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“Are you Melanie Knowles?”
“Yes.” It didn’t register at first, and then her insides did a little tap dance. “Are you from Prison Reform Now?”
“Lucas Sloan,” he said, pushing up and offering his hand. “I’m early.”
Thank goodness she had the presence of mind to wipe her damp palms on her jeans again. His hand dwarfed hers, the skin rough and calloused like that of most of the men who worked the ranches in the area. But she couldn’t recall a man’s handshake ever sending a jolt of electricity up her arm. Had to be his eyes. Staring into them was dangerous. She’d lost track of the conversation.
She recovered quickly, and they both let go at the same time. “How’s your truck?” She moved away to check his bumper. It wasn’t as horrifying as she’d expected. “The school has insurance. Of course, we’ll take care of it.”
“I’m not worried. We’ll let the insurance companies duke it out.” He smiled, his teeth so white against his tanned face. “Let’s focus on getting you back on the road with these kids. I assume you have a jack and spare.”
“I hope so. We should.” She paused for a moment, pretty sure she’d seen something of that nature behind the last row of seats. She turned to go have a look, then realized she was being rude. Melanie glanced over her shoulder to tell him that...
He was staring at her backside.
Her breath caught. Men didn’t stare at her like that.
Again she lost track of what she was going to say. Swallowing, she tucked her unruly hair behind her ear and hurried onto the bus.
“Who is that, Ms. Knowles?” Chelsea was kneeling on the last seat to peer out the rear window. “He’s hot.”
Cody made a sound of disgust. “That guy’s old enough to be your father.”
“No, he isn’t.” Chelsea tossed her long hair and smiled at Lucas. Everyone knew Cody had a crush on her, including Chelsea.
“Excuse me, Chelsea. You’ll have to move.” Melanie could access the equipment without displacing the girl, but she doubted Lucas appreciated being ogled by a seventeen-year-old going on thirty. Or maybe not. What did she know about him? “One of you boys, help me pull this out, please.”
Cody and another student jumped up. Cody was lean but strong and used to manual labor. Russ wasn’t a weakling, though he was more the studious type.
Darn it. Great time for the husky football players to be at practice. She could’ve used them to change the tire. Now she’d have to call her boss to send someone. It would take forever.
She saw Lucas watching her, his brows raised in question. She gave him a nod, then asked the rest of the kids to stand aside so the boys could drag the tire and tools down the short aisle. Getting out of the way herself, she grabbed her phone off the driver’s seat and left the bus.
“I think we have everything,” she told Lucas. “It can’t be much different than a car, right?” Her finger poised for speed dial, she stepped farther back so she wasn’t blocking the door. “But if you notice we’re missing something, I’d appreciate knowing before I call someone to come out.”
He frowned, then turned his attention to the two boys wrestling the oversize tire and large metal box to the door. Without hesitation, Lucas hefted the box from the bus to the ground. It landed with a thud. Good grief—she’d had no idea it was that heavy.
Cody had some trouble getting the tire out, but she noted that Lucas seemed careful not to jump in and take over. He stood back, watching the boys work it out. While he was occupied, her gaze meandered down his lean body. His jeans were on the worn side but his white shirt was spotless, the sleeves deftly rolled back to the middle of his muscled forearms. Someone had taken care to iron that shirt. A wife perhaps? His ring finger was bare but that didn’t necessarily mean anything.
Once the tire hit the ground, Lucas put his booted foot out to stop it from bouncing.
“Think you guys can give me a hand swapping out the tires?” he asked the boys.
“Sure,” Cody said with a shrug as if it were no big deal.
Russ pushed his glasses back in place and nodded, not looking quite as confident.
Melanie shook her head. “I’m calling the school to send someone....”
“No need,” Lucas said, unfastening the buttons on his shirt.
Melanie’s gaze went to the wedge of chest he’d exposed. By the time she could speak, he’d undone two more. “No, really, we’re close enough to town, Mr. Sloan. It won’t take someone long to—”
“It’s Lucas.” He shrugged out of the shirt. “Would you mind?” he asked, holding it out to her.
“Of course not.” She checked her hand to make sure it was clean but also to redirect her attention. Staring stupidly at his muscled chest wouldn’t do.
After handing off the shirt, he took the spare and rolled it to the rear of the bus. His back and shoulder muscles were equally well developed, and if not for the three senior girls fogging the bus’s windows, Melanie might not have caught herself staring a bit too intently. She motioned for them to go back to their seats, but they took her hand gesture as a cue to rush to the door.
“No.” She met them before Chelsea left the bottom step. “Stay inside. The guys don’t need an audience.”
Leaving the tire with Cody, Lucas approached her, a faint smile touching the corners of his mouth. “They all need to get off so we can jack up the bus.”
“Oh, right. I knew that.” She watched him pick up the box of tools and head to the back of the bus.
The girls came spilling out. Mia and Chelsea had both applied peach-tinted lip gloss. “Oh, for goodness’ sakes,” Melanie muttered. Lucas looked to be in his early thirties. Teenage girls these days had no shame and few boundaries.
