Jace quickly brushed his teeth and tamed his hair with a comb. Returning to his room, he exchanged the pajama bottoms for a pair of long basketball shorts. He wanted to already be in the gym before Caytie and Kellen started their workout.
That is if Kellen showed up at all.
The kid had been pretty mad last night and Jace doubted he was going to volunteer as one of the bachelors for the auction—the auction Jace was obligated to participate in because Ilene had asked him to do it. And he’d do anything for the woman who loved him like her own son.
His bare feet hit the wood floor, chilled from the air conditioner vent that blew icy air continuously to keep the house at a temperature George liked. The shock to his system woke him up more than the cup of coffee he used to have before Ilene had banned caffeine from the house since George’s blood pressure was high.
He passed through the kitchen, making his way toward the dining room and gazed out the double French doors toward the eastern skyline. As the first fingers of sunlight touched the hazy atmosphere, a remnant from a recent forest fire, Jace watched in amazement as they became a brilliant salmon color with golden rays shooting out to light the sky.
Seeing a sunrise always awed him. Always gave him hope for a new day. It was like no matter how many times he’d witnessed the birth of a new foal it was a miracle every single time. A sunrise was like that.
Jace would never forget the night his mom had died. He was a kid who had been scared, angry and unsure of what would happen next. The police had asked him if he they could call any relatives to come and get him. Total despair had descended on Jace when he’d admitted he didn’t have any other family besides his mom. He wasn’t sure who had called George Holbrook, but the next thing he knew George and Ilene were there to rescue him. It was a dark, windy night and Jace remembered how safe he had felt, sitting in the front of the truck, nestled between the two adults who would show him what a family was really like.
Jace hadn’t been able to sleep. Sometime during the night he’d gotten up and gone outside to sit on the porch where he’d finally broken down and cried. His throat tightened as he recalled feeling Ilene’s warm arms encircle him, soothing him with soft words of love and encouragement. Telling him everything would be okay.
She had stayed with him until dawn. And just like this morning, the sun had risen and Ilene had told him something he’d never forget. “Jace, with each sunrise, we start anew. Today is a fresh start and you can do whatever you want with the time you have.”
He had taken it to heart, and worked hard for George as well as in school. He’d gone onto college, graduating at the top of his class in animal husbandry and production, and a minor in business. Over the years, George had made him his partner.
A door banged shut and Jace ventured into the kitchen to see Ilene tying on an apron. He grinned as she sneaked a bite of the chocolate cake leftover from last night. Desserts were something Ilene hadn’t abandoned.
“Chocolate cake for breakfast sounds delicious.”
A startled gasp escaped Ilene as she whirled around to scold him. “Jace McAllister, don’t you dare scare me like that again.”
He chuckled. “Sorry, Mama Ilene.”
She wiped a chocolaty crumb from the corner of her mouth. “What’re you doing?”
“Watching the sun rise.”
A soft smile erased the earlier irritation. “Was it a nice one?”
“Very.” He moved to the cake and took a small wedge. “How’s Kell?”
“Sulking.” She pulled down a skillet and placed it on the six-burner stove. “That boy is driving me crazy.”
“I don’t want to be auctioned off, either.”
The lines in her forehead creased. “But it’s for a good cause.”
“I know.” Jace leaned down and pecked her on the cheek. “And I didn’t say I wouldn’t do it, I just said I don’t want to do it.”
“You’re a good boy, you know that?”
Only because she had told him that every day since he’d come to live at the GH. Ilene made him want to be good—to make something of himself. He knew it was killing her to see her grandson give up.
“Does this mean I get bacon for breakfast?”
“Only if you don’t overindulge.”
“Do I ever?”
She laughed. “Nope. Like I said, you’re a good boy.” She went to the fridge and pulled out a carton of eggs. “My only complaint is I want grandbabies. You need to find a wife.”
“Hey,” he said, feeling a little uncomfortable. “I’m being auctioned off, aren’t I?”
“Yes.” Her eyes narrowed and pinned him with a look he’d seen many times before. “I hope Victoria can afford to bid high. She likes you, Jace. And I think you like her too. Why haven’t you asked her out?”
The muscles in his shoulders bunched and he didn’t feel like confessing he’d kind of already done that and then immediately regretted it. “It’s complicated.”
“How so?” With one hand, she expertly cracked the eggs into a mixing bowl.
Jace rubbed the back of his tense neck with his hand. “I don’t feel any chemistry with Victoria. Not like I do with—” He barely stopped himself from saying Caytie’s name. “—Other women I’ve dated before.”
Ilene paused with her breakfast preparation and stared at him for a few seconds. He could see she wanted to ask him who he had been thinking about. Some of the tension eased when she said, “Chemistry isn’t everything there is to a relationship. Victoria is a wonderful mother, cook, and homemaker.”
“She is. That’s what I most admire about her.”
“Do you think she’s pretty?”
“Yeah, sure. She’s gorgeous.”
“But not pretty enough to kiss?”
“I’m not a player and I don’t kiss a woman just because she’s beautiful.” He gave a low chuckle. “That’s where the chemistry part comes in.”
