“I thought I told you to sit still, Mr. Jones.”
“I’m so sorry, Ms. Bennett,” he quipped. “You’re incredibly sexy and my hands tend to wander of their own volition when I’m around you.”
She grinned. “That’s a good answer,” she said, tucking his hands underneath his ass for safe-keeping. “But if you keep misbehaving, I can’t do fun stuff like this.” She shimmied a couple of inches and ground down on his crotch. “Or this,” she added, reaching up to undo the ties on her bikini top and let the fabric fall to her waist, revealing her breasts.
“I will definitely behave,” he choked out, eyes fixed on her chest.
“Well, in that case,” she continued, unclasping the back of her top and tossing it to the patio floor, “I can take these off.” She untied the bows at her hips and slid her bikini bottoms from between her legs. Caleb let out a low growl. He raised his hips and rocked, the bulge in his shorts sliding between the wet folds of skin.
“Oh! I… I thought…touching…not…” she stumbled, the sensation rendering her unable to string a sentence together.
He shook his head. “I’m not breaking any rules, baby. I’m sitting on my hands and my shorts are between us. Technically, I’m not touching you.” He winked and continued moving beneath her, each stroke hitting the tender nub that made sparks burst behind her eyelids.
“That… That’s not fair,” she whimpered, bracing herself with an arm on either side of his head, enabling her to bear down and him to increase the pressure on her clit. It didn’t take long. “I… Oh God!” she cried out, every muscle tensing as the orgasm ripped through her. She landed in a heap on top of him, breathless.
Well, that plan backfired in the most amazing way.
“Can I touch you now?” he whispered into her hair.
She nodded against his shoulder.
He shifted and his hands were on her, smoothing the hair off her face, fingertips gliding along her spine. She sighed, fully content, and nuzzled into him. She loved the smell of his skin, the sensation of him… She loved everything about him. Syd lifted her head to glance at him—his eyes were closed, and a soft smile played at his lips. He looked totally relaxed, but between her legs she could feel he was anything but. She kissed him and whispered, “Your turn.”
He winged an eyebrow. “Yeah, eh?”
She slid down his body, taking his swim trunks with her. She wrapped her fingers around his length and giggled. “Careful there, stud, you’re starting to sound Canadian.”
He was about to respond—with some witty retort, no doubt—but the words fell out in a mumble of incoherent sounds when she licked the tip of his cock. She circled the head with her tongue, stopping now and then to again lick from the base to the tip and back again. She gripped him tight and pumped up and down in time with her mouth, sucking hard until he cursed then she turned it to gentle and teasing.
“Stop, baby,” he whispered. “Please stop.”
She lifted off him in a second, worried she’d done something to hurt him. “Is something wrong? Are you okay? Is—”
He put a finger to her lips to shush her. “I need to be inside you,” he growled. He kicked his shorts from around his ankles and twisted his body to fish around in one of the robe-slash-pillows. He brought out a small foil packet and shredded it open savagely.
“Assumed you were getting some nookie tonight, did you?”
“I was hopeful,” he replied, rolling it on and grabbing her by the hips in two seconds flat. He carefully lowered her on top of him, then he was inside her, filling her up. She rolled her hips and leaned back on him, resting her hands back on his knees for support. Caleb gripped her with one hand while using the other to focus on her center, rubbing the tender nub steadily. She tipped her head toward the sky, briefly noticing the stars in the clear Toronto night before another climax tore through her and she saw stars of her own.
But he wasn’t done with her yet.
She was still reeling from the orgasm and CJ didn’t give her a moment to catch her breath. He sat up and wrapped his arms around her back, pulling her chest to his mouth and teasing the stiff peak of her nipple between his teeth. Syd hooked her ankles around his waist and gasped his name.
“Hang on to me.” He latched onto her ass and less than gracefully wobbled to his feet, still buried deep inside her.
“What are you doing?” she mumbled, nibbling his neck.
He backed her up into a corner. “You’re gonna need to brace yourself, darlin’.”
She stretched her arms out to either side, gripping the rough brick surface as best she could and letting Caleb take her full weight. His fingers dug into the soft flesh of her ass and he withdrew from her a couple inches, just enough to make the force of him slamming back in glorious. Syd was slick with want for him and he glided in and out easily, over and over, until finally he let loose a guttural sound as he found his own release.
“I love you, Sydney,” he whispered into her hair as she clung to him. “God, I love you.”
“I love you too, Caleb.” She rested her head on his shoulder and bit back tears. “No matter what happens, I need you to believe that. I love you.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
She teetered precariously on her tippy toes, doing some sort of unbalanced—and most definitely uncoordinated—dance as she tried to get Caleb’s attention. He ignored her at first, swinging a small duffel bag over his shoulder and grabbing his green hoodie. She slapped at him, twirled in circles, hopped on the spot before finally giving up and sitting on the floor, staring up at him with a somewhat pathetic, forlorn look in her eyes.
“I think someone’s going to miss you,” Syd said, smiling and nodding toward his feet.
