Page 14 of Red Hot Rancher

“I’m the baby by two minutes.”

“I thought it was two and a half?”

“The way Justin acts sometimes, those thirty seconds are like five years.”

They fell silent. The short banter between them could sustain her for weeks, but he was right here and she didn’t want it to end.

“Are you sure it’s okay if I help out this weekend?”

He shut off the water and met her gaze. The air stilled between them. His eyes mesmerized her. They were the softest brown, like a baby calf’s coat when it was still fluffy with a little curl. “It’ll be all right. I’ll shoot Farah a text. You know she’ll tell me if it’s an issue.”

“You told her about us, didn’t you?” she murmured.

Caleb’s gaze shot over her shoulder, but Justin was probably nursing his beer and scrolling through his phone at the table. “It’s not like I could talk to your brother.”

“I appreciate it. My family is in enough of my business.”

Caleb turned from her to stack the plates in the dishwasher. “They love you.”

To anyone else, his explanation would sound like he was reassuring her, but she knew him and his past. The wistfulness in his words wasn’t lost on her.

“How’s your mom?”

He spoke as he arranged silverware and glasses from breakfast. She backed up a step, using the excuse of giving him room when she was only putting enough space between them to admire the firmness of his ass as he bent over.

“I guess they’re in Texas. Mom’s cleaning houses and Dad’s doing landscaping.”

“Good. Sounds like they’re doing well.”

“It always does.” He straightened, and she yanked her gaze to his face. While he was shoving his hair off his forehead, she ogled the flex of his bicep. “She makes sure of it. I don’t think they burn out of the party crowd as fast down there.”

How could he be so accepting of a woman who clearly put her own interests before him? But then he was here, chatting with her. But the difference was that she refused to lead him on like Adele Cruise did. She wasn’t going to come and go from Caleb’s life.

So why was she lingering in the kitchen? “Well, I’d better get back to it.”

His half smile died. Kicking the dishwasher door up, he clicked it closed. “Yeah, I’m going to head to bed. I have to study.”

“What?” She hadn’t meant to sound so surprised.

A flash of hurt crossed his face, but it was gone in a second. “I’m a few credits away from finishing my bachelor’s.”

“Degree?”

His jaw tensed. He didn’t irritate easily, but the chiseled cut of his jaw made it easy to tell. She hadn’t meant to sound so surprised. “I’ve been taking online courses. It’s a small town, but there are opportunities for promotion.”

Caleb had always known what he wanted to do. Growing up, he’d told any teacher or classmate or anyone with ears willing to listen what he wanted to be: a fireman and a rancher. Now he was doing both. So what was he going to school for? “That’s cool. In what?”

“Emergency management.”

She cocked her head. “Not fire science or…fire something? You were always the kid who wanted to be a firefighter.”

A faint smile ghosted his lips. Every Halloween, he’d worn a red jacket and fire hat. Every career day—fireman. And on their field trips to the fire department, he’d been first in line, raising his hand until they cut the questions off.

“My associate’s is in fire science, but I thought a related degree that would allow more job diversity was smart.”

“Very smart,” she echoed. She hadn’t even known he’d gotten a two-year degree. He’d been so single-minded in his career track she hadn’t thought outside of it, either. But he was focused and working for more.

“So…” He pointed over his shoulder. “I’m gonna hit the books. You can take credit for the dishes if you want.” He sent her a little wink that ignited a spark in her belly.

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