Aww. Warmth flooded her chest with an emotion she’d rather not name. He hadn’t just left, after all. He’d wanted to hear from her first thing and probably had assumed she’d reach for her phone before she did anything else. Normally, especially with the roaster situation, she would have.
Securing the towel in place, she typed quickly. I’m awake. Sorry I missed you.
Instead of texting, he called. “Hey.” His soft greeting created an intimacy that arrowed straight to her core.
“Hey, yourself. I thought you’d text me.” And why was her heart pounding so hard?
“Wanted to hear your voice.”
Her breath caught. “Where are you?”
“Just got out of the shower.”
“Funny, so did I.”
“You showered before texting me?”
“I didn’t see your note until a few seconds ago.”
“You took a shower before checking your phone?”
“Shocking, I know. Not like me at all.”
“Guess you weren’t thinking about your roaster issue, then.” He sounded pleased with himself.
“Nope.”
“Any word from Naomi?”
“Not yet. I’ll assume everything’s fine.”
“Good plan.” He hesitated. “Did you think about me when you were in the shower?”
“Yes, but not the way you’re imagining.”
“How do you know what I’m imagining?”
“I can hear it in your voice.”
His sexy chuckle tickled every nerve ending in her body. “Bet you can. Hey, Jake and I are going out to the raptor center site during our lunch break so he can fill me in on the plans. He’s making sandwiches to take along. He’ll make one for you if you’d like to go.”
“Love to. On horseback?”
“In my truck. Just a quick trip.”
“Is it okay if I bring my phone? I’ll silence it, but—”
“By all means bring it. Wouldn’t want you to miss hearing from Naomi.”
“I appreciate that. I’m excited to see the site, though, after hearing about the plans. Thanks for thinking of me.”
“I can’t stop thinking about you…the way you looked when I left, snuggled under the covers fast asleep, your hair mussed from making love.” His voice grew husky. “Wasn’t easy to leave.”
“I heard the door close and jumped out of bed, but I wasn’t fast enough to catch you.”
“Just as well. If you had, I would’ve been late to work.”
“But I wanted to tell you goodbye.”
“And I would have kissed you and after that…it’d be all over.”
“Then maybe we need to set an alarm. Make it early enough to give us a little time before you leave.”
His breath hissed. “You’ve got it. Now I’m getting off this phone before one of the guys notices my condition. Jake and I will come by the cabin a little after twelve.”
“I’ll be ready.”
“’Bye, Iz.”
“’Bye.” She disconnected and went in search of her charger. His phone call sure had juiced her batteries. Going out to the site of the future raptor center would be fun. But she might as well not kid herself. The main attraction was CJ.
* * *
Isabel was on her way out the door to get breakfast at the dining hall when Naomi called. Ducking back inside the cabin, she closed the door and answered the phone. “What’s happening?”
“First off, last night went perfectly. The old roaster’s gone.” Noise from the shop filtered through the closed office door.
“Good. Sounds busy out there.”
“Crazy busy. It’s all-hands-on-deck time. Anyway, I just talked to Bob. The movers are running late. Should be there in another half-hour or so. He has no clue how long it’ll take to load the roaster and secure it before they start down here. He’s never done this and neither have they.”
“That’s not very reassuring.”
“I almost didn’t tell you, but I promised complete transparency, so—”
“Thanks. Please keep me in the loop.”
“Like I said, I promised, so I will, no matter if the news is good or bad.”
“It’ll go smooth as silk.”
“Yes, it will. Was CJ a good distraction?”
“Uh, you could say that.”
“I think it’s so cool that you dig the father of your child.”
“I guess it is, at that.”
“Are you going riding again today?”
“Nope, but I get to check out the site of a raptor rescue center that’ll be built on the ranch this summer.”
“Awesome! Remember the eagle’s nest cam we used to watch as kids?”
“Yep. I loved that. Hey, I don’t want to keep you. You said it’s crazy and—”
“It is, but I also like hearing what’s going on with you. Are you having a good time?”
She blinked. “I…guess I am. Why?”
“You seem more relaxed.”
“Yeah, I really want to apologize for yesterday. When you called about the roaster, I was—”
“I don’t mean more relaxed than you were yesterday. I mean relaxed in general.”
“You can tell that over the phone?”
“Your voice is different, more like it used to be.”
“When?”
“Before you opened the shop. I get why it changed. The shop is a huge responsibility. But now you sound more like yourself again.”
She laughed. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Just take my word for it. Maybe it’s the atmosphere of the ranch, or getting to spend time with Lucy. But my money’s on CJ. I think he’s good for you, sis.”
Chapter Twenty-One
“Seems like old times, Jake.” CJ tore up lettuce, sliced tomatoes and cored avocados while Jake assembled the sandwiches. “You and me fixing food in the bunkhouse.”
“It’ll be old times all over again for chuck wagon stew tomorrow night, unless you and Isabel are ditching us.”
“I figured we’d be there, but I forgot to mention it to her. I’m sure she’ll want to come, though, especially now that we’ve set up a table out by the fire pit.”
“That area’s worked out great. If we end up deciding to initiate Garrett into the Brotherhood, I want to do it out there.” He wrapped another sandwich and tucked it into the cooler. “Don’t know if you’ve heard, but the Babes’ shower for Isabel is a definite for tonight.”
“Hadn’t heard that.” Henri had told him it was in the works when she’d come down to the barn this morning. Having the ladies give Izzy a party was a nice idea,
