Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Callie’s face wasn’t nearly as puffy by the time five o’clock rolled around. She checked the location tracking on Nikki to see that her sister was about to hit the Sutton’s Creek town limits. A little later than expected, but that often happened when Nikki went to the barn. She lost track of time while she brushed Jack, saddled, took her lesson, and then pampered him again before finally leaving.
Since school was almost over for the summer, Callie was a little more lenient. Final exams had happened last week, and the last day of school was in two days. If Nikki wanted to spend extra time with Jack and her barn friends, Callie wasn’t going to say no.
So long as she kept Callie informed of any delays. In fact, Callie was going to have to stress that she needed more communication about delays or changes in schedule. She’d chalk it up to paranoia over her near miss, which Nikki knew about, but without telling her sister she’d been the target of whoever had set the fire. Nikki thought it was an accident, and Callie intended to let her keep thinking that way.
She watched out the window as Seth stood on a ladder, attaching a camera to a tree. She was right that he couldn’t look like anything other than what he was, but she thought her explanation would land without question. Nikki cared more about riding and showing horses than anything else besides Callie. She’d probably shrug and retreat to her room to watch show videos. She had a competition next weekend, and she’d be focused on that. Thank God.
It was no hardship to watch Seth work. It was hot outside in the late days of May, and he was sweating. His shirt clung to his chest like a second skin until the moment he dragged it up and over his head.
Callie’s breath stopped in her chest. He was tanned, muscled, and perfectly made. She wasn’t a big romance reader, not usually, but that body belonged in a novel. She’d teased him about being a cover model earlier, but she wasn’t wrong. He could do it. Even with the scowl he so often wore. Give him some pointy ears and armor and he’d be a Fae prince.
Not that she planned to mention that to him. And not that she read those books either, but Nikki had read some books with Fae warriors and had talked about it nonstop at one point.
Maybe Callie needed to start reading some since she could imagine Seth in the starring role.
He lifted his arms to screw the camera into the bracket over his head, and her belly clenched. Worse, something was happening lower down.
Of all the times to start thinking about sex.
A, Nikki was almost home.
B, there was no universe in which Callie Crowell and Seth King would ever hook up. He barely tolerated her, despite saying the right thing from time to time. He was there out of a sense of duty and possibly a Sir Galahad complex. He was not there because he found her irresistible.
Callie made herself walk away from the window. She didn’t need to stare like a kid who couldn’t afford the ice cream cone. Instead, she checked her reflection again and decided she’d pass, though she might have to tell her sister that she’d cried a little. She’d already decided to use her journal as an excuse. She’d left the whole mess on the kitchen table, and she’d tell Nikki that she’d gotten teary over one of the books she’d read. It wouldn’t be the first time, so Nikki would believe her.
The back door opened and closed, and a sweaty Seth came inside. He glistened, his nipples hardening in the cool air. He smelled like sunshine and sweat, and she’d never smelled anything so appealing in her life.
“Nikki will be here in about five minutes or so,” she said because she didn’t know what else to say.
Seth grimaced. “I’d better take a quick shower then.”
They hadn’t talked about it, but there were only two bathrooms he could use. One of them was Nikki’s because it was in her room. The other was across the hall from his room and next door to hers. Still, rather than assume he knew, she told him to use that one.
He nodded. “Thanks.”
He walked away and then she heard the shower go on. Damn if she didn’t imagine what he looked like with water sluicing over his toned body, his eyes closed as he stuck his head under the spray.
Oh Lord, Seth King was naked in her shower. He was soaping his body, rubbing his hands over every inch of his glorious form. Every. Inch.
Callie’s belly tightened again. And lower, between her legs. That long-neglected zone of nothingness. Well, other than when she took matters into her own hands, which wasn’t often.
“Stop,” she muttered. “You barely survived a fire last night, you’re still coughing your head off, Mikhail is dead and somebody worse than him is after you, and you’re imagining what a naked man looks like in your shower. You need to get your priorities straight, pronto.”
She’d lost her mind. That’s all there was to it. Stress, probably.
A car door slammed, and her belly clenched again, for a different reason this time. Nikki strolled in the back door a few moments later, her helmet bag and boot bag draped over her shoulders. She’d changed into paddock boots and still had on her jods, which were dusty from the arena.
“Whose truck?” she asked when she walked into the living room.
“It’s a friend’s. I told him he could stay for a few days.”
Callie didn’t think her sister could look more surprised if she’d said they were joining the circus.
“ He? You have a male friend, and I didn’t know?”
Callie forced a smile. “Well, yeah. He’s just a friend. Not a boyfriend. He lives in an old farmhouse with lead paint. So he needs to stay somewhere while it’s being removed.”
Nikki looked suspicious. “Why have you never mentioned this friend before?”
Callie cast about for an excuse. “Well, uh, I haven’t known him for too long. But he’s a nice guy, really. I met him when he did some security work at the lab.”
Now that she heard herself saying the words aloud, they sounded ridiculous. Why would she invite a man she’d just met to stay with them, lead paint or not? Was there nowhere else he could stay? No other friends besides a woman he’d met recently? He’d asked her that very question and she’d dismissed it.
Good grief, she was an idiot.
Seth chose that moment to appear. He’d put on fresh jeans and a gray T-shirt with The Salty Dawg Tavern’s logo on it. His hair was still damp.
