I knew I should try, but I couldn’t keep my face from lighting up. “I don’t know. Can you?” I teased.

He sighed. “May I? May I take you on a date sometime?”

“Because you don’t have a girlfriend—”

“Or a boyfriend. Or a cattlefriend,” he mumbled, giving me a look. Good. So he remembered my question.

“And because you’re kind of cute,” I continued, “and because you’re not afraid to get down and dirty,” I stared pointedly at where he kneeled beside me, “I promise I’ll think about going on a date with you. Sometime.”

If Jesse’s expression could get more relieved, I couldn’t envision it. “I’ve never been so excited for sometime.”

I heard the kitchen door open behind us, but I didn’t pay it any attention. That was, until a shiny, black pair of cowboy boots stepped right next to me.

“No need to get down on your hands and knees on my account.”

Jesse went rigid the instant he heard the guy’s voice. My eyes moved up those black boots, to his hub cap-sized silver belt buckle stamped with a man riding a bull, and ending on his black, felt hat. His skin was almost as fair as mine, and his eyes were so dark it was hard to distinguish the pupil from the iris. Lanky, dark, and sinister. That guy, minus the hick wear, was just my type.

When Jesse shifted beside me and all two hundred pounds of bronzy, brawn, and blond of him stood, my heart thundered in my chest again. Maybe my type had changed. Or was changing. Or was in transition. It was all very confusing.

Mr. Dark and Sinister’s mouth curved up on one side as those dark eyes took me in. “Not that you don’t look great down there, but let me give you a hand,” he said, extending his hand toward me. If the expression on his face didn’t say it all, his tone did.

Jesse pivoted in front of him, lowering his hand toward me. I took it without stopping to think. It was natural. Easy. Effortless. When Jesse reached out for me, I reached back.

“Who’s your new friend, Jess?” the other guy asked, stepping around the tower of man in front of me.

If it was possible, Jesse’s body tensed even more. I wasn’t sure if Jesse kept his mouth sealed shut because he plain just didn’t want to talk to the other guy or he didn’t want to introduce us. Either way, he obviously wouldn’t make the introductions, and the other guy obviously wouldn’t move until the introductions were made.

Taking matters into my own hands, I crossed my arms and leveled the other guy with a no nonsense look. “I’m Rowen.”

Jesse’s eyes closed.

Dark and Sinister Boy’s eyes went a shade darker. “Rowen . . .?”

“Miss Rowen to you,” I said, lifting a brow. “And a first name’s all you’re getting because you have to earn a last name.”

“Does this guy know it?” he replied, hitching his thumb Jesse’s direction.

“Yeah. He does.”

“So you’ll give Jesse Walker your last name, but you won’t tell me,” he said, resting his thumbs on his belt buckle. “Why’s that?”

“He earned it.” I glanced at Jesse from the corner of my eyes. He watched me so carefully it was like he was worried I was about to be snatched away in the blink of an eye.

“Garth,” he said, extending his hand. I let it hang there. “And because you’re the finest thing I’ve seen in a while, you’ve earned yourself a last name.” Jesse’s hands curled into fists. “Black. Garth Black.”

From his jeans to his boots to his eyes . . . to his entire demeanor, he personified his last name perfectly.

When Garth realized I wouldn’t shake his hand anytime this century, he dropped it. His eyes slid from me to Jesse. They went a shade darker.

“Long time no see, old pal,” he said.

Jesse blew a rush of air from his nose. “What are you doing here, Black?”

“Well, it certainly isn’t to worship at your feet like the rest of this damn town. And it sure isn’t to make a heartfelt apology.”

Storm clouds rolled through those sky blue eyes of Jesse’s. “Spit it out,” he said, his jaw clenching. “What the hell are you doing on my property?”

If it wasn’t so hot inside the kitchen, chills would have crawled up my spine from the ice in Jesse’s voice. Those two had history. That was as obvious as their mutual hatred. What that history was and where that hate came from was the mystery. As much as I loved a good mystery, now was neither the time nor place to get to the bottom of it. For the most part, the rest of the guys sitting around the table were consumed with stuffing their mouths, but I caught Rose and Lily throwing us a few sideways looks.

“Your dad hired me on,” Garth replied. “I’m going to be helping out this summer.”

“How long are you going to last this time?” Jesse replied, angling in front of him. Toe to toe, Jesse had him by a couple of inches even with Garth’s hat still on. “Two weeks? Maybe three?” He shook his head. “Commitment isn’t really your thing.”

“No, it certainly isn’t,” Garth said with that wicked half smile of his. “Commitment’s boring. Predictable. It sucks the life out of a person.” He ran his eyes down Jesse intentionally. “Commitment’s more your thing.”

Whatever had happened between them ran deeper than an everyday disagreement. Judging from the looks in their eyes whenever they looked at each other, if murder was legal, they wouldn’t have hesitated.

“You boys catching up?” A middle-aged man stepped up to the three of us and clapped one hand over Jesse’s shoulder and another over Garth’s.

“We sure are, Mr. Walker,” Garth replied, his eyes gleaming.

Ah. So there was the Mr. Walker I’d heard so much about but was starting to believe was the man hiding behind the curtains. He was on the short side and had brown hair and eyes like the rest of his family minus one. How had Rose and Neil created the blond Viking god beside me? DNA was a funny thing.

“I thought we were all hired up for the summer,” Jesse said to his dad.

“We were. Right up until Phil Jepson decided his old body couldn’t take another summer at Willow Springs. He let me know he was leaving yesterday morning, and when I ran into town last night to pick up some supplies, guess who I ran into?”

“Since Garth Black is standing in front of me, I don’t think I need to guess,” was Jesse’s clipped response.

“Since you boys go so far back, and Garth promised me he was committed to finishing out the entire summer, unlike last summer,” Neil quirked a brow at Garth, “I decided to give him a second chance.” Neil’s gaze shifted to me, and he smiled. “We’re big fans of second chances around here.”

“Second chances, sure,” Jesse said, staring down Garth. “Seventh chances, not so much.”

Neil gave his son an odd look before extending his hand toward me. “Rowen Sterling, it’s nice to finally meet you. Sorry it didn’t happen sooner. A couple thousand head of cattle have a way of eating up a person’s day and night.”

I matched his smile and shook his hand. As with Rose, I liked Neil immediately. “I can imagine.”

“We’re glad to have you here, Rowen,” he said. “How’s your first day going in the kitchen?”

Jesse shot me a wry smile which I pretended to ignore.

“I crispified a batch of pancakes and spilled some coffee,” I answered, lifting the empty pot in my hand. “Could have been worse.”

Neil chuckled. “I have a feeling you’ll keep things exciting around here,” he said, before heading to the last empty seat at the head of the table.

“Me, too,” Garth added, giving me an expectant look.

“Take a seat, Garth,” Jesse said, more of an order than a request.

“That’s all right,” Garth replied, refusing to look at Jesse. He looked at me so intently, I stepped back. “I want to get to know Rowen better.”

“Give it a rest, Garth,” Jesse said. “Rowen’s smart. Smart enough to know to stay away from guys like you.”

Garth clucked his tongue. “You know who wasn’t smart enough to stay away from me?”