I was _ wondering how long it would take you to make the right decision.” Cal holds the door open with a smile.
My eyes turn to slits. “I have a condition.” “Name it.”
“Don’t drink in front of Cami.”
His smile slips. “Of course, no.” She let out a sigh. “Thank you.”
“Hello!” Cami appears behind me.
“What’s up, kid?” He kneels at Cami’s eye level. Her eyes widen as he throws his arms around her neck and squeezes until her skin turns red.
Damn my heart straight to hell for betraying me with the way it throbs in his embrace.
He stands up to his full height. “What happened to staying with Delilah and Wyatt?”
“His grandmother is visiting out of town for the month,” I complain.
And Violet?
“She lives in a small apartment with two roommates.”
“There is nothing I like more than being the last option.” He reaches for my luggage and rolls it inside. I follow behind him, looking at the large stacks of books scattered around the living room.
“Since when do you like to read?”
A blush spreads across his neck as he digs his thumbs into the front pockets of his jeans. “I like to keep my mind busy.” “Did you read all that in the last few weeks?” There must be at least fifty books spread throughout the space.
He nods. “Wow.”
His gaze slides over me. “Do you need help grabbing the rest of the stuff?”
“Be careful what you volunteer for.” “It’s not like I have anything else to do.”
Cal spends the next hour helping me carry boxes and bags full of stuff. By the time we’re done, the entire floor of the guesthouse’s living room is covered in toys. The kitchen cabinets are packed with groceries and kitchen utensils, and the bedrooms are packed with our personal items that we didn’t want to risk leaving behind, including my vibrator that I hid in my nightstand. There was no way I was going to leave that for some random guy to find.
Cal disappears while I do my best to make Cami’s new room look homey with its princess comforter, butterfly lamp, and LED lights.
By the time I’m done, I need to pee. I open the bathroom door closest to Cami’s room only to be yelled at by my son, who sits on the toilet saying his tummy hurts. Taking her out of the bathroom after that warning is no longer an option.
Light spills from beneath the crack in the second bathroom located at the end of the hallway. I turn the knob, but the door doesn’t open.
“Give me a second.” The door muffles Cal’s deep voice.
The door opens and a cloud of steam rises around Cal, who stands in the doorway wearing only a white towel. He’s so focused on wrapping it around his waist that he doesn’t notice his tongue slipping out of my mouth.
I don’t know where to look Although his bulging traps are tempting, I quickly become distracted by his glistening abs that lead directly to the muscles that point like an arrow towards his cock. It’s not even hard, but I can make out its shape under the plush material.
Man was created by God to fulfill the fantasy of every woman.
More like yours.
The distant sound of Cami’s tablet pushes me into action.
“Get in there.” She pushed him into the bathroom and closed the door behind us. “What happen?” She stumbles on her feet before grabbing the counter.
I rip a second towel off the rack before hitting him in the face with it. “Cover everything before you go out again.”
“Cover this? “For what?” His lips twitch as he runs his hand over the curves and dimples of her abdominal muscles.
“There is a child here!” whisper-shout.
“Relax. I’m just teasing you.” She reaches for the towel and covers her upper body until she looks like a mummy. “All better?” She looks ridiculous with the way her wet hair falls in front of her face.
“Not even remotely.” She threw a wet hand towel over her face. “There. Everything better.”
He accomplishes it with a laugh. “I’m sorry about that. I forgot that Cami stayed here.
“Oh, so if it’s just me, then it’s okay to walk around with just a towel?”
“If it were just you, I’d lose the towel completely.” He winks.
My mouth is watering at the image of him doing just that. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” His hoarse voice makes my belly warm. “No.” I realize my nose is twitching too late.
Slide your finger down the slope, causing a pleasant shiver. “Are you sure?” Her hands reach for the edge of the towel.
My heart pounds harder against my chest, so it’s impossible to hear when he starts to undo the towel.
“No!” I slam my hands against his waist to stop him, only to brush against his cock in the process.
Flicker. He smiles.
My pinky finger reaches out to tease his length just to confirm what I felt. He shudders, the small exhale he releases making me bring my legs together.
“Unless you plan to finish what you started, I wouldn’t do that again.” Take my hand away.
My five fingers itch to wrap around his length. It hurts me to deny the instinct, especially with the way he looks at me.
“Keep looking at me like that and I might be wrong.” idea.” She squeezes his cock through the towel with a smile.
