by Ashlee Price
“I’ll go.”
Caspin pulled his jacket off as he walked into the dark room. Kallie tried to ignore the large muscles straining underneath his shirt. He was not made for the offices. “So how did you know my father?”
“He helped me out when I was younger. Pointed me in the right direction.”
“Were you going in the wrong one?”
“Unfortunately I was.”
“Well I am glad he could help you then.”
Caspin came back out with a tool box and she looked away quickly. It wasn’t before he caught her blue gaze falling over him. She was interested and it made his body respond in kind. He rolled up his sleeves as she avoided his gaze. Their bodies moved close together as she held the boards for him to cut. He was covered in saw dust when they were done, but the job was far better than she would have done by herself. Kallie was starting to think that it didn’t need glass, but looked better that way.
“Do you want something to drink?”
He nodded and she gave him the choice between tea and wine. Caspin chose wine and had a glass with her as they sat on the couch. “You might want to think about getting some security out here Kallie. You are too far out if something happens.”
“Do you really think I will have to worry about it?”
“I do. You don’t know the Wheelings. They tried many ways to get your dad to let this property go.”
“Well he will have to do worse than throw a brick through the window to get me to change my mind.”
Caspin could see that and it bothered him in a way because he didn’t want anything to happen to her. Of everything that had been going on, the last thing he wanted was for her to get mixed up with those types of people. The family had money like his, but it was the way they came to have theirs, that made the two of them so different. “Just be careful. You have a bunkhouse in the back if you want to hire a couple of guys to handle some animals and the gardens. This little house was a homestead not too long ago and could be again. Then you would have people around you instead of it being just you out here.”
She looked at him to see if he was being serious. “I am not really into the whole damsel in distress thing and I am not hiring men to feel safe. It will be fine. It’s just a brick Caspin, but thank you for your concern.”
It was a polite way to tell him to piss off and he knew what it was. Caspin had no problem reading between the lines. She was so adamant of her independence. He just wondered how far Craig was willing to go. It was far easier to intimidate a woman than it was a man and though she claimed she wasn’t one, Kallie made a very pretty damsel. She was the type of woman a man would do anything for, but it was because of the delicate nature of her. While she could try to be tough, Kallie had an innocence about her that he was sure Craig had picked up on.
Caspin wanted to stay, to give another excuse or reason to stay. His eyes looked around the old house and he could see many things that needed work.
“So have you talked to someone about fixing this place up or do you do that too?”
She blushed a little and the naïve look made blood flow to his groin. It was moments and looks like that, that drove him to want to stay. He wondered if a suggestion to sleep on her couch would work. Looking at her and the determined look in her face, he knew it wouldn’t go over well.
“Not yet. I stayed in a hotel for the last few days, so this is the first night in the new house.”
“I can help you fix up a few things if you want. Anything I can’t do, I will know someone that can.”
“Thanks, but I feel like I am imposing. You have already helped me so much.”
“I really don’t mind. I wish you would let someone stay with you or go elsewhere tonight, but I have a feeling you would not like that suggestion.”
“Are you offering?”
He thought he was hearing things. What did she say, offering?
“Yes, if you would like someone to stay on your couch or wherever, I would be more than happy to.”
“One night, huh?”
“What?”
Kallie shook her head. “Never mind. Thanks for the offer, but I think I will be okay. No mosquitoes, so I couldn’t ask for more.”
Grabbing his coat off of the back of a chair where he had tossed it, he looked back once at her before he left. There was a need in her eyes that he was sure mirrored his own, but she had refused him. It didn’t happen to him often and the very fact that she said no, made him think about her more. The feel of a challenge always pushed him. What had she meant by one night?
Chapter 7
It was as painful for Kallie, as it was for Caspin. He had left hard and needy, while she had watched him go with sadness and wetness between her lips. There was so much that she wanted to do to him, say to him, but he was gone because she had sent him away. Still not knowing why she had done it, Kallie knew deep down that a night would not be enough for her and it would only leave her yearning for more.
She went to the feed store in the morning and took care of some deliveries. It was her third day on the job and she was already starting to like the routine of it. Kallie never thought that she would like learning about animals, but she was having a good time while she did it.
It had only been about a week and she was already getting pressure to come home. But she wasn’t ready yet. When she was around Caspin, Kallie thought that she might not ever be ready to go home. The fact that he seemed to be everywhere that she was didn’t help.
Even at lunch, she was running into him. “Hey, Kallie.”
“Hi, Caspin. I am starting to wonder if you are stalking me.”
He shook his head that he wasn’t. “It’s a small town Kallie and you are right across from my office. I have lunch here pretty much every day.”
“Oh well that is disappointing.”
“Sit down and eat with me.”
“What’s good here?”
