by Coleen Kwan
But then he lifted his head and drew away slightly.
“What about you and Ryan? Did you…?” His expression was wary as if he were bracing himself for a bad revelation.
“No, of c-course not,” she spluttered. “I don’t know where you got that idea from.”
“You did gush over him.”
“I did not gush.”
“Yes, you did, going on and on about how awesome he was, and what about all those flowers he sent you?”
“One bouquet, that’s all I got. The lilies.”
“Just one?” His brow puckered. “But last week I saw him with a bunch of red and white flowers.”
“Oh, those were for a sick aunt. He told me about her when we were at the cookout. That was our last date, by the way. I called him during the week and told him it wasn’t working out, and he agreed.”
Caleb’s eyes narrowed. “But I heard he was coming to San Francisco this weekend, too.”
“For a work conference.” She stroked her fingers through his hair. “I was never attracted to Ryan. There was zero chemistry when we kissed and—”
“So you did kiss him, huh?”
“Well, yes, but it was nothing.”
Caleb’s hand tightened on her hip. “I guess it’s my fault. I did set you up with him.”
“Let’s not talk about him anymore.”
“Good idea.” He ran his fingers over her crocheted dress, lingering on the flower embellishments. “You look incredible in this dress.”
“I never thought I’d have the courage to wear something like this to a college reunion, but after everything that happened I figured it was time to be loud and proud about who I am.”
“You look like an ice cream sundae on the fourth of July. And I’m the lucky guy who gets to devour you.”
Reveling in his admiration, she stood on tiptoe and nibbled at his chin, drunk on the taste and smell of him.
He shivered, his lips brushing against her ear, his voice dropping to a husky murmur. “Now, are you going to take me upstairs to your room?”
She pressed her palm against his chest. The deep thump of his heart reverberated through her, echoing the emotion glowing in his eyes.
“Only if you carry me,” she whispered back.
“Done.”
He reached for her, and with a loud rip the entire sleeve of his suit fell apart. She snorted, and suddenly she couldn’t hold back her chuckles.
“Why on earth are you wearing that ridiculous suit?”
“I’ll tell you later.” He flung off the remnants of the jacket and swooped her into his arms. “I think I’ll make it to your room without losing all my clothes.”
She pressed her lips to his cheek. “And once you’re there, you’d better lose all your clothes.”
“Not before I get rid of yours. And just so you know, I’m going to take my time.”
She exhaled a sigh of pure happiness. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
“I can’t, either, but like I always say, no risk—”
“No reward.” And she was going to take great pleasure in giving him his reward.
Chapter Sixteen
Bill Baker’s gray-flecked eyebrows were drawn together as he tapped his thick, blunt fingers on his desk.
“I had to call the clients at the last minute and tell them the house wouldn’t be ready for a couple of days. They had to rearrange their flights because of the delay.”
Caleb rubbed a speck of paint off his hand and shifted his booted feet. “Once again, I’m really sorry, Mr. Baker. I let you down.”
Caleb hadn’t slept much in the past forty-eight hours, having arrived back from San Francisco on Sunday afternoon and gone straight to the house where he’d labored all night. Come Monday morning the house wasn’t ready for the clients, and he’d had to break the unwelcome news to Bill, who was clearly still unimpressed.
“At least the Munroes are more than happy with the finished product,” Bill continued, still frowning. “But I thought I knew you, Caleb. I don’t understand why you dropped the ball when this project meant so much to you. What happened? I thought you were on track. Why the delay?”
Caleb scratched his unshaven jaw as he debated how much to tell Bill Baker. How would the older man react if Caleb gave in to his urges and suddenly burst into song? Because that was how he felt since Saturday night. He was walking on air and breathing in sunshine, despite the all-nighters, because of Lily. Sweet, beautiful Lily; quirky, courageous, and lusciously sexy. At times he still couldn’t believe that she was prepared to give him a second chance. What had started between them felt rare and precious and as delicate as gossamer. He sensed he and Lily should nurture it in private before exposing themselves to the scrutiny of others. Especially Bill, who had warned him off his daughter.
“I was, uh, side-tracked,” Caleb said. In fact, his life would never be the same again.
“Side-tracked, hmm?” The frown remained on Bill’s face. Tap,tap, tap, his fingers went.
Caleb had no doubt he’d have an uphill battle winning the old man’s approval about him dating Lily. But he’d get there eventually.
“I realize I won’t be getting that partnership,” Caleb said.
“You do?”
