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Her fingers wrap around mine and we move the dial together until I need to shift into third gear and remove my hand. She finds a station out of Ponderosa Pass that's coming in pretty well today. It's a classic country station and an old Garth Brooks song wafts out of the aged speakers.
"This truck is in good shape. How old is it?"
"About thirty, I'd say."
"Where'd you get it?"
"It was my dad's," I say. It's hard to remember that I'm trying to keep at least some of my personal details a secret. But I don't want to lie.
Sure, because pretending to be the other Caleb isn't a lie.
Not exactly.
I push all of that away.
"What's he driving now?" she asks with a grin, "since you stole his truck."
"He passed away a few years ago," I say and give her a gentle smile. “He and my mom and younger brother were in a car accident.” I hate the looks people give me when they find out about my parents. It's even worse when they hear I've lost a younger brother. It is shocking, but I don't want pity. Or to make them uncomfortable.
"Oh," she says and reaches over to put her hand on my arm. I like the way it feels. "I'm sorry. You must have loved him very much to take such good care of his truck."
I nod. "Yeah, it's sort of my way of feeling close to him."
She squeezes my arm and though I know it's meant to be a show of compassion, it sends a heated bolt of lust straight to my cock.
"What about you?" I ask, changing the topic, or at least getting it off of me. "Are you close with your parents?"
A look of sadness crosses her face and I'm sorry I asked.
"No, not anymore," she says and glances out the window. I feel like a jerk for upsetting her.
She turns from the window and gives me a smile. "Let's talk about other things. Like where we're going on this picnic."
"It's a secret location," I say.
"Well, since I'm new around here, it's all secret locations to me." She laughs and my heart lifts. We're quiet for a few moments and then she starts to hum along with the song on the radio.
"Wow," I say, "you've got a great voice. Just hearing you hum is amazing."
"Oh!" She jolts back against her seat. "I hadn't realized I was doing that." Instead of being pleased by my compliment, she seems horrified.
"I meant what I said. You have a beautiful voice."
Her face pales and her hands twist together in her lap. I reach over and lay my hand over hers. "Hey, I didn't mean to upset you." I give a squeeze and she takes hold of my hand between both of hers.
"You're a nice person, Caleb. Thanks."
Nice might not be exactly the word I was going for, but I'll take it.
We arrive at the picnic spot and I pull into a narrow lane that takes us back to a pond at the back of North Starr Ranch property. It's the same pond where I like to go and fish. I even showed the Hope House kids how to fish there. It's probably a bad idea to bring her to my own ranch if I'm trying to pretend I'm not part of the wealthiest family in the state, but I also know that I'm the only member of the family who ever goes back to the pond and all the employees ought to be working. Besides, I want to share this special spot with Alex.
I park the truck near some trees to keep it partially hidden from anyone who might snoop around, then get out and hurry around so I can help Alex from her seat. This truck isn't nearly as high as my Ram but I still want the chance to put my hands around her slim waist and draw her close before setting her feet on the ground. Her face flushes and we look at each other for a moment, attraction crackles between us but instead of tossing her into the bed of the truck and stripping her bare, I reach back for the picnic basket and blanket, then take her hand and lead her to a nice shady spot near the water.
"This is beautiful," she says, looking around. "Who owns this? Are you sure we won't get in trouble for being here?"
"Well, folks in the country are a bit more relaxed about people being on their land than city folks are," I say. It's true.
I am not a good liar.
