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“And I need to shower and change. Meet you back here in ten minutes?”
“I’ll likely be the one with flour on her ass.”
He chuckled. “I have no problem with that.” His head bent and he kissed her.
Reese found herself leaning into him, deepening the kiss. He wrapped her in a tight embrace and she could have lost herself completely in the perfection of the moment. Had the timer on the stove not chimed loudly.
She pulled away. “Damn. That thing is supposed to have good timing, not bad.”
Caleb grinned at her. “Go do whatever you have to do. I’ll be back.”
Watching him go was a foregone conclusion before he even walked off. The man had one hell of an ass.
That’s because he’s only in his twenties.
She had to brush off the thought, because tonight she was determined to see if something more substantial than lust existed between them. Perhaps the encouragement from her community made her feel this way. Obviously, speculation of her involvement with Caleb set right with her friends. She’d known they’d taken her side with the Tommy debacle, but she really hadn’t thought they’d jump on her rebound bandwagon with such enthusiasm. It increased her optimism, helping her to believe the chance she was taking was a smart one.
She finished the filets and drizzled sauce over them. She loaded up the plates with asparagus and potatoes. The garnishes were already set out on the table.
Caleb appeared, spiffed up in clean jeans and a white button-down shirt. Nadine had been right about him from the get-go. He really was one good-looking son of a gun. She smiled as he pulled the chair back for her. She’d lit two tapered candles in the center of the table and had set out the Gerbera daisy in a tall, slim glass as the centerpiece.
“You realize everything you do makes my day, right?” he asked in a low voice.
Her head tilted to the side. “No. I really haven’t done anything.”
He eyed the stem in its makeshift vase, then his gaze shifted to the filet on his plate. “Yeah, you have. This is perfect. Beats the hell out of a five-star restaurant, though I’d happily treat you to that. It’s just so much more…real here. So honest. Intimate.”
Everything she’d been looking for herself. Swallowing down a lump of emotion, she said, “Tommy always liked me to go out of my way for him. All the time. I didn’t mind at first. I wanted him to be happy. But after a while, when you know you’re being taken for granted, you start to resent not only the person who’s using you, but you begin to dislike yourself for allowing it to happen.”
Caleb dropped a dollop of butter, followed by sour cream, onto his potato, then sprinkled on the chives. “I know what you’re saying. Maybe that’s why I see something different with you. I’m accustomed to women who are interested in me because of my family name and money. You haven’t even charged me for the room yet.”
“We still haven’t negotiated a fair rate for a month’s rental.”
“Most people wouldn’t think twice about that, Reese, when they know what I’m worth.”
“Liza—and your purchasing the ranch—gave me a good idea. But I don’t care about what you’re worth,” she told him. “I know what it’s like to be used for monetary gain—on a much smaller scale, of course. The truth is, your family money is infinitely more intimidating than it is enticing to a woman like me.”
“I had that feeling from the beginning.”
She said, “I also don’t care for pretention—clearly, neither do you.”
With a sharp shake of his head, he said, “No, I do not. A sore spot with my parents, but that’s a subject we’re best to steer clear of. Pretention is the order of the day for most of the Bennetts who comprise my family tree.”
“I’ve wasted too much of my time trying to live up to someone else’s expectations. It must be much more difficult for you.”
He shrugged. “I suppose I have a bit of a stubborn streak that helps me through it.”
“And determination. You don’t strike me as the type to back down easily.”
“No, I am not.”
She admired the trait.
They finished dinner while talking about the town and the more laid-back lifestyle in Wilder, a vast difference from Dallas, Caleb conceded. He told her he preferred the more casual environment.
After coffee and more amiable conversation, he rinsed the dishes and she loaded them into the washer. He’d devoured the peach cobbler while raving about it and she’d silently thanked Luanne Dunham for her two additions to the dessert. All in all, Reese felt as though a little of her damaged pride had been healed this evening. Thanks to the sexy cowboy-vet.
He pulled her into his arms and murmured against her temple, “That was an incredible meal.”
