Six Degrees of Desperation (Dirty Tricks) (9 page)

"Whatcha gonna do with two hundred acres,
Ed?"

"Get married someday,
settle down, raise a family and some horses. It
’
s what I
’
m good at." He shifted his boots in
the loose dirt of the barn floor. "The horses part."

"You
’
re good at day-trading,
dude."

"I
’
ll do that on the side so that I can
afford my horses too."

Grant shook his head, a
smile spreading across his face. "Okay, I get it.
Can
’
t say that I
blame you. At least when you
’
re trading for yourself, you
don
’
t have the
responsibility of other people
’
s money hanging over you."

"You hit the nail on the head."

"So how is babysitting
Connor Mason
’
s
sister? Saw her at the Ugly Stick Saloon last night." Grant
whistled. "Looks to me like you got yourself a hot little handful
in that one."

Ed
’
s muscles tightened, his pulse
kicking up a notch as he stepped around the end of the stall. "What
do you mean?"

Grant held up his hands.
"Nothing, buddy. Not a thing. Just that she
’
s a pretty girl."

"Yeah and every man in the
building was drooling over her. I get it. Don
’
t add to the crowd, will ya?" He
should never have offered to look out for Kendall Mason. Especially
now that she was over twenty-one and legal in every way. As far as
Ed was concerned, her body should be considered a class-one
felony.

Every time he looked at
her, he wanted to commit all kinds of lewd and lascivious acts.
With two hard pulls, he yanked the leather strap from the girth
around the horse
’
s
belly and let it fall, swinging to the other side.

Grant leaned on his saddle,
apparently in no hurry whatsoever to groom his own horse or end the
current conversation. "I don
’
t see how you do it."

"Do what?" As far as Ed was
concerned, Grant talked too much. If he wasn
’
t the boss, he
’
d probably tell him so. Hell, he
might anyway.

"I don
’
t know how you can keep your hands
off her."

For the past six months, Ed had been
fighting that very urge. "Grant, you talk too much." His hands
ached to get hold of Kendall and touch her in ways that had nothing
to do with brotherly love.

Grant laughed out loud, then continued to
rub it in.

Much to
Ed
‘
s
agony.

"With that body and those boobs, the
temptation would kill me."

"Resist, or I might just
have to kill you. And I
’
d hate to lose my job because I killed the boss." Ed tossed
the saddle onto a nearby saddle rack and grabbed a brush from the
shelf, eager to get the task done and get home.

When Grant made no move to
remove his horse
’
s
saddle, it was all Ed could do not to throw the brush at the man.
With quick, calming strokes, Ed curried his gelding, refusing to
respond to any other conversation from Grant.

"Okay, okay, I get the
hint." Grant finally turned toward his saddle and removed the strap
around the horse
’
s
belly. "I
’
m just
saying you
’
re a
better man than I am."

Ed snorted. As he ran the
brush over the horse
’
s hindquarters, his cell phone vibrated his back pocket. He
pulled it out and clicked the talk button. "Yeah."

"Ed?"

Every red blood cell leaped
to attention at the sound of Kendall
’
s voice. Then they all sped south to
pool in his groin. Grant had it right. Keeping his hands off
Kendall was only half his problem. Keeping his mind off her had
become an impossibility.

"What do you need Kendall?"

"When are you coming home? I have a project
I need your help on."

"I
’
m not much good with school projects.
Get one of your classmates to help you out."

"I would, but
I
’
d rather you help
me on this one. It
’
s special and you
’
re my best choice," her breath whooshed out slowly before she
continued, "the only man I trust."

Ed sucked in a deep breath,
his imagination running rampant over the close quarters
they
’
d be working
in. He couldn
’
t do
it. No way.
Just tell
her
. "I
’
ll be home in fifteen
minutes."