style="font-size:15px;"> Gazing at him a moment, she nodded. “There’s a strong family resemblance.”
He placed his hand at the small of her back to usher her toward the bedrooms before she had a chance to study the picture closer and figure out who they all were. He hadn’t lied to her thus far and he wasn’t about to start now. If she’d recognized the Larsons, he’d have admitted to being one of the heirs to the Emerald, Inc. conglomerate. But she hadn’t. And although omission of the facts was something he wasn’t proud of and continued to struggle with, being outright dishonest was out of the question. It just wasn’t his style.
“Feel free to check out the other two bedrooms, then decide which one you want,” he said, opening the door to the room closest to his. The room had been done in yellow and green and looked a little more feminine than the other two bedrooms. “They all have their own private bathroom, but this one is the only one besides the master suite that has a sitting area.”
“This is fine,” she said, glancing around. She walked over to the French doors on the opposite side of the room to look out at the patio and pool. “It’s a lovely area and your home is beautiful, Caleb. You must love living up here.”
“Thanks.” He set her bag on the end of the bed, then walked over to stand behind her. “The terrain is a lot different here than in Tennessee, but I’m getting used to it.” He didn’t tell her that it was a far cry from the humble farmhouse he’d grown up in or that he was having a hard time thinking of it as his, even though it had been signed over to him when he’d accepted Emerald’s offer.
“I’d like to hear about where you used to live,” she said, sounding wistful. “I’ve never been east of the Mississippi, but I’ve heard the southern states are quite beautiful.”
“They are. Back home when I look at the mountains, I’m used to seeing them covered with trees, and everything is green. Here it’s just as pretty, but in a different way. There aren’t as many trees and everything is shades of tan, brown or orange.” Without thinking, he slipped his arms around her waist and drew her back against him. “I’ll have to take you to see the eastern mountains sometime.”
He heard her soft intake of breath a moment before she turned to face him. “Caleb, what are we doing?”
Staring down at her, he wondered the same thing. She was the type of woman he’d vowed to steer clear of, yet there was something about Alyssa Jane Merrick that he couldn’t resist. He wanted to show her where he’d grown up, wanted her to know who he was and what had molded him into the man he’d become, and he wanted to know all about her. And that scared the living hell out of him.
Suddenly needing to put a little space between them in order to figure out what the hell had gotten into him, he kissed her forehead then, releasing her, started for the door. “While you get your things put away and freshen up, I’ll go see what I can scare up for supper.”
As Alyssa watched him leave the room, she sighed heavily. It hadn’t been lost on her that he’d avoided answering her question. Could he be as confused about what was going on between them as she was? What was happening between them?
She certainly wasn’t an expert at affairs of the heart, but it was evident there was something drawing them together. They couldn’t be in the same room for longer than five minutes without being in each other’s arms.
What was there about Caleb Walker that made her forget the lesson she’d learned five years ago at the hands of a man just like him? Hadn’t she suffered enough humiliation when she’d learned that men weren’t above using women to achieve their own goals or advance their careers?
Sitting on the side of the bed, she thought about Wesley Pennington III, the man who’d taught her just how cutthroat the business world could truly be and the lengths that some men were willing to go to in order to get ahead. Handsome and charming, Wesley had swept her off her feet about a year after they’d both started working at the prestigious financial group of Carson, Gottlieb and Howell. And right up until the end of their six-week affair, she hadn’t had a clue that he’d been using her to gain information about a potential client.
But as she mentally compared Caleb to Wesley the weasel, she had to admit there were very few, if any, similarities. Wesley wouldn’t have been caught dead in a pair of jeans and boots, nor would he have chosen to live in a secluded house in a quiet rural area over his ultramodern uptown condo. And that was just scratching the surface of how the two men differed.
Wesley had been a polished sophisticate and tended to act superiorly with anyone below him on the corporate ladder. But Caleb wasn’t anything like that. His casual, down-to-earth personality immediately put everyone at ease and he not only treated those who worked for him as his equals, he seemed to genuinely care about them as well.
That was something she knew firsthand to be beyond Wesley’s capabilities. He didn’t care about anyone but himself and he wasn’t above stepping on those who posed a threat to, or got in the way of, his lofty ambitions. He hadn’t thought twice about using her affections for him to gain information that had led to his obtaining a coveted corporate account and ultimately the promotion that rightly should have been hers. When she’d confronted him about it, he’d readily admitted that he’d only started dating her for the purpose of getting ahead. But the most devastating blow had come when she’d overheard her coworkers gossiping about the whole sordid mess. That’s when she’d decided she had no alternative but to look for another job and had found her present position at Skerritt and Crowe.
But she was certain Caleb would never stoop to that level, would never take credit for her or anyone else’s accomplishments, even if he wasn’t already the head of Skerritt and Crowe. Nor would he publicly humiliate her. On the contrary. He’d come up with the pretend engagement and had her spending the weekend with him because he was trying to squelch the rumors and gossip that she found hurtful.
Sighing, she put the last of her clothes in the dresser drawer, then changed into a pair of baggy camp shorts and a T-shirt. She’d tried every way in the world not to like Caleb. But the truth of the matter was, she trusted him more than she had anyone in a very long time. And whether it was smart or not, she might as well admit it—if she hadn’t already fallen for him, she was well on her way.
“Thank you for a delicious dinner. You’re a very good cook.”
“Not really.” Caleb grinned. “Throwing something on the grill and fire roasting a few vegetables is about the only thing I know how to fix, besides frying bacon and scrambling eggs.”
“Well, I thought it was scrumptious.” Her sweet smile did a real number on his insides. “And I’m glad you suggested we eat out here on the patio.” He watched her look past the pool at the valley below. “The view is absolutely gorgeous.”
He couldn’t agree more; the view was beautiful. But he wasn’t looking at the cedar trees or the valley. The woman seated at the table with him was far prettier than anything he’d ever seen.
Rising to his feet before he did something stupid like take her in his arms and kiss her senseless, he gathered their plates. “I like sitting out here after the sun goes down. Other than an occasional coyote howling, it’s pretty quiet.”
“Let me help with those,” she said, standing up.
He shook his head. “I’ll take care of the cleanup.”
“That’s not fair,” she protested. “You cooked. I should clear the table.”
He
