Page 109 of Wilde Flame

His gaze lifted and met mine—and I had my answer.

“Thank you, Caden. Thank you for wanting to protect me…but you didn’t have to do that.”

He shrugged, then took a large bite of lasagna.

“What did you have to do in return for her to keep it quiet?”

Caden sighed and sat back in his seat. “Does it matter, Lili?”

“Yes. It does. I found out today that your mother withdrew from the spring pie contest. From what Emeline’s told me, she’s won nearly every year with her cherry pie. But this year she withdraws? Seems a little strange to me.”

He stared at me for another few seconds before picking up his fork and eating once again. “She wanted me to convince my mother not to enter this year. And she gladly gave it up so that you could have a bit more peace before the whole town started talking about you.”

Tears pricked at the back of my eyes. “She didn’t have to do that.”

Staring at the plate, he replied, “She did it for me, because I asked her to.”

Confused, I asked, “Why would you do that? Caden, I knew when I moved into your house that people would find out and gossip would start. I was prepared for that.”

He pointed back to the newspaper on the island. “Tell me how you felt when you saw that earlier today, Lili? Did it bother you?”

It was my turn to look down. “Yes, at first it did. But I’m a big girl, and I can handle it. Now your mother won’t get a chance to enter her pie, and it’s my fault.”

He reached out and took my hand in his. “You’re part of this family now, Lilibeth. We take care of family.”

I blinked back my tears, nodded my head, then cleared my throat.

Caden squeezed my hand, then let it go. We ate in silence for the rest of dinner.

“You go rest. I’ll clean up.”

“Are you sure?” I asked, feeling exhausted suddenly.

He smiled, and my heart lurched in my chest. I swore the laugh lines at the corners of his eyes made them brighter.

I started out of the kitchen and then turned to look back at him. “Caden?”

“Yeah?” he asked, as he loaded the plates into the dishwasher.

“Are you avoiding me?”

He paused, but didn’t look at me. “Why are you asking that?”

“Because this is the first time we’ve eaten dinner together since I’ve moved in. You’re gone most days when I wake up, and you get home late. The few times you’re home while I’m still awake, you go to bed early. The only time we’ve spent together is at my OB appointment the other day. So, it kind of feels like you are avoiding me.”

Caden finally turned and looked at me. He wore an angry expression, and I found myself taking a step back. This was the Caden I’d first met. The angry version.

“This is the life of a rancher. I get up early and work until the sun goes down. I’m sorry if you feel neglected, Rachel, but—”

I held up my hands. “Whoa. Wait a damn second, Caden. First of all, my name is Lilibeth, not Rachel.”

He closed his eyes.

“And let me reassure you that I’m not feeling neglected. I couldn’t care less if you work from dawn to dusk. I don’t need your company, or for you to rush home and have dinner with me every night. I simply wanted to make sure you’re not uncomfortable in your own damn home.”

Caden slowly shook his head. “I’m sorry I slipped and called you Rachel. I didn’t mean to snap at you like that.”

“If this is going to work, let’s get one thing straightened out right now. I am not Rachel. Okay? I know how much you love this ranch, and I would never, ever stand in the way of that. You are avoiding me, Caden. Don’t deny it. We both know it’s true. If you’re afraid I’m going to fall madly in love with you and sneak into your bedroom one night to try and seduce you, you’re wrong. You made it perfectly clear where you stand on any kind of relationship. We’re friends who happen to be having a baby together. That’s it. Yes, I’ll admit I have feelings for you, but I do not want, or expect anything from you. At any point, I’m perfectly willing to raise this child on my own.”