Her Gentle Giant by Carolyn Faulkner

Author:Carolyn Faulkner [Faulkner, Carolyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blushing Books Publications
Published: 2020-04-01T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6

And he was right. He didn't hear from her again. The days stretched into a week. Hoyt wondered if she had gotten a job, but then, who would have watched Mischief for her, if not him? So, he kind of doubted she had.

It wasn't until he made a pit stop at Unka Al's that he saw her again, only her position had changed. She was the one behind the counter.

It was about fifteen minutes before closing, and he just stopped in to get a quart of milk and some baking powder with which he was going to make biscuits.

There was no one else in the store—most folks around town were early risers, and this was a work day, so they were likely already in bed or well on their way.

He put his purchases on the counter, and she rang them up. "It's good to see you, Arianne."

"You, too, Hoyt."

"Liar," he accused with no malice. "I'm glad to see you got a job."

She snorted at that, and he had to grin. "Such as it is."

"Not really what you wanted, huh?"

"Nowhere near."

He made a snap decision, right there, right then. "Listen, I think I might be able to help along those lines. It would be generous pay and much better working conditions. Would it be okay for me to drop by tomorrow evening and talk to you about what I have in mind?"

Ari gave him a wary look that he took no offence to. "I—"

He held up his hands, even the damaged one. "I promise it will be nothing but that, darlin'."

Hoyt watched her bite her lip fit to make it bleed, angry at himself that he seemed to have brought them right back to square one.

"Have I ever lied to you, Miss Arianne?" he asked in a neutral tone.

"No," she conceded reluctantly.

"And I'm not now. You're still safe with me, and so is anything you trust me with or that I might accidentally discover about you. I'm a private man, and I assume my friends are, too. Small towns are hot beds of gossip. But no one will ever hear anything about you from me, honey, unless you tell me that it's okay for me to share it."

"All right."

She sounded about as enthusiastic as if he had suggested that she should bring a bag of tarantulas into her house, but he would take what he could get.

"When would be the best time?"

Arianne swallowed hard. "Well, I owe you a dinner, so why don't you come over around five thirty?"

"You don't owe me anything. I hope you know that."

She nodded, still not looking at him.

"Good. But I've been dying to try your cooking, so I'm going to accept your generous offer anyway. Make me one of the things we talked about, hmm?"

"All right." He turned away then right back again. "Aren't you just about to close up?"

"Yes."

"Well, why don't you go ahead and do that. I'll escort you to your car."

She hated working at night and had been uneasy doing so since she started, but she needed money coming in, so she'd taken the job.

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