Seduction, Westmoreland Style - Brenda Jackson [2]
Casey steeled herself against the anger that swept through her body but it was no use. His words had assaulted her sensibilities. “Now wait just a minute,” she said, her eyes clashing with his.
He crossed his arms over his chest and to Casey, his height suddenly seem taller than six-three. “Don’t have time to wait either,” he said smugly, glaring down at her. “This is a working ranch and I have too much to do. If you’re interested in a job then I suggest you look someplace else.”
Casey, known to be stubborn by nature, refused to back down. McKinnon had effectively pushed her anger to the boiling point. And when she saw he had gone back to grooming the horse, as if totally dismissing her, her anger escalated that much more.
“Why?” she asked, struggling to speak over the rage that had worked its way up to her throat. “I think you owe me an explanation as to why you won’t consider hiring me.” For a long while McKinnon remained stubbornly silent and Casey waited furiously, patiently, for him to respond, refusing to move an inch until he did.
Finally, after several tense moments, McKinnon sighed deeply and turned back to face her, feeling that he didn’t owe her anything. He saw the angry lines curving her lips and thought that from the first time he’d seen her, he had found her mouth as tempting as the shiny red apple Eve had offered to Adam. And he bet her lips were just as delicious and probably even more sinful.
For crying out loud, couldn’t she feel the sexual chemistry flowing between them even amidst all that anger radiating from her? And from him? The moment he had turned around and seen Casey standing in the middle of the barn, he’d felt a zap of emotions shoot to every part of his body as well as his testosterone spike up a few notches. The woman was so striking that even the bright sunlight, which rarely showed its face in these parts, didn’t have a thing on her.
She exuded an air of sexiness without much effort and although she was frowning quite nicely now, the few occasions he had seen her smile, her mouth had a way of curving enticingly that made you want to kiss the smile right off her lips. Even now her angry pout was a total turn on.
Then there were her physical attributes. Dark brown hair that was cut in a short and sassy style complimented her mahogany-colored features, eyes the color of the darkest chocolate that could probably make you melt if you gazed into them long enough, and a petite frame that was clad in a pair of jeans that appeared made just for her body.
He had just seen her last month at her cousin Delaney’s surprise birthday party. He was of the opinion that each and every time he saw her she just kept getting prettier and prettier, and his attraction to her that more extreme. She even had the ability to smell good while standing in a barn filled with a bunch of livestock. Whatever perfume she was wearing was doing a number on him and besides that, although he couldn’t see her legs right now, he had them plastered to his memory. They were long, shapely and—”
“Well, McKinnon?”
He met her gaze as he tossed the brush in a pail and shoved his hands in the back pockets of his jeans. “Okay, I’ll give you a reason. This is a horse ranch and I’m looking for someone who can train horses and not ponies. Corey would never forgive me if something were to happen to you.”
He inwardly shuddered as if imagining such a thing, then added, “For Pete’s sake, you’re no bigger than a mite. The horse that needs to be trained is meaner than hell and I need to get him ready for the races in six weeks. As far as I’m concerned, you’re not the person for the job. Prince Charming is too much animal for you to handle.”
Anger flared in Casey’s eyes and she drew herself up to her full five-foot-three. “And you’re making that decision without giving me a chance to show you what I can do?”
“Yes, evidently I am,” he drawled.
“Then you’re nothing but a male chauvinistic—”
“Think whatever you like, but the bottom line is that I’m not hiring you. I’m sure there’re other jobs in Bozeman that might interest you.