Texas Pride Read Online Free

was a customer here, too, and the waitress’s selective efficiency was quickly grating on Jessica’s nerves. And so was the smile Dylan was so warmly displaying.
    â€œThanks, Susan.” Dylan pushed his cup closer. “And bring the lady here a hamburger and fries, please. I think she worked up an appetite interviewing all those men.”
    Susan? It certainly hadn’t taken him long to get chummy, Jessica thought. “Never mind. I’m not staying that long.”
    â€œI’ll have seconds, then,” Dylan said with a shrug. “Extra cheese.”
    Susan bounced off, happy to oblige.
    Exasperated, Jessica leaned back against the vinyl cushions and kicked off her heels. She closed her eyes and breathed her contentment.
    Dylan glanced under the table, then raised one brow. “Is taking off our clothes part of the interview?”
    She frowned at him. “My shoes are too tight.”
    He grinned back. “Your skirt is tight, also,” he said with a note of hope in his voice.
    â€œMy skirt stays on,” she said coolly. “And I’m not interviewing you anymore.”
    â€œDoes that mean I’m hired?”
    She shook her head.
    â€œSo who are you going to hire?” he asked. “The fat guy who ‘accidentally’ bumped your knee six times and dropped his pencil under the table four times?”
    Jessica felt a fresh wave of anger just thinking about that lecher. She’d had to refrain from kicking him the last time he’d dropped the damn pencil. “Of course not. But since you were paying such close attention, you must have noticed that Mr. Thompson, my second applicant, was highly qualified. He was a carpenter for a housing developer in San Antonio and an electrician for a small construction company in Austin.”
    â€œOh, yes.” Dylan took a swig of coffee. “Mr. Thompson. The guy whose hands were shaking.”
    â€œHe was a little nervous, that’s all.”
    â€œI’m sure that’s why he left here and went straight to that bar across the street.”
    Jessica sighed with resignation and tucked her legs beneath her chair. “A pretty sorry lot.”
    â€œAnd at the salary you’re offering, you won’t get better,” Dylan said pointedly.
    â€œExcept for you.”
    He grinned at her. “Of course.”
    And just who was he? she wondered. Other than the fact he was thirty-four and born in Maine, his application had been sketchy regarding his personal life. There’d been no mention of a wife—or wives, as the case might be—or children.
    Damn that smile of his. She hated the way it made her control slip. He sipped his coffee, watching her with dark intense eyes that never seemed to miss a thing. She shifted slightly under his perusal.
    â€œWhich brings me back to my question,” she said with a calm she didn’t feel. “With your qualifications, why would you accept what I’m offering?”
    Susan set the hamburger and fries in front of Dylan, fussed over him for a minute, then when Jessica scowled at her, reluctantly moved to take another order at the counter.
    Dylan slid the plate closer to Jessica. The smell of the fries was sheer heaven. Just one, she told herself, reaching for the plate.
    â€œThe first reason is that it’s temporary work, nothing long-term,” he said. “I don’t like to be tied down.”
    No big surprise there, Jessica thought. A man who traveled on a motorcycle with little more than a duffel bag was hardly the type to build picket fences. “And your second reason?” she asked.
    â€œThis youth center you want to build,” Dylan said, “are you doing it for money?”
    â€œOf course not,” she answered impatiently.
    â€œAnd the land, Stone Creek, you could sell it and make a few bucks?”
    Even the thought of selling one acre of Stone Creek sent a wave of indignation through Jessica. “I told you