After filling the tub with water, she added a squirt of soap. She was adapting a little too quickly, she thought wryly. Better to adapt than to run back to the city with her tail between her legs.
Cal didn’t say a word as she began to clean. He also didn’t offer to help. She had a feeling he was having fun at her expense. Maybe it was time to give a little back. She accidentally sloshed some water over the side of the tub. He moved fast enough then.
“Oops, sorry.” But she wasn’t.
That had been very juvenile of her. She bit back her smile. It had felt damned good, though.
“No problem.” He moved out of her way, then leaned against the table.
Cal was almost certain Nikki had done that on purpose. She was probably getting really pissed at him by now. It wasn’t hard to see she didn’t like the cabin or anything that went along with it. And she was taking her anger out on the mammoth beast as she scrubbed away the dirt and grime.
It was all he could do to keep from grinning. He casually crossed his arms in front of him. Nope, she wouldn’t last a day.
But then guilt began to set in. She was really going to town cleaning that stove. His natural inclination would be to pitch in and help.
He should help. What if she broke a fingernail or something?
Was he losing his friggin’ mind? Going soft? Yeah, right, help a reporter who wanted to scoop everyone else with her story on him, and he’d bet there wouldn’t be a word of it in his favor.
His gaze moved downward. Besides, he liked the way she moved. When she wiped across the top of the stove, her ass wiggled back and forth nicely. Sweet temptation.
“Now what?” she asked.
He continued to stare at her as if she hadn’t spoken. There was a streak of dirt across her cheek, and suddenly she didn’t look like city to him. She must really want this story bad.
“You’re going to show me how this thing works, right?” she asked.
He glanced at the stove. It almost sparkled. “Yeah, I’ll show you,” he said as he reined in his thoughts. “We wouldn’t want you to blow yourself up or anything.” He pushed away from the table and went to the oven.
“This is where you start the fire.” He opened a door and stuck the small pieces of wood inside, then crumpled some paper and stuffed it inside as well.
She nodded.
“Wait for the kindling to begin to burn, then add the bigger piece of wood and shut the door.” He noticed she watched everything he did. Okay, he’d give her credit for paying attention.
“Then what?”
“You really don’t know how to cook?” He thought she’d been joking. She looked serious.
“I microwave dinners or I go to restaurants.”
“I don’t suppose you’ve ever gone hunting, either.”
She paled. “I have to hunt my food…and murder some poor animal?”
This was the time to lie and tell her that not only did she have to hunt it, but she had to skin it as well. She’d be out the front door faster than he could say newspaper article.
But where would the fun be in that? He wanted to teach her a lesson. Let her know she couldn’t play with other people’s lives.
“No, you don’t have to hunt or skin it. I’ll bring meat from the freezer at the ranch.”
She breathed a sigh of relief and looked around the room. Her gaze landed on the wooden box. “And is that the refrigerator?”
“Icebox. I didn’t think to bring a block of ice. I’ll bring it on my next trip.” He’d thought she’d be gone by now and all that would be left would be a trail of dust as she headed back to Fort Worth. The woman had stamina, he’d give her that much.
“A block of ice?” she asked.
He opened the icebox. “It goes in here. As the ice melts, the water drains through the tube and into a pan.” He squatted in front of the icebox and raised a slat, then showed her the metal pan that was behind the slat. “You’ll need to keep it emptied or you’ll be doing a lot of mopping. Do you think you can handle that?” He straightened.
When her spine stiffened, it was all he could do to keep from laughing. He liked seeing the fire flash in her eyes.
“I’m sure I’ll manage.”
“I just bet you will.”
Their gazes met and held. After only a few seconds, she looked away. It was a small victory, but he savored the moment. He planned to savor quite a few more before she threw in the towel.
“I stuck a jar of peanut butter and one of jelly in the box until you get the hang of it. There’s a loaf of bread in there somewhere, too. You’ll find silverware and dishes in the cabinets, but you might want to wash them before you use them. No one has rented the place in a few months.”
“I can’t understand why,” she said, then smiled, but it didn’t even come close to reaching her eyes. “I mean, I expect to have a wonderful time while I’m here. I’m sure I’ll discover a lot more than I’d planned.”
“I’ll get your block of ice,” he said.
Nikki thought she was going to get a story while she was here but that wasn’t going to happen. She might be a pretty good reporter but she’d met her match with him. She was in for a big surprise.
He strode toward the front door, letting the screen slam behind him as he left. He didn’t look back as he climbed into the pickup and started it up. But before he was out of sight of the cabin, he couldn’t stop his gaze from going to the rearview mirror. She hadn’t come outside to watch him drive away this time. Had he hoped for one last glimpse?
Yeah, he’d been at his brother’s ranch way too long.
Actually, it wasn’t so bad. This was where he’d grown up. He and Brian had covered nearly every inch of the place. There wasn’t a lot of extra money back then, but they hadn’t needed video games or even cable television. They’d had something even better: their imaginations.
Trees had become forts, and hills had been made for capturing and laying claim to. They’d fought battles and conquered marauding Indians and even a pirate captain or two.
Then they’d grown up. At least he had. Sometimes he wasn’t so sure about Brian.
He pulled to a stop beside the barn and turned off the engine before getting out. The sprawling ranch house brought back a lot of good memories. It was bigger than when they were kids. Brian had added a wing for guests and put in a swimming pool. It looked exactly like in the brochures, complete with spa packages.
He shook his head. Spa packages.
Not that it mattered to him. And he was still proud of his little brother. Brian had done all he’d set out to do. Cal started toward the house.
“Hey, Cal,” Brian called from behind him.
Cal turned around. His brother stood just inside the barn. “I thought you weren’t going to be home until tomorrow.” He headed back toward the barn.
Brian had gone out of town to look at some horses. Why, Cal had no idea. He had more than enough, if you asked him. Sometimes he wondered how they could be so much alike but so far apart at the same time.
“They weren’t what I was looking for. Besides, I have to find a new massage therapist since Amy quit. With Shelley sick, I’m needed more here.”
Cal noticed for the first time how tired his little brother looked. Maybe what he had to tell him would lift some of the weight he seemed to be carrying on his shoulders.
“One called asking about the ad that was in one of the papers. Good idea advertising in some of the bigger newspapers, but then, I doubt you would’ve found one around here.”
“That fast? Great. When is she coming in for an interview?”
Brian reached into the cooler that was just inside the barn and pulled out a beer, tossed it to Cal. Cal caught it, twisted off the cap as Brian grabbed one for himself, then joined him at the back of the pickup.
“Tomorrow.” At least, he was pretty sure it was tomorrow. Yeah, he was certain she’d said tomorrow. She’d sounded nice. Cal thought he’d detected a bit of desperation in her voice, as though she really needed the job.