A Home Of His Own by Judith Bowen

Author:Judith Bowen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER ELEVEN

LEWIS STARED at the bathroom door. He’d heard the click. Funny, he hadn’t taken Phoebe for the melodramatic type.

He’d been trying to pay attention to what Charlie was telling him over the background noise out at the rig site. They’d had some mechanical screwups, which was par for the course, and the waterman hadn’t shown up. He had a substance-abuse problem, but he’d been in detox and Lewis had wanted to give him a second chance. Maybe it was time to pull the pin; you couldn’t be too much of a bleeding heart in this business and Saunderson knew it. He’d had his chances.

The job of bringing water trucks to the site was critical. The crew needed water to prepare the drilling mud, which lubricated the pipe underground as they drilled. Lewis knew someone he might be able to hire on short notice. He quickly dialed Marv Sloboda, a waterman he’d worked with on another job up north. Luckily he was home and said, sure, he’d go out to the rig that afternoon if he could get a ride. His truck was in the shop. Lewis said he’d pick him up at two.

Then he stood for a moment, frowning at the closed bathroom door, wondering if he should rattle the doorknob and get Phoebe to let him in so he could try to explain. He didn’t have that much experience with placating women. She didn’t realize that his job was 110 percent with him. Even if they’d been having an honest-to-goodness honeymoon, he’d have had to be available to his bosses and crew.

Not many women understood that kind of devotion to duty, judging by the numbers of divorced and single guys in the business. Was Phoebe going to turn out to be one of those women?

He was just about to go to the bathroom and beg her to let him in when his phone buzzed again.

Goddamn it—now what?

“Hardin here,” he answered tersely.

“Lewis Hardin?”

He didn’t recognize the voice. “That’s right.”

“Bart Tanguay. We haven’t spoken before—”

“How the hell did you get my number?” Lewis asked angrily. It was one thing to be bothered in his hotel room by co-workers, but it was another to have every Tom, Dick and Harry calling him up.

There was a brief pause and Lewis nearly hung up. “Never mind that, Hardin. I want you to come work for me. Name your price.”

“What are you talking about?” Lewis scowled into the phone, feeling his temperature rise. “And who the hell are you?”

“Wild Rose. We know how good you are, Hardin. We want you on our side. We’re a big company. Money, titles, perks—you name it, it’s yours.”

“Well, listen here, Tanguay. I don’t care if you’re a goddamn oil sheik from the Middle East, I want you and your people to leave me alone. I’m tired of hearing about Wild Rose. I’m staying right where I am. And if I was thinking of leaving my job, you’d be the last outfit I’d call.”

“Why’s that?” The man sounded amused.

“Because you’re a pain in the butt, that’s why.

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