THE NEXT MORNING, when Lauren woke up, she wished that Calder was there. And that was a dangerous thing.
She had left him late last night, after they’d started painting Grace’s room. He had been shirtless. She had ended up putting a stripe across his broad, bare chest and then laughing as he pushed her into the shower and made her help him clean up.
It was not a task that she minded. But she’d found herself distracted with other places on his body. And then she’d been distracted because he was blessedly, wonderfully inside her again.
Those moments with him felt simple. Good. She couldn’t remember a time when she had felt that...
Carefree.
Happy.
Whole.
But it was all gone this morning. Vanished completely.
Because she was back to wanting something that she didn’t have. Wishing that she had something she couldn’t.
She pushed last night’s revelations to the side. All of those inconvenient feelings. She didn’t need to deal with that. She didn’t want to.
That morning, her parents and the girls decided that they wanted to go see the progress on the house. Lauren could think of no good reason why they shouldn’t.
Dammit.
So, the group of them caravanned over to the house after breakfast. And when Lauren pulled in the driveway and saw that Calder’s truck was there, her heart sank to her toes.
“Who’s here?” her mother asked.
Oh dammit all.
“You remember Calder Reid?” Lauren was opting for being direct, because the fact of the matter was her mother would never make assumptions about her relationship with someone she used to babysit.
She hurried them all out of the car, her nerves trembling as she did.
“Oh, of course I do,” her mother said. “Such a nice boy.”
Lauren could think of several things he had done to her last night that did not go under the header of “nice boy.”
“He’s been helping you out?” her father asked. Sadly, Mark Bishop was no fool, and Lauren suspected that her father had more of an idea about the potential ulterior motives of a man assisting a woman with this kind of thing.
“Yes.” She attempted to affect an expression that would hit right at the crossroads of casual and innocent. It was not easy. “We ran into each other at the coffeehouse a week ago. He offered to help me with some of the projects I had to do on the house.”
He studied her closely, and Lauren kept her face purposefully blank. “Awfully nice of him.”
Yes,” Lauren agreed. “It is.”
Ava and Grace, for their part, seemed oblivious to the situation entirely. They were walking around, taking stock of the house, which they hadn’t seen since the first time they had all come to Gold Valley as a family and looked at it a couple of months ago, right before they’d made their offer.
“It looks completely different inside now,” Lauren said, trying to sound bright.
“Well, I would hope so,” Ava said, clearly not as contrite as she had felt yesterday.
“Let’s see it,” her mother said.
Lauren walked up to the front porch and pushed the door open, praying that Calder wasn’t in there naked or something.
She should have texted him the minute she pulled in. She hadn’t been thinking. She had been too busy being thrown off by the fact that he was here.
“Here it is,” she said loudly, hoping that he would hear and understand quickly that she wasn’t alone.
“Very nice,” her mother said. Lauren said a private prayer of thanks for her mother voicing her admiration loudly.
Calder appeared from the back bedroom, paint streaking his forearms. He was wiping his hands on a rag, and he was—thank God—fully dressed.
“Howdy,” he said, smiling at her family, looking for all the world as if this was completely normal.
“Howdy,” her father returned, extending his hand. “I was sorry to hear about your dad, son.”
“Thanks,” Calder said. “We were all sorry.”
“I hear you’ve been helping out around the place.”
“Just a bit,” Calder said. “Nothing too tricky. Finishing up painting right now. And then, I think everything should be good to go.” He looked around. “This place should pass inspection with flying colors.”
“That’s great,” her father said. “I was pretty worried when she bought this place, and did that deal...”
“It’s worth the risk,” Lauren said. “And anyway, like Calder said, everything has turned out great.”
“Looks like it has,” her father said.
Calder looked so perfectly at ease it was only making her jumpy. That lazy confidence of his was...well, it was sexy. There was no denying it. But it also gave the impression he was somehow operating off his own plan at all times. And she had no plan. Not when it came to him.
She did not trust his plan.
“Hey,” Calder said. “We are all having a barbecue at my place tonight. I was wondering if you wanted to come out.”
“Oh,” Lauren said quickly. “I’m not sure if...”
“I live on a ranch,” Calder said, directing that at Grace. “We have horses. I bet my stepsister would love to take you out for a ride.” He looked back up at her. “If that’s okay with your mom.”
Grace looked completely unapologetically rapt. Ava had that sense of teenage reserve about her, but Lauren could see excitement sparkling behind her eyes.
“Horses?” Grace asked.
“Like I said, if it’s okay with your mom.” He looked up at her, his blue eyes twinkling just a bit damn much.
She didn’t know what she’d expected him to do when he met both the girls but it wasn’t this. He was...at ease. And he was clearly more than willing to get right in there and connect with them. Which she hadn’t expected at all.
“Well,” Lauren’s mom said. “We have our cribbage game tonight, or we would love to come. But, Lauren, you should go.”
Lauren blinked. “Should I?”
“Yes,” her mother said. “You’ve been working so hard on this. I think the girls would really enjoy time at the ranch.”
Lauren fought to keep from rolling her eyes. Because obviously her mother had thought sincerely that she needed to consult with her on whether or not she should go to a barbecue at Calder’s place.
A barbecue that Lauren wasn’t entirely convinced was even real.
Well, you’ll be having one now. But she didn’t quite know what he was doing.
She also had no reason to reject that kind of hospitality.
“I’d love to come,” she said. “We would. Thank you.”
After that, she showed them around the place, and when the girls and her parents were wandering around the backyard, Lauren took the chance to question Calder.
“A barbecue?”
“It’s my niece’s birthday,” he said. “Anyway, I want you to come out and see the place.”
“I have seen the place. When I used to babysit you.”
His lips curved upward. He was clearly amused but totally unabashed. “Yeah, well, I would like you to see it now.”
“You know I can’t...”
“You can come to a barbecue at my house. The fact of the matter is we’re going to be neighbors. There’s nothing wrong with a little bit of hospitality.”
“Sure,” she said “except, I’m not entirely convinced that’s what you’re doing here.”
“I care about you,” he said. “I would like you to come out and meet my family. I... It means something to me to meet your daughters.”
“I don’t think I can have it mean anything to me,” she said, her heart twisting a little bit.
“Just come to the barbecue. Please.”
The way he was looking at her... Hopeful. Like her answer would change something for him. It was different from having someone demand something. It was mattering to someone. Not just to her kids. Not because the person depended on her for basic survival. But...it was about her. And it felt too large for her to carry, but too important for her to turn away from.
“Okay,” she said. “I’ll go to the barbecue.”
“Good,” he said.
Lauren had a feeling she’d somehow agreed to a whole lot more than just a barbecue. And she wasn’t sure how she felt about that.
She only knew there was no going back now.