Crushing on Kate

by Theresa Paolo

  “Not yet.”

  “Oh my god can you please tell her,” Kate pleaded. “Maybe she’ll get off the rest of our cases if she knows she’s finally getting a great-grandbaby.”

  “Yes!” Hadley agreed. “Do you know she asked Chris, the guy who helps out at the farm, to knock me up?”

  “He’s cute,” Kate said.

  “He’s eighteen!”

  Kate shrugged. “Last I checked that’s legal.”

  “Don’t worry,” Shay said. “We’re going to tell the rest of the family at Sunday night dinner.”

  Kate wasn’t overly emotional, but thinking of having a new baby in the family made her so unbelievably happy that tears filled her eyes. She looked at Shay with a big grin.

  “What?” Shay asked.

  “You’re going to be a mom.”

  “I am. I just hope I’m going to be a good one.”

  “You’re not your mother,” Kate said.

  “What if I am?” Shay asked, her voice cracking.

  Hadley shook her head. “Impossible.”

  “Hadley’s right. Your mother showed you all the don’ts of raising a kid, so if you ask me she did you a favor. Now you know for your kid’s sake all the things not to do.”

  “And even though it pains me to admit,” Hadley said. “You have our brother and as much of a pain in the ass as he is, he was the oldest and had a hand in raising us all. He’s kind of an expert.”

  “What if our kid likes him more?”

  Kate laughed. “This kid is going to love you both equally. Some days they might like you more and other days they might like Matt more, but at the end of the day they will love you equally.”

  Shay started to cry and fanned her face with her hand. “Dammit, I can’t stop crying.”

  “You’re going to be a load of fun for the next nine months,” Kate said. “But it’s okay, we’ll still love you.”

  “Gee thanks.”

  “That’s what sisters are for,” Kate said with a smile.

  Chapter 14

  Caleb had been hearing about the annual fair since he moved in, but no amount of information could have prepared him for the sheer chaos that was the Red Maple Falls Annual Fair. The streets were filled with people and cars going in every which direction. It was the first time since he moved to the small town that he’d witnessed a traffic jam.

  The large field at the end of town was filled with pop-up tents filled with handmade designs, food trucks, a designated area for tractor races, a small animal farm where kids could hold rabbits and feed goats and booths for all the local businesses.

  He was happy that Mason informed him about getting a booth. With the amount of people coming through he’d have been nuts to have missed the opportunity. Since he was late to sign up, they had to squeeze him in which was why he was just to the left of the port-a-potties. Though, he didn’t think it was such a bad thing, since there was constant traffic going to the blue boxes. Granted most people were in a rush as they passed, but on their way out, they moved less urgently and stopped by his booth.

  He had a few bikes set up along with some accessories. He was aware that not everyone was into riding bikes or the fact that not everyone was in the market for a new bike, but he was still happy to be there, spreading the word about his little shop on Main and securing his spot as towns-member.

  Plus, he was in the perfect spot to watch Kate. She was down a bit toward the entrance, constantly surrounded by people, but her back was to him, and he could make out every curve. Every now and again, she would turn around and give him a wave before going back to finishing the piece she was working on.

  He admired her dedication to her craft, and even more, he loved how she always had a smile on her face. Just watching her in her element, doing what she loved, sharing it with the world, made him happy to be witness to it.

  He might have settled in Red Maple Falls to hide away and forget about his past, but now, looking across the fairgrounds and watching Kate with that beautiful smile, he was grateful for that day in the parking lot. He was rude, yes, but he didn’t regret it for a second because that encounter was the moment his world shifted, and though it still scared him, for the first time in a very long time, he remembered what it was like to wake up and look forward to a new day.

  Through the crowd, he spotted Terry teetering toward him in her signature high heels. Her red hair was fluffed high on her head like usual, and her big sunglasses sat perched on her nose. Today she was wearing lime green capris and a black top, but as she got closer, Caleb could see the leopard print outline around her collar and the pocket.

  She waved to people as she passed, stopping to talk to a few, but it was obvious she had a destination in mind. She’d been surprisingly patient while she waited for her bike, but over the past week she’d been showing up to his shop more frequently to check on his progress.

  He had been waiting on one accessory that would make the bike perfect, and it had arrived that morning. The bike was finally finished and he couldn’t wait to present her with it.

  “What are you doing all the way out here by the shitters?” she asked as she approached.

  “They had to squeeze me in where they could.”

  “I think they could’ve done a little better than this,” she said, motioning her hands toward the portable toilets. “I’ll talk to Layla; she’s the one in charge. Next year you’ll have a prime location.”

  “You don’t have to do that.” Though, he wouldn’t mind if she did. He was already coming up with plans for next year, hoping he’d be able to raise money to help maintain the local trails and possibly add a few more with advanced black diamonds that could help drive more tourism to the town.

  “Shush I want to. Now tell me. Any news on my bike?”

  “It’s finished.”

