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"Take your time, I'll wait. Unless you're wanting me to go home."
"I don't want that. Having you here is…nice."
I kiss her temple. "Being here is nice."
She clears her throat, straightening her legs to rest her feet on the coffee table. "Would you like to play a board game? The owners left some games behind."
I make a pained face.
"What?" she asks. "If you don't like board games, just say so."
"I like them." I wipe a hand over my mouth. "Erica and Lachlan played Monopoly the day after they met. I know you don't like me to repeat things they did together."
"Right. No board games."
Movement outside the windows catches my attention, and I glance that way. Misty is leaping through the air like she has springs in her paws, flying past the sliding glass doors in midair. She lands and takes off across the yard toward Mandy. The puppies collide and roll, with Misty underneath her smaller sister, both baring their teeth in mock combat.
"Let's go outside," I say. "Get fresh air and play with the puppies."
"Sure."
I give her a sly look. "Maybe you'll roll around on the grass with me. We can take turns being on top."
"Cooking for me is hot, but not quite enough to make me ruin my clothes with grass stains."
"Donnae worry." I stand, smiling as I offer her my hand. "My sister Fiona taught me the secret to removing any stain."
Calli accepts my hand.
I help her up, then we head for the sliding doors hand in hand the way any normal couple might. The fact that she wants to hold hands with me gives me even more hope for us. Maybe I've never tried to make a woman fall for me before, but I will do whatever it takes to win Calli. Not only because she's American. I want her because she is the bonniest, sweetest, most incredible woman I have ever met.
If Lachlan can win a woman's heart, so can I.
Chapter Twelve
A walk with Calli turned out to be the most relaxing thing I'd done in ages. Building my construction business had taken a lot of hard work, which didn't leave much time for fun. Oh, I still found ways to have a good time. But not as much as I would've liked. I hadn't been in any danger of turning into an ogre like Rory, that was for dead sure. Time with Calli, just ambling through the woods while holding her hand, felt better than anything I'd done in longer than I could remember. To have her soft palm in mine…
I wanted to keep doing that forever.
Calli lusts for me. I know that, but she also likes me. The lass can't hide it. She enjoys spending time with me as much as I enjoy being with her. Though I wonder, repeatedly, what her husband did to her, I won't ask. Not yet. She needs to learn how to trust me, and I need to prove to her I'm not a selfish erse. Sounds easy. But I have no illusions it will be.
Still, things keep happening that give me hope.
I make dinner for her again and insist on washing the dishes afterward, like I had last time. Her appreciative smile sends a wee thrill through me. She's not appreciating my body this time, but rather, she's admiring my skill in the kitchen and my desire to do things for her to make her life easier. That kind of appreciation might be more valuable than her lust for me because it means she's starting to think of me as more than a sex partner. I'm not doing these things as a calculated attempt to seduce her. I want to make her life easier—and more fun.
After dinner, I take a shower. Just as I step out of the stall, I wonder if I should do a little something to make sure Calli doesn't forget I want to make love to her. A wee bit of calculation can't hurt. Affectionate calculation. Aye, there is such a thing—because I just invented it.
So, I forgo drying off and wrap a towel around my hips. Then I saunter out of the bathroom and into the living room where Calli is watching television, halting just behind the sofa but to the side of where she's sitting.
Calli glances at me and freezes. Her eyes go wide, but she doesn't blink. Her lips fall open a touch, and her gaze travels down my body, from the drops of water drizzling down my chest to the lump under the terrycloth. "Why are you standing there in a towel? You didn't even use it to dry off."
"Need another towel. Where can I find one?"
"In the bathroom," she says like that was a silly question. "On the towel rack."
"Oh aye, of course." I wink. "Liking the view, eh?"
She glances at myslatagain and sighs.
