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James puffs up with pride. Then Willow grabs the box James is carrying. “I can carry stuff too,” she says and nearly gets it out of his grasp. Lissy steps in and separates Willow from the cardboard, takes her hand and then gives me a wave. “See you at dinner, Caleb.”
I give them all another wave and honk the horn for Willow again before I continue on my way.
Who’d have thought that Deacon would be a family man? But you know what? It’s like this is what he was born for. I’ve never seen him so happy. Lissy and those kids have brought out the best in him.
I think back to Ellie, she sure didn’t bring out the best in me. She made me feel like I was always on display or had to measure up to some kind of invisible standard that only she knew about.
I hadn’t realized how awful she was until I was out of her snare.
I dodged a bullet there.
I guess the good news is that thinking about her completely deflated my cock.
I wonder what Alex would think of Chickadee Ridge? I got the impression she hadn’t left the cabin and had no intention to. A writer? Really? Maybe she writes weird poetry or something.
Or erotica.
I give myself another shake as I drive in the gates of North Starr Ranch and take the truck back to the machine shop.
“Hey, Caleb, how was your drive?” Roger, the ranch’s head mechanic says, coming over to help me put the cover on the truck as I get out. “Anything interesting happen?”
I feel my face start to heat again as embarrassment creeps up my neck, but I fight it back. “Nope. Nothing interesting at all.”
“I guess that’s good,” Roger says.
Sure it is. It’s perfect.
* * *
ALEX
“We’re going to need some lube, Caleb.”
Oh my God. What the hell was I thinking? He’s a stranger and a friend of Nicco’s. Oh no. Will he tell Nicco I said that?
I rake my hand through my hair and then my hand gets caught in the funky side mullet thing I have happening. Ugh. I must have looked ridiculous, in addition to sounding like a whore.
I roll my eyes so hard at myself they nearly spin all the way around inside my head. What the hell is wrong with me? It’s like I’ve never been alone with a man before.
Well, you barely have.
I blow out a breath. There’s a fair amount of truth to that.
My father’s made sure of it. Keeps me busy working from dawn to dusk and only approves of me dating men who will improve my profile. It’s all so artificial. Even if I did like any of them, how would I know if they cared about me or were just using me?
I think about Caleb in that old beat up truck. He smelled like oil and hard work. I wonder what he’d think if he knew I was one of the highest paid recording artists in the world?
I make my way to the bathroom to finish the job I’d started on my hair. The bathroom is dinky compared to the one at my house. The mansion I almost never get to see.
I blow out a breath and feel the weight of the world start to press down on my shoulders again. I think about Josh and the band, my backup singers and dancers, Audrey who takes care of my wardrobe and is sort of like the big sister I always wish I had.
Are they all mad at me? I gave explicit instructions that they were to be paid while I was recovering from the mysterious illness that caused me to faint on stage a few days ago.
Are they wondering if they’ll still have a job? Do any of them care about me and how I’m feeling?
I give myself a mental shake and look into the mirror and wonder what Caleb thought of my appearance. My face heats and I can see the pink in my cheeks deepen.
It’s his fault. He’s too handsome and he came over unannounced and surprised me. As far as I’m concerned, if you go to a woman’s house unannounced and you catch her in the middle of cutting her hair, that’s on you for not calling first.