  Terry’s cheeks lit up, her smile pressing to new limits. “Why in the heck haven’t you told me?” She smacked his chest with her gold cultch that felt like it held another money brick. He just hoped she didn’t pull it out right now. It was one thing at his shop when it was just the two of them, but it was another when the fairgrounds were swarming with out-of-towners who would see her as an easy target. Though, for some reason Caleb thought Terry would do just fine on her own if someone tried to steal from her.

  “I would’ve called you,” he said. “But you told me not to when I could walk on down, and since I just finished this morning and had to get here, I didn’t have time.”

  “A man who actually listens. Go figure. When can I pick it up?”

  “Stop by first thing in the morning.”

  “Hot bod, here I come!” Terry exclaimed before planting a kiss on Caleb’s cheek. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

  Caleb shook his head and laughed as Terry walked away.

  “If I didn’t know any better I’d say you’re having fun in this little old small town.” Kate’s voice was like a breath of fresh air after a hard workout. He turned to her and didn’t respond. Instead, he took her in his arms and crashed his lips to hers, desperate to taste her, to fill the slide of her tongue against his.

  She didn’t hesitate, parting her lips and letting him take all that he craved.

  “Get a room,” a preteen boy said as he walked by, and Caleb finally pulled away.

  “You’ll understand one day, kid,” Caleb said after him.

  Caleb rested his hands on Kate’s hips, and she smiled up at him. “What was that for? Not that I’m complaining.”

  “Considering I’ve been staring at your ass all day, you’re lucky that’s all I did.”

  “Is that so?”

  He nodded and bent down, capturing her lips again. “The things I want to do to you right now.”

  She stepped back, a wicked grin crossing over her features as her hand slid down to his. “Come on.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “Somewhere you can show me all of these things.”

  “I can’t just leave my booth and have someone
take off with a thousand-dollar bike. Besides, shouldn’t you be getting back?”

  She ran a thumb across his cheek, wiping away Terry’s lipstick. “She branded you.” Kate continued to rub at his cheek as she spoke. “Brianne is covering me for the next hour.” She rested her hand on his chest and lifted up on tip-toe, her lips lingering just a hair away from his. “The things we can do in an hour.” She pressed against him, her two perfect mounds rubbing against his chest and shooting desire straight to his core.

  He grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the line of trees behind the lot of trucks that led to the open woods.

  “I thought you couldn’t leave your booth?” she asked, her long eyelashes fluttering, making his already growing erection harden.

  “Screw it. If someone wants the bike that bad they can have it. What I’m about to do to you will be well worth it.”

  “I like the sound of that.”

  Forty-five minutes later, they stumbled out of the woods, clothes wrinkled and hair ruffled. Kate stopped right before they stepped out from the line of trucks that blocked them from the crowds and reached up, running her fingers through Caleb’s hair.

  “Better,” she said. “Don’t want people to figure out what we did in there.”

  “If they knew what we did in there they’d be jealous.”

  “Mmm,” Kate said, lifting up on her toes and pressing a kiss to his lips. “I’m going to be thinking about it all day.”

  “Are you now?”

  “Uh huh.”

  He pulled her tighter against him, surprised at the arousal growing inside him. It was just every time he touched her, a surge of raw lust would rush through his body no matter how much she had already ravaged him.

  She cupped him through his jeans and caught his gaze, catching his mouth with hers. Her tongue slipped between his crease, an erotic tease as she gently pulled away. She stroked him through his pants a few times before letting her hand fall to her side. “Something to look forward to for tonight,” she said before disappearing into the row of trucks.

  “Kate, wait,” he called after her, but she was already too far gone. Oh well. That’s what she got for making him hard again and walking away.

  He adjusted himself and then waited a good ten minutes before his throbbing erection finally went down.

  ***

  The August heat had nothing on the burning inferno that Caleb had lighted inside her. She couldn’t believe that she just had sex with him at the Annual Fair. It was so unlike her, but every time she was around him, he brought out this other side of her. He awakened a sex fiend that couldn’t get enough. For crying out loud, she was ready to straddle him behind the trucks after he already gave her multiple orgasms in the woods.

  She ran a hand through her hair as she approached Brianne who was finishing up a transaction. The glass blown pendants she made were selling like hotcakes, and she made a mental note to stock more in the shop.

  “How’s it going?” she asked Brianne when she was finished.

  Brianne slid the money into the cash box and spoke over her shoulder. “I sold four pendants and a vase while you were gone.”

  “That’s fantastic.”

  Brianne turned around and her eyes narrowed as she looked Kate up and down.

  “What?” Kate asked.

  A bright crimson filled Brianne’s cheeks. “Oh nothing. Just…” Brianne motioned to her hair. “Did you wrestle a bear while you were gone?”

  “A bear? What are you talking about?”

  Brianne spun around and dropped down beneath the table, pulling out her pocket book. She searched through the large bag and retrieved a compact. She opened it and passed it to Kate.

  Kate took the compact and when she saw her reflection in the mirror her eyes widened, cheeks burning. Not only did she have pine needles hanging from her head, but her hair had fallen out of its braid; it looked like she had stuck her finger in a socket.

  “Oh my god,” Kate uttered as she desperately clawed at her hair.

  Brianne went back in her bag and dug around before pulling out a brush. “This should help.”