“Yeah. You were quite clear when you laid out the terms, and I failed to deliver.” Caleb pressed his lips together. He’d have to take that job in Sacramento. He wouldn’t be helping his dad with Little League. And he’d only see Lily on the weekends. That was the worst part. He was missing her already.
“All true.” Bill massaged his chin. “But it shows you’ve got your priorities straight. Making Lily happy is far more important than any partnership I could offer you. So I’m glad you chose my daughter’s happiness.”
Caleb gaped at him. “You mean you…”
“Yes, I know you sprinted off to San Francisco when you should’ve been working on the house. Lily told me this morning. Sounds like it was quite an eventful weekend.” He paused to fix Caleb with a hard stare. “I admit I was taken aback when I heard you and she are now…a couple.”
A lump formed in Caleb’s throat. “Sir, I want you to know that Lily means everything to me, and—”
“It’s okay, son. I think you’ve already demonstrated how much she means to you. And for that reason I’m willing to give you another chance. I’ve got a lot of projects in the pipeline, all of them urgent, of course. Plenty of opportunity to make up for letting me down.”
Caleb blinked in astonishment. “That’s—that’s very generous of you.”
“And you get a chance to show me you’re ready for that partnership. If that’s what you want.”
Caleb was barely able to speak. “I do. Very much,” he murmured huskily. “Thank you.”
He shook Bill’s gnarled hand, wondering at his luck.
“Okay.” Bill walked him to the door. “We’ll discuss the details later.”
Caleb left the offices of Baker Construction in a daze. Lily straightened up from her little green car she’d been leaning against and beamed at him, causing his breath to catch in his throat. Ah, he’d never get used to this feeling. He strode across the sidewalk and swept her into his arms. He was hers, and everything was right with the world.
Epilogue
Six months later
“This is it,” Caleb said, opening the passenger door for Lily.
He’d parked the truck next to a large block of land. The street was quiet except for the birds twittering and the distant sound of kids playing in a backyard.
“Where?” Lily asked, shielding her eyes from the sun.
“Right here.” Linking his fingers through hers, he tugged her forward. They tramped over the rough ground, breathing in the sweet smell of sun-warmed grass. The land sloped gently to the south, and at the rear was a thick mass of trees, flickering scarlet and gold in the autumn sunlight. “That’s all forest over there. As you can see, there’s plenty of space. We could build a nice outdoor enclosure for Nood
les, maybe get him a playmate, too.”
She wrinkled her brow. “Um, I don’t understand. I thought you were showing me my birthday present?”
“This is your birthday present. All of it.”
“You mean…this piece of land?”
“Yeah.” He shuffled his feet. “And the house, of course. We can design it ourselves. Whatever you want.”
Her mouth fell open. She looked adorably stunned. “C-Caleb, I don’t know what to say. This…it’s…”
Too much, too soon? His jaw clenched as he wondered if he’d misjudged her. Loving her was still such a terrifying ride sometimes, but he never wanted to get off. In the six months they’d been together she’d taught him so much, about her, about himself, about being a couple. At times he’d thought it was too good to be true. Was this when she’d slam on the brakes?
He firmed his grip on her hand. “We don’t have to build right away. We can wait. There’s no rush.”
“Are you kidding? This is amazing! Oh, Caleb, I didn’t realize you—” She swallowed, blinking rapidly, her hand trembling in his.
“You didn’t realize I was so into you? Babe, you have no idea.” He reached out to cup her cheek. His throat was thick with all the love he wanted to show her. “I never knew I could be this happy. Never knew I’d want to make someone happy this much. Before I met you I thought I had a pretty good life, but it’s nothing compared to what you’ve given me.”
Tears glinted on her eyelashes. “That—that is the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Yeah? Well, there’s more.” He sucked in a deep breath, pulled out the box he’d hidden in his pocket, and opened it, revealing a glittering diamond and sapphire ring. “Lily Baker, will you make me the proudest, luckiest man in the world and marry me?”
She clapped a hand over her mouth, shimmering eyes moving from the ring to him. “Oh God—yes!”
Scarcely believing this was happening, he slipped the ring onto her finger.
Lily melted into his arms. He wrapped her to his chest and felt their hearts galloping in unison. Caleb shut his eyes, wanting to distill this moment in his memory forever.
Eventually he opened his eyes and twirled one of Lily’s curls around his finger.
“I hope your dad approves.”
She chuckled. “He will. He’s always telling me what a masterstroke it was making you his partner.”
