To Court a Cowgirl by Jeannie Watt Page A

as he stomped up the front walk to the house. About ten minutes later Allie had come out with him and introduced him as Zach. Jason had smiled and the kid had given a cold nod. And things had just gotten better from there. Allie went to work and Jason decided that if the kid was going to act like a butt, then he could pull nails from old boards while Jason pried lumber loose from the standing frame of the barn—after he forced him to wear the extra hard hat he’d brought.
    Zach smirked as he put it on, and after that he barely looked up when Jason set new boards in the pile. So Jason worked faster than usual, giving the kid a good supply of boards to work out his frustrations on. He didn’t know anything about the kid except that he’d gotten himself into minor trouble and Allie was friends with his mother.
    Frankly, he didn’t want to know more.
    Finally, about midmorning, Jason stopped for a water break, but Zach kept sullenly pulling nails. One of them flew through the air and landed several yards away. The kid ignored it, so Jason said, “You need to get that in the bucket so it doesn’t end up in the tire of one of Allie’s vehicles.”
    Zach met his eyes coldly, then got to his feet and walked over to the nail, picked it up and then walked back to the bucket, where he made a big show of dropping it straight in. It landed with a metallic ping and then the kid went back to work.
    â€œHow old did you say you were?” Jason asked.
    Another cold look, but this time color crept up from the kid’s collar. He looked back down without answering. So it went until lunchtime. Apparently teenage hunger trumped teenage point-making—although Jason really wanted to tell the kid that he was wasting his time trying to make any points to him—because when Jason said it was time for a break, he went to his truck and pulled out a small cooler. Jason wasn’t surprised when Zach dropped the tailgate of his own truck and sat on it to eat.
    After Zach had devoured two sandwiches and chugged most of a bottle of water, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and again met Jason’s gaze. “You’re that football player.”
    â€œI am.”
    â€œWhat are you doing tearing down a barn? Are things that bad?”
    â€œWhat if they are?”
    The kid shrugged and pulled out a third sandwich. “Nothing.” He opened the sandwich bag. “My dad was a fan of yours. I think you know him. Derek Belfort.”
    â€œYeah. I remember him. He was older than me. Played cornerback.”
    Zach nodded and said nothing else. If anything he seemed even colder. Fine, kid. Play it your way. The only issue Jason had with the situation was that he’d enjoyed his time ripping apart the barn up until now. It’d been like a puzzle, figuring what to take down next. He’d made mistakes, but since he’d been alone, who cared?
    Now he had a sullen kid watching his every move even though he was pretending not to.
    The afternoon passed slowly. Allie pulled in a little after four o’clock and the kid immediately dropped the cat’s-paw he’d been prying nails with and headed for his rig.
    â€œYou’re not done.”
    Glacial eyes turned his way. “What?”
    â€œYou’re not done. We work until five o’clock.”
    â€œMy mom told me four.”
    â€œYour mom was wrong.”
    They faced off for a tense moment, then the kid muttered a curse under his breath and went back to where he’d been working.
    â€œAnother thing. When you get done, you put the tool away.” He almost added, “Didn’t anyone teach you that?” but this was about the kid’s behavior, not what anyone had or had not taught him.
    Zach grunted at him and yanked out a nail. It flew through the air and landed at Jason’s feet. Again their gazes connected, then Jason bent and picked up the nail and dropped it into the can.
    â€œThanks.”