Yet this petite girl who was a combination of spitfire and sweet totally had his attention.
It’s just because she came out to help you. You feel responsible for her.
Yeah, that had to be it.
* * *
Archer sat back in the ancient truck, wincing as a spring dug into his ass. This piece of junk should have been retired a long time ago. He’d thought Caley would put up more of a fight. After all, having two strange men stay with you when you lived in the middle of nowhere would be enough to make any woman worry.
And Caley…well, she seemed to have more of an overactive imagination than most.
He’d thought that he’d have to run interference for his brother. Most people could only handle Isaac in small doses.
But to his shock, Caley could give as good as she got. She didn’t seem intimidated by Isaac’s gruffness. Which gave him an idea…
Nah. That was ridiculous. He didn’t know anything about her other than she had some sass. There was no reason to think she was a submissive, let alone a Little. And that’s what Isaac needed. Someone that he could focus entirely on. Archer knew that Isaac wouldn’t truly be complete without someone to look after. He might have a terrible bedside manner, but he had a deep need to take care of people. And a Little who was his, would give him that. Would help round out his rough edges.
Because underneath the snarly exterior was a man who could be caring and kind. With the right person.
They rattled along in the truck, with Caley bouncing around in her seat. Christ, her ass had to hurt, not to mention her arms and shoulders. No doubt she could do with a good rubdown…maybe he should mention that to Isaac.
He groaned. Not here to be a matchmaker.
“You okay back there?” Caley asked, sounding concerned. “You didn’t hurt yourself, did you?”
“Oh no. I’m fine, thank you.”
“He’s probably worried you don’t have indoor plumbing,” Isaac said.
He’d bite back if they were on their own and he couldn’t hear the note of tiredness and pain in his brother’s voice. Just how bad was his head? Great. Now, he’d have to convince him to sit down and let him doctor him.
And put up with a hundred and one complaints about how he was doing it wrong.
Why was he trying to mend fences with this asshole again?
Oh yeah. Because he was his brother and he loved him.
He had to keep reminding himself of that.
4
Great.
What had she been thinking? Agreeing to them staying the night? Did she have enough food to feed them? They were big guys. They probably ate a lot. But they’d only be here for dinner and breakfast. Maybe they’d already eaten.
Forget about the food, Caley. What about the mess!
Oh shit. She hadn’t even thought about that. She lived alone and she didn’t have a lot of stuff, but she wasn’t all that fond of picking up after herself either. And without someone riding her ass, reminding her to clean up…
Well…to call it a pigsty was uncharitable but if the shoe fit…
She stopped the truck close to the front door of her cute, three-bedroom log cabin. It had a large porch out the front where she liked to sit and work in summer. Inside was a fairly simple layout. One large room in the middle of the cabin that served as living, dining and kitchen. To the right were two small bedrooms, one of which she used as a study and a bathroom.
On the other side was a larger master suite. It was almost too much room for her on her own.
“Maybe you two should wait here,” she said as she turned off the truck. Oh drat. She’d forgotten to turn on the outside porch light. Shouldn’t the sensor lights come on? Hmm, when had she last checked that they were working?
“Wait out here?” Doc asked. “Why?”