A Bet Worth Making (Grayson County #2) by Heather Hildenbrand

again.
    A ball of heat formed in my stomach, dropping lower and lower.
    Casey’s grin was a little teasing and a lot smug. “If you didn’t want it, you’d have left already.”
    Without waiting for an answer, he handed my beer back and returned to the sink, leaving me with my mouth half-open and my thighs tingly.
    Why did I suspect he wasn’t only talking about the room?
    I thought about telling him no, just to prove a point. But, in this moment, I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what that point would be. And I did need a place to stay. At least until I knew if I got the job with Summer. If that didn’t work out, I could make my appearance in Windsor a quick one. In and out and on the road again. Not that the road held any sort of destination on the other end.
    But this, a furnished room to sleep in, a place to unpack a little, and far enough from Windsor they wouldn’t be looking over my shoulder sounded nice.
    Screw it. At least I had a yummy view in the meantime. Even if he was made up of everything I’d sworn to avoid.
     

Chapter Six
    Casey
     
     
    I finished the dishes in silence. After our little tiff about Jordan’s ridiculously prejudiced comments regarding small town folks, I was sure she was going to storm out. Hell, at one point, I considered doing the same. I recognized bitterness when I heard it, though, so I let it go. Chalked it up to a bad experience. Obviously someone had burned her. An ex-boyfriend maybe. Not my business.
    But the idea of her walking out, of never seeing her again, wasn’t a thought I enjoyed. This girl was sexy and mysterious and the first interesting thing that’d happened to me in a long time. Her outer shell was pretty hard to crack, but the glimpse I’d caught underneath her armor intrigued me. I wanted more. Of what, exactly, I didn’t know yet. But I damn sure wanted the time to figure it out.
    So, I’d resorted to flirting. Shameless, unfiltered flirting. And I’d laid it on thick too. It was probably too much. But the look on her face when I’d chugged her beer was priceless. And the fact that she didn’t know what to say after was just as good. I had to bite my lip to keep from grinning while I finished a month’s worth of dirty plates.
    When the last of the pans were washed and set aside, I dried my hands and wandered into the living room. Jordan had settled on the far end of the couch—a clear message. The set of her shoulders said she was in deep thought. I knew better than to interrupt that. Curiosity was killing me, though.
    I sank onto the center cushion and punched the remote until the TV powered on. Sports channel. Good as anything else. I wasn’t really paying attention anyway. But I leaned back and propped my feet up on the coffee table all the same.
    It wasn’t like I hadn’t seen a stunner before. But shit, girls like Jordan didn’t exactly find their way to Grayson often. Or, more specifically, to my front door. I couldn’t help but shake my head at Frank again. What was that guy cooking up? Did he really think it was that easy to overcome whatever melancholy I’d been fighting these past few months?
    Hell, did he think he could deliver me a beautiful girl and I’d what? Fall in love? Settle down? Was that his idea of happiness for me? I definitely needed to set him straight because that was absolutely not happening. Especially with a city slicker like Jordan. Beauty. Brains. Ambition. Nobody like that would ever be interested in what I had to offer—which wasn’t much.
    The TV droned on and I snuck a glance over at her. She stared back at me in a way that suggested she’d been doing it for a while now. Her bottom lip caught between her teeth and when she let go, she blew out a breath. I didn’t miss the rise and fall of her ample chest. Eyes up, Case.
    “Fine,” Jordan said as if I’d just now asked her a question. “We can be friends and I’ll take the room. But it’s temporary. Just for the summer, and I pay