in him for this project. Right from day one when he and Mac had messed with her at the diner. But judging by her descriptions of him, she’d been attracted to him personally too from the very beginning.
The other eye-opener was that this project, show, whatever it was, might actually be good for this town. Mandy was right. The people of Pigeon Hollow deserved this chance. Delia and Mac and all the rest sure could use the extra business, and who was he to stop them?
Jared lifted the two pages of notes and moved them to the side to reveal a stack of blank consent forms. He considered for barely a heartbeat before taking one copy out. He located a pen, also on the seat under his butt, and started to fill in the spaces on the form. He signed his name at the bottom then placed it in the middle of the desk on top of the folder.
He glanced at the still-sleeping Mandy and decided to let her rest. As much as he wanted to slide between the sheets and into her, he had a lot to think about. Jared grabbed his shirt off the floor and pulled it over his head. With one more backward glance, he slipped quietly out of the door, making sure it was locked behind him. In the bar parking lot, he got into his truck. He didn’t feel like talking to Bobby again just yet. Instead, Jared started the engine and headed for the farm.
As he drove, he hoped he’d done the right thing. Even if he had made a mistake, there was one upside. By signing the consent form he’d insured Mandy would be around for at least two more months. Knowing that, he hoped even more that he’d done it for the right reasons.
Chapter Six
Mandy woke with what felt like cotton balls in her mouth. She flung her arm over her face to block out the dim light filtering through the curtains. Why did she feel like such crap? As her body and mind began to wake, she felt the pull of sore muscles in her legs, and in other places too, muscles that hadn’t been used in a very long time.
Holy cow . She sat straight up in bed. Bad idea, she realized, as she got lightheaded. Skipping dinner and drinking beer was never a good idea. It led to things like hangovers and sex with hot cowboys. Too bad she remembered that a little too late.
Mandy didn’t know what was worse, her hangover or the fact that she’d had sex with Jared Gordon. Shit . She couldn’t believe she’d broken her own rule and mixed business with pleasure. Very, very nice pleasure, but against her personal rules nonetheless. She’d only intended on flirting, not actually having sex with him—a fact she’d conveniently forgotten while drinking and aiming her foot at his crotch.
As she stumbled to the bathroom Mandy made a vow never to drink on an empty stomach again. She noted she wasn’t vowing to herself never to have sex with Jared again. Interesting. Or maybe not. If her fuzzy brain remembered accurately, it had been incredible.
Of course it should have been great. After all, he was one unbelievably attractive specimen. In Los Angeles so often the reality didn’t live up to the illusion created by the exterior packaging. No false advertising here though. In Jared’s case, what you see is what you get, and what she gotten had been very, very good.
Mandy had to stop thinking of him and the possibility of a repeat of last night. She’d done a very bad thing getting physical with him. In a business where far too many women used sex to make their way to the top, she had vowed never to do so. It had cost her in her job too. On at least one occasion that she knew of, she’d been passed over for a less qualified bimbo who wasn’t opposed to sweating up the casting couch with an executive.
Now that she was finally in a good place in her career, she still couldn’t afford to compromise her morals. No worries. Last night with Jared would be just that. One night. That wasn’t any sort of vow, just the cold hard reality of the situation. She’d pissed him off at the bar and he still hated the idea of the
The other eye-opener was that this project, show, whatever it was, might actually be good for this town. Mandy was right. The people of Pigeon Hollow deserved this chance. Delia and Mac and all the rest sure could use the extra business, and who was he to stop them?
Jared lifted the two pages of notes and moved them to the side to reveal a stack of blank consent forms. He considered for barely a heartbeat before taking one copy out. He located a pen, also on the seat under his butt, and started to fill in the spaces on the form. He signed his name at the bottom then placed it in the middle of the desk on top of the folder.
He glanced at the still-sleeping Mandy and decided to let her rest. As much as he wanted to slide between the sheets and into her, he had a lot to think about. Jared grabbed his shirt off the floor and pulled it over his head. With one more backward glance, he slipped quietly out of the door, making sure it was locked behind him. In the bar parking lot, he got into his truck. He didn’t feel like talking to Bobby again just yet. Instead, Jared started the engine and headed for the farm.
As he drove, he hoped he’d done the right thing. Even if he had made a mistake, there was one upside. By signing the consent form he’d insured Mandy would be around for at least two more months. Knowing that, he hoped even more that he’d done it for the right reasons.
Chapter Six
Mandy woke with what felt like cotton balls in her mouth. She flung her arm over her face to block out the dim light filtering through the curtains. Why did she feel like such crap? As her body and mind began to wake, she felt the pull of sore muscles in her legs, and in other places too, muscles that hadn’t been used in a very long time.
Holy cow . She sat straight up in bed. Bad idea, she realized, as she got lightheaded. Skipping dinner and drinking beer was never a good idea. It led to things like hangovers and sex with hot cowboys. Too bad she remembered that a little too late.
Mandy didn’t know what was worse, her hangover or the fact that she’d had sex with Jared Gordon. Shit . She couldn’t believe she’d broken her own rule and mixed business with pleasure. Very, very nice pleasure, but against her personal rules nonetheless. She’d only intended on flirting, not actually having sex with him—a fact she’d conveniently forgotten while drinking and aiming her foot at his crotch.
As she stumbled to the bathroom Mandy made a vow never to drink on an empty stomach again. She noted she wasn’t vowing to herself never to have sex with Jared again. Interesting. Or maybe not. If her fuzzy brain remembered accurately, it had been incredible.
Of course it should have been great. After all, he was one unbelievably attractive specimen. In Los Angeles so often the reality didn’t live up to the illusion created by the exterior packaging. No false advertising here though. In Jared’s case, what you see is what you get, and what she gotten had been very, very good.
Mandy had to stop thinking of him and the possibility of a repeat of last night. She’d done a very bad thing getting physical with him. In a business where far too many women used sex to make their way to the top, she had vowed never to do so. It had cost her in her job too. On at least one occasion that she knew of, she’d been passed over for a less qualified bimbo who wasn’t opposed to sweating up the casting couch with an executive.
Now that she was finally in a good place in her career, she still couldn’t afford to compromise her morals. No worries. Last night with Jared would be just that. One night. That wasn’t any sort of vow, just the cold hard reality of the situation. She’d pissed him off at the bar and he still hated the idea of the
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