Page 28 of Cowboy Needed

Ellis picked up Chrissy and rubbed Mavis’s ears while was there. Her tail thumped. Yeah. She was a good girl.

They took the girls to wash up, and he smiled at Ellis. “Thanks. I got this now. And don’t worry about the dishes.”

“Oh, I bet Michael will do them.” Ellis winked, sending a buzz up along his spine.

He had to laugh. “I bet he will.”

Lord help him.

He shook his head, peeking in at his youngest son, who was leaning back with his iPad, dozing.

Hard work tired a young man out.

He would do the dishes. As soon as he got the girls settled completely.

Of course, when he went back to the kitchen after all that, Ellis was finishing up the last pan.

“Dammit. Ellis, you cooked!” The man was too nice to them.

“Well, yeah, but you got kids to run you ragged. I just got one lazy houndlab.”

That name made him laugh every time. He guessed it was better than bloodbrador.

“I love that dog, and obviously so do the kids. I’m glad she’s so easygoing.”

“Me too. She loves kids so much.” Ellis hung the dish towel over the edge of the sink. “Thanks for letting me make supper. I like to cook and just for me it’s no fun.”

“Well, we benefit from it.” Suddenly he wanted a hug so bad he could taste it, but he had a feeling that was inappropriate with Ellis.

“Me too. Night, Mr. Ichabod.”

“Just Ichabod.” Ichabod grinned.

“You got it.” And Ellis waved before going to get his dog and heading back for the bunkhouse.

Which sucked. He hadn’t had near enough adult time. But he totally had high hopes he would get some more tomorrow.

Chapter Ten

Ellis had to tell Ichabod about Rick.

The man deserved to know, and honestly, he loved this job. He didn’t want to lose it if Ichabod decided he’d been there under false pretenses. If he owned up now, he would still be in the safe zone, he thought.

Ellis headed to the house, Mavis following along dancing, her tail going ninety to nothing. She loved to go and see her pack.

The girls were in the front yard in their bathing suits, playing in the sprinklers. Ichabod was stretched out in one of the lounge chairs, holding a sketchbook and drawing away. He wore nothing but a tiny pair of cutoffs and tattoos.

It was what he imagined Hephaestus would look like. From the neck down, anyway.

Not Zeus, but that one god who made things.

It made his mouth dry and it firmed his intention. He was going to do this right. Damn it, he was gonna do this.

“Hey, boss, you busy?”

Ichabod glanced up at him. “Bah, you’re way more of aboss than I am, and I am sitting here planning my next big project and watching the girls play. Have a sit.”

He sat in one of the lawn chairs, trying to relax. “Where are the boys?”