There was a beat of silence, then “Hey, Beautiful.”
Oh, God. Perfect. It was Stone. The sex god’s brother. She winced and set her head to the table.
“Anything you want to tell me?” he asked.
“No.” Most definitely not.
“Okay, but for future reference, I’m the sex god in the Wilder family.”
“Good to know,” she said weakly in tune to his laugh. “Everything okay?”
“No complaints. Got a favor, though.”
How many scrapes had Stone, or any of the Wilders for that matter, helped her out of over the years? Too many to count. “Anything.”
“Glad to hear that. You still love to kayak?”
“Yes. Why?”
“We have a group of students coming in from Cal Berkeley. They want a two-day kayak down Snake River. They’re hoping to experience some wildlife and get pictures of them doing it. Think you can go along as a co-guide and photographer?”
“TJ put you up to this, right?”
“No. Actually, it’s Emma. She’s afraid the coeds will eat me up for lunch.”
She laughed. Stone was one of the most easygoing guys she’d ever met, with an utter will of steel. He loved Emma more than his next breath. He wasn’t going to stray, ever. “I don’t have any guiding experience, Stone. You know that.”
“No, but you’re an advanced kayaker and you know the wildlife. Plus, you’re a great photographer.”
Much as she loved Stone, she didn’t really want to spend two days listening to him wax poetic on his love life with Emma. Or that, apparently, he was a sex god, at least in his own mind. Plus, she needed to put some hours in at the garage for the sake of her checkbook.
“We’re paying,” Stone said. “And trust me, it’ll be worth your while. Let me bring over the employment app and papers I’d need to hire you, and you can think about it, okay?”
“Okay.” She had to admit, the “we’re paying” had been a pretty good argument. “I’d think Emma would want to go with you on this one, and keep you safe from the scary coeds.”
“Um, yeah. About that-” He broke off suddenly, and it sounded like he covered the receiver before he came back on. “Sorry, Harley. Bad reception, gotta go. See you in a few.”
She hung up, set aside her checkbook, and did some data processing for the internship, frowning when she found that two of her red group coyotes weren’t transmitting. She ran some errands, fielded more TJ questions, and came back to find the folder of employment papers stuck in her door. She set them on her table and went back to the new data she was getting from the field camera.
Those two coyotes were still not transmitting.
It was worrisome, but after a while her mind wandered from coyotes to a certain tough, sexy guide who could rev her body with a single glance.
Hell, she was still revved. She should have just jumped him in that damn sleeping bag.
Only one thing had stopped her-the fact that she wasn’t made for casual sex, and he didn’t tend to do anything but. Not to mention that though he’d played and teased and flirted with her, and made her feel like the only woman on earth, he’d also told her to follow her instincts, even though he knew that those instincts were telling her to keep her distance.
One thing she could count on TJ Wilder for-honesty. He said what he meant and meant what he said. No lies, no subterfuge.
Hot and sexy as he was, he was not good for her. She looked at her coveralls lying over the back of her chair. Nolan was good for her. She was yearning for someone in her life, someone with a penis, and she was quite certain he had one.
But TJ had one, too.
Clearly, she was crazy. She pushed her laptop away and looked at the file of employment papers from Stone. She’d told herself she wasn’t interested in assisting in guiding a trip, or taking vacation pictures. She had plans. Research biologist plans-which unfortunately wasn’t going to earn her a damn penny. She opened the application.
It was a paying job, one that didn’t require coveralls, grease, or dirty fingernails. Just to see how it would look, she put her name on the application. And then her address. But under qualifications, she hesitated. The story of her life, having to prove herself.
But the real truth was, other than her biology degree, she wasn’t sure what her true qualifications were. Somehow she didn’t think “loves the great outdoors” was going to matter. She found herself writing two names, Nolan and TJ. Huh. Guess this wasn’t about her. Nope, juvenile as it was, she was going to make a list of their qualifications.
That should clear things up. Under Nolan’s name she wrote:
Pro-gave me a paying job
Pro-nice smile
Pro-nice body
Pro-well liked
Pro-sweet, steady, stable
Con-haven’t wanted to kiss him since I kissed TJ
Only one con, and to be fair that con was hers, not his. Under TJ’s name she wrote:
Pro-best body in Wishful, maybe the planet
Pro-gave me my first man-made orgasm all year
Pro-offers me his company, his expertise, his friendship, and would also give me the shirt off his back if I needed it
Pro-kisses like heaven
Pro-knows me, perhaps more than I’d like
Con-knows me, perhaps more than I’d like
Con-can’t stop thinking about him
Con-he’ll break my heart if I let him
Con-not sure what his intentions are
There. She stared at the list and chewed on her pencil as she studied the data. The knock at the door startled her out of her analysis. It was Nolan. He smiled warmly and held up an envelope.