As if it had a will of its own, her gaze went to Lucas’s bulging biceps. Apparently, neither did their teacher.
“Want me to hold that for him?”
Melanie blinked at Chelsea. She meant his shirt. “No, I’m putting it out of harm’s way. You girls stay back. Leave Mr. Sloan some breathing room.”
“He said we could call him Lucas,” Chelsea said with a cheeky grin.
“No, he told me to call him Lucas. You may call him Mr. Sloan.” Melanie realized she was crushing his shirt collar and hurried onto the bus to find a safe place to hang the garment.
Brandon was still in his seat texting. Mark sat behind him, one with his smartphone.
“Come on, guys. Get off now.” She draped the shirt over the steering wheel, then followed the boys out.
“She really is a cool teacher. Our favorite.”
Melanie heard Chelsea’s voice coming from behind the bus. She paused and smiled. Though she wasn’t bucking for teacher of the year, it was nice to know what the students thought of her.
“Even if she is old-fashioned,” Chelsea said just as Melanie was about to join them.
The awful term stopped her cold. She almost turned around and headed for the office. The girl didn’t know she was there. But Lucas did. From his crouched position, his gaze swept up to briefly meet hers. Melanie managed to find a smile for him but it was too late. He’d already shifted his attention back to loosening the lug nuts.
Old-fashioned? That was how the students regarded her? Maybe she shouldn’t be shocked... No, not shocked so much as hurt. Though why should she care? She was their teacher. But she was only twenty-seven, barely ten years older than most of them.
“I’m going to call the school and let them know why we’re late,” she said. “Lucas, we have some water and soda in the office. May I get you something?”
“No, thanks. I’m good.” He gave her a smile that should’ve made her breath catch.
Instead, she sighed as it sank in that Chelsea was right. Melanie wasn’t anything like the exciting and daring women she saw on television. And she certainly wasn’t a woman a man like Lucas would look at twice.
2
LUCAS STOOD BACK and let Cody tighten the lug nuts on the spare tire. Fortunately, they’d been working in the shadow of the bus, but it was still warm. Earlier he’d asked one of the kids to find him a clean rag and he used it to blot his face before rubbing the grime from his hands.
Melanie had checked with him once and then disappeared into the office again. He thought about sending the ever-helpful Chelsea to get her, but he wanted to have a word with her in private.
“I want to talk to your teacher,” he said to Cody. “You don’t need me. You’ve got this.”
“Yeah, no problem.” He put a little more muscle into the job. Strictly for show. The kid had it bad for Chelsea and all she’d done was ignore him and flirt with Lucas.
Man, the girl scared the crap out of him. Since when were seventeen-year-old girls so damn bold? Lucky for him, he hadn’t been around teenagers much. But he’d been one himself not that long ago, and getting dissed by a girl like Chelsea? It hurt.
He took his time, scoping out all the new construction. The barn hadn’t been painted yet. Another structure was missing a wall but there were no workers in sight. Could be the sanctuary had run out of money. That sort of thing happened too often. He ducked his head to see inside the older barn. Bales of hay were stacked in the corner. Several goats roamed freely, pilfering scratch from clucking chickens.
What interested him most were the corrals and fenced pasture. He knew Safe Haven could handle over a hundred horses space-wise. As for feed and vet services, his organization would cover those costs. If he could convince Melanie Knowles and Shea Monroe to participate in the program.
The log-cabin-style office was obviously new. He scraped the bottom of his boots on the mat, then knocked on the door that matched the green roof.
“It’s open,” Melanie called out.
He stepped inside and waited for her to look up.
She lifted her head, her brown eyes widening. “Oh. Sorry, I thought you were one of the kids.” She swept back flyaway strands of dark hair and quickly remade her ponytail. “Are you done?”
“Cody is finishing up.”
“That was fast.” She tapped the stack of papers she’d been working on into a neat pile and stood. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your help.” She blinked at his chest. “You’re probably looking for your shirt. I put it in the bus.”
The faint rosy blush that spread across her cheekbones reminded him of Chelsea’s comment. He supposed most kids considered their teachers old and stodgy. But Melanie? In that close-fitting red T-shirt and jeans, she looked barely older than her students.
Not until she cleared her throat did he realize he’d been staring. She came around the desk and went to a dorm-size refrigerator in the corner. She bent over and rifled around inside. Luckily, he’d stopped noticing how the soft denim molded her ass a second before she turned around and passed him a bottle of water.
“There’s a sink in the barn where you can clean up if you like,” she said and went to step past him.
He moved to accommodate her but got in the way instead. “Sorry,” he said and noticed she’d blushed again. Her arm had barely grazed his chest.
Clearly Melanie was shy. Maybe that was what Chelsea had meant by old-fashioned.
“Well, this is awkward,” Melanie said, picking her phone up off the desk. “Here you’ve done all this work, and now I have to desert you.”
“You have to get the kids back to school, right?” He unscrewed the cap and gulped down half the water.
“I do,” she said in a distracted voice. “I’ll be gone for about an hour.”
