For some reason, Caleb seems to find that interesting. He cocks his head and opens his mouth like he's going to say something, but then his beard shakes along with his head like he changed his mind. "So what'd these men do to you?"
"What? What men?" I look around the room as if to see the imaginary men.
"The ones you mentioned before. The ones who treat you like a doormat." He frowns when he says it, and his fists clench. If Dr. Alogore or one of the dockers-wearing brigade were here, they would look pale and flabby beside Caleb's physical perfection. I take perverse pleasure in this.
"Never mind," I wave a hand. "They're not important. I was wrong, anyway, to lump you in with them."
"Did they hurt you?"
"What?" My eyes widen at the tension rippling up his muscled arms. It's breathtaking, really. I've never met a man like him before. So rugged and coarse, but not unkind. And clearly bothered by any injustice that may have been done to me.
Wow.
"No. Not at all. Well, unless you count emotional and career distress. They're just… chauvinists. And not respectful. They treat me like a pretty piece of ass. Or their personal research assistant. Or worse-a secretary."
His nostrils flare. "Do they touch you without your consent?" he growls. The hair on the back of my neck stands up, but my nipples also harden. Something about this rugged mountain man saying the word consent. Oooh, sexy. Shiver.
"No, nothing like that." I toss my hair back. "It's just that they don't respect my contributions. My brain is only useful in a support role for their projects. They don't value my research. They never invite me to take the lead on anything, only to do all the hard work-writing the proposals and research papers-and then they put their names on the publications above mine."
Caleb mutters something.
"What was that?" I cock a hand to my ear, ready to chew him out for some sexist comment.
He clears his throat. "Then they're idiots." He looks me straight in the eye.
I swallow.
"Any guy would be lucky to have you on their team. You're clearly a hard-working, driven scientist who knows her shit."
Well, how nice. "Thank you-"
"But it would be hard for them to ignore that you're easy on the eyes."
Swing and miss. I roll my eyes at him. "Truth or dare."
He shakes his head.
"I just did mine. It was truth. It's your turn."
He groans.
"Truth it is. Why are you up here all alone?"
"None of your business," he growls and picks up his chair, turning it to face the fireplace and dropping it with a thud. Bear gives a little whine.
"Fine then." I go back to pacing.
Boredom stretches. I can't stand not being busy-not working, especially in the middle of the afternoon. I usually work until I can't think anymore and then I let myself be brain dead and watch The Bachelor or The Voice. I actually have a few episodes of The Bachelor saved on my tablet, but if I'm going to be here all day, maybe more, I figure I should save them for later. Tonight, when I'm ready for bed and need to wind down.
Caleb doesn't even have a television. And he doesn't seem to mind doing nothing.
I seriously don't get it.
"What do you do for work?" I ask him. "When you're not snowed in?"
"Construction. Road crew. Pick up work."
I raise a brow. "In the winter?"
One corner of his mouth quirks in a crooked smile. "Smart woman. Nah, not in the winter. I usually rest up in the winter. But last month I did a little cage fighting for money."
My eyes fly wide, the image of him, naked to the waist, fists cocked flashing far too easily into my mind. I hate boxing-never watch any form of fights-but for some reason I'm turned on. All my lady parts activate, my nipples getting hard, clit buzzing.
The dominance display of a male in his prime never fails to attract the females of the species, no matter how refined...
Seriously. Must be the aftereffects of hypothermia. I'm never this much of a horn dog. Especially over a He-man like Caleb.
"I'll bet you kick some serious ass," I muse, more to myself than to him.
He raises his brows, like he's surprised, then shrugs. "Last match was a forfeit, which was a huge fucking disappointment for me, even though I took home the winnings. I didn't even get to fight."
I drag my lower lip through my teeth. I swear I feel his testosterone washing over my body like a warm wave.
What made me think I hated men?
This one makes all those qualities I usually hate seem admirable.
To distract myself from undressing him in my mind, I get up and search the kitchen, making myself at home. "You know what I'm craving?"
Caleb grunts.
"Hot chocolate. Do you have hot chocolate?" I rummage through cupboards.
"What do you think?" Caleb sounds disgusted.
"It doesn't need to be the mix. I can use any chocolate bar… melt it down or something." I grab an unmarked bottle. "What's this?"
"Nothing."
I shake the bottle and it sloshes. "Doesn't sound like nothing." I pop the cork and take a whiff. Pure grain alcohol sears my nose and I sputter. "Whew, hello." I cough. "What is this, one thousand proof?"
"No." Caleb's at my side, reaching for the bottle. I didn't even see him move. "Put it back. That stuff is stronger than you can imagine."
"No." I hide the bottle behind my back, pleased I've gotten him out of his chair. He crowds me against the cabinets. "It's mine now."
"I'm warning you. It's way too strong for a hum-I mean woman."
"Were you going to say human?" I laugh. "Finders keepers."