AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“She’s not interested in Charlie.”
Summer squeezed his hand to let him know she agreed. He shouldn’t feel this relieved, but he did.
“I think she’s lonely,” Jack said, a touch of unease in his voice. “Maybe she’s not happy on the ranch all alone.”
“She loves the ranch and her life here,” Caleb answered for her.
“Do you know who this guy is she’s talking about?”
The truck slowed and took the sharp turn into the drive to the ranch, making Summer fall off balance.
“Jack, my love life is none of your concern.”
“It is when you’re talking about marrying some guy and having babies. You’re only twenty-three. You can’t possibly want to settle down.”
“Why not? If he’s the right man for me, why can’t I want those things?”
“Well, I don’t know. Who is he?”
“Does it matter who it is if I’m happy? Isn’t that what you really want for me no matter who the man is?”
“What? Yes. I guess. But you still haven’t answered.”
The truck stopped. Caleb released her hand, especially now that she wasn’t pretending to sleep and Jack had turned his attention to annoying her. Caleb slipped out of the truck and waited by the door for her exit.
“I’ll walk you home,” Caleb offered.
“What?” Jack looked around confused. “I keep forgetting you moved into the cabin. I’m so used to you living in the big house with me.”
“If you got more than a few hours’ sleep and stopped working yourself to death, you might think more clearly.”
Jack frowned, but didn’t deny her claim.
“See you tomorrow.”
“I can drive you over,” Jack offered.
“It’s not that far, I’ll be fine.”
“I’ll see her home. I need to stretch my legs anyway,” Caleb said, trailing after her.
The front door slammed behind Jack, and she and Caleb made their way along the gravel road and across the pasture to the cabin Jack built the summer before last. She’d moved in when Jack and Caleb took over the big house. She couldn’t be in there with both of them all the time. Her attraction to Caleb made it impossible to hide her feelings. Jack teased her about flirting with Caleb. That became annoying and embarrassing real quick. Jack made her out to be some lovesick teenager, and she desperately wanted Caleb to see her as a woman.
“You have to stop talking to Jack the way you did tonight.”
“When I told you, through my conversation with him, exactly what I want.”
“He’s my best friend, Summer. You do not date your best friend’s sister.”
“You do if you like her and want to get to know her better.”
“We know each other well enough. We spend a lot of time together.”
“Yes. The three of us have become very cozy ranch mates. I want more.”
“He saved my life. He’s my boss. I owe him more than taking his sister to bed to scratch a long neglected itch.”
Was that all he wanted? Sex. She didn’t think so, but still, her heart sank. She stepped onto the stairs leading up to the porch and turned to face him. On her elevated perch, they stood eye to eye.