“No problem.” He wiped his mouth with the back of his arm and saw that she’d been watching him guzzle. It made him self-conscious. He wasn’t used to being around too many people, certainly not women. And here he was shirtless. “If you don’t mind, I’ll just hang around and wait.”
“Oh, sure. A volunteer is in the quarantine stable. Her name’s Kathy. Her husband, Levi, will be along soon to help. They’re practically permanent fixtures here.” She smiled and opened the door for him.
Lucas hesitated. “Look, what happened with that tire could’ve been avoided. Whoever’s in charge of the bus was negligent.”
Her lips parted with a soft gasp. “I hope you don’t think I’m making light of the accident. I feel awful about it. In fact, I’ll take your information with me and call the insurance company so they can get to work on fixing your vehicle.”
“I don’t give a damn about the truck.” He hadn’t meant to sound gruff or make her flinch. “I’m thinking about you and the kids.”
She looked away. “It’s as much my fault as anyone else’s since I drive the bus, too. I should’ve checked.”
“Would you know what to look for?”
She frowned at him, her chin lifting defensively. “No, but I will from now on.”
He smiled. “I’ll show you if you like.”
Melanie nodded, but he could see in her face she was still offended. Or feeling guilty.
Hell, he should’ve kept his mouth shut. He’d meant to help and it had gone sideways. When was he gonna get it? How big a price did he have to pay before he finally learned to mind his own business?
* * *
MELANIE PARKED HER compact Ford close to the gravel path leading to the office and resisted the urge to check her hair in the rearview mirror. Already she regretted using a little blush and tinted lip balm. Kathy would probably notice and start getting stupid ideas. She was always pushing Melanie to date or at least get out and do things that weren’t church related. She knew Kathy meant well, but having a social life wasn’t that simple.
It was 5:35. Melanie wasn’t sorry that she’d taken an extra ten minutes to shower, especially when she noticed Levi’s truck parked close to the old barn, loaded with supplies. Lucas’s truck hadn’t been moved. Apparently he’d felt no need to get as far away from the crazy bus driver as possible. She still couldn’t believe she’d hit him. Usually there weren’t more than two cars in the lot.
She scanned the corrals, pleased to see the geldings playing a little. Already they were getting stronger. Somebody had taken a bay mare to the second corral. The rest of the sixty-two horses Safe Haven had given refuge to were either in the stables or grazing in the north pasture.
No sign of any humans. She opened her door and heard laughter coming from the old barn. Kathy and Levi, of course, and Lucas. He had a deep voice, so she’d expected his laugh would have that low sexy timbre, as well. The sound even matched his buff body and rugged good looks.
She stopped halfway to the barn. Thinking of him that way? Big mistake. She swiped her tongue over her lips, then used a finger to rub off the residual gloss. Taking an extra breath, she walked with purpose toward the voices.
Lucas had changed his shirt. He now wore a black T-shirt, the same jeans and cowboy boots from earlier and a grin that sent her pulse into overdrive. He didn’t see her.... Neither did Kathy or Levi.... They were focused on something happening in the corner. Even standing with his legs spread, Lucas was taller than Levi, who Melanie knew was close to six feet. His arms were folded across his chest, his biceps straining the snug sleeves and wreaking further havoc on her nervous system.
They were all watching Pinocchio, a notoriously mischievous pygmy goat, so they didn’t see her approach. It wasn’t until she came up behind them that she saw what was so amusing. The determined Pinocchio was trying to mate with Selma, an unfazed older Nubian nearly twice his size. The poor little guy would never reach, but it wasn’t for lack of trying.
Melanie wasn’t sure what embarrassed her more...watching the animal giving it his all or being embarrassed over something so silly. If it had been only Kathy and Levi, no problem. She would’ve had a chuckle along with them. For a second she wondered if she could back out of the barn without anyone the wiser. The thought had barely flitted through her brain when Lucas saw her.
That smile of his. Heaven help her, it was really something. She smiled back, felt the heat in her face and knew there wasn’t a thing she could do about the blush.
“That was fast,” Lucas said, mercifully uncrossing his arms and relaxing them at his side.
Kathy and Levi turned to her, as well. The instant the older woman saw her, she tilted her head, her sympathetic expression confirming Melanie’s fear. Her stupid cheeks were flaming. She wasn’t even a redhead but a mousy brunette. It wasn’t fair.
“If I had known you had entertainment, I wouldn’t have rushed,” she said breezily.
“I put the invoice from the hardware store on the desk,” Kathy said, and Levi added, “Jorgensen mentioned he could wait until next month to be paid if need be.”
“Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.” She looked at Lucas and wondered again about his white shirt. Had she somehow soiled it? “I’m ready whenever you are.”
“I was going to help Levi finish unloading his truck. Unless you’re in a hurry....”
She lifted her gaze from his chest and met his eyes. “What happened to your other shirt?”
“He didn’t know I was gonna put him to work,” Levi said, grinning. “This young buck stored feed in half the time it takes me. What do you do to get arms and shoulders like that?”
