Tall, Dark and Texan. Annette Broadrick

toast before he said, “I remember enough to know that I was neither irresistible nor able to sweep you off your feet. I was doing well to navigate with my own two feet.”

      She laughed.

      It caught him off guard. She had a delightful, husky chuckle that felt like little fingers running up and down his spine. He straightened and reached for another piece of toast.

      She jumped up and returned with the coffeepot, refilling both their cups.

      When she sat down again she leaned her chin on her hands and asked, “Do you remember Buddy Doyle?”

      He stared at her, for the first time wondering if she was a mental case. If so, he would have to handle her very carefully.

      “Buddy Doyle?” he repeated.

      “Uh-huh.”

      “The only Buddy Doyle I know was a guy I knew back in high school. He was one of the best—and the biggest—defensive linemen on our football team for three years running.”

      She smiled, as though delighted with him. “That’s Buddy. I’m his kid sister, Shannon.”

      “Buddy Doyle is your brother.”

      “Yes.”

      “And what does Buddy Doyle have to do with your being here with me?”

      “Absolutely nothing.”

      “I see.” He wished to hell he did. This was becoming more bizarre with every moment.

      “I was behind you a few years in school,” she prompted.

      “You’re from Wimberley?”

      “That’s where I attended school. We had a ranch south of there.”

      Dan’s ranch was north of Wimberley. He didn’t remember Shannon at all. He would definitely have remembered her if they’d gone to school together. She was not the type of woman a man could easily forget.

      “So what are you doing here?”

      “Well, I’ve recently moved back to Texas, and I was looking for a job. I answered an ad in the Austin paper and discovered that you were the owner of the company, but that you were away on vacation. I thought that since I hadn’t had a vacation in a few years, myself, I would come down to the island for a few days. You can imagine my surprise when I saw you at that bar last night. It was like fate had thrown us together.”

      He carefully placed his utensils on his now empty plate and folded his arms. “Let me get this straight. You’re here to interview for a job?”

      Her infectious laugh cascaded in musical peals around him. “Oh, no. I’m going to enjoy the island for a while. I’ll wait until you get back to Austin to set up an interview.”

      “I have no idea when that will be.”

      “I’ll wait.”

      He eyed her with misgiving. “I don’t want to be rude, Ms. Doyle, but I don’t want you staying here.”

      Her smile was sunny. “My name is Shannon and I promise not to get in your way. I’ll be happy to prepare your meals, and do a little housework for you. You have a lovely place here. It will be a pleasure.”

      “Look, if you need money for a hotel room, I can probably help you out there.”

      “That’s so kind of you to offer, but this will do just fine. You go on about your routine. Just pretend I’m not here, okay?”

      With that she bounced out of her chair and efficiently gathered up their dishes. Dan could feel his jaw drop in astonishment.

      Granted, he didn’t know much about women, but surely this one was being more than a little brazen.

      “Do you expect me to sleep with you?” he asked coldly.

      She spun around and stared at him for a moment before offering him a jaunty smile. “Oh, no. That wasn’t part of the agreement.”

      “Then maybe you’d better explain the agreement.”

      “I’m going to be your housekeeper until you’re ready to go back to Austin.”

       Four

      “You must be out of your mind,” he muttered. “I don’t need a housekeeper.”

      She patted his hand. “Well, let’s see how it goes for the next few days, all right?”

      “No! It isn’t all right. I came down here to be alone. Being alone would preclude having a housekeeper.”

      “Don’t worry. You won’t even know I’m around.”

      “Oh, right,” he replied, heavy on the sarcasm.

      “What do you usually do at this time of day, Dan?”

      Did she have to sound so blasted reasonable? He was feeling anything but reasonable at the moment. He made himself pause and get a grip on his rapidly escalating temper before he spoke.

      Finally, he said, “I’m usually asleep at this time of day,” he said through a clenched jaw.

      She smiled. “Well, now that you know what you’ve been missing, you should be thankful I got you up. How about a walk on the beach at dawn tomorrow? That’s my favorite time of day on the island. You’ll love it.”

      “My God, haven’t you heard anything I’ve said? I don’t want you here!”

      She finished loading the dishwasher before she turned around and faced him. “Don’t worry. I’ll grow on you. Eventually.” Then she had the absolute nerve to walk out of the room humming.

      He sat there, seething.

      All right, enough already. He’d call security and have them get her out of here.

      Oh, that would look good. Order security to remove a woman who was scarcely tall enough to come to his shoulder. As though she were some kind of threat to him.

      Actually, she was a threat to his peace of mind. He didn’t need the aggravation. He stomped into the living room and went out onto the balcony. Actually, the day looked quite pleasant. Not many people on the beach.

      Maybe he’d go down for a swim. He hadn’t bothered to get out much since he’d arrived. Hell, the first week he’d been here all he’d done was sleep, almost around the clock.

      The trial had taken its toll on him, that was certain. Helping to convict his long-time friend and business partner for stealing from their own company had been an exhausting nightmare. But it was over now and he had the rest of his life ahead of him. It was no one’s fault that his life no longer seemed to have any direction.

      Nor did he particularly care.

      He went back inside and marched down the hall to his bedroom. Shannon met him in the doorway with her arms full of linens and towels. She gave him a nod and a smile and eased past him.

      All right, so maybe he did need to get some chores done. Laundry hadn’t been a priority for him. He changed into swim trunks, found a lone towel in the cabinet and took it. Without comment he left the condo, went downstairs and outside.

      Chairs conveniently tucked beneath umbrellas clustered the beach in front of the high-rise building. He found an empty one, tossed the towel on it, then stalked to the water and waded in. He forced himself to keep going, despite the shock of the temperature to his warm body. At the moment, it was just what he needed—to cool off and to figure out what the hell he was going to do about his unwanted guest.

      Meanwhile, Shannon was upstairs on the phone with Mandy.

      “You