Count This Cowboy In (4 page)

Again, for some reason that felt comforting.  Trying not to think about it too much, she went inside and looked around.  It was just as cute inside as it was outside.  It was small, just a kitchen and dining area, a living room area
and a bedroom and bath off of it, probably no more than five or six hundred square feet total.  But it was furnished nicely and was more than she'd ever need.  "Trevor, this is really nice.  I love it.  I'll take the bedspread and towels and curtains into town to the laundromat and clean the place up and it'll be perfect."

"
Now, why would you take them into a laundromat when there's a perfectly good laundry room in the house?"

"
That's your laundry room, in your house."

"
The office is in my house, too, but I sure hope you're planning on using it.  Besides, I don't use the laundry room, Consuela does and I'm sure she won't mind you using it, too.  Besides, we don't know how much you're making yet.  You may not be able to afford a laundromat."

She looked up at him and saw the devilish grin on his face and knew he was teasing her.  Figuring turn about
's fair play, she made a spectacle of looking around again and saying, "Boy, I sure hope you're not broke.  I'd love to live here."

He laughed, as she'd hoped he would.

"And I'd love to have you live here," he said.  "I really need a bookkeeper.  You saw how good I am at it." 

They talked about the guesthouse a few more minutes
and made arrangements for her to come back the next morning as they walked toward her truck.  He helped her in, closing the door for her and watched as she drove out the lane.  What an interesting afternoon this had turned out to be!

Sam went into the diner that evening with a gigantic grin.  It was after the evening rush, so Sally came over and said, "Today's special is lasagna, a salad and garlic bread.  It's terrific.  Want that?"

"
Sure, sounds good."

"
Good.  I'll be right back and we gotta talk."  She came back a few minutes later with Sam's meal and after making sure she had everything she needed, Sally slid into the booth across from her.  "Okay, you're smiling.  What happened?  Who are you working for?"

"
I don't know yet.  Maybe Trevor."

"
He called?"

"
No.  I stopped in when I drove by his ranch.  I'm going back tomorrow.  I might have a job there."

"
So why are you smiling?"

"
I so hope I get this job.  It's perfect.  He has a guesthouse I can stay in that's really cute.  I'd be living on a ranch again and I really, really, really want that."

"
It would be pretty neat to live out there.  Carol and I went to school together and I stayed overnight there a few times.  It is really a neat place."

"
It is.  I really like it.  Oh and hey, why didn't you warn me about Trevor?"

"
What about Trevor?  He's a good guy.  What was I supposed to warn you about?"

"
Oh, I don't know.  Maybe that he's drop-dead gorgeous!"

Sally grinned. 
"He is easy on the eyes, isn't he?"

"
You could have warned me.  I got all flustered and made a fool of myself, trying not to stare at him."

Sally laughed out loud. 
"Sorry.  I've grown up with him and Carol, so I guess I see him as Carol's brother, not as the drop dead gorgeous guy who just happens to be single, my friend."

"
Is he dating anyone?  Wait, I don't want to know.  It doesn't matter, especially if I get the job."

"
Why?"

"
Because if I get the job, he'd be my employer."

"
Yeah, so?"

"
Sally, don't get me started thinking like that.  He is so out of my league." 

Sally started to argue, but a couple
from another table went to the cash register to check out.  "I've got to go help them.  Don't sell yourself short, Sam."

Sally got busy and they didn
't get a chance to talk again until Sam was ready to leave.  Sally made her promise to come in the next evening to let her know what happened.

* * * * *

The next day Trevor introduced her to Consuela, who seemed very nice. 

"He sure better hire you, Miss Sam," the Hispanic woman offered.  "He needs help with his office work and I need a friend.  The men here are all nice, but they're all men!  I need another girl to talk to sometimes."

Sam
talked with her for a few minutes while Trevor stood by patiently. His welcome smile seemed pleased that she had connected with Consuela so quickly.

Eventually he took her to the office so they could get started.  When Sam asked him questions about passwords to get into his bank account and computer
–generated financial statements, it became obvious he wasn't exaggerating about his lack of computer knowledge.  He did, however, suggest they call Carol, which he did.  He put his sister on speaker so they could all three converse.  Once Carol was convinced Sam had used the system before and was seriously planning on doing Trevor's books, she gave her all the passwords she'd need and told her to call her anytime with questions.  She may or may not know the answer, but she'd try to help her.

"
She seems nice," Sam said, after they got off the phone.

"
She is.  We get along good. I miss her already and she hasn't even been gone two months yet."

"
She seems happy."

"
Yeah, I think she is.  Her husband's a good guy.  I'm glad she found him."

"
She doesn't miss the ranch, though?" Sam couldn't believe anyone willingly walking away from a place like this.

Trevor chuckled a bit
. "No, I don't think so."

"
Why's that funny?"

"
Living on a ranch was never her dream."

"
Really?"

Trevor studied her a bit. 
"You, on the other hand, really wanted to live on a ranch."

Sam nodded, turning to look out the window at the lush green pasture.

"Why?"

"
What do you mean why?  I love it.  I love every part of it.  I love the fresh air, the animals, even being around cowboys again."

His eyebrows
rose as he looked at her after that last statement.