“Bill made me work hard for it.”
He’d worked his butt off proving himself. After a month where he’d exceeded all expectations, Bill had offered him the partnership. Now Caleb had a 25 percent stake in the business and was bursting with ideas on how to grow Baker Construction.
“Dad loves you.” Lily wrapped her arms around his neck and tugged at his hair. “And I’m so glad that you’re talking to your mom now.”
In the past six weeks Caleb had spoken with his mother a couple of times and met her at Hannah’s place once. His barriers were still there, but he was slowly lowering them. He wasn’t sure if he and his mom would ever be friends, but it felt good to let go of the anger. And now, with Lily wearing his ring, he was glad there was no bitterness to taint their happiness.
“Hey, I’m giving you fair warning. I’m an impatient guy, so no long engagements, okay, sweetheart? You’ll have to get cracking on your wedding dress right away.”
“You think I should make my own wedding dress?”
“Of course. I want it to be like the dress from the county fair, only more offbeat and quirky and more, y’know, you. Because in this whole wide world of ours, there’s no one like you.”
Lily laughed, a peal of pure joy. “You got it.”
“And you’ll wear your lucky barrette.”
“Absolutely. Oh, I can’t wait to tell Dad!”
“Soon. There’s just one thing I have to do first.”
“What’s that?” she said.
“Kiss my amazing fiancée.”
Did you love this Bliss? Check out more of our fun and flirty titles here!
Don’t miss more books by Coleen Kwan! Sign up for our newsletter here.
Acknowledgments
Many thanks to Stacy Abrams, Lydia Sharp, and the fantastic team at Entangled Publishing.
About the Author
Coleen Kwan has been a bookworm all her life. At school English was her favorite subject, but for some reason she decided on a career in IT. After many years of programming, she wondered what else there was in life—and discovered writing. She loves writing contemporary romance with heart-stopping heroes, spirited heroines, and swoon-worthy HEAs. Coleen lives in Sydney, Australia with her partner and two children. When she isn’t writing she enjoys avoiding housework, eating chocolate, and watching Criminal Minds.
Visit her website at www.coleenkwan.com
Subscribe to her newsletter and receive a free ebook at www.coleenkwan.com/p/contact-me.html
Connect on Facebook at www.facebook.com/coleenkwan.authorpage
Discover the Pine Falls series…
Unexpectedly Yours
Kissing Her Enemy
Also by Coleen Kwan
Real Men Don’t Break Hearts
Real Men Don’t Quit
One Real Man
White-Hot Holiday
Baiting the Boss
Undercover in the CEO’s Bed
Best Friends with the Billionaire
His Millionaire Maid
Find your Bliss with these great releases…
No Cowboy Required
a Biggest Little Love Story by JoAnn Sky
Grace Harper is a pro at handling the unexpected—which comes in handy when she inherits the ranch she ran away from years ago…along with a young, autistic stepbrother she’s never met. And because nothing ever goes easy for her, Grace finds her frustrating, sexy ex-flame, Noah, taking care of JJ. But if she’s getting out of this nowhere town, she’ll have to find a way to keep from throttling Noah—without kissing him first.
His Outback Temptation
a Prickle Creek novel by Annie Seaton
Freelance photographer Sebastian Richards has come home to help out on the family farm, even though it’s hard to let go of his wanderlust. Circumstances have thrown beautiful chef Isabella Romano and Sebastian together but Bella is determined to leave, even though her heart wants to stay. Sebastian is determined to stay, though his heart wants to go. The only way for them to be happy is to take a chance on love.
Four Weddings and a Fling
a Weddings in Westchester novel by Barbara DeLeo
Grace Bennett is determined to set a perfect example for her new wedding planning business. From now on it will take more than good looks and a charming smile to win her over. The next guy to get her attention will be sweet, dependable, and looking for something serious. But first she’ll have to survive the next couple of weeks at The Aegean Palace with swoon-worthy Ari Katsalos. Ari and Grace want very different things, but it’s getting tough to resist the powerful chemistry burning between them.
The Bookworm and the Beast
a novel by Charlee James
Shy, bookish Izzy is happy to accept a job as a temporary assistant, until the grumpy author claims he didn’t actually hire her. He might be as handsome as a storybook prince, but his prickly personality and resistance to all things Christmas are sure to make for a chilly holiday season. Derek soon realizes Izzy could be the perfect solution to his interfering family this Christmas…if she’ll agree to pretend to be his live-in girlfriend.
enter>
