“I like my nomadic lifestyle.”

“That’s because you never were as bright as the rest of us.”

NEVADA DID HER BEST to ignore the pounding in her head. She’d taken as much aspirin as she thought was safe and had hydrated enough to water fifteen acres of corn, but she still felt as if she would have been smarter to shoot herself that morning.

Jo had tried to warn her, she reminded herself. She’d been very specific on the consequences of drinking that much — especially for someone who generally limited herself to a single drink. But had she listened? Of course not. Now she was paying the price with a pounding headache and a body that hurt everywhere but her eyelashes.

“I can’t believe you turned down the job.”

The loud words came unexpectedly, causing her to jump. She glanced up and saw her brother standing in the doorway to her office. Tucker had filled up the space nicely, she thought, remembering how good he’d looked and how that had pissed her off.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” she mumbled, wondering when the last of the alcohol would finally get out of her system.

“You’re going to talk about it. This is what you wanted. You said you were interested in a challenge. Tucker’s offering all that. He thinks you’d be good for his team.”

Telling her sisters what had happened was one thing, but explaining the details to her brother wasn’t a place she was willing to go.

“I’m not interested anymore.”

“Why? I don’t get this. Are you scared?”

“No.”

“Then, what?”

Ethan was a great big brother. In school, he’d looked out for his baby sisters, and as an adult, he’d put his own dreams on hold so he could run the family business and put his younger siblings through college. He’d grown Hendrix Construction into a much larger company and had started a successful turbine business as well. He was a good guy.