Page 50 of A Rancher's Heart
Tamara was out of her chair, slapping her hand down on his shoulder before he could rise to his feet. “For man who asked me to help, you’re damn quick to get snarky. I’mnottrying to make you feel guilty. I’m trying to tell you to plan for more than just an apology.”
He grabbed her by the wrist, words coming out quietly. Softer, but the intensity went up. “Are you getting some kind of sick entertainment from dragging this out? Because I swear I will pull you across my knees and spank your ass. Getonwith it.”
Sudden silence filled the room. A hot beat lingered in the air, full of sexual tension. Her pulse raced under his fingertips and his mouth went utterly dry.
Forbidden images. Deliciously dirty thoughts.
Thank God Tamara ignored his comment, and instead of giving him a piece of her mind, she shared in detail what she thought he needed to do to apologize. Even on the verge of passing out from exhaustion, the wisdom in her plan was clear.
He still had a grip on her wrist, so he gave it a grateful squeeze. “I’ll help put out the—”
“No way. You’re exhausted,” Tamara chided him. “Go to bed. I’ll take care of things in the morning. I already have everything ready.”
Of course she did. Extra guilt would have snuck in if he’d had any energy left to protest. “Thank you,” he offered sincerely, more grateful than he could say. Smoothing over his stupid mistake with the girls was so important.
Tamara patted his hand then wiggled free, making some excuse about heading to bed, although she hardly needed one considering the time.
She vanished down the hallway as if she were being chased, and even brain numb as he was, Caleb wondered what he could do to make Tamara forget his inappropriate comments.
But more importantly, how couldheforget the gleam of heat that had risen in her eyes at his words. How could he not think about it the entire time he was trying to convince his body that enough was enough. It was time to sleep.
He woke late, joining the girls for breakfast. He gave them extra kisses before apologizing for missing the night before.
“It’s okay.” Sasha glanced at her sister before answering. “We’re glad you found the horses, Daddy.”
“Did you have a good time trick-or-treating?” he asked. “Did you get lots of your favourite candies?”
Tamara lowered her coffee cup. “They haven’t gone through their bags yet. I suggested they wait to do that with you today.
Caleb gasped. “What? You mean you still have full bags of goodies, and you haven’t even looked to see what you got?” Sasha and Emma both eyed him curiously as he pretended to have a great idea. “That means Halloween isn’t over yet.”
His oldest daughter spoke up. “Daddy. Halloween waslastnight.”
Caleb shook his head. “Nope. If you didn’t go through your bag, Halloween’s not officially over, which means we should go and see if we can get more loot.”
He winked, glancing over their shoulders to see Tamara give him a nod.
Emma tugged him down to whisper in his ear. “Where?”
He turned to Tamara. “Emma would like to knowwhereit would be possible to find Halloween still taking place. I think they don’t believe me.”
Tamara managed to look dramatically shocked. “What? They’ve never heard that rule before? As to where to go, well, it has to be somewhere they haven’t been yet. I know they’ve been to town, because I took them. And they went to the bunkhouse.”
“Because Uncle Dusty and Uncle Luke took us there. Daddy, Kelli gave me two full-size chocolate bars. And Kelli says everybody who gives out little chocolate bars are just chintzy.” She informed Emma, “That means cheap. I looked it up.”
Caleb didn’t ask Tamara why she was snickering. “I agree,” he told his daughter. “But if you went to town, and you already went to the bunkhouse, what’s left?”
Tamara tapped her lips and pretended to think. “Isupposeyou could check with the goats.”
Emma snorted. A clear, sharp little-girl sound that drew all their attention. She covered her mouth, her eyes going wide.
Tamara pointed at her, smiling widely. “Ha. I see you don’t think goats like Halloween, but I am pretty sure they do. Almost as much as horses.”
Sasha’s eyes were the size of plates now. “Really? We’ve never gotten treats from the horses before. We neverhadgoats, so I guess it makes sense we never got treats from them, but I’d think that the horses would probably—”
Her words cut off as her little sister jammed a hand over her mouth before dragging her toward where their bags were stashed on top of the dining room table.
“Hey, you’re forgetting something,” Tamara interrupted.