“Everything.” His eyes took in her jeans and tank top. Kallie was getting over the fact that she was never dressed nice when she saw him. She was usually grunge out at the feed store, so she was accepting of her new look. He didn’t seem to mind, his eyes just as dark and needy as they had been before.
Sitting down across from him, Kallie picked up the menu and ordered a club sandwich when the server came back around. “So do you really work next door?”
He nodded. “Yeah that is the family headquarters for the business. I am not here as much as I should be but that’s because I would rather be at the ranch with my horses.”
“A ranch and a Fortune 500 company. When do you have time to do anything?”
“I don’t really.”
Kallie felt bad that she had been taking up so much of his time lately. He had helped her more than once and never seemed rushed about it. His jobs made the state of his muscles far more likely. She couldn’t help but think about him shirtless and sweaty. The hat and boots were optional in her mind.
“Kallie, are you okay?”
“Huh, yeah. Sorry about that.”
“Where did you just go?”
She kind of laughed a little. “You don’t want to know.”
He leaned in and he was suddenly right next to her. She sat back quickly like if they touched she may burst into flames. As hot as she felt, it may have been possible.
“I think you know that you are a dangerous man Caspin. But don’t worry, I have been warned about you.”
“What do you mean dangerous and warned?”
“You could jump start my heart it is beating so fast. I think you know exactly how you affect women.”
“Yes, that very well may be, but who has warned you?”
She smiled and sat back as the waitress brought her a plate with the sandwich and some French fries. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
He leaned forward and smiled at him. “I think you are the one that knows how to affect someone Kallie.”
Not answering, she took a drink of tea and avoided his dark eyes. He looked at h
er in such a way that made her insides quiver. She couldn’t taste anything and after a few bites, Kallie gave up trying. There was nothing to take the wonder out of her mind. What if he would have stayed the night before?
“There you go again.”
She blushed a little. “See dangerous.”
***
Kallie was the first to leave after lunch. She was sure that he had meetings, a full schedule to attend, but instead he tried to coax her out to some activity. Kallie found herself declining. It was becoming a trend with the two of them. He was as understanding as always, but there was a moment where she thought he was going to kiss her. When he didn’t, she was disappointed. Kallie gave him her phone number and told him that they could do something soon. She was putting him off, but only to catch her breath.
She spent the rest of the afternoon getting a window bought and put in at the old house, as well as some cleaning done. It was starting to feel more like a home and Kallie decided that it needed some cooking in it to break it in. She hoped that Caspin would call so she could invite him over, but he didn’t so she went to bed discouraged.
The next morning brought the same routine and it was several days before there was a break in it. The weekend came and she had nothing to do when she woke up. Kallie was half tempted to go in to work to make sure everything was okay, but she knew it would be. The staff had been there a long time and it ran with or without her there. So, she was left with open time and Kallie was pressed for an idea. The only thing she could think to do was finally tackle the upstairs that she was avoiding or the basement that she had twice failed to get the courage up to go down the stairs. She was procrastinating all through breakfast.
When her phone rang, she half hoped it would be something that needed to be taken care of, just to give her mind something to work on. “Hello?”
“Kallie, good morning.”
His voice was deep and her knees started to buckle with the sound. She didn’t realize how much she was looking forward to his call until she heard his voice. “Hey, Caspin. Good morning. You sound downright chipper this morning.”
“It’s a beautiful day and no business to deal with. What about you?”
She should have made something up, that she was busy but she wasn’t. Truthfully, she had been dying to see him all week and was a little bummed that he hadn’t called. She felt like a teenager getting a call from her crush. It was that bad. Her heart pounded in her chest and she was downright giggly.
“Not a thing going on. Did you have something in mind?”
“I was hoping you would want to come down to the ranch.”
“Sure.”
“Well that was easy. I thought I was going to have to convince you.”
Kallie didn’t need any convincing. Just that he wanted to see her was enough. It didn’t matter where or when. She was debating how bad just one night would be. At least she would know what it was going in, just one incredible night.
“No convincing needed, I am bored and by pure coincidence, you are one of the few people I know here.”
He made a sound that told her that he wasn’t too happy with that. She never had been good at stroking egos, but Kallie figured he got enough of that on a daily basis. “So what’s the address and I will put it in the GPS.”
“I can come pick you up.”
“Either way. I need a few minutes to get ready if you want to come this way.”
She hung up and a thrill went over her. Kallie had already made it up in her mind that she was going to do more than visit him. She wanted him and the longer that it was until she seen him, the more she was hoping for him to call. Now that he had, Kallie wasn’t sure what to do or what to wear. He was inviting her to the ranch, but she didn’t want to come in shirt and jeans. She wanted to take his breath away and instead decided on a nice little black dress. It was not what she should have worn, but it was what she wanted him to see her in. She wanted to change his mind about how he saw her.
