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“So, what you’re saying is it isn’t worth risking your friendship with Jack to see if there could be something worth it between us.”
“I owe him my life. You never turn your back on a buddy. I’d lay down my life for his. He’d do the same for me.”
“So, there you go. You’ll give up a chance to be with me for your buddy Jack, a man who can’t see his best friend is hurting. A man who can’t see his buddy overfills troughs and stumbles over rocks because he’s too busy staring at his sister. Jack may be surprised, but he’d never turn his back on you. I’ve seen the bond you share. He cares for you like a brother.”
“Exactly. It’s complicated. You’re his baby sister. He’s protective of you.”
“He trusts you with his life. Don’t you think he’d trust you with my heart?”
Caleb planted his hands on his hips, hung his head, and shook it. “Summer...”
“I’ve overstepped, put words in your mouth, and made rash assumptions. You obviously don’t feel for me the way I feel for you. After all these weeks, what you must think of me, trailing after you all over the ranch and making excuses to see you.”
“It’s not like that,” he said, trying to let her down easy.
If the man didn’t want to date her because his loyalty to her brother outweighed his desire to be with her, what else was she to think? Time to back off and save some pride.
“No need to explain further. I misread the situation. I’m sorry if I’ve embarrassed you, or made you feel uncomfortable.”
“You’ve done neither. I like being with you. If we’d met under other circumstances, maybe...”
“Yes, but here we are. I understand. Get some rest, Caleb. You look like you haven’t slept in a week.”
Unable to stop herself, she reached up to touch her fingertips to the dark smudges under his eyes, but dropped her hand just short of touching him. They both held their breath for a moment. She wanted all those bunched muscles he held so rigidly still to finally leap forward and bring her into his arms. No such luck. As always, he kept his thoughts, his emotions, his body just out of her reach.
“Good night. Sleep well,” he said, doing an about–face and stalking off.
Summer let him go without another word. The man was driving her insane. She unlocked the front door, closed it behind her without locking it, went through the dark living room and up the stairs to the loft. She stripped off her clothes, tossing them over the chair, and fell into bed naked, aching, and wanting a very large, confused male in her bed with her.
She thought over the conversation and realized one thing. He never said he didn’t want her. Maybe there was still hope.
CALEB STALKED BACKto the house, telling himself every step of the way that he couldn’t take his best friend’s sister to bed, make love to her all night, and wake up in the morning and still have his life remain exactly the same. That thought stopped him cold. He turned and stared back at the large window in the peaked roof and thought of her in bed. Naked. Waiting for him to come to her.
She tied him in knots and made him think and wish for things he had no right wanting.
She was all he thought about. He’d never met another woman as happy and carefree. Someone who woke up smiling and giggled at the smallest things she found such delight in. More than just beautiful to look at, she had a big heart. When she spoke of family and friends and spending her life with him, he wanted to believe in the dream because she believed in it so deeply. She believed in him and his ability to make her happy the rest of her life.
The thought she might actually love him, scared him. What if he made her promises and couldn’t keep them? What if the whole thing ended in her unhappiness? His blood chilled at the thought of hurting or disappointing her.
Well, he’d disappointed and hurt her tonight.
They’d never even kissed. They’d shared nothing more than a few flirtatious touches, like the soft caress he gave her in Jack’s truck. So how could he feel this much and this deep for her?
How could she believe he didn’t want her enough to go against Jack’s wishes? She didn’t. The devious woman just wanted him to think she thought that.
He smiled at the black windows, staring at him like some haunted house while she slept peacefully in her bed, irritating him because sleep eluded him more nights than he could count, and she knew that, too.
Right about one thing, he didn’t know how Jack would react. Maybe he’d be okay with Caleb dating his sister. Maybe not.
Again, everything inside Caleb stopped cold. He didn’t just want to date her. He wanted to make a life with her. Days, weeks, months, years stretched ahead of him, and he wanted her by his side. Always. Forever.
He’d talk to Jack, broach the subject in a roundabout sort of way and gauge Jack’s reaction.
What will you do if Jack is against your seeing his sister?
He didn’t want to think about it anymore. Too bad his every waking thought revolved around her.
Chapter Four
