Her Best Men

My eyes grew hard on his before I nodded my head.

“Yup. I won’t hold ya up,” I said.

“I’ll see you guys later today,” Katie said.

“See ya later,” I said.

“The hell w

as all that?” Dylan asked.

But I stood there in silence, keeping to the promise I’d made Katie as she sashayed back to her office.

“Just catchin’ up,” I said.

“Didn’t look like just catchin’ up,” Dylan said.

“Not my problem if ya can’t accept my answer. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I got a hell of a lotta sittin’ around and waitin’ to do.”

CHAPTER 26

CALEB

Tuesday mornings were my favorite at the resort. Sundays were our slowest check-in day, but Tuesdays were our slowest guest day. Some Tuesdays there were only one or two guests checked in at a time, which meant an easy day for everyone.

The sun was shining bright, and there wasn’t a cloud in sight. My brothers had gone out for lunch, which meant I was here alone with Katie. She was working hard in her office, filing paperwork and settling old disputes our former in-house counsel hadn’t gotten to yet. She was looking through stuff for the Charleston installation and was hunched over her desk reading legal mumbo jumbo that didn’t make sense to me.

I was leaned up against her doorframe, just watching her eyes flutter over the pages.

“Ya hungry?” I asked.

“Oh, my gosh! Caleb. You scared the hell out of me,” Katie said.

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to. The guys all went out for lunch. Want me to get the kitchen to whip us up somethin’?”

“Why didn’t you go with your brothers?” she asked.

“They’re goin’ to that barbecue joint I can’t stand,” I said.

“I could stand to eat, but the kitchen needs a break. How do you feel about that Chinese place up the road?” she asked.

“They got the best Kung Pow chicken ‘round Dallas. Whatcha want? My treat.”

Her eyes fluttered up to mine, and she held my gaze. She was a breathtaking woman, and I was ready to have a bit of alone time with her. This was my shot, what with my brothers gone to lunch. She smiled at me, and her cheeks flushed, then she dipped her head back down to her paperwork.

Like she was trying to hide it from me.

“Sesame chicken’s fine,” Katie said. “With vegetable fried rice?”

“Whatever ya want, Katie. I’ll be right back.”

I went and ordered the food, then ran to the kitchen and grabbed us some drinks. Our chef made the best sweet tea in the state of Texas, so I grabbed a pitcher and two glasses of ice. I walked back to her office, ready to shut the door behind me so we could be alone. The resort was completely empty, and my brothers were across town, and I was going to take advantage of every second I had with this wonderful woman.

“Sweet tea?” I asked.

“Bless you,” Katie said breathlessly.

“Food should be here in about half an hour,” I said. “‘Til then, figured we could talk if ya wanted.”