My Dearest Cal by Sherryl Woods Read Free Book Online

mushy about his grandmother, she didn’t seem to him to be very sorry for Lady Mary.
    “So, how about it?” he prodded. “The refrigerator’s well stocked.”
    “Then use your imagination and fix your own damn meal,” she suggested, but she didn’t bolt forthe door as he’d intended. Nor did she make a move toward the stove. As a matter of fact, she pulled out a chair and plunked herself down on it, then stared up at him expectantly, those big green eyes flashing fire again. The responding heat that flamed through him took him by surprise. He suddenly realized that this latest miscalculation was likely to cost him dearly. It took her about ten seconds to confirm it.
    She smiled up at him with saucy arrogance and said sweetly, “As long as you’re cooking, I’ll take my steak rare.”

Chapter Four
    M arilou was fully aware that she had just boxed herself into an impossible corner. Even as the words had tumbled across her lips, she’d been astonished at her impulsive declaration. Moving in, for heaven’s sakes? Was she out of her mind or simply out of her depth?
    Well, she was definitely the latter and quite possibly the former. Matching wits with a man like Cal Rivers was no game for a woman like her. She didn’t have the slightest idea of the rules or how to play by them.
    At some point, she had vaguely recognized the subtle shift from mental to sensual challenge, and still she’d been helpless to abandon the fray. In fact, to her shock, she’d been invigorated by it, compelled totake his dares simply because he’d made them and because she knew that he’d expected her to refuse. She’d enjoyed watching his expression go from wary to amused to stunned in a matter of seconds. It was the most exciting, reckless thing she’d done in all of her twenty-five years.
    Now, with second thoughts popping up like weeds, it appeared she was stuck. She couldn’t very well say thanks for the steak, then wave and wander off once dinner was done. He’d be laughing at her from now till Sunday. No, her pride wouldn’t permit that. Nor would her determined commitment to Cal’s grandmother, a woman she was never even likely to meet but for whom she felt an odd, special kinship. Besides, she countered the rising doubts, this might very well be the closest she ever came to a longed-for adventure. She wasn’t about to walk away from it just when it was getting interesting.
    Actually, it was getting downright fascinating, she decided as she gazed out the back door and watched the subtle bunching of the muscles across Cal’s broad shoulders as he hunkered down to start the grill, a puny little hibachi meant for picnics, not full-scale dinners at home. He’d stuffed a package of frozen vegetables into the microwave, along with three potatoes, and turned it on for twenty minutes. Marilou shuddered. The minute he wasn’t looking she retrieved the vegetables and waited expectantly for the potatoes to explode, since he hadn’t bothered to pierce the skins.
    Directing a glare at her as he entered, he stompedpast, grabbed a package of steaks from the freezer and headed for the still-cold grill. Marilou couldn’t bear to watch.
    “Cal?” she said finally.
    “What?” he growled.
    “Don’t you think you ought to defrost those first in the microwave?”
    “They’ll defrost on the grill.”
    “Not in this lifetime.”
    “Either you cook or you shut up. I don’t need any coaching from the sidelines.”
    She groaned as he plunked the solid steaks onto the grill. “No. You do need a housekeeper. I can see that now. Maybe we could strike a deal after all.”
    He gazed at her distrustfully. “Oh?”
    “Just short-term. I’ll help out around here tonight, if you’ll think about going to see your grandmother.” She discovered that she was not above a little bribery. It was not a discovery that especially pleased her.
    He regarded the icy beef, frowned, then met her gaze.
    “No steaks?”
    She hurriedly improvised a menu.