“I didn’t say anything.”
“You sighed like the world was coming to an end.”
“It’s not.”
“Are you upset?”
“No.”
She moved to a sitting position, her expression pensive. “Regrets?”
“No.” He vigorously shook his head, pulling her back down, wrapping an arm tightly around her. “Absolutely none.”
She seemed to relax, and her fingertips brushed across his chest, while her warm breath puffed on his neck. He burrowed against her thick hair and inhaled the clean, citrus scent.
“It’s funny,” he ventured. For some reason, he wanted to put the feeling into words. Unusual for him, but he plunged on. “This is the closest I’ve ever come to being content in this room.”
“That’s good.” She twisted her neck to look up at him. “Do you think maybe we banished some demons?”
“Maybe,” he allowed.
“I feel very powerful,” she joked.
“Then again-” he kept it light “-it could be that you are the most fun I’ve had in this house since my mom made chocolate mint fudge on our eighth birthday.”
She grinned. Then she sobered and drew back, eyeing him quizzically. “Wait a minute. Did I beat the fudge, or was it the other way around?”
“Not a fair comparison. Apples to oranges.”
She socked him in the shoulder. “Man, did you ever miss that opportunity.”
“Ouch. Sorry.”
“You better be. Chocolate mint fudge. Like it could hold a candle to me.”
“It could when I was eight.”
“You’re not making this better, Caleb.”
He chuckled low.
“You know,” she began, coming up on her knees. “We may be on to something here.”
He reached for her, not wanting this space between them. “Oh, I think we are. And I think we should do it again.”
She batted at his hand. “I meant, changing your perception of the ranch. Not just your bedroom. And not just with sex. But the whole thing.”
Something cold settled into Caleb’s stomach. Was she really going to turn this into a sell-the-ranch, don’t-sell- the-ranch thing?
“I know exactly how we could do it,” she rattled on, voice decisive.
“Mandy, don’t-”
“You need to talk to Reed,
“How the hell did Reed get into this conversation?” Annoyance put an edge to Caleb’s voice.
She stopped. She blinked.
He tried but didn’t quite keep the edge out of his tone. “Last time I checked, it was just you and me in this bed.”
“But… He’s your brother.”
“That means something completely different to you than it does to me.”
Caleb knew his anger stemmed from disappointment. But what had he expected? He and Mandy were still the same people. They still had divergent goals. Nothing had fundamentally changed because they’d sweated naked in each other’s arms.
She shook her head in response to his statement, her rich hair flowing with the motion. “No, it doesn’t. This land, your family, Reed. They’re all part of your history and your heritage. You couldn’t erase them by running away when you were seventeen, and you can’t erase them by selling out now.”
His annoyance was growing to full-out anger. “I did
“Semantics.” She waved a dismissive hand. “Why did you smash the picture?”
Caleb set his jaw but didn’t answer. He’d smashed the picture because he couldn’t stand to see his father’s smug face staring out at him one minute longer.
“Why did you smash the picture?” she repeated.
“Drop it, Mandy.”
Her tone turned softer. “If you didn’t care anymore, you wouldn’t have smashed the picture.” She gave a heartfelt sigh. “Staying away for ten years didn’t fix it, did it?”
“This is none of your business,” he told her firmly. It was temporary, a blip on his radar. A few days-a few weeks, max-and he’d be back to his regular life in Chicago. The ranch would cease to exist for him. And that’s the way he wanted it.
“Do you think you’ve been repressing your true feelings?”
Suddenly, Caleb simply felt tired. He didn’t want to fight with her. Mandy was the sole bright spot in all this madness.
He reached for her, urging her back down into his arms, genuinely trying to see things from her perspective.
“If it makes you happy,” he told her. “Yes, I’ve been repressing my feelings. My childhood sucked. Reed made a stupid choice from which our relationship will probably never recover. And, I’m sorry to have to be so blunt. But there’s nothing you can do to help. I know you disagree, but I’m making the right choice.”
“It’s-”
He pressed his index finger across her warm, swollen mouth. “For me, Mandy. It’s the right choice for me.”
Her green eyes turned soft and sympathetic.
He forced out a smile. “But you’ve made it better for right now.” He couldn’t resist, so he kissed her mouth one more time. “You’ve made things much better for right now.”
Desire surging, he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close. She was instantly kissing him back, her soft, sinuous body wrapping itself around him one more time.
He made love to her slowly, gently, savoring every second of the peace she offered.
Afterward, they lay still and silent for a long time.
It was Mandy who finally broke it.
“I need to go home,” she whispered.
His eyes came open. “Why?” He didn’t want her to leave. He didn’t want her to move an inch, at least until morning.
But she twisted her neck to look at him. “It’s coming up on eleven.”
“You have a curfew?”
“Travis looked pretty suspicious when I left.”
“So?”
Travis’s interference was definitely not welcome in this. Whatever was between Caleb and Mandy was none of her brother’s business.
“So, if I come home after midnight, he’s going to put two and two together.”
“And?”
“And, he’ll be upset.”
Caleb propped himself on one elbow. “Are you telling me this was a clandestine fling?” Even as he said the words, he asked himself to come up with an alternative. What were they going to do? Date until he left for Chicago? Own up to her brothers that they’d slept together?
“I think that’s the best way to handle it, don’t you?”
“You’re an adult,” he reasoned out loud. “Your private life is none of your brother’s business.”
Mandy laughed. “You going to tell him that?”
Caleb was willing, if that’s what Mandy wanted him to do.
