Page 9 of The Perfect Catch

“I’ll send a truck over to pick up the peaches since I don’t have room for bushel baskets in my car.”

“Fine. Thank you.” She flipped an unread page. “But I’d still like to go to the farm.”

“You realize I’ll have all day to ask you questions?” he needled.

She smacked the book back down in exasperation. “Are you trying to scare me off?”

“No. Just being honest. You haven’t exactly been forthcoming about what brought you here.”

She took a gamble and a shot in the dark, hoping to deflect his questions. “For that matter, neither have you.”

“Ilivehere,” he protested a bit too loudly.

Maybe her shot in the dark wasn’t too far off the mark.

“In your mother’s house?” she pressed, suddenly curious about what had brought him here in the middle of the night. Clearly he didn’t live around here or he would have gone to his own place.

His gaze narrowed. “It’s still my hometown.”

“And I still have quite a few questions of my own, but you don’t see me badgering you about them.”

He tilted his head. “Are you implying you’ll badger me tomorrow if I make polite inquiries about you?”

“I’m suggesting we call a truce to focus on farming.”

He huffed out a long breath and didn’t seem in any hurry to leave. “It doesn’t sound as much fun your way.”

She almost cracked a smile. And, realizing how close a call that had been, she promptly turned her attention to her bee book.

“Just for a day. Just long enough for a farm visit,” she told him from behind the safety of the cover.

Thankfully, he was already on his way back to the house to look for the key.

She would figure out how to deal with her hot neighbor for a few hours if it meant a chance to make herself useful on the farm. Or to learn something that might catapult her into her next job opportunity since—unlike Cal—she most definitely wasn’t interested in returning home.

*

The next day,Cal rose early to fit in a workout since old habits die hard.

Or at least that’s what he’d told himself. His phone might not be ringing with offers, but his agent had gotten in his head the night before with a text telling him to stay in playing shape because he had a few “irons in the fire” about Cal’s future. Probably just a tactic to lift a struggling client’s spirits. Yet the words had gotten to him, reminding him he’d been lax on training since being released. And the trip to Mexico hadn’t helped.

But after he’d finished a long run, then cleaned up his younger brother’s weight set in the garage to pound iron until his arms shook, Cal knew the fierce workout wasn’t related to baseball or old habits. Mostly, he wanted to tire himself out before spending the day with a woman who tempted him too damned much.

The sexy caretaker next door was intent on keeping secrets, and Cal wasn’t sure he trusted her. In his world, women who kept secrets were the kinds who hid the fact that they were married in order to have an affair with a ballplayer. Hell, his own stepmother had latched on to Cal’s father with a similar ploy, tearing the family apart and breaking Cal’s mother’s heart. Not that it was all Brittney’s fault. The lion’s share of that blame firmly belonged to his father. But the incident had made Cal plenty wary.

He could watch out for himself, of course. But he worried about his mother, who still trusted too easily. How thoroughly had she looked into Josie Vance before hiring her to live in her home for months?

Stepping outside after a shower later that morning, he spotted Josie on the wraparound porch. She wore a short-sleeved, gauzy white tunic over a pair of jean shorts with cowboy boots. Her dark hair was woven into a short braid, a blue ribbon tied around the tail. She carried a small cloth sack from the local food co-op under one arm like it was a handbag.

And damned if all the working out had done a single thing to take the edge off when it came to her. Attraction flared, hot and fast, making him realize he was only fooling himself to try and fight it. If he wanted her this much, why not simply get close to her? It wasn’t like he’d be sticking around Last Stand forever. Sooner or later, he’d get back on track with his career, if not as a player, maybe he’d investigate his prospects as a manager. Baseball was his life.

As she rose from a wooden porch rocker, she frowned at him, opening her mouth to speak. Cal cut her off, having a good idea why she was unhappy with him today.

“Good morning.” He nodded in the direction of his convertible that he’d left in the driveway after his errands the day before. “Are you ready to go?”

“I am.” Her jaw jutted. “But honestly, Cal, I can’t accept all the groceries you bought.”

He liked squaring off with her, liked feeling the sparks they generated off of one another. Maybe this new plan to follow the attraction was going to work out perfectly well. He’d stay close to her, and keep his mom safe at the same time. Whatever secrets Josie was hiding weren’t going to hurt him.

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