Rocky Mountain Desire: Six Pack Ranch, Book 3 by Vivian Arend Page B

her.”
    He hadn’t said a word about staying the night at Hope’s because it was nobody’s damn business. Nor had he shared their talk about being friends.
    And he certainly hadn’t mentioned crawling into the tub with her, and if Jaxi knew about that part, he wasn’t sure what he was going to do.
    Jaxi marched in closer. “I heard the first bit from the repair shop—Mr. Thompson called the house looking for you since you’d put in the order for the tow. He was mixed up. Thought it was your car and wanted to know what to do with Herbie since, as you said, they think it’s a sorry hunk of junk worthy of not much more than hauling to the dump. So I took a trip to town to talk to Hope, and found her using a hairdryer to try and salvage the stuff that had gotten wet. She’s not mad at you, by the way. Said you were right to leave it.”
    “But you’re mad at me.”
    “Damn right, I am. She’s got no one, Matt. She’s not going to complain, so I’m going to do it for her. That night going off the road probably shut down most of her profits for the holiday season.”
    And she’d already said she’d been trying to get a few extra sales because of the bad weather. Matt dragged a hand through his hair.
    “Well, I’m sorry, but I’m still not sure what else I can do. Yeah, I should have followed up faster afterward, but—”
    “You were too busy being a chickenshit.” Jaxi gave him a fuck you look, then went back to raking. Her shoulders moved easily under her coat as he watched her work for a minute.
    “You know, you might be married to my brother and all, but I can still turn you over my knee and spank some sense into you.”
    Just like he’d anticipated, that got a rise out of her. Jaxi carefully leaned her rake against the wall then turned to smile sweetly at him. “You and what army?”
    Matt held up his hands pleadingly. “Come on, give me a break. Explain.”
    Jaxi rolled her eyes. “Fine. Hope scares you to death, doesn’t she?”
    “Bullshit.”
    “Not bullshit. I’ve seen you, Matt. You go five miles out of your way to avoid the girl. Either you’re trying to avoid her to stop from jumping her bones, or she’s like the devil incarnate and you think associating with her will make her sister pop out of the woodwork to kick you to hell and back.”
    Fuck. That one hurt. He might have even bent over a little to protect his gut from the impact. “Is there nothing sacred with you, Jaxi?”
    “What? That I care enough about you to not let you hide? Helen hurt you badly. If I could have I would have scalped her, but she’s gone. You need to stop seeing her everywhere. Including associating Helen with her sister.”
    “I’m not.”
    Jaxi raised a brow. Deliberate-like, almost taunting him to protest again.
    Was he? Was he really running that hard?
    Jaxi went back to work, as if to let him think it through. Yeah, Helen had kicked him brutally. And he didn’t know what he’d do if he ever saw her again.
    But Hope—between the scorching-hot attraction he’d felt last summer and his current strange stirrings inside every time she was around—was he avoiding her for the right reasons? And what were the right reasons?
    He didn’t want to be involved with her. Didn’t want to be involved with anyone other than for no-strings sex. And that sure wasn’t something he wanted with Hope.
    Liar.
    Okay, he’d totally go for some no-strings sex with the woman. Touching her skin, grabbing her hips and riding her into oblivion would be fucking great. But that’s all it would be—fucking—because there was no way in hell he was letting anyone near his heart.
    Physical attraction was uncontrollable. Instinctive. But so was self-preservation, and he wasn’t going to willingly edge into pain ever again.
    Jaxi switched to the next stall over, still not saying anything. Matt methodically worked to finish his first. What had she accused him of? Running from Hope? Associating her with her sister?
    Wasn’t