Black Hills Bride Read Free Page B

his jaw. Now wasn’t the time.
    “Mr. Wheeler,” Dixie said. “Erik,” she amended when he narrowed his eyes on her. “I’m sure you’ve heard that I’m in the process of opening a retreat lodge here. Rockhaven Christian Center.”
    She smiled when she said the name. “It’s going to be a place for church people to go when they need to get away from the hustle of the outside world and refocus their attention on God.”
    Did she really think she’d find God here? He barely restrained himself from shaking his head. Instead, he dropped his gaze to his hat so he wouldn’t give his thoughts away.
    “I want a big stable, with lots of horses.”
    The enthusiasm in her voice meandered into his chest, stirring the deepest desire of his heart. His gaze snapped to hers, and he swallowed hard. Her big, aqua-blue eyes swirled with the same intensity he felt.
    Her words confirmed it. “I love horses, Mr.—uh, Erik. And I need a foreman to design and implement my program. Trail rides, hayrides, pony rides for the kiddies. Interested?”
    Surprisingly he was. When he’d come here this morning, he had no intention of taking this job, but something about the way Dixie presented it made it sound appealing. And truth be told, he didn’t have anything better to do.
    “I expect we’ll need to work closely to make sure everything goes without a hitch. No pun intended,” she added, smiling.
    She smiled with her shimmering eyes. A deep, inner glow that made him want to smile, too.
    Yeah, he’d like to work with her, inhale more of her scent, ingest more of her laughter.
    But he couldn’t. Not even for her.
    “I understand you’re looking for your own herd, that you like to break horses in your spare time.”
    Her words penetrated into his thoughts, jolting him back to the present.
    “Yep,” he said. It concerned him that she knew so much about him. But Custer was a small mountain town, he reminded himself. No one kept a secret for long.
    Suddenly the room felt cramped. He tugged at the collar of his flannel shirt. Though he wore the two top buttons open, he felt as if he were choking.
    Dixie continued, ignoring his gesture. “I’m more than willing to accommodate your wishes. And there’s plenty of land here. We can build you a corral just for your own work. As long as you keep it to your off-hours, you’re free to break your own horses.”
    His breath stopped somewhere between his lungs and his throat and began to swell almost painfully. He did need a job, and what she was offering was more than he could have ever hoped for.
    But how could he work for a Christian retreat? He wasn’t a saint. Not anywhere close.
    Dixie clasped her hands in her lap, wishing he’d look at her again. He seemed almost human when their gazes met, but then he’d look away and she’d lose the connection. He obviously felt he’d been given a small quota of words for a lifetime and was afraid he’d use them all up in his conversation with her, she thought, bristling.
    “There’s one more question,” she said softly.
    He met her gaze firmly and calmly.
    “Are you a Christian, Erik?”
    He immediately looked away. “No.”
    She nodded. “You are aware that this is a Christian retreat. Are you comfortable with that, and all it entails?”
    He coughed, sounding as if he were choking, but a moment later his gaze met hers, and his eyes were clear. “Yep.”
    If she could get him beyond a yep.
    Or at least get him to respond directly to her offer—then maybe yep wouldn’t be all bad.
    “I’ll throw in a quarterly bonus. One horse. That’s more than a fair deal, Mr.—uh, Erik.”
    She cringed inside, knowing it would take most of her own paycheck to make that bonus. Not so much for the money, but for the principle behind it.
    It galled her that she needed a man to help her make this work, but there it was. She needed Erik, even if it meant bribing him to take the job.
    Abruptly he stood and slapped his hat against his knee, staring out