it.”
“Abigail’s my new favorite person.”
“She’ll be thrilled to hear it.”
He spun Mandy around, then smoothly pulled her back against his body. “You should do this more often.”
“Dance with you?”
“Well, yeah. That, too. But I meant dress up.”
She arched a brow. “Something wrong with my blue jeans?”
“Don’t be so sensitive. I prefer silk to denim on my dates. Deal with it.”
“Well, I prefer blue jeans to suit jackets.”
Caleb frowned at her. Then he made a show of glancing around the crowd. “Any casually dressed guy in particular catch your eye? I could dance you over and let him cut in.”
“Sure,” she teased right back. “What about the guy in the yellow hat?”
Caleb shook his head. “Looks a little too old for the likes of you.”
“The one with the red boots?”
“Too short.”
“Well…” She continued to scan the room before returning her attention to him. “Okay, what about you?”
“I’m wearing a suit. And I’m already dancing with you.”
“A girl, Caleb. Pick out a girl. Who looks good to you?”
He kept his eyes fixed firmly on her. “I’m dancing with her.”
“That’s a cop-out.”
“It’s the truth. If there are any other girls in this room, I didn’t notice.”
“Smooth talker,” she told him, but their gazes locked and held.
“What are you doing later?” he rumbled.
“I’m rooming with my sister.”
“This is ridiculous,” he griped, frustrated by the barriers that kept flying up in their way. “I feel like we’re in high school.”
“You think if it wasn’t for Abigail, I’d be jumping into bed with you?”
Her question surprised and embarrassed him. Was he being presumptuous? Had he been that far wrong in reading her signals? Had he imagined her response to his lovemaking?
Sure, they’d argued afterward, but then they’d made love again. And she’d been all he could think of ever since, despite the fact Travis had kept him away from the ranch and out of cell range for two long days.
Did Mandy feel differently?
“I’m sorry,” he began, feeling like a heel. “I didn’t mean-”
“That’s the problem, Caleb.” Her look was frank. “I don’t know what you mean. I just spent two days wondering what you mean.”
“What I mean is that I like you, Mandy,” he answered her as honestly as he could. “I like you a lot. I think you’re beautiful and exciting and real. And I can’t seem to get enough of you. I want to spend every minute in your company.” His voice rose in frustration. “And I want to ditch all of your siblings so they’ll stop getting in my way.”
She broke into a smile. “That was a good answer.”
“Thank you,” he grumbled.
“But it’s okay if you just think I’m sexy.”
“I think you’re that, too.”
Her expression sobered. “When I didn’t hear from you, I thought maybe once was enough.”
“Twice,” he corrected.
“Twice is enough?”
“No! I meant we did it twice already.” He gathered her closer, adding some intimacy to the conversation by putting his mouth closer to her ear. “Twice is definitely not enough.”
“You want to pick a number?” There was a thread of laughter in her tone. “That’ll keep me from guessing where this is going and when it’s going to end.”
“Fifty,” he told her.
“Ambitious.”
“Always.”
The band ended the song with a pounding drum solo, and the lead singer announced they were taking a break.
Abigail appeared next to them, commandeering Mandy for the ladies’ room, and Caleb wound his way toward the bar.
He ordered a beer.
Travis stepped up. “Make it two.”
“Find someone to dance with?” asked Caleb.
“Not a problem. I went to high school with half the people here.”
“I recognize a few faces.” Caleb glanced around the room, seeing at least a dozen people he’d known as a teenager.
The bartender set two bottles of beer on the bar, and Caleb handed him a twenty. He and Travis turned to face the crowd, Caleb scanning for Mandy.
“I see the way you’re looking at my sister.” Travis took a long swig of his beer.
“Every man in the room isn’t dancing with her.”
“Only because I won’t let them.”
Travis opened his mouth to respond.
But Caleb interrupted him, squaring his shoulders as he angled to face Travis. He was getting this over with here and now. “You’ve got to back off, man. She’s a grown woman.”
The piped in music throbbed through the speakers, and a few dancers took the floor again.
“You don’t have a sister.”
Caleb crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t. But that doesn’t change anything.”
“It would change your attitude.”
“Let’s assume my attitude is not going to change in the next five minutes.”
Travis took another pull on his bottled beer. “Yeah, I know.”
“She’s a smart woman, Travis. She’s realistic and self-confident, and I’m not pressuring her to do anything.”
“I’m backing off,” said Travis.
The statement surprised Caleb, leaving him at a loss for words. Thanking Travis didn’t seem remotely appropriate. So, he took a drink instead.
Seth appeared from the crowd. “What’s going on?”
Caleb shot Travis a sidelong glance, wondering what he was going to say to his brother.
“Not much,” Travis responded with a shrug.
Seth signaled for a beer and parked himself next to Caleb, facing the room along with them. “I think we’re going to have to keep an eye on our sisters tonight.”
Travis coughed out a laugh. “You think?”
“I never think of them as particularly beautiful,” Seth continued. “But they clean up pretty good.”
It was Caleb’s turn to laugh. “Your sisters are drop-dead gorgeous, Seth.”
“I know,” said Seth in some amazement. He scooped a handful of peanuts from the bowl on the bar. “I’m picturing them on the campaign trail.”
“What trail?” Travis challenged. “You’re running for mayor, not governor.”
“There’ll still be photo ops. What do you think? One on each arm?”
“You’ll look like Hugh Hefner.”
“Hmm,” Seth mused. “Guess I’d better rethink that.”
