Page 40 of Serious Cowboy

At first, she could think of nothing. But then… “I don’t have anything broken per se, but what about tangled up jewelry?”

“Tangled up how?”

“It’s a bunch of necklaces that got all knotted up in my jewelry box. I can’t wear them anymore because they’ve turned into this metallic ball of chains. I can’t work them loose. That fiddly kind of stuff drives me right up the wall.”

Zeke’s eyes lit up like she’s just told him he was getting a new pickup for Christmas. “I’ll do it. I can get them loose.”

“There’s like twenty of them, though. I was considering either throwing them out or having them melted down.”

“No, don’t do that. I’ll work on them. I’m sure I can do it without breaking them.”

He did. Quite successfully, in fact. Not only did he detangle jewelry she’d been thinking of as a lost cause, he did something to them to clean them, as well. They looked good as new. Better, even.

“How’d you do this?”

He shrugged as if it was no big deal. “I like it. Have anything else?”

So, she brought him every ring, bracelet, and pendant where the settings were damaged, loose, or had stones that needed to be put back in. After that she carried the new batch of broken toys from the pediatric practice. Then, cracked holiday ornaments, doubting those could be fixed properly.

She’d been wrong, though. Zeke had a gift. And keeping him occupied with such tasks meant he had a better mindset and outlook on his overall recovery. Soon, he was able to involve himself in PT again.

A week later, she strolled in to find that not only had Zeke prepared himself some dinner, he’d prepared her some, too. It’d been a selection of microwaved foods, but still. It’d been the thought that counted, and to Callie, it counted a lot.

“Your cup of soup game is on fire tonight,” she complimented him, not mocking him at all. In her book, a home-cooked meal was a home-cooked meal.

“I added some sesame oil and a few spices to the mix. Oh, and a steamer bag of carrots and peas.”

“I thought it had more veggies than I remembered.”

Zeke grinned at her, and the look in his eyes was so soft she wished she could capture it and hold it in her heart always. In her mind, she did. “I’d do anything for you,” he said.

“That’s quite a sentiment.”

He took a step toward her, closing the distance. He’d switched from crutches to a boot, and that boot would be coming off in thenext ten days or so. “It’s one I mean. You’ve done so much for me. The least I can do is return the favor.”

“You do plenty for me already.” She lifted the necklace she wore, one he’d repaired for her.

“I want to do more.”

“Like what, for example?”

He took another step. And another. By the time he paused in front of her, she could bask in his fresh masculine scent. Callie took a whiff, breathing it in deep. He didn’t answer her. Instead, he offered her a demonstration.

Weaving his hand into her curly hair, he tugged slightly so that they brought their heads together. When his lips connected with hers, all tender and soft, Callie found herself lost in his kiss. That chemistry they’d shared since the beginning hadn’t gone anywhere despite months having elapsed since the last time they’d been like this together.

Maybe had this been a different scenario, she might’ve analyzed everything and compared this kiss to one of their earlier ones. Maybe she would’ve be worried about the large part of him that he’d never allowed her to know, but all his clandestine secret keeping appeared to be over. He’d confided in her, just like she’d confided in him.

He’d shown her who he really was and hadn’t hidden anything, not his fears, not his emotions, not his actual reactions to pain. She knew Zeke now. The real man with all the elements she found attractive about him as well as all his flaws. Just like he knew her flaws. It was the first truly authentic relationship she’d ever had with a man, and she was so glad it had occurred with him.

Now that he was without his crutches, he held her so that their bodies were flush, so that she could feel the heat of him against her. She welcomed it, welcomed this new closeness that wouldn’t allow anything either inside or outside of them to interfere in any way.

In hindsight, when they’d dated before, it hadn’t felt natural because she’d had to pursue him so relentlessly. He’d resisted her. Had thrown up barriers. Had concealed information from her that kept them from connecting on a more intimate level. But that wasn’t the case anymore, and the ease of their closeness displayed that.

And as they continued to kiss and reconnect all over again, Callie’s heart felt utterly full.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

It took nine weeks,almost to the day, for Zeke to return full-time to work. He’d gone in short stints to conduct half days and monitor the feed on a part-time basis, but now he was back for real. Granted he was still in a boot and on crutches, but he was back in charge of his department. He was slow getting around, but that didn’t keep him from doing everything that needed to be done. The ranch felt the same as it always had, yet not. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but something came across to him as having changed.