Caleb grinned and sat on his haunches. “C’mere, sweetie,” he whispered, and the once-dejected Puff popped up again and placed her paws on his knee, seeking some love and cuddles. “I’m going to miss you too, fuzzy bear. Almost as much as I’m going to miss your mama.” She boinged up and down again, trying to get into his arms. CJ instantly dropped his belongings to scoop her up and let her get in some kisses.
“My God, you’re such a total suck with her,” Syd laughed. “It’s kind of adorable.”
He scowled at her over Puff’s golden fur. “First, two weeks ago you say I’m beautiful. Now you say I’m adorable. You do realize I’m a manly man, right?”
She leaned in to him and kissed him solidly on the mouth. “Mmm, well, I guess you’ll just have to show me how manly you are next time I see you.”
“I can do that.”
“Over and over again,” she added. “I will need loads of data to come to a proper conclusion, after all.”
“I’d be happy to assist in any and every way I can. For the sake of research, that is. Not that I’m a horn-dog or anything.”
“No, of course you’re not. You’re simply adorable,” she teased.
He gently put Puff back on the floor and she scampered away into the living room to attack a squeaky toy. CJ grabbed Syd by her waist and reeled her in for a long, hot, lingering kiss. “God,” he whispered, pulling away reluctantly. “How am I gonna survive without you?”
“It’s only five days,” she murmured against his lips. “I’ve cleared my schedule so we’ll have the whole weekend.” They had planned on meeting in Portland for the weekend to get away from their responsibilities in Vancouver and California, if only for a couple of days.
“Five days is too long. I want to stay.” He hugged her tightly.
“CJ, you’ve got to get to the airport. You’ve got to let me go,” she laughed, trying to wiggle away from him.
He groaned in resignation and checked his watch. “Oh, shit!” He let her go, grabbed his stuff, planted at least a dozen kisses on her face and turned to the door. “Love you, baby,” he called, running out to his car.
“Back atcha, Mr. Jones.” She waved goodbye, closed the door behind her and sighed.
She sank to the floor in the foyer and made kissy s
ounds, summoning Puff, who came bounding over with a small stuffed carrot in her mouth. Syd was positive she had a big, dopey, love-induced grin on her face, and wasn’t certain it was going to fade any time soon. She and Caleb had been spending as much time as humanly possible together since their declaration of love back in Toronto. Caleb had even returned to the house in California to make the distance between them more reasonable and, quite frankly, more bearable. Shocking was the fact that even though their desire was tangible, they weren’t tumbling around in bed the whole time they were together. They talked, saw stupid movies, played with Puff in the back yard—they were getting to know each other on a much deeper level and it made her love him even more. At this point he pretty well knew everything about her.
Not everything. Shut up!
She tossed the carrot into the hall and as Puff shot off after it, the smile left her lips. Her mind and heart were at war on a near-constant basis these days. She was happier than she’d been in, well, ever, and it was thanks to Caleb Jones. Unless a miracle happened—which was unlikely—she would have to say goodbye to him in something like eight months, given she was marrying Brett in April. There was no way she could carry on with this charade once she was living under the same roof as Brett. She despised herself for what she was doing—Caleb didn’t deserve the hurt that was surely coming his way, but still she couldn’t bring herself to believe her time with him was coming to an end.
Things will work out. I’ll be with Caleb in the end. I’ll be happy.
Flat out denial.
That night, Syd was humming away happily as she dabbed at the canvas, putting the finishing touches to her painting of CJ. She was excited about how well it had turned out and was excited to show him. A few minutes later she was done and she gently removed it from the easel, leaning it against a kitchen chair while she started on cleanup. She was in the midst of washing a few paint brushes in the kitchen sink when the doorbell sounded. Wiping her hands on a rag as she moved toward the foyer she called out, “Who is it?”
“It’s me. Open up.”
Brett.
“Oh shit,” she mouthed. “Oh, um, one second… Be right there!”
She bolted into the kitchen and grabbed the painting of Caleb, searching frantically for somewhere to hide it. Why did Brett always have to show up unannounced? She skidded into the dining room and determined there was enough space to hide it behind the decorative wall unit without damaging the art. A second later she was back at the front door with a wriggling and jiggling Puff under her arm.
“Hi!” she said, cheerily. He wrinkled his nose and walked inside.
He remained silent and focused his attention on hunting around her place. He was poking at everything, checking between cushions and peering under the couches.
“Did you lose something, Brett?”
He whirled around to face her. “Who is he?” he demanded.
“Who is who?”
His eyes flashed. “Him,” he ground out. “The guy you’ve been seeing behind my back?”
Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit…
She pasted a calculated frown on her lips. “What on earth are you talking about?”
Brett pointed at her with his index finger. “Something is going with you, Nikoleta. I’m not stupid, you know.”
Debatable.
“Of course you’re not stupid, Brett. What in the world has got you in such a tizzy?”
“You’re fucking someone behind my back and you’re going to tell me who it is!” he yelled in her face.
