barstool was way too hard. She should leave.
“I can,” Bishop said.
“You don’t own the ranch.”
Montana looked up then. “You don’t own the ranch?”
Arizona burst out laughing, and Bishop blinked a couple of times. “No,” he said. “I never said I owned the ranch.”
“Yeah, but you made me think you did.” Montana got up, tired of these games already. She’d never survive out here. “Sorry to waste your time.” She started for the foyer, saying, “I’m sorry, Arizona. I was not hitting on your boyfriend, and I apologize that you thought I was.”
Her momma had taught her that it wasn’t always easy to apologize, but always worth it. Not only that, but she could do so even if she didn’t think she’d done anything wrong.
“Wait,” Bishop said, jumping to his feet too. He followed her into the foyer, saying, “I have full authority to hire for my construction teams. I don’t need to own the ranch to give you a job.”
Montana took a deep breath and faced him. “What do you pay?”
“Tell me what you charge.”
She folded her arms. “Depending on the project, of course, but I typically earn one-fifty per day if I’m working on a project you have going. If I’m designing and building custom pieces, it doubles.”
“I can do that,” he said without breathing or blinking.
Montana’s eyebrows went up, but she didn’t challenge him. No sense in that, when the man had agreed to her fees so readily. “My schedule is pretty crazy,” she said.
“You just said it was wide open after this small job at the college.”
“Yeah.” Montana shifted her feet. “I may need to go back and forth a little. Don’t worry, Mister Glover. I can get whatever needs to be done, done. It just might not be during conventional work hours.”
He cocked his head and studied her, and wow, Montana had the sudden urge to flirt with him.
“Explain that,” he said.
She’d really rather not. She’d rather have her name signed in ink on a contract before she told him about Aurora. But he wasn’t going to budge an inch, and the scent of Arizona’s dislike of her hung heavy in the air too.
Before she could speak, Arizona called from the kitchen. “Stop flirting with her and come talk to me about this note Sammy left for Lincoln.”
“I’m not flirting,” Bishop called without removing his eyes from Montana’s.
“We need to find that lizard too,” Arizona said. “I’m not sleeping in this house with that thing on the loose.”
“I’m hiring a construction team member,” Bishop said, as if having two different conversations with his sister was normal.
Montana could not believe Arizona was his sister. What rotten luck.
“I am gonna need your number,” Bishop said, a smile gliding across his face. “I’ll call you, and we’ll work out the details of the contract. Okay?”
Montana nodded, reached into one of the pockets on her tool belt, and pulled out a business card. “That’s my cell and my business number.”
He took the card but didn’t look at it. “You’re going to have to tell me about your unconventional hours.”
“All right.”
“Maybe over dinner tonight?” He grinned at her and leaned closer. “Maybe I am flirting a little now.”
Montana’s eyes opened wider in surprise. It had been a while since a man had flirted with her, but she was glad she still recognized it. Of course, he’d come right out and said it, and Bishop Glover was unlike any man she’d ever met before.
“I have to ask my—” Thankfully, she managed to mute her voice before she could say “aunt.” She wasn’t twelve years old. She didn’t need permission to go to dinner with a handsome cowboy.
“Assistant,” she said, filling in the blank. “See what my schedule is.”
“Oh, I see,” he said, taking a step closer. “You’ll have your people call my people, is that it?”
Montana had no idea how to respond. She looked at him, and he finally chuckled and shook his head. “You’re a tough nut to crack, Montana. I like that.”
He did? What exactly did he like?
“I’ll call you later, okay? Check with your assistant so we can set something up.”
“I knew you were asking her out,” Arizona said, appearing at his side. “Can you stop it already? I need help with that note. None of it makes sense.” She gave a final glare to Montana and went back into the kitchen.
Montana turned and reached for the door, but Bishop jumped between her and it. He opened the door for her, and Montana’s pulse spun cartwheels through her chest.