Page 71 of A Rancher's Heart

Caleb glanced over her shoulder to where the girls were consulting the recipe she’d pinned to the fridge, slipping into the pantry to gather supplies without help. “I’m surprised you pickedthatword.”

“You already know what I think of the woman. She must be freaky in bed. Either that or she’s keeping Luke drugged.”

“Tamara,” he scolded, but his lips twitched.

“What? My money’s on the drugs. She looks as if ice cream wouldn’t melt in her mouth.” She raised her hands and backed up a step. “But the family raises some fine horses. Don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of the girls.”

“You can rearrange your days off—”

“Enough. It’s okay. Just…she doesn’t have an older sister, does she?”

Caleb looked confused.

Tamara forced a smile, fake all the way. “I don’t think you should eat or drink anything when you’re around their place. Who knows what they might slip into your food.”

She turned and left him to rejoin the girls, guiding them through making a healthy salad before pulling out the miniature marshmallows and fixings for ambrosia.

It was a quiet supper with just the three of them, at least until Dustin dropped in and then it was chaos until bedtime.

The girls were off brushing their teeth when Dustin cleared his throat. “Can I ask you something?”

Tamara stacked the games they’d been playing in a pile and stood to put them away. “What’s up?”

“There’s someone I like, but I don’t know if they like me, and it’s hard to figure it out because there’s not a lot of events I go to that she’s at.”

Dating advice with a nineteen-year-old guy. This could be all sorts of trouble. “Go on.”

Dustin scuffed his feet on the floor. “Well, Caleb’s tightening the purse strings, so I’m not about to ask for extra money. I’m trying to save everything I can, but that means I don’t have the coin to be able to go asking people out for fancy dates all the time.”

Warning bells were going off like crazy in Tamara’s brain.

When he continued with “she’s not part of the crowd I used to hang with in high school. She’s a lot more”—hesitation—“mature than that,” Tamara’s heart fell all the way to her toes.

“Dustin. I—”

This was so many kinds of awkward she didn’t know where to start. She refused to lie. She couldn’t straight-up say she wasn’t interested in dating, because the honest-to-God truth was if Caleb asked her, she’d be opening the door in spite of how bad of an idea it was.

She wasn’t looking to dateDustin.

Something of her misery must’ve shown on her face because his eyes widened and he raised both hands in protest.

“Oh hell, no. I learned my lesson about that one. You are a mighty fine woman, but you are out of my league. And besides, I have no desire to have my skin stripped off me and woven into leather straps.”

She was saved but still confused as ever. “What are you talking about?”

Dustin cleared his throat as the girls came rushing back into the room, and the conversation was over, at least for that moment.

He scooped up the girls in his arms and gave them both a big hug. “Since your daddy’s not around, want me to tuck you in tonight?”

Sasha and Emma agreed excitedly.

“Crawl in. I’ll be there in a minute.”

They raced off, waving to Tamara.

“That’s sweet of you,” Tamara said.

Dustin smiled sheepishly “I don’t mind. They’re more little sisters to me than nieces, in a way, since Caleb brought us all up.” He looked her over, a curious expression on his face. “You like him, don’t you?”