“You don’t lock your door?”
“Nothin’ in here worth stealing.” When Kimi stopped just inside the entryway, Cal had a bout of nerves. “Place is a mess bein’s I just moved in.”
“I remember Carolyn telling me you lived with Carson up until they set a wedding date.”
“We bought this place recently and it wouldn’t have been done in time for the newlyweds to move in so he passed it off to me.”
She wandered into the living room. “There’s a lot of room for a bachelor.”
“Tell me about it. There’s an entire upper level, that’s been closed off, I haven’t even thought about. I’m just happy we put on a new roof in the main part of the house and fixed the windows.”
Kimi looked over her shoulder at him. “You don’t have any furniture?”
“Just a table and chairs in the kitchen. And a bed and dresser in my room.”
“No TV?”
“Not yet.”
“Whatever will we do tonight, Mr. McKay?”
Cal could name half a dozen things he’d rather do with her than watch TV. “Got a porch swing out back.”
“That sounds heavenly.” She looked around. “Where can I change?”
“The bathroom is the first door on the left down the hall.”
She picked up her suitcase.
After the bathroom door closed, Cal hustled to his room and kicked aside his pile of dirty clothes as he shed his suit jacket, tie, vest and long-sleeved white shirt. Off came his dress boots and suit pants. He pulled on his last clean pair of jeans. Since all his shirts were dirty, he’d be stuck wearing an undershirt, which always made him feel half-naked.
Leaning against the wall, he shoved his foot into his work boot, eyeing his bedroom with disgust. He hadn’t made his bed this morning. Heck, he hadn’t bought a bedframe yet; the mattress was still on the floor. Carson had always given him crap about being a neatnik, but Cal had decided early on that being a bachelor didn’t mean he had to live in a pigsty. In the past week he’d dropped into bed with such exhaustion that he’d awoken twice to see he still had his work clothes and boots on. So his room being a disaster was a blessing in disguise—he wouldn’t be tempted to bring Kimi in here.
He shut his bedroom door at the same moment Kimi exited the bathroom. She wore the shorts and blouse he’d seen her in the first time they’d met. How was he supposed to keep his hands off her tight little ass? And off those surprisingly long legs, so perfectly proportioned in such a petite package?
Cal was beginning to think this was a bad, bad idea.
“Cal?” she said softly.
His gaze moved up her body, lingering on the swell of her breasts, before his eyes met hers. “Would you like a drink?”
“Sure. What do you have?”
Dammit. She wasn’t old enough for booze. “Root beer or milk.”
A heavy pause followed. “Milk? Really?” Her eyes flashed. “Well, Daddy, I want cookies and a bedtime story if you intend to treat me like a child.”
He bridged the distance between them with two steps. He traced the edge of her defiant jaw with the backs of his knuckles. “Sweet darlin’, I’m fully aware you ain’t a child. But I also know you’ve gotta drive home so you need to stay away from booze. So how about that root beer?”
“You having one?”
“Nope. I’m home for the night.” He stepped away and opened the refrigerator. He pried off the cap before handing over the bottle of root beer. Then he snagged a glass from the cupboard and poured himself three fingers of Jack Daniels.
“Whiskey straight up? Not even on ice?”
“I don’t have ice. And I never saw the point of diluting whiskey. If I wanted to taste water, that’s what I’d drink.”
“That’s what my Aunt Hulda says too. She lets me have a nip of hers now and then. Although she prefers Irish whiskey to American.”
“So does Carson. He got that from our dad.”
“What about your brothers?”
“Casper drinks whatever is cheapest. Charlie isn’t much of a drinker, but he’s young.”
Charlie is older than Kimi, his conscience chose to point out.
Kimi held her bottle of soda aloft. “To the happy couple. May the good times outweigh the bad.”
Strange toast, but he touched his glass to hers anyway and said, “Amen,” before taking a sip.
“So show me this porch swing. It’s not something I expected a bachelor to have.”
Cal took her hand, leading her through the kitchen and out the back door. “It came with the house.”