Chapter 8
When he arrived to pick her up, her long, blonde hair was down around her shoulders and he seemed more than ready to see her in the new way. “Wow, you look. Wow. I feel like I should take you out instead of going to the ranch.”
“No I want to see what you love. You said that that is where you want to spend time, so I want to see what it is that you like so much. I will warn you though, I have never ridden on a horse before, and they kind of freak me out.”
He helped her to the truck and she hoped that her skirt didn’t go up any higher than it always was. By the sharp intake of breath, she had to imagine that he got a good look at her pink panties. It made her shiver with the sound and the direction that the day was going. There was going to be no way she could say no again. She just didn’t have it in her to turn it down again. Even if it was only supposed to be one night, Kallie knew that it would be worth it.
“Well if you are going to live here, you might as well get used to horses. Most of your customers at the feed store have horses. So you might as well learn to ride.”
She knew that he was right, but it was the size of them that really made her nervous. She was afraid of falling off of one, but Kallie didn’t want to tell him what she was really afraid of. When he looked at her in such a way, she wondered if she could be afraid of anything with him next to her. Caspin had such a calming presence and was so sure of himself that it was impossible to be nervous of anything around him. The only thing that made her heart beat faster was how he made her feel when they were close.
“Maybe you can show me a thing or two about it Caspin. I love to watch them run. It’s just getting on the back of them freaks me out. What if they throw me?”
“We will do some riding later if you feel up to it. I promise that I won’t let anything happen to you, though I don’t know how much you are going to be able to do in that dress.”
Kallie was regretting wearing it, but it was hard to when he looked at her like he was going to swallow his tongue. It was hard not to like the way he kept looking at her as they drove. Whether she could do anything or not, what she really wanted to do, the dress would be perfect for it.
But through all of the looks and smiles, it became clear that he was there for business. She helped him do some of his chores and take care of the animals. There was a difference in the way that he acted, the hot looks were gone and she too was finding the new pace relaxing. It was a way for her to see him in a different light and she loved the way he lit up around them.
“So if this is what you love to do, why do I always see you in a suit?”
“Duty calls from my parents. I was the only son willing to take over, so I was left holding the bag when my father started to get sick. I wish that one of my brothers would have taken the job, but they refused to so I was left to do it. As the oldest, it was always supposed to be my job.”
As much as she liked him in his three piece suit, Caspin looked more natural when he was in jeans and cowboy boots. She wished that the heat would push him to take off his shirt, silently begging for it, but it didn’t happen. The day was almost over and she still had yet to get even a kiss from him. Her plans of seductions were falling to the wayside. She had already had to change her heels for a pair of his muck boots.
She was half covered in mud and the last thing she was thinking about was being sexy. It was hard work and she was just as hot and sweaty as he was. It was starting to get dark and she was tired. “This is more work than the feed store. And this is what you like to do on your days off?”
He smiled at her and nodded. Looking her up and down, he commented on her dress. “Well next time, I will make sure to wear the right clothes. Here I was just trying to be cute for you.”
“You look good no matter what you wear, but I feel bad that you are all dirty.”
“Let’s just call it even, because it is usually me that messes up your clothes.”
“That’s right. But I still feel bad.”
“Don’t. So are you going to take m
e home?”
“Are you ready to go already?”
She had been there most of the day and in truth she was ready to go home. There was little to no chance of getting her one night with him and after what had went on that day, she wasn’t sure if she was even up for it anyways. Every muscle in her body was sore.
“Yes, every part of me is sore.” Except the one part that she had been hoping he would demolish, that part of her was just fine.
“I didn’t mean to wear you out. I was hoping that you would want to go for a ride.”
Kallie looked at the horse they had been busy brushing. “Maybe next time.”
“Oh come on, just a little ride. It isn’t so scary once you get on there. You are going to be fine.”
“I don’t think I will do very good. I am just so tired Caspin.”
“Well can you just hold on?”
She nodded her head and he jumped up onto the saddle, moving back to give her room in front of him. His hands pulled her back into his body and she was left gasping as she felt hardness from behind.
Kallie was too afraid to ride the horse by herself and she told him that she would next time. He wouldn’t take no as an answer though, pulling her up onto the horse behind him. Kallie gasped and then held on to him tightly. Every single inch of his muscular body was pressed up against hers and it was all she could think about. As the horse took off, she no longer feared that she would fall off. What she was most concerned with, was that he was going to stop holding her in such a way. She could have ridden with him forever, her head laid back against his chest. It was a freeing experience and when it was over, she wished it could go on.
When he got off the horse, there was a long way down for her to go and as he helped pull her down, her body rubbed all the way down him. She was left breathless when her feet finally hit the ground. She looked up at him, begging him with her eyes to kiss her. Having been pressed up against him for the last twenty minutes, her body was screaming with need and he was the only one that could make her feel better. Caspin was the only man she wanted.