Despite their different tastes and approaches to things, she was beginning to really like Dillon and the way he thought.
“Just put your dishes into the sink. I’ll wash them when I get home,” she told him. Turning her back on him, she unplugged the warming tray and deposited what was left of breakfast into plastic containers and put those into the refrigerator.
When she turned back around to face Dillon, Hailey saw that he hadn’t listened to her. He had not only brought the plates over to the sink, but he had washed said plates and was now putting them on the rack to dry off.
“You know, I could get used to this. You’re spoiling me,” she told him.
In her opinion, the smile that curved the corners of his mouth was positively sexy. “I could say the same thing about you making all that breakfast for us this morning,” he said.
She gave him a look. “It’s not the same thing. I like to cook,” she emphasized. “And if you tell me that you like to wash dishes, I’m going to have to fight a very strong urge to tell you that you’re lying.”
Dillon grinned, clearly tickled. “Then I won’t say it.”
Time to change the subject, she decided. “I believe you said something about your ranch and us going horseback riding?” she prompted.
His grin widened as he dried his hands on a nearby dish towel. “I believe I did, yes,” he agreed.
She took off the apron she’d had on and draped it on the back of a chair. “Then let’s get to it,” she urged. “I can’t wait to meet Delilah.”
“Okay, then let’s not keep her—or you—waiting,” he said, ushering her toward the door.
Hailey wasn’t prepared for the ranch. She thought she was, but when she actually was able to see it, she realized that the sprawling house exceeded her wildest expectations.
As they came closer, she let out a low whistle. “You people really live in that?” she asked in awe.
“Yes, why?” he asked, amused by her reaction.
This was bigger than huge, she couldn’t help thinking. “What happens when you forget to bring your GPS with you?” she wanted to know.
Dillon began to laugh. “It’s not that big,” he told her.
“No?” she questioned. “In comparison to what? New York City?”
Still laughing, he shook his head. “You’re exaggerating.”
“Not by much,” she countered. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure it’s gorgeous on the inside. I’m just used to something a little homier. Something I wouldn’t wind up getting lost in,” she added.
“Do you do that a lot?”
“Not until now,” she answered, looking at the mansion again.
“Then let me take you on a tour of my wing,” Dillon offered.
She didn’t bother hiding the stunned look on her face. “You have a wing,” she marveled.
“Well, it’s more like a suite, but yeah. We each do,” he told her. “Remember, I told you that when I said we bought the ranch,” he reminded her.
She did remember his saying something to that effect. “I guess maybe I didn’t really take you literally,” she told him.
He didn’t understand why she wouldn’t. “I don’t make things up,” he told her.
“I’m beginning to learn that,” she said. “Tell me more,” she urged.
Because he didn’t know when she would want to go back home, he left his car parked in the circular driveway and then got out.
“I will. On the tour,” he promised. Rounding the hood, he came up to her door on the passenger side and then opened it without any fanfare. As she began to get out, he offered her his arm.
She had assumed that his formal politeness would fade after he had gotten used to her, but apparently she was wrong. His behavior gave every appearance of continuing indefinitely.
Heaven help her, but she had to admit that she rather liked that.
Chapter Twelve
The outside of the main house that Dillon brought her to was breathtakingly huge, but that still did not prepare Hailey for what she saw on the inside.
Stepping through the massive doorway into the biggest ranch house she had ever seen.
“Wow.” The word seemed to escape her lips of its own accord as she looked all around her, taking her surroundings in. It was hard not to be overwhelmed.
As he began to take her on a tour, Dillon tried to see the house he had been living in for the last few months through Hailey’s eyes.
He had to admit that he envied her being able to feel such awe. He tried to remember the last time he had felt anything remotely akin to that.
Maybe when he was a kid?
But probably not even then, he decided. Dillon was fairly certain that what he had felt was nothing like what Hailey was experiencing, judging by the expression on her face.
“I take it your wow means that you like it?” he asked, amused.
Hailey drew in a deep breath, and then another when the first breath didn’t seem sufficient enough to help her put her thoughts into words.
When she finally spoke, it was to tell him, “I don’t think like begins to even remotely describe something like this. I mean I’ve never thought of myself as being sheltered, but this—” she turned around slowly, taking in as much as she could of the expansive area “—this is a completely different world than anything I’ve ever known.” Looking around again, she tried to envision her own home nestled in here. “I think I could fit my whole house—and then some—into what you refer to as a wing.”
Amused, Dillon laughed. “You’re exaggerating,” he told her.
“No. I’m not,” she insisted. “You grew up in a house like this?” she asked as they continued on their tour, passing a massive bedroom and an equally sized game room followed by a den.
“I grew up in a house,” he said vaguely. “With my family.” He deliberately stressed what they had in common, not their differences. “And now I am going to take a lovely spa manager—”
“I don’t know about the
