Page 106 of A Rancher's Heart
The conversation drifted to other things after that, but Tamara was intrigued at the idea.
She did a little Google research later that day, digging into what testing involved, but found a lot of dead ends and not very clear information.
In the end, she decided before she said anything to Caleb, she should have possible solutions for him. She sent an email to Karen asking if she had any contacts in the industry, then the kitchen door slammed, and the sound of Sasha complaining loudly and Emma crying dragged her from her chair to find out what the girls were fighting about.
Thankfully something solved easily with a couple quiet apologies followed by milk and cookies. Tamara’s quest to help improve Silver Stone’s future was tucked aside in the daily routine of dealing with the girls and not accidentally blurting out to Caleb that she loved him.
There were few things that Caleb detested. Cruelty, laziness—he hated to think of it as a diss list of his ex-wife’s personality traits, but the one thing he’d never had to personally deal with before in his life was jealousy.
He worked hard, and he was good at what he did, so when they were out roping and one of his brothers managed to pull faster or drive harder, he could pretty much say he felt a sense of pride in that as well. It wasn’t him accomplishing the task, but it was family, and that was just as good.
So this strange beast in his belly that wanted to rip and tear and shred was mighty uncomfortable.
Caleb glanced at the delivery truck still parked outside the house, and finally couldn’t take it anymore. He abandoned his chores and strode across the yard, slowing to step softer on the deck so he didn’t appear to be a madman rushing into the house.
As he’d approached he’d caught a clear glimpse in the window of Tamara laughing, the blond-haired young man who’d brought out the filing cabinet she’d ordered leaning on his dolly as he flashed her a smile, admiration in his eyes.
Caleb’s feet marched him forward. He was through the door an instant later. The two of them glanced toward him, Tamara with a welcoming smile, the young man grabbing hold of his equipment and subtly backing away from Tamara.
Yeah, Caleb’s expression might hold a little more heat than was polite, but damn it all—
“Need some help?” His tone was almost civilized.
Okay, maybe not.
“We’re done.” The kid hauled himself toward the door, but more importantly away from Tamara who was now regarding Caleb with one brow raised.
He opened the door before the kid could even put his shoes on, and now Tamara had her arms folded and she gave him the evil eye.
She turned to send the boy off with a kind word. “Thanks for your help. I’ll make sure I stop by the store once I’ve talked to the girls about the bookshelf.”
The young man didn’t do more than offer a quick smile before taking off, swerving away from Caleb as if to stay out of reach.
Caleb pushed the door shut with a solid click before turning back to Tamara.
Her lips twitched.
“What?”
She took a deep breath and let it out, her amusement showing through. “He’s just a kid. And he was being helpful. Did you need to mark your territory that hard?”
He crowded toward her. “Nobody knows you’re mine, so excuse me if I find it a little frustrating.”
“You don’t think I’m entertaining kids barely out of high school right here in the house, do you? Because if you do you think that, we have a problem.”
“I’m not worried about you, but I know what it’s like to be that age and in the presence of a woman sexy enough to give me dirty dreams.”
Her eyes brightened. “Oh. I’m the type of woman who inspires dirty dreams? I like this.”
Caleb’s control wavered. “You know damn well you inspire more than dirty dreams. I’m so fucking hard all the time around you it’s amazing I can walk. I know I said no fooling around, but it’s fucking killing me.”
Tamara looked around the room before deliberately glancing at her watch then back at him.
“The girls aren’t home for another couple hours.” She stepped closer, drifting her hands up the front of his body to pop open the first button on his coat. “I won’t tell anyone.”
God, he shouldn’t do this, but there was no way he could stop. He crowded against her, ignoring the faint voice of reason that suggested he at least take her to her room before stripping her naked.
Screw reason. He wanted her here. Now. Branding her and marking her thoroughly so that every time she looked around this room she’d rememberthem.