She quickly assured him,
"Oh, don't worry.  I'm not planning on chasing any cowboys.  I just meant that cowboys are part of a ranch.  They work the ground and care for the animals that make up the ranch.  I love the whole ranch experience."

"
So you don't look down on cowboys then?"

"
Look down on them?  Hell, no."

"
Language, Sam."

"
Cowboys work hard.  Read hard.  They definitely make an honest living.  I have a lot of respect for them."

He smiled, suddenly proud to be a cowboy. 

"What did you mean by language?  That's the second time you've said that."

"
I mean watch your language.  I don't like hearing people cuss, especially pretty young ladies who are better than that." 

Sam
's mouth dropped open.  She didn't normally cuss much, but an occasional swear word had been known to pass her lips.  But she'd never heard a man complain about it, especially a cowboy.  She'd grown up hearing language like that from cowboys and ranch hands constantly.

"You said you lived on a ranch before," Trevor asked, changing the subject. "When?"

Sam squirmed on her seat a bit. She was not ready to go there. "You know, now that I have these passwords I should get busy and make sure they work.  Why don't you let me pay all the bills so you have a current balance in your bank account?  I should be able to print off the past several months for you so you can see a trend, give you something to work with.  All this may take a few hours, though.  When I have some information for you I will let you know.  Will you be around here?"

Trevor scowled a bit, obviously wanting to know more about where she'd come from.  Sam could only hope he'd drop it and respect her privacy.

"If it's going to be awhile, maybe I'll go out and actually get a little work done.  You know, actually be a cowboy for a few hours," he added, grinning.  "I'll stay close to the house, though, so call me and I'll come in and see what we have.  In the meantime, if you have any questions about anything, go ahead and call."  He picked up her phone as he said, "I'll program my number in for you."

He grabbed his hat and left.  Sam watched him
go, liking the way the cowboy looked in his hat.  And his jeans.  She shook her head, reminding herself not to go there; hopefully he was going to be her boss.  With that in mind, she set to work.  If she didn't find out if he had any money or not, she'd never convince him to hire her.

Two hours later the bills were all paid and she was happy to see that he had money in his account.  More importantly, he
'd had enough the last several months that he could probably afford to hire a bookkeeper.  Something bothered her, though, about his books.  Something just wasn't looking right, though she couldn't put her finger on what it was.  She decided to look into it further if and when he hired her.  If he didn't, it really wasn't any of her business. 

She printed off some financial statements for the last six months to give Trevor a good feel for how his ranch had been doing
and took out her phone to call him.  She went to her contacts, to the T's, but there was no Trevor.  She looked under N, but no Nottingham, either.  She was sure he put his number in there, but under what?  She went back to the beginning and skimmed through them all.  Luckily it didn't take long.  She found it under B, for Boss Cowboy.

She smiled, remembering how he smiled when she said she had a lot of respect for cowboys.  Interesting.  The little voice in the back of her mind was again reminding her, no, don
't go there, but she couldn't avoid the picture of her boss cowboy in his tight jeans and cowboy hat that popped into her head.  Thinking of him only as her boss could take some doing, but she was determined to do it.  She took a deep breath and got her feelings under control before hitting the button to call him.

When his deep sexy voice answered, all control vanished, even though all he said was,
"Trevor."

She froze
and after a few moments of silence he repeated, "Trevor." 

She tried to talk and started stumbling all over her words again, just like yesterday. 
"I – I–– it's all – I have the ––"

To her embarrassment she heard his deep sexy chuckle, then
"I'll be in in a few minutes, Sam."  Then with another chuckle he said, "Thanks for calling."  He hung up and she wanted to disappear before he got there. 

She squared her shoulders and went in search of a drink.  Maybe she could pull herself together before he got there.  She went to the kitchen, where Consuela was making lunch. 

"Everything going okay, Miss Sam?"

"
Yes, fine.  Trevor's on his way in to look at it.  I came out to see if I could get a drink of water."

"
Water is good, but you look like you could use something stronger.  How about some iced tea and tell me why you seem flustered."

Sam had to smile at her new friend, who was already pouring two glasses of tea. 
"It shows, huh?"

"
Yes, it does.  Why are you so flustered; something in his books?"

"
No.  No, his books are okay.  I've done books for another ranch, so I feel confident doing them."

"
So if not the job, what has you flustered?  She looked at Sam carefully, then a big smile broke out across her face.  You find the boss attractive," she said quietly. 

Sam felt her face flush and knew it wouldn
't do her any good to deny it.  Maybe Consuela could help her.  She admitted, "I do.  But I have to stop thinking of him like that.  I have to start seeing him only as my boss.  That is, assuming he hires me."

"
Oh, if he can afford it he'll hire you.  He needs you."

"
Do you think?"

"
For right now he needs someone to do his office work so he can get back to ranching.  He's good at that.  He's not good at office work."

"
You said for right now that's what he needs.  Why just for right now?"

"
No, he needs you to do that for a long time, but he needs it right away."  She smiled at Sam as she added, "He also needs to find a good woman and I think you would do just fine."  She winked at the astonished look on Sam's face. "But he can take his time on that."

Before Sam could catch her breath, let alone say anything, Trevor walked into the kitchen, taking his hat off and hanging it on a rack inside the door.