Love Inspired January 2014(8)

                Rowdy pulled the truck to a stop beside the barn. He slammed the door with the rest of the disgust he was feeling just as his brother Morgan walked out of the barn.

                “What bee’s in your bonnet?” Morgan asked.

                Rowdy scowled. “Funny.”

                “Obviously something is wrong.”

                All the McDermott brothers were dark headed, square chinned and sported the McDermott navy eyes, but Morgan was the brother who most resembled their dad—steadfast. Respectable.

                Rowdy had always lived up to his more reckless looks—good-time Rowdy. That had been him. But he’d turned a corner and was trying hard to be more than a “good time.” And that misconception irritated him the most about Lucy turning down his offer to help. It was almost as if she saw his past and chose to bypass trouble. As if she’d decided in that moment she couldn’t trust him.

                The thought pricked. Stung like a wasp, to be honest.

                If she couldn’t trust the man who caught her swan diving off the hayloft, then who could she trust?

                And why did he care?

                Morgan crossed his arms and studied him. “Nana tells me you met our new neighbor yesterday. Does this have something to do with her?”

                “No. Maybe. Yeah.”

                “So what did you do?”

                “I saved her from breaking her neck falling out of her hayloft, Morg. And I offered to help her do a little remodeling.”

                “I see. So that’d mean she must be good-looking.”

                “Yeah, she is,” he growled.

                “Then why are you so agitated? She’s single, from what Nana said.”

                “She turned me down.”

                Morgan blinked in disbelief. “Turned you down. You?”

                It was embarrassing in more ways than one.

                “I don’t think that’s ever happened before.” Morgan started grinning. “And did you actually save her from falling out of the hayloft?”

                “Stop enjoying this so much, and yes, I did, and it’s not like I asked her out.” He knew Morgan was just giving him a hard time. That was what brothers did. He’d never missed an opportunity where Morgan and Tucker were concerned. So much so that he was due a lot of payback from both brothers. He gave a quick rundown of catching Lucy the day before. Morgan’s grin spread as wide as Texas.

                “So you really didn’t ask her out?”

                “Are you kidding? No.”

                Morgan cocked his head to the side, leveling disbelieving eyes on him. “Are you feeling okay?”

                “Crazy, isn’t it? I’m not saying I’m not going to. But my days of rushing into relationships are done. I told you that.”

                “Yeah you did, but it’s been over nine months.”

                Rowdy wanted on a horse. Needed to expel the restless energy that suddenly filled him. “I wasn’t kidding when I said I was done with women for at least a year. I’m trying to be a role model for the guys.”