“Then why do you keep spending so much time with her, Jace? She has to be thinking you’re serious about a relationship with her.”
He rubbed his palm against the stubble on his jaw, and thought about how to answer. “I don’t know. We’re good friends, and I figured someday my feelings might change. Like I said before, she’s an incredible mother. The kind I want for my own kids. The complete opposite of my mom.”
“Honey, your mom was…”
“Screwed up.”
“I was going to say sick.”
He snorted. “She was a drug addict. She sold her body to feed her habit, not her kid.” The anger he thought he’d long since dealt with bubbled up. “When I was young I just thought that was how everyone lived. I didn’t even realize what mother’s did until I started playing with kids in the neighborhood. Their mothers baked them cookies and cooked them dinner. The only cooking my mother ever did was to make her own meth.”
“You’re right,” Ilene said with a scowl. “She was screwed up.”
That brought another laugh out of him. “Oh, Mama Ilene.” He reached out and gave her a big hug. “I just need to find someone like you.”
“There’s someone special out there for you, Jace.” She squeezed him hard. “Someone who is going to love you as much as I do.”
“When I find her, you’ll be the first to know.” He released her and stepped back. “Should I go wake Kellen up?”
“No. I’m hoping he’ll want to work out with Caytie again.” A twinkle lit her eyes. “I think Kellen is in love. I wonder if Caytie is opposed to dating younger men?”
An uneasy feeling gripped him around the middle. “She’s six years older. Kellen needs to look somewhere else.”
Crap. He hadn’t meant to sound so possessive. Maybe Ilene hadn’t notice.
She stared at him and then smiled widely. “Jace, do you like her?”
“No.”
She arched a questioning brow.
“I mean, I like her but not like that.”
He fidgeted under her scrutiny. “I need to get going.
” He took a couple of steps backward, ready to make his escape.
“I have one more question.”
“Okay. Shoot.”
“How’s the chemistry between you and Caytie?”
Sizzling.
He inched further away. “Uh…I’ll get back to you.”
The woman positively glowed with joy. “You do that.”
Jace turned and quickly left the kitchen and jogged to the weight room. Mama Ilene usually minded her own business. Look how long it had taken her to say something about Victoria. He just hoped that was still the case, and that visions of little Jace and Caytie babies wouldn’t make her run interference.
Grabbing a pair of dumbbells, he started a set of curls and tried to force thoughts about Caytie—and the future babies they would make—out of his head.
Chapter 12
Caytie’s eyes popped open before her alarm even went off. Sometimes it was curse to be a morning person. She would love to be able to sleep past six, but her internal clock thought otherwise.
She stretched and crossed the room to the adjoining bathroom. Tentatively she knocked on the door. She and Jace had agreed that if either of them occupied the facilities, they should lock both doors. But Caytie was terrified he might forget and she would accidentally walk in on him.
When there was no answer, she twisted the knob and stepped inside. Immediately she caught the masculine scent of Jace that seemed to permeate the bathroom. Her body responded to the pleasant aroma as a warm flush started deep inside her belly, tripping her heart. What was it about the guy that made her react this way?
Eager to get on with her workout, she brushed her teeth and then pulled her hair back into a low ponytail. Returning to her room, she traded her nightshirt for a lime green racerback tank top and a pair of cropped black yoga pants.
Before going downstairs, she poured a moderate amount of her favorite Victoria Secret body lotion in her palm and rubbed it over her bare arms, neck and shoulders. The scent was called Pure Seduction but she had no intention of seducing anyone. She just wanted to get a certain cowboys attention, in case she happened to run into him.
After slipping on a pair of hot pink shoes, she grabbed a hand towel and made her way downstairs. After Kellen’s blowup last night, she wondered if he would be coming this morning. If he was a no-show, Caytie planned on getting his cell number so she could persuade him to join her.
A delicious scent floated on the air as Caytie descended the stairs. Ilene was an incredible cook, and whatever she was making this morning made Caytie’s mouth water. Everything the woman made tasted so good. Caytie hoped for more of the homemade muffins she’d had yesterday. She wasn’t a fan of bacon and eggs, but that’s what the boys liked.
Poor Uncle George was stuck with bran muffins and hot oatmeal. However, yesterday when Ilene had her back turned, Kellen had sneaked him a piece of bacon. Caytie didn’t rat him out, but if it happened again she was going to have to say something. She just got reacquainted with her uncle and she didn’t want anything to happen to him.
Caytie poked her head in the kitchen to ask Ilene about Kellen, but the woman must have stepped out because she wasn’t there. Caytie grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge and headed for the weight room. The clack of weights hitting rhythmically together let her know someone else had already started. Maybe Kellen had showed up after all.
She paused in the doorway, and the sight before her robbed her breath. Instead of Kellen, she found Jace. With his back to her, she stared at the way his white T-shirt molded to his muscles, the short sleeves pulling taut as his biceps flexed with each rep and the shirt stretched tight across powerful shoulders. He wasn’t huge, like some of the steroid-using-guys who frequented her gym, but he was solid.
Drawing in a deep breath, she tried to clear her head. It would be very embarrassing if Jace caught her ogling him. Pushing away from the door, she moved purposely into the room.
