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stay for?”
    I just looked at him. I wanted to say, I’ll stay for you. Take me to bed and do me . But he’d probably have thought that was odd. So I kept my mouth shut.
    “I’ll give you a fresh start. Come work for me.”
    I laughed a little. “Well, that’s super generous, Ethan. But have you looked at me recently? I’m not exactly up to par right now.”
    “Yeah, I’ve looked.” He nodded and his eyes ran over me swiftly, making me mildly self-conscious. “Your arm is gnarly. Sorry about your wreck, by the way. I should have called to check in. I just…” He let out a breath and then cleared his throat. “But I don’t mean start right now. How many more weeks until you get your robo-gear off?”
    “Four.” Of course I wondered what he’d been going to say after “just,” but I let it slide.
    “Okay, four weeks, then come report for duty.”
    “Ethan, four weeks till my last surgery. It’s not like it’ll be one hundred percent then,” I said wryly.
    “Just start anyway. There’s a lot I can have you do around the barn. You can clean up the horses, do all the girly shit I don’t wanna do and don’t have time for. Get back on your feet again.”
    “Are you serious here? Because I’m pretty tempted. I don’t really want to move back to Texas with my parents. They’re great and all, but I was hoping I was past that point in my life.”
    “I wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t serious. I could use the help. You clearly need help. It’s a win-win.”
    I stood there for a minute chewing my lip. “Okay.”
    “Okay? Really?”
    “Yes. But I warn you, I’m kind of a pain in the ass. You might regret this.”
    “I know you’re a pain in the ass. I lived with it. Nothing I can’t handle.” He stuck out his hand to shake on the deal and I just stared at him, raising a brow. He grinned and leaned forward to ruffle the hair on my head. “It’s a deal. Call me when you’re ready.” He turned and started to saunter into the bar, calling “Later, Lissa” over his shoulder.
    “You bastard!” I hollered back. “I can’t fix my hair!”
    He ran back, laughing, to smooth my hair down, and all I could think was Yes. Please keep touching me. Stop! Okay, keep going!
    “Want me to tie it back?”
    I nodded and he took the ever-present hair tie I had wrapped around my splinted arm and walked behind me. His fingers combed my hair back, and he fixed a low ponytail for me. My breath hitched when his fingers brushed my neck. We were both quiet for a moment, and then I coughed to break the silence.
    “I’m completely impressed.” I smiled over my shoulder.
    The corner of his mouth lifted. “I have talents you can’t even imagine. I can even do a French braid if you want.”
    “Wow. I’d like to see that.” I laughed.
    We both walked back into the pub together. Ethan held the swinging door to let me step through. Steph was still sitting where I’d left her, her eyes darting between me and Ethan, a wide smile spreading over her face. We parted ways with a small wave as he walked up to the bar, and I sat back down next to Steph. She had a fresh, full glass of wine waiting for me. I took a long drink and set it back down with a sigh.
    “Thought you might need that.” She smiled cheekily at me.
    I nodded, staring at the glass. “Indeed.”
    “Sooo, I feel like there’s a lot you need to tell me.”
    “I hardly know where to start.”

Chapter 3
    O ne month later, I pulled my truck up in front of Ethan’s stable. It had been a couple of years since I’d been there. Back then I was always just passing through instead of looking for work. Bit of a different ball game, but it was nice to at least be on familiar territory. This would be a bit of a change—I’d never worked a traditional job before. I’d never been a waitress or had a desk job. And even with horses, I’d always freelanced, traveling around to multiple barns in one day to ride or do odd jobs. It was actually a lot of hard