Puff growled and started fighting to get out of Sydney’s arms, little paws flailing about. “Please, Brett, there’s no need to scream at me.” She turned her back to him. “Let me put Puff upstairs before she tries to eat you, okay?”
On the way up, her mind went into overdrive.
Why does he think I’m seeing someone, let alone fucking someone?
No way would Cara or Theo have let it slip…so who?
I’ve been careful about not going out with Caleb, not locally anyhow—no one would have seen us.
Unless he has someone spying on me…
That bastard!
Suddenly livid, she headed back downstairs and straight to him. He backed away from her as she stalked toward him, and she guessed her face displayed the fury she was feeling.
“After everything that’s gone on,” she ground out, “how dare you accuse me of anything? Do you think I don’t realize what’s at stake here? Do you think I would jeopardize my family for a fucking fling?”
I am, though.
Stop it!
Brett regained his composure. “Don’t try to twist this, Nikoleta,” he sneered. “I’m not blind to the change that’s happened with you over the last couple weeks, you know.”
She blinked. “W-what change?”
It was his turn to make her back away, and he advanced on her with a horrific smirk on his face. “You go from being miserable all the time, from picking fights, and never being polite to me unless your hand is forced…to, to…whatever that was!” He waved at her. “When you first opened the door you were polite and full of smiles. You were like this the last time I stopped by, too. It’s strange and feels like such an act. No one has an about-face with their personality like that. No one!”
She frowned up at him. “You did,” she said quietly. “All those years ago.”
He froze in stunned silence.
She slipped away from him and walked into the kitchen to continue cleaning her painting supplies, leaving him standing in the foyer. Her back was turned to him when he finally followed her. She glanced over her shoulder—his face was pale and drawn and his eyes were lowered, his lips tight.
“You okay?” she asked softly.
He twitched. “Fine.” His voice was stony, cold. He looked up at her. “Things are going to change now, Nikoleta.”
“Um, okay?”
“We’re not waiting for spring to get married.”
She thought she was going to throw up. “Wh-what do you mean?” she stammered. “You know I wanted a spring wedding.”
“What you want has never mattered. What matters is I absolutely do not trust you.”
She turned on her heel to face him. “I’m not doing anything I shouldn’t, Brett! First you’re mad because I’m not happy, then you’re mad I’m trying not to fight with you all the time. I can’t fucking win!” she yelled, throwing the paint brushes to the floor.
He shrugged. “But I can win. We’re getting married the first weekend of September.”
“What? But that’s only two and a half months away!”
Caleb…
“Exactly.”
“There’s too much to be done,” she said, frantic. “There’s not enough time!”
“I’ve taken care of everything. The invitations have already gone out.”
“I hate you for this,” she whispered. “How can you even live with yourself? If anyone found out…”
He guffawed. “Do you think they would believe the daughter of a wanted murderer? Or me?”
“Melanie would believe me.”
He glared at her. “If Melanie were to find out, there would be hell to pay, Nikoleta.” He stepped back toward the foyer and tossed one last comment over his shoulder before he left. “You better start looking for a dress, Nikki.”
She stared at him, shock having set in.
He opened the door and turned back to her, his face contorted by the evil grin on his lips. “You’re running out of time.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Avoiding Caleb was proving to be harder than she thought it would be. When she called him to cancel their weekend plans in Portland, citing a stomach flu, the first thing he did was offer to come to her place to take care of her. It took everything she had to convince him to stay put and let her get through the ‘sickness’ on her own.
The truth was she was sick to her stomach, but not from any strain of virus. It was, instead, because Brett was right—she had run out of ti
me. Run out of time to be with Caleb, to love Caleb…
She had run out of time and now she had to hurt him.
It had been over two weeks since Brett had informed her he’d moved up the date of their wedding and had set it for September. She did her best to put on a cheerful front when she spoke to Caleb, and so far, it was working. She wasn’t pleased her acting skills had gotten more refined over time. Lying like this, to the man she loved, was not a talent she wanted to hone. But he had been patient and understanding with her when she had explained she didn’t have the time to see him right now given Christou’s Toronto location was being readied at light speed and slated to open in August.
Syd was putting off the inevitable, stringing Caleb along and trying to keep her broken heart together with worn Band-Aids, knowing full well the cracks and wounds would never heal.
It was time.
She picked up the phone and dialed, gnawing on her thumbnail while she waited for the line to be answered.
“Hello?”
“Hey…Caleb,” Syd said, working hard to sound upbeat.
“Hi, baby,” he replied slowly, drawing out the latter word. “How’s my love doing?”
“Incredibly busy, you know how it is.”
“Yes, I do. I’m missing you, darlin’.”
God, I miss you, too.
“About that,” she began. “What are you doing this weekend?”
“Same as always when you’re not in my arms, darlin’. I’m working on some new material with Pat.” She practically heard his eyes widen. “Why, what’s up? Are you free? Do you have some spare time? Can I see you?”
She had to smile. His excitement was palpable.
“I might be able to clear some meetings, but I be can’t certain till the last minute. I wanted to make sure you were around in case I could swing it.”
Little White Lie Page 20