“Good morning!” she said with an exuberance that must have startled the other occupant.
The weights clattered to an abrupt halt and he let out a manly, “Ahh!”
“Sorry,” Caytie said, not bothering to hide the amusement in her voice. “I didn’t mean to scare you.” She offered him a friendly smile, and placed her striped tote bag on the floor.
“Right.” His lips twitched as his eyes scanned the length of her.
She fidgeted under his scrutiny. Although she knew the clothes she wore fit her—even showed off a lean body with generous womanly curves Mother Nature had given her—it was hard to shake the insecure feelings from her past.
She froze as the internal perception she was still overweight battled with reality. Phantom fat was just as real as an amputee who could still feel a limb, even though it was gone. Nearly twelve years had passed since she’d shed the weight. Would the feeling of insecurity ever go away?
“I think lime green is my new favorite color,” Jace teased.
It took a second for her brain to unscramble her insecure thoughts and process the look of male appreciation glinting in Jace’s brown eyes. Not only was the man being nice to her, he might also be flirting with her.
“Did you just pay me a compliment?”
The skin around his eyes crinkled. “Shocking, right?”
“A little.” She narrowed her gaze. “Are you just being nice to me so I’ll bid on you at the auction?”
“Is it working?” He lifted the hem of his T-shirt to wipe the perspiration from his neck, giving her a view of his rock-hard abs.
Attraction for him came so strong and swift it nearly knocked her off her feet. Their eyes met, and she was positive Jace felt the magnetic pull as powerfully as she did.
Swallowing, she glanced away. “I’m not that easy.” She sauntered past him and climbed on to the elliptical machine. “You’re gonna have to do better than that if you expect me to spend my money on you.”
A slow grin edged up one side of his handsome face. “All right.” He shifted places on the machine and started a series of pec reps.
Caytie struggled to get a good rhythm going as her mind raced to figure out what “all right” entailed. She hadn’t expected him to take the challenge. Plus, the way his shirt stretched over his already well-developed pecs proved to be very distracting.
She eyed him skeptically. That cocky grin was still on his face. Why was he being so nice to her?
“What are you so happy about this morning?”
“I’m always happy.”
“Hah!” She picked up her pace on the machine. “You’ve been nothing but grumpy from the very first time I met you.”
One of his eyebrows lifted and he paused his workout. “You mean when you almost rear-ended me after running a red light?”
“Haven’t we already discussed what actually happened?”
“I’m sorry.” He gave her a level look. “What I meant to say was when you flew through the yellow light and I inconsiderately pulled out in front of your speeding BMW.”
She wasn’t sure why she was picking a fight. Possibly to keep the barrier between them so she didn’t do something stupid like fall in love with a cowboy. She had to stay focused on her dreams of independence.
Before she could make another snarky reply, Kellen came through the door. In his wheelchair.
“Kellen!” she said, slowing down so she could talk to him. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
His blue eyes were hard as he started to roll back out of the door. “I’m not staying. I just wanted to let you know I can’t help you out.” He jerked his head toward Jace. “Besides, you’ve already got someone here.”
Caytie came to a standstill and tried to think of what she could say. The despair emanating from Kellen felt as if a dark cloud had blotted out all of the light.
“Jace talks too much.” She ignored the snorted laugh coming from said cowboy. “I need you. Please?”
The lines in his face hardened. “You don’t need me.” He backed out of the room and
rolled out of sight.
She climbed down and started to go after him. Jace stood up and grabbed her hand, pulling her to a stop. “Just let him go. When he gets like this nothing you say will get through to him.”
The warmth from his hand sent a tingling jolt of awareness straight to her brain. She couldn’t move, much less breathe. She lifted her face and stared into brown eyes that were serious, kind, and warm. Very warm.
Whoa. This crazy feeling was not okay. She pulled her hand away so she could get her head on straight.
A door slammed shut and both she and Jace turned toward the doorway. It broke her heart to know Kellen was hurting. She knew what it felt like not to be whole.
“What should we do?” Her voice cracked with emotion as her gaze shifted back to Jace.
He stared at her for a few seconds, almost as if seeing her for the first time. “I wish I knew.”
Caytie wasn’t about to stand around and do nothing. Although she had no one to call or text, out of habit she still carried her cell phone with her. Going around Jace she picked up her tote and pulled out her cell phone.
“Can you give me Kellen’s number?”
He regarded her with wary eyes. “Why?”
“Because, I intend on harassing him until he gives in.” She shrugged. “And I’m going through text withdrawal and now I’ll have someone to message.”
She could tell he wanted her to explain why she didn’t have any contacts in her phone, but she wasn’t ready to tell him about her father or Edward. Besides, Uncle George said he’d talked with both Kellen and Jace about Caytie’s visit, saying she needed some time away from friends and family to work through some difficult decisions.
Finally, Jace rattled off the number. Caytie added it to her contacts and then proceeded to text Kellen.
Some guy just came in here that looked like you but acted all grumpy like Jace.
Summer in Snow Valley (Snow Valley Romance Anthologies Book 2) Page 8