  “You’re a lifesaver,” Kate said, taking the brush and trying to salvage the disaster that was her hair. She was going to kill Caleb. The jerk could have warned her.

  Brianne leaned over and plucked out a few pine needles that stuck to the back of her head and discarded them to the ground.

  “Thank you,” Kate offered, knowing this was way more than the poor college student signed up for. If anything, Kate should’ve been picking pine needles out of Brianne’s hair. This was not how a thirty-three-year-old woman acted, but again it was Caleb. He made her inhibitions go right out the window.

  Kate was grateful Brianne didn’t say anything else about her unprofessional appearance, and after helping Kate get back to looking presentable, Brianne didn’t bring it up again.

  An hour later, Kate was standing in the crowd in front of the main stage, watching the judges taste the desserts presented to them. Shay and Terry stood to the side, holding hands while the judges took generous bites of their apple tartlet cupcake.

  Kate watched each judge carefully trying to read their reactions. One nodded and smiled, but the other two were stone cold, not even blinking an eye while they chewed. They each wrote down on pads then moved onto the next.

  Shay looked out to the crowd, and Kate held her hand up with her fingers crossed.

  “No need for any of that,” Matt said, coming up behind her. “I’ve eaten that cupcake a hundred times since last week. It’s perfect. They’re going to win.”

  “Can’t hurt,” Kate said then nudged her big brother in the side. She looked around to make sure there was no one they knew that would over hear. “This time next year, you’ll be rooting your wife on with a baby in your arms.”

  A smile broke on his face, his eyes lit up as he stared at Shay. They had shared the news to the rest of the family at Sunday night dinner, and Kate swore her grandmother’s screech had been heard in outer space.

  “I still can’t believe it.”

  “Well, you better start believing it soon because it’s happening.”

  “It’s just for so long, I never thought it would happen and then…it all did. Things just never went right for us, you know?”

  “Now you’re waiting for something bad to happen?”

  “I guess so.”

  “Is that why you’re driving Shay crazy?”

  “Why did she say that?”

  “She might’ve mentioned how you won’t let her do much of anything and how you’re constantly calling to check in.”

  Matt ran a hand over his face. “Okay, maybe I’ve been a little more overprotective than usual.”

  “Look, big brother. You both have been through enough. It’s finally your turn at happiness; god knows you guys earned it. She’s only going to be pregnant for the first time once, so stop overthinking and worrying. Just let yourselves enjoy this. Shay’s tough and she’s also smart. If she thinks she needs to take it easy, she will. Don’t make that decision for her. I know how hard it is for you not to call the shots, but try.”

  Matt looked back to Shay then mumbled, “I guess you’re right.”

  “What? I’m sorry I didn’t hear that?”

  “Shut up.”

  “No, really can you repeat that?”

  “You’re right. You happy now?”

  “You have no idea.”

  Layla, the event services manager of Red Maple Falls, retrieved the envelope that housed the winner of the annual adult baking competition. She stepped up to the microphone her black heels making her level with the mic. She tapped her finger against the head, capturing everyone’s attention.

  “And the winner is…” The crowd went silent as she opened the envelope taking out a piece of paper and she nodded as if she had already known who the winner would be. “The apple tartlet cupcake by Shay Michaels of Sweet Dreams Bakery and Terry Donati of the Happy Apple!”

&nbs
p; Kate threw her hands in the air and jumped up and down. Matt put two fingers in his mouth and whistled as Shay and Terry stopped hugging and ran up to receive their medal.

  Kate looked up to her big brother and smiled. “Told you. Nothing but happiness from here on out.”

  Matt wrapped his arm around Kate’s shoulder and pulled her in for a side hug.

  “I found my happiness. Now it’s time you found yours.”

  The truth was, she already had.

  Chapter 15

  Kate hummed quietly to herself as she gathered the materials she needed for her class. It was going to be a full house tonight, and she was excited to get started. There was something about teaching people the craft that warmed her heart and brought her joy. She loved seeing their faces when they touched glass to a flame for the first time, loved to watch as their eyes widened as the glass began to soften and the look of amazement as they began to manipulate it.

  She especially couldn’t wait for later when the class was gone, and Caleb came in for his own private lesson. She had a feeling it would quickly turn from an innocent lessen to clothes being shed. It was almost impossible for her to keep her hands off of him.

  Her thighs quivered at the thought, her core throbbing with the need for his touch.

  Her cell phone rang out, echoing in the space, and she floated over to her desk to get it.

  Matt’s name flashed on the screen of her cell, and she scooped it up. “What can I do for you today?” she asked with a smile in her tone. She couldn’t help it. She was deliriously happy and couldn’t seem to hold it back.

  Matt didn’t reply so she looked down at her phone to make sure she had service.

  “Matt?”

  “Grandpa’s in the hospital.”

  “What?” Her heart slammed against her chest, making it impossible to breathe. She reached out to her desk and held on as her knees began to buckle under her weight. “Is he okay?”

  “I don’t know. I’m stuck at a car fire just off the highway and can’t get to the hospital. Grandma brought him in and called Mom. She and Dad are on their way now. I told them I’d let you know.”