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“It looks good.” She gently touched the marred skin. The
intimate human contact was something she’d lacked and never knew it. She wanted
to touch and be touched, but it had to be for the right reasons. There was no
way she’d end up the town trollop being gossiped about by Cassie in the diner.
Hailey wanted a relationship based on real love, not convenience or financial
gain like her parents. Although most of her reading was research related, she
did indulge in romance novels from time to time. If only there was a stitch of
truth in the pages of those fiction books—like true, irrevocable love.
    He turned his head. “I’ll just be two minutes.”
Then he entered his room and closed the door tight. She exhaled, nearly dizzy
from holding her breath. The man was so delicious, so well-built, how could she
not be tempted?
    ****
    Callum insisted they take his truck for the
drive into town. It was bad enough he brought attention to himself with his
Tourette’s. A truck lacking a muffler was just asking for trouble. He usually
liked to get what he needed and leave just as fast.
    “It’s the next left. The second house,” she
said. He knew the boarding house.
    “How long have you stayed there?”
    “Two years—since I finished my Masters and had
to get off campus.”
    A boarding house wasn’t a home. It didn’t seem
natural for a young woman to be surviving all on her own without family or a
man.
    “It’s not much of a home,” he said, pulling into
the driveway.
    “It’s all I can afford. Just because I’ve spent
most of my adult years in university doesn’t equate a six-figure income. I’m
lucky if I can buy food week to week.”
    “Then why bother?”
    She looked at him, the sunlight reflecting off
her blue eyes. “Because I love it. I love learning about people and animals, creating
solutions to problems…and being independent of my family.”
    “Ahh, there’s the heart of it, no?”
    She shook her head. “Just a piece.”
    Hailey left the
truck, trotting up the path. He lowered his window and called out. “How much
you gettin’?”
    “I’m taking
everything,” she said simply and disappeared inside the Victorian-style house. Everything? Did she plan to stay at his
ranch that long? Permanently? He followed her into the house, needing answers.
If she was clearing out, she’d also need help.
    The interior was
dim, forcing his eyes to adjust from the bright sunlight. He wasn’t a small
man, and always felt awkward around such dainty things—little antique tables
with doilies, miniatures displayed on tiny shelves. If he moved the wrong way,
it could be disastrous. It certainly wasn’t comfortable, not a place he’d want
to live in.
    “Hailey?” he
called out.
    Old Mrs.
Chambers came around the corner. “Can I help you?”
    “I’m helping Ms.
Watson collect her things.”
    “So you’re the
reason she’s moving out? I didn’t hear of a marriage proposal.”
    “No, ma’am. I’m
just lending a hand. We ain’t together in the way you’re thinking.” His eyes
began to twitch, one worse than the other, not uncommon when he was put on the
spot. It was one of the reasons he preferred his solitary lifestyle.
    She huffed,
lifting her chin. When Hailey peeked down from the stairs, she was his saving
grace.   He passed the landlady and took
the stairs two at a time. Once he entered Hailey’s room, she closed the door
tight.
    “I’m sorry. She’s
terrible.”
    “Maybe a
little,” he said with a smile. After a minute he realized he was standing in
the middle of Hailey’s room, her private domain. It was like taking a look
inside the mind of the woman he knew so little about. She was neat, her bedspread
made and dresser top organized. He sat heavily on the bed, enjoying the lush
mattress compared to his firm one. Callum picked up one of several teddy bears
and observed it. The brown bear in his hand was thread-bare from lovin’.
    She tried to
snatch it from him but he kept it out of her