Out of Control Read Online Free PDF Page A

reason he’d been assigned to my team. I understood
     why. These weren’t average couch potato guys. They had enough macho testosterone oozing
     off them to turn a roomful of women into Vikings and still have enough left over to
     wrestle a grizzly—and win. If they knew Robichaud was supposed to protect them, they’d
     beat the shit out of him, then demand a contest of some sort to prove they didn’t
     need his stinkin’ protection.
    Refocusing on Deke, I said in an even voice, “If I leave, I could actually be more
     vulnerable.”
    He took that the wrong way, but it was too late for me to rephrase it. Puffing out
     his chest just enough to make a point, he said, “Don’t know why I didn’t think of
     that, little sister. Of course you’re safer stayin’ with us. Ain’t that right?” he
     asked the others.
    They all nodded agreement. “You can count on us,” Cash said.
    “Nobody’ll mess with you,” Harley said in his gravelly, rough voice.
    Good Lord—I’d just managed to reincarnate the Three Musketeers. I looked toward the
     news people. “Couldn’t get them to leave, huh?”
    They didn’t catch the slight sarcasm.
    “Not a chance,” Deke said, clearly irritated. “Not even when I told them how all their
     equipment is likely to melt when the wind shifts.” He glared at them. “Frikkin morons.”
    “Thanks for trying. How about you guys start unloading?”
    When they were out of earshot, I noticed A.J. had come back. He was wearing a hard
     hat. His mere presence made me scowl. “What are you still doing here?”
    “Isn’t it obvious? I’m running an oil company.”
    I couldn’t help myself. “And running out of money, which you’re very good at. Whose
     daddy’s girl did you con this time?”
    Robichaud cleared his throat. “Not sure, Blair, but insulting the client might not
     be a good idea.”
    “He’s right,” A.J. said with just enough of his old attitude to send me off the page.
    “What are you gonna do? Fire us and call Worldwide? Because it’ll be at least a week
     before they can make it over here. But, hey. Say the word and we’re gone to the next
     fire.”
    His face, which I’d once considered handsome, took on a superior expression. God,
     I hated that look. “And here, I figured you’d eventually get enough of pretending
     to have balls and finally turn into a girl.”
    “And I figured you’d finally wise up that there’s no such thing as a free lunch.” I nodded
     toward the fire. “What’s her daddy going to say about you spending another half million
     on that well?”
    “Blair, you need to—”
    “Stay out of it, Robichaud.”
    “No. There’s obviously some history here, but this is not the time or place.”
    Frowning at him, I managed to say in a calm voice, “A.J. is a con man, plain and simple.
     I want some kind of assurance that we’ll get paid for risking our lives to put out
     this fire. If I’m offending you, leave.”
    Turning, he stalked away without another word, headed toward the news people.
    A.J. laughed at me. “You never change, Evangeline.”
    I crossed my arms over my chest and stared him down. “I want whoever’s paying the
     bills to cut us a deposit check. Twenty-five grand ought to do it.”
    His laugh died a quick death. “That’s not standard operating for any oilfield service
     company. No way am I dragging my investor out of bed in the middle of the night to
     cut a check just because you hate me.”
    “And no way am I going to risk the lives of those men for no pay. Either we get a
     check within the next thirty minutes, or we’re gone. Understand?”
    “I’ll call Trick Holmes about this. We’ll see what he has to say.”
    I opened my cell and pulled up the last received call, then handed it to him. “Just
     hit send. Don’t forget to tell him your name and that you’re the operator of this
     well, responsible for paying invoices.” With somebody else’s money. Trick knew just
     how dependable my ex