prove it.” He grinned like an unabashed little boy who was used to charming his way out of trouble, which was probably exactly what he’d been. When she didn’t take the flowers, he shrugged and laid them on the picnic basket. “No, huh? You don’t look like the flower type to me, but it was worth a shot.”
    “Tad, has anyone ever refused you anything?”
    He actually thought about it. “Not that I recall. It’s my special gift. But more to the point, no woman has ever been sorry she said yes.” He wiggled his eyebrows at her.
    “Well, Tad, this is going to be another new experience for you, because I’m not changing my mind. And if you don’t quit hitting on me, I’m pulling out the big H word, and using