Page 98 of Rocky Mountain Home

The man’s face went red, and he straightened up until he loomed over her. He took a step closer—

And found himself face to face with Jesse.

Jesse had no idea what was going on, but no one was going to mess with his cousin while he was around. That was his fucking job, thank you very much.

“You work here?” Jesse asked.

“I do.” The man flicked his nametag importantly. “I was—”

“Good,” Jesse interrupted. “The men’s shitter on the first floor is jammed. You should go unstick it.”

The doctor’s face went white. Behind Jesse, a low choking sound escaped Tamara as she attempted to hide her amusement and failed miserably.

The asshole, Dr. Tom, according to his nametag, drew himself to full height again. “I am not a janitor.”

“Oh. Whatever.” Jesse waved a hand and before biting his nail and ignoring the ass completely. He turned to his cousin. “So, Tam, what do you think? Extra bacon on the pizzas, or should we let the rest of the crew decide?”

Dr. Tom stood motionless for a second longer before growling in frustration and pointing a finger at Tamara. “You watch yourself. I’m keeping an eye on you.”

“Yes, sir.” She waited until he’d stepped out of earshot to mutter. “Only thing you can do is watch, asshole, because you’re a nearly-dickless wonder.”

Jesse snorted, his earlier anger and frustration washed away by her good intentions and his rising curiosity. “Gee, you know how to make friends and influence people everywhere, don’t you?”

“He’s a bastard,” Tamara said, leaning on the wall beside Jesse as she checked her watch. “I went out with him a few times, and he seemed nice enough at the start. Decent dancer, and he gave great back rubs.”

“Do I want to hear this?”

She shoved her glasses into place and pulled a face. “I should never have forgotten my rule to not fool around where I work.”

“Bad breakup?”

She nodded. “He’s been on my case ever since. He hassles me without cause, and I can’t really tell him to fuck off.”

He hesitated for all of a nano-second. “Dickless wonder?”

“Nearly-dickless.” She held up her hand with thumb and pointer finger spaced out two inches. “He drunk emailed me a shot of it.”

Jesse lost it. It was partly her expression, partly the tension that held him in its grip, but once he started laughing it welled up from deep down and poured out of him. “Oh my God, was that the scary email?”

Tamara eyed him wryly. “Yeah, it was funny at the time, at least to me. He didn’t appreciate the fact I couldn’t stop laughing long enough to apologize for laughing.”

“You know what they say, it’s not the length but how you use it,” Jesse offered between gasps.

“Said by the guys who have neither the length nor the moves, sadly.” Tamara laid a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry for being a jerk and getting on your case, but I care about you and I want you to be happy. Dare seems like a great person. You’ve got a shot at something special here—I’d hate for it to get screwed up.”

The one thing he truly understood was his family only got in his face because they cared. “I need to get back. Anything I need to watch out for or avoid?”

She gave him the look. “Don’t go fooling around. I don’t want to go blind if I walk into the room and interrupt you.”

Jesse patted her on the shoulder and escaped, pushing through the door into Dare’s room.

He’d expected to find her waiting impatiently, but she was sitting cross-legged on the mattress, eyes closed. Her palms were turned upward, wrists resting on her knees. Deep, even breaths lifted her chest before she let the air out slowly.

Like he’d attempted to do a few minutes ago, and he smiled as he crossed the floor. It took a moment to get his boots off, but once he was down to his socks, he hopped up on the foot of the bed and twisted to face her.

Her eyes were closed, but she was smiling.

Jesse shifted awkwardly before giving up his attempt to cross his legs. Jeans weren’t meant for yoga moves. Instead he let his legs open, feet draped off the edges of the bed, then he worked to match his breathing with hers.