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Oh boy.
That had so just turned me on.
I rushed to fill the silence. “I like old people. I really do. I mean, my grandpa is basically my favorite person in the world. I have mad respect. Just not for that one. And don’t you think we maybe should have had her clean up this mess first before you let her go?”
I realized I still had my hands covering Evelyn’s ears.
Probably a good thing.
“This isn’t funny, Ms. Dae.”
I gulped. “I know. I’m sorry I instigated that. She and I have a history.”
His teeth ground. “I’ve been wanting to fire her since she started here. Thank you for giving me a reason to.”
“Isn’t Evelyn reason enough?” My hands were still covering her ears, the child not even trying to remove them, so sweet and patient.
My and Caleb’s voices had gone hushed, as if we were sharing our deepest secrets.
With the way my heart was pounding, I was sure that we were.
“She is the reason.” The words were shards. I felt them like barbs hooking in my soul.
“What are you going to do now?”
He blew out a heavy sigh, scrubbed a palm over his face, and looked at the far wall. “Don’t know. Find someone new. In the meantime, I’m going to have to ask Ryder or Ezra if she can stay at one of their places tomorrow. I have to go to Seattle.”
“You have to go?”
“My offices are located there. There’s business I have to attend to.”
Darkness flash-fired, a thunderbolt in the ice of his eyes.
I tried not to shudder at what it meant.
“So, you’re not a rancher?” I drew out like it wasn’t obvious.
He did that scowly thing that I hated to love. “Do I look like a rancher to you, Ms. Dae?”
“Not even a little bit.” I hesitated for a beat before I asked, “Then what are you doing here on a multimillion-dollar ranch?”
Rigidness lined his jaw, and his response ground through his teeth. “It’s safer than the city.”
My brow lifted. “Couldn’t you have done it a little more…small scale?”
He glanced at Evelyn. Pain twisted his features in dread. “No.”
Evelyn pulled gently at my wrists, and as I dropped my hands, I felt my heart stretching in a new direction. Pulling toward two people who seemed at complete odds, as if they didn’t match, as if their worlds had gravitated in different spaces but had come colliding together.
“Am I allowed to listen now?” she whispered like she was in on the secret.
“I think you are, as long as Ms. Dae doesn’t have any other choice things to say?” Caleb answered before I could, and he cocked his head.
Amusement played through his menacing features.
God, that looked good on him, too.
I forced some lightness into my tone. “For the time being, I think I’m good, but I can’t make any promises for the future.”
“I wouldn’t dare expect it from you.”
The slam of the front door echoed down the hall.
“Good riddance,” I said.
“Really good riddance.” Evelyn was smiling too wide.
Caleb blew out a breath. “You two are nothing but trouble, do you know that?”
His voice lost its edge, the business-cut suit nonexistent.
“I’m full of it, just ask my grandpa.”
“He already told me.” A smirk threatened at the edge of his sexy mouth.
My eyes went wide. Crap. They’d met, Friday night, when I’d come in blundering drunk.
For a moment, we stayed there, just watching each other before he stepped away, blowing out a sigh. “I’ll get this mess cleaned up, if you could keep her up there while I do.”
“Of course.”
He went to the pantry and pulled out a broom and dustpan. He began to sweep the glass fragments, taking the oily mayonnaise with them. I was pretty sure the task was below his pay grade.
“How long are you going to be gone on your business trip?” I found myself asking.
He eyed me from where he was bent over scooping all that greasy goo into a dustpan. “Two days.”
“I’ll stay with Evelyn, if you’d like.” It was probably a bad idea, but right then, it didn’t feel like it.
Not when this man had just stood up for this little girl.
Proven his care.
His ferocity.
His protectiveness.
In it, it’d felt like he’d been sticking up for me, too.
Plus, I didn’t relish the idea of Ryder watching her. I mean, he was amazing, but he’d probably have her down at his machine shop, and I wasn’t sure that was the safest place. He was also a bit of a wildcard, a bit careless, living his life without a ton of responsibilities. He would likely be fine with her, but he wasn’t used to taking care of anyone other than himself.
And Ezra had his hands full.
Or maybe I was just being selfish.
Finding excuses to tell myself to make the offer okay.
Because I wanted to be there.
For Evelyn.
For this little girl who was coming to mean too much.