That son of a bitch…
The throbbing between my legs has nothing to do with the need to use the bathroom. “For the record, you are a terrible friend. No wonder Declan doesn’t like you hanging out with his wife. He pushed him out of the bathroom and closed the door before doing something stupid like kissing the smile off his face.
 |
I give up trying to blindly plug my cell phone charger into the outlet behind my bed. It is impossible to arrive without putting myself
knees, so I kneel and use the flashlight on my cell phone to illuminate the dark space below.
A loud whistle makes me fall back and let out a bloodcurdling scream straight out of a movie. The quick, heavy footsteps running down the hallway match the erratic beat of my heart. My door opens before the knob hits the wall.
“What happen?” Cal looks around the room with wild eyes as she clings to a lamp.
I press a hand to my chest, willing my heart to calm down. “What kind of weapon is that?”
Her cheeks turn a light shade of pink. “It was the first thing that was within reach.”
He thought you were in danger, so he didn’t want to waste time.
My throat swells, robbing me of the ability to speak.
Cami enters the room, her small hands raised in a fighting stance she learned in karate. “I will save you!” she chops her hands through the air and spinning kicks. Her feet slide across the carpet, her arms flail as she loses her balance.
Cal throws away the lamp to catch it just before it crashes to the ground. He lifts her into the air, making her laugh.
My heart pounds against my chest in betrayal. It’s impossible not to have some kind of reaction when Cal tosses her into the air again, earning another loud laugh before setting her back on her feet.
Cal looks at me and catches me looking at him and Cami’s interaction. “What happened?”
I point a trembling finger at the dark space under the bed. There’s something under the bed.
“That?”
“I don’t know. It’s not like I got a good look at him before he hissed at me.
“Oh, that’s Merlin.” Cal’s eyes shine as he offers me his hand. My feet wobble a little, mostly due to the way Cal scans my body for wounds.
I look away first. “Is that thing your cat?” Cami gasps. “You have a cat?”
He nods, and Cami instantly abandons us for the bed. “Path! He’s not nice. I lunge and pull her back.
Cal shakes his head. “That’s not true. Merlin may sound scary, but he’s harmless. I swear. He doesn’t even have claws because his last owner was an abusive idiot, so you don’t have to worry about him hurting anyone. The worst thing he does is throw, “But I have a robot vacuum cleaner for that.”
My heart hurts. “Did they remove the claws?” “Yeah, and that’s not even the worst of it.”
Good god. My weakness for stray dogs is starting to show at the worst time.
“Can I pet him? “Please?” Cami looks at me as she bats her eyelashes.
I look at Cal for approval. “She’s fine with me.”
I sigh with resignation. “All good.” I can tell by the way Cami’s eyes light up, she’ll be bonded to Merlin by the end of the night.
Cami’s army crawls onto the bed as she coos and calls Merlin’s name. He doesn’t snap out of her, which makes her frown.
“I dont like him”.
Cal shakes his head with a smile and kneels next to her.
For the second time tonight, I witness Cal being sweet to my son for the simple reason that he is that kind of person.
“He’s a little shy.” He reaches under the bed. Cami waits, her body trembling with her growing excitement.
It takes a minute, but thanks to Cal’s persistence and Cami’s patience, a skinny black cat crawls out from under the bed. He rubs against Cal’s thigh, his tail wagging back and forth as Cal runs his hand up the cat’s spine.
“Pet him slowly.” Cal shows Cami one more time before letting her try.
Cami extends her hand, intending to brush her fingers against Merlin’s fur, but the cat runs out of the room before she has the chance.
His smile falls. “Hates me.”
“He’s just grumpy, but I have a trick.” Cal stands in front of her lifting Cami and setting her on her feet.
He shows her his secret stash of catnip and Merlin’s favorite toy. Cami watches in fascination as he fills the toy before handing her the pole that he is attached to with a rope.
With Cal’s instructions, Cami hangs the fish in front of the couch where Merlin is hiding underneath. As Merlin’s paw shoots out to catch the feathered fish, Cami squeals. Cal ends up laughing at her reaction and I find myself doing the same.
I stay behind, both enamored and terrified by their interaction. The more time the two spend together, the more I worry that Cami will grow attached to Cal. I know what it feels like to have your heart crushed by none other than Callahan Kane. It leaves a void that cannot be filled, no matter how hard one tries.
I’ve made a lot of mistakes, but I wonder if I made the biggest one by allowing my daughter to get caught in Cal’s spell. If she’s like me, then there’s no way she won’t end up loving him. But then she’ll be gone, and I’ll be stuck picking up the pieces once again.
Except this time, it won’t be my heart that breaks. It will be my daughter’s.
