A Cowboy's Best Friend by Kathleen Eagle

Author:Kathleen Eagle
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2020-01-13T19:58:09+00:00

Chapter 3

“A favor,” Amanda repeated, wondering why she was so drawn to him. And even more important, why she was so curious. He was just a client. She shouldn’t need to understand Justin McCabe on a personal level, never mind try to figure out why he had taken on a challenge of this nature. And yet, she sensed there was something motivating him. Something he didn’t like to talk about.

“Don’t worry.” Justin rose and headed for the lodge kitchen. “It’s nothing all that drastic.”

Intrigued, Amanda followed him. “I can’t wait to hear it, then.”

Justin wandered over to the fridge and peered inside. He took out a package of New Braunfels smoked sausage links and set them on the counter. “I volunteered to host a fund-raising dinner and I’ve got no clue what I need to do to get ready for it...or even what kind of food I should serve.”

Amanda couldn’t have been more shocked had he proposed marriage. “And you’re asking me? The carpenter?”

Justin set a skillet on the stove. He opened a bottle of Shiner Boch beer and poured it into the skillet, then added the links and turned the burner on to simmer. “You’re still a woman. And you like to cook.” He went back to the fridge and brought out containers of pre-made German potato salad and green beans with almonds. “I figured you would know this stuff.”

Amanda did. Unfortunately, she had gone down this particular path before, and it wasn’t a mistake she intended to repeat. “Isn’t this the kind of thing you should be discussing with your girlfriend?” she asked.

Justin went to the fridge again and brought out two more bottles of beer and a jar of jalapeño barbecue sauce. “Don’t have one.” He opened both beers and handed her one.

Their fingers brushed, sending a thrill spiraling through her. Amanda took a small sip of the delicious golden brew and studied him over the rim. “Don’t have one as in you recently broke up with someone, or don’t have one as in you don’t want to be in a relationship?” she asked before she could stop herself.

The corner of his mouth quirked up and he took a drink. “You really want to know?”

“I do,” she murmured. Though maybe she shouldn’t...

He let out a long breath, then turned and dumped the green beans into a saucepan to heat. “A couple of years out of college, I got engaged to a woman I worked with.” The words seemed to come with difficulty. “Pilar and I were both vying for promotion. But there was only one slot available at the company where we worked, and the competition for it was intense. I’d been there longer, had an edge. So Pilar picked my brain at length about what I thought it would take to land the top job, then passed my ideas off as her own before I could present them to my boss.” He took another sip of beer. “Suffice it to say, she got the promotion.”

“That’s terrible!” Amanda blurted out, stunned by the depth of his ex’s betrayal.

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