Saxon's Soul (Haven, Texas 5)

Holy shit.

She was in such trouble. She should stay far away from him. He was kryptonite. Not that she had any special powers. She guessed that was the crux of the problem. She was nothing. Nobody. A single mom who was close to being homeless. He might want to play with her for a bit but, it would never go beyond that. He’d made that clear.

Was she really considering doing this? Was she going to take the job? Agree to his rules? She could do that. Follow the rules, get along with Renard, do her job, how hard could it be?

She rolled over with a sigh. She felt bad about letting Peggy down, though. The other woman had been good to her. Maybe she could work out a way to continue supplying her with pies.

But no matter how bad she felt or how nervous she was, she couldn’t say no to his job offer. He was offering her a way to keep her head above water. The rest of it, well, she wasn’t so sure that was a good idea. In fact, she knew it wasn’t. She’d just have to try and keep her distance from him. Keep things professional. She’d keep her head down, do her job and not make waves. This could be the break she needed and she wasn’t going to fuck it up.

Satisfaction filled him as Aspen’s words sunk in.

She was agreeing to his offer. Brave girl. He’d had his doubts. His money had actually been on her running. Then he’d have to chase her. Which would have stirred the part of him he wasn’t certain she was ready for.

“I’ll send some movers over.”

“I don’t need movers. I don’t have much. In fact, I think I still have the boxes out in Mr. Peterson’s barn from when we moved in. I’ll just pack up what I’ve got and load it in the car and we’ll be at your place this afternoon. Are you sure you really want to have us in your guest house? I can stay here until I find something closer to town.”

“Aspen, you are moving into the guest house. End of story. I wouldn’t offer it if I didn’t want you there. And I don’t want any more arguments about it, understand?”

“I wasn’t arguing, just making sure it’s what you want.”

“Do I seem like the type of man who doesn’t know what he wants?”

There was silence on the other end.

“All right, I’ll stop asking. Sorry.”

He raised his eyebrows. As far as apologies went it didn’t sound terribly sincere, but he decided to cut her some slack seeing as he was getting what he wanted.

See, he could be a reasonable man.

“But I don’t need the movers.”

He sighed. Even for a reasonable man like him, patience only went so far.

“Aspen, if you continue to fight me on everything you’re going to use up a lot your energy. Energy that could be redirected to better paths.”

More silence. He smiled. He could just see the wheels turning in her head.

“Most of my energy is used taking care of two little boys.”

Ah, yes, remind him of her responsibilities. A good rebuttal. Especially for a bachelor with little experience with children and no desire for them. He wasn’t a family man.

“Well, now you’re going to have help with that, aren’t you?” More help than that useless mother of hers had provided.

“From you?”

He couldn’t really blame her for the incredulous note in her voice.

“Careful, sprite. I could take offense at your lack of belief in me.”

“I think you’ll survive,” she said dryly.

“You can pack up your things,” he told her. “But do not move any of those boxes.”

She sighed. “Fine. Um, Saxon?”

“Yes.” He was intrigued by the hesitation in her voice.