“Whoa,” Nikki said as she took in Seth from head to toe. Her gaze jerked to Callie. Callie’s heart tripped over itself as she tried to think of what to say next.
But Nikki merely grinned. “Okay, I get it, sis. Say no more.”
Callie wanted to wilt with relief. She did not. “Nikki, this is my friend Seth King. Seth, my sister, Nikki Crowell.”
Seth seemed frozen in place as he stared at Nikki for a long moment. But then he shook himself and smiled in a way he never had at her. “Hi, Nikki. Pleased to meet you. Your sister’s been kind enough to let me crash here for a few days while my house is, uh, remediated. Lead paint,” he added.
Callie didn’t roll her eyes because this was her fault, but that’s how fake the whole thing sounded. Whether it came from him or her.
He extended his hand, and Nikki closed the distance and put her hand in his. She gaped up at him for a long moment while Seth smiled down at her. Then it was over, and he stepped back. Nikki didn’t move.
“Hi, um, sorry I smell like a horse. It’s nice to meet you too.”
“I didn’t notice any horse smell,” Seth said. Bless him.
“Oh? Well, good. Sometimes I get really hot and stinky when I ride but I’m glad if it’s not bad.”
Callie wanted to smile at her sister’s babbling. And she wanted to tell her not to worry, Seth made her babble too.
“Not bad at all. So you like to ride, huh?”
Nikki was blushing, but her eyes sparked at the question. Soon she was telling Seth about her horses and the competition next week. He didn’t show a single hint of impatience with her chatter. He listened to everything, nodding and asking questions, and Callie’s heart ached.
He might be a grump sometimes, but he wasn’t when it counted. She didn’t care if he growled and grumped at her, but the way he treated Nikki with patience and kindness made her heart happy.
“Babe, shouldn’t you shower and get ready for dinner?” she asked when Nikki took a breath after she’d been talking for twenty minutes straight.
Nikki blinked. “Oh, right. But I stopped at Burger King on the way home. You said I could get something if I wanted.”
“True, I did. You’ll want dessert though. I have ice cream with raspberry sauce. But you need to clean up first.”
Nikki stood up from where she’d been perched on the edge of a faux leather ottoman, regaling Seth with a story about Charlie bucking her off when he’d still been young and spry.
“I’m going.” She gave Seth a smile. “You just let me know if you ever want to take a lesson. My trainer has horses big enough and safe enough for a beginner.”
Seth had stood too. “That’s a kind offer, Nikki, but I think I’m gonna keep my feet on the ground as much as possible.”
She grinned. “Yeah, thought you might say that. It’s easier to learn when you’re still a kid. The ground doesn’t seem as hard as when you’re an adult. Or so my trainer says.”
She picked up her bags and headed down the hallway to her bedroom. Callie waited until the door closed, then turned to Seth, keeping her voice low. “Thank you for being patient with her. I know you don’t like small talk.”
He seemed troubled, or maybe it was her imagination, because he shrugged. “She’s a kid. I don’t mind. Not that I know a damned thing about teenage girls or what they’re thinking, but I figured she’d run out of steam eventually.”
Callie’s eyes prickled again. Nikki was so taken by Seth she hadn’t even noticed that Callie had been crying. “I haven’t seen her that animated in a while. She gets excited about horse shows, but that’s about it. I took her to the company Christmas party because I thought she’d have fun. It was held in the Space & Rocket Center, and dinner was served beneath the Saturn V rocket that hangs there. We had raffles and presents, dancing, Santa Claus. She was ho hum about all of it. We left early and she went to her room.”
“That was six months ago, right? Takes time. Six months from now, she’ll probably look forward to it.”
“I know. But this morning you were at work, doing your job, with no notion of having to spend time with two strangers. Being here with us can’t be easy, especially when we both seem determined to talk your ear off.”
His silver gaze met hers. “There were times in my military career when I woke up in my own bed and then went to sleep hours later in a new location that wasn’t nearly as pleasant. Desert floors. Jungles. Buildings that were mostly rubble. This is a fucking amusement park in comparison. It’s fine. Noisy, but fine.”
Warmth blossomed. “Well, we’re lacking in Ferris wheels at the moment, but we do have a petting zoo. It consists of one horse, a barn cat who makes appearances when he damn well pleases, and a few mice that Sylvester is too lazy to catch.”
He stared at her, then shook his head. He didn’t grin, but she heard it in his voice. “You aren’t what I expected.”
“I hope that’s not a bad thing.” Her heart thrummed as she waited for his answer.
“It’s not bad.”
She sketched a little bow. “Why thank you, kind sir. Not bad is our goal here at Chez Crowell. We hope you enjoy your stay. Please let our staff know if you’d like to reserve a slot at the petting zoo. Otherwise, the staff needs to do some chores.”
He snorted. “Didn’t peg you as a comedian when we talked this morning.”
“And I didn’t peg you as having a soft spot for a chatty teen, but I’m glad you did.”
Emotion crossed his face, but it was gone too fast to know what it meant. “About reached my limit of the chit chat. If you’re done, I’ve got some things to do.”
Panic flared. “You’re leaving us?”
“No. I’m going to my room and getting on my laptop.”
Her heart was slow in getting the message he wasn’t abandoning them. It kept pounding and pounding long after he’d walked away.