Carnal Compromise Read Online Free PDF Page B

needs in the privacy of your own room?”
    Their assessment of her performance added heat to AJ’s blush, though now it was pleasure rather than humiliation. As one of the few women in the male-dominated field of agribusiness, she’d always had to give 110% every single day to prove herself worthy of being called a farmer. Her own father had expected her to work twice as hard and be twice as stoic before he’d show her even a tenth the respect he showered on her brother. Being the only woman on this crew, she constantly had to walk a fine line between going the extra mile to prove herself and acting like just another one of the guys, and it was nice to know she’d accomplished what she set out to do.
    Unfortunately, she couldn’t let herself relax and enjoy their company just yet. There was still one more issue, the main one really, to be confronted.
    “Why should you respect me when I didn’t respect Joe’s privacy?” she finally asked. She looked Joe squarely in the eye. “I apologize. I shouldn’t have…used your stuff.”
    “You’re talking about my shirt.”
    “Yes.” Her cheeks got hot again remembering it.
    “No harm done.” Then he grinned. “You can use my stuff any time you want to, darlin’, as long as I get to watch.”
    She froze with her fork hovering over the plate, and her heart skipped a couple of beats. Surely he wasn’t…flirting…
    Cutting another big bite, she stuffed it into her mouth, feeling even more heat run up into her cheeks. Just when she thought they might be easing into her one of those gay-guys-plus-gal-pal friendships she’d always read about, one of them had to go and say something to throw her off-kilter again.
    Fortunately, their food arrived, and while they ate, the two men talked about crop conditions and machinery issues as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened, giving her a chance to study them from under her lashes. Dammit, there was no way she’d read them wrong. Even now, the sexual tension between them was palpable. Were they fighting? Was Joe using her as some kind of rebound or revenge tool to get Brent’s goat?
    She scowled. If that was the case, she’d have to kick his very fine, very gay ass.
     
     
    “So last night kind of changes things,” Brent said, wiping his lips with a paper napkin.
    Although they’d ordered at least twenty minutes after AJ, they’d all finished their breakfasts at about the same time, and now she sat there, looking torn between nerves and suspicion. What in the world was going on in that cute little blonde head?
    “How so?” she asked warily.
    “As I see it, we have three options here. One, we can all pretend it never happened and try to carry on with business as usual, though I think that might be difficult for all of us. Two, I can move you in with Seth and Tim, and if you want, you can even switch to the other crew when we meet up in Fargo.”
    AJ wasn’t very good at hiding her emotions. Dismay flashed in her eyes and she bit her lip before asking, “And the other option?”
    “Well now,” he said, dropping the napkin in his plate. “That’s where things get interesting.”
    “Interesting how?”
    He studied her for a moment and then glanced over at the Dietz boys, who still hadn’t left even though they’d finished inhaling their food fifteen minutes ago. No way could he have this conversation with those two breathing down his neck. “Let’s get out of here. We can talk on the way to the field.”
    Waving their waitress over, he handed her a couple of fifties. “I’ll take care of theirs, too,” he told her, gesturing Seth and Tim. “Sorry about the confusion with the tables. Keep the change.”
    “Hey, you can confuse my tables any time,” she assured him with a big smile.
    After she breezed by the other table and picked up their check, Seth nodded grudging thanks but made no move to leave until Brent and Joe stood up. Brent sighed. With his luck, they’d probably ride his bumper all the