“Okay. Thank you for bein’…”
“For bein’ what, sweet darlin’?”
A sudden burst of shyness had her dropping her gaze. “For bein’ cool about the fact I’m not cool. That I’m just a dorky teenage girl who has no idea what I’ve gotten myself into with you.”
Cal chuckled. “You’re makin’ me feel old.”
She looked up at him. “Will you take offense if I say you seem older than twenty-four?”
“Not if you don’t take offense if I say you seem older than sixteen.”
She smiled.
His returning grin was decidedly boyish.
She liked his charming side. She really liked that he knew when to use it and when to rein it in.
“We’ll wait until everyone leaves and then you can follow me. It’s about an hour drive. So if you’re hungry we should stop and eat first.”
“I’m starved.”
Cal kissed her forehead. Then he stepped back. “Wait here. I’ll see if the coast is clear.”
Kimi rested her shoulders against the wall and breathed a sigh of relief. With him, she wouldn’t have to pretend to be something she wasn’t.
***
Both Cal and Kimi were surprised they’d lingered at the diner for an hour after they finished their meals.
During the drive to his house, he kept checking his rearview mirror—almost obsessively—to make sure she followed him, because he knew he’d chase her down if she turned around.
Even after only spending about three hours with Kimi, Cal was crazy about her. They’d had an instant connection—despite their age difference, despite their warring families, despite the fact they shouldn’t have anything in common besides that their siblings had gotten married.
But they had similar tastes and opinions. He knew it sounded stupid, but she made him feel young—or, more accurately, closer to his own age.
Sometimes Cal felt like an old man in a young man’s body. In addition to his growing ranch responsibilities, he’d been mediating between Carson and their dad for years, as well as Carson and their brothers. Cal rarely went looking for a fight, but he’d been in more than his fair share of them because Carson liked to mix it up and he always had his brother’s back.
Most days being part of the “McKay twins” moniker didn’t bother Cal. For the first few years after they’d moved into their own place, he’d even been happy with Carson’s cast-off conquests. Carson had earned his love-’em-and-leave-’em reputation for a reason; he wasn’t interested in anything besides a one-time fuck. It never made sense to Cal, why these same women turned to him—the supposed “good” twin—after they’d already been dumped by his brother. For all he knew they showed up at the trailer hoping to get double-teamed by the McKay twins, which was really fucking creepy. But Cal wasn’t an idiot. If free, easy pussy was offered? He’d take it. He just had more tact than his brother when it came to letting the ladies know he wasn’t interested in anything serious.
But he suspected local single women would be dropping by with “housewarming” meals in the hopes that he’d be more open to settling down now that Carson had gotten married.
Like hell.
Cal shoved those thoughts aside and watched Kimi park behind his truck. He opened the driver’s side door of her car and offered her his hand to help her out. “I just had a load of gravel dumped here yesterday, so watch your step.”
She scowled at the powdery orange dirt beneath her feet. “So much for my white shoes.”
Grinning, he scooped her into his arms, carried her to the cement stoop and set her down. “Better?”
“Why, thank you, kind sir, for rescuing my shoes from certain death,” she said in a southern drawl.
“No problem, little lady. Need anything else outta the car?”
“There’s a traveling case in the back seat.”
Cal grabbed the suitcase and brought it to her. “Whatcha got in there?”
“A change of clothes.”
He slipped his finger under the collar of his shirt. “I don’t remember the last time I wore a suit, but I remember why I don’t like ’em.” He tugged at the ends of his tie until it loosened. “Felt like I was choking.”
Kimi stepped forward and smoothed her hands down his lapels. “You sure look good though. You oughta wear these all the time.”
Her casual touch tightened the muscles in his belly. “Thanks.” He kept his left hand resting on the small of her back when he reached over to open the front door. “Ladies first.”