More than Sometimes (Summer Lake Silver Book 6)

by SJ McCoy

  “I’ll ask her.”

  “Hey. I didn’t think,” said Ryan. “I only ever think of you working or going home to do whatever it is you do when you’re not sleeping or working. You’re not seeing her tonight, are you? We didn’t mess up your plans?”

  He smiled. “I’m seeing her later. She’s working and then she had another appointment.”

  Ryan gave him a puzzled look, but he didn’t elaborate on what the other appointment might be. He couldn’t since he didn’t know himself. She’d just said that she couldn’t do dinner tonight because of it, but yes, she’d love to meet him for a drink afterward.

  Chapter Twelve

  “Three more. And two. And last one. Good job!”

  Teresa flopped back down and then curled up one more time before the blood rushed to her head. She slid her legs out from the ab bench and climbed down and grinned at Russ. “I’m glad that’s over with. I feel like a bat hanging down like that.”

  Russ laughed. “That’s why you don’t stay down long.” He poked her in the ribs. “And your abs appreciate the effort.”

  She laughed with him and flicked him with her towel. “I know.” She checked her watch, wanting to make sure that she was going to have enough time to go home and shower before Cal came to get her. She’d said she could meet him at the Boathouse, but it seemed that he liked coming to pick her up. She liked it, too. It felt very chivalrous. She hadn’t ever cared about that kind of thing in the past, but with Cal it was different—he was different. He was a real gentleman. She pressed her lips together to keep in a smile; she was hoping to discover his less gentlemanly side soon.

  Russ smirked at her. “I was going to offer a penny for your thoughts, but I’d pay up to five bucks to know what caused that dirty smile!”

  She laughed and pushed at his arm. “Oh, stop it. You don’t know that it was a dirty thought.”

  “Yeah, I do, Terry. I’ve known you for—”

  “A long time,” she interrupted. “More years than either of us cares to count.”

  “True. Do you want to do fifteen on the treadmill before you go?”

  “You mean the torture’s over?”

  “Yep. You worked hard tonight.”

  “I might just sneak out then and go home.”

  “Hot date?”

  She smiled through pursed lips. “Maybe.”

  “He seems like a good guy.”

  She had to laugh. “Who does?”

  “Frosty the freaking snowman! Who do you think?”

  “Ugh, so the grapevine even reached in here? I thought you were above gossip.”

  “I am! But I can’t help overhearing and when I heard your name come up …” He shrugged. “I look out for you.”

  “Aww,” she leaned in and pecked his cheek. “If I weren’t such a sweaty mess, I’d hug you.”

  “Evening.”

  They both turned at the sound of a deep voice, a very familiar voice that sent a shiver down Teresa’s spine. Wow! She swallowed at the sight of him in workout gear. That was an awful lot of muscle with very little tank top to cover it.

  “Cal!” She couldn’t keep the smile off her face.

  He didn’t smile back. His eyebrows were drawn together, his arms—those arms!—were folded across his chest. He looked … and then she realized … she’d just been kissing on Russ. He didn’t think …?

  “Hey, Cal,” said Russ. “I hope you don’t think I was making a move on your lady?”

  Cal’s face—and the rest of him—was almost completely still. Only a tiny muscle twitching in his jaw gave away the fact that he wasn’t a statue.

  Russ laughed. “I can imagine how that must have looked. But,” he turned and smiled at Teresa, “Terry’s like another sister to me.”

  Teresa watched Cal’s face as she tried to process her own reaction. Part of her wanted to be mad at him that he could assume she was up to something with Russ, but she could see how it might look that way. Another part of her liked—make that loved—the fact that it bothered him. It felt like minutes but was probably only a few seconds before his face relaxed and he treated them to one of his smiles.

  “I’m sorry. I …”

  “No, need.” Russ went and grasped his shoulder and shook his hand. “I get it,” he said before walking away and heading back to the office.

  Cal slowly lifted his gaze to meet Teresa’s. “I’m sorry.”

  She went to him and put her hand on his arm—how could she not? “It’s okay. I’m sorry. I know how it might have looked. But I can’t say you won’t see it again in the future. It’s just how we are. I’ve known Russ since we were tiny tots.”

  The corners of his lips twitched up.

  “Funny?” she asked.

  “The thought of Russ as a tiny tot is amusing. The thought of you is … I’ll bet you were a little cutie.”

  She laughed. “According to my mom, I was a little terror.”

  This time the smile broke the surface and made her want to sigh. “So, this was your appointment?”

  “Yeah. I come in twice a week. Three when I can make it, and Russ works me out.”

  His face tightened again at that. She’d have to make sure that he understood that Russ was just a friend. He might be another big, muscular, good-looking guy, but like he’d said himself, he was more like a brother to her than anything else.

  “Do you come in here a lot?” She laughed and tightened her grip on his arm. “I know you must work out a lot, but I haven’t seen you here before.”

  “I’ve been coming in the mornings. I wanted to come tonight to kill some time.”

  She looked at her watch. “I can’t imagine having time to kill. I’m always running somewhere. And right now, I need to run home for a shower.” She waggled her eyebrows at him. “Before you arrived, I was telling Russ that I have a hot date tonight.”

  “You were?” That might be the biggest smile she’d seen on his face yet.

  “I was, and I need to go and get cleaned up and try to make myself look beautiful.”

  “You are beautiful.” His voice was so low she wondered if she’d imagined it. But looking up into his eyes, she saw the truth of his words reflected there. He really meant it.

  She reached up and pressed a kiss to his lips. “Thank you.”

  ~ ~ ~

  Cal brought the SUV to a stop outside her house at eight-twenty-five. He’d done his best to not arrive too early. She’d said it was going to be a rush for her when she left the gym.

  He pursed his lips. Seeing her there had been a surprise. Seeing her in workout gear had sent his heart rate soaring but then seeing her lean in to kiss Russ had sent a rush of adrenaline through his system. He closed his eyes. He hadn’t been prepared for that. It didn’t bother him now; it had only been a momentary urge to throw Russ across the room. What he hadn’t been prepared for was what it made him realize. It made him understand that he wanted Teresa to be his. The thought of her with someone else?

  He rubbed his hand over the back of his neck. He couldn’t even entertain the thought. He’d never understood how some guys went all caveman over a woman. He’d had a few relationships over the years since his divorce—with some nice women—but he’d never, even when he was married, felt the way he did now. Now he got it. He supposed it kind of made sense. He didn’t do anything in half measures, so why would he be any different when it came to falling in love?

  He raised an eyebrow at himself in the rearview mirror. Love? His reflection smiled back and gave him a slight nod. Apparently, yeah.

  He blew out a sigh and opened the door. Just because he’d figured it out, didn’t mean that he should go scaring Teresa with it. What he needed to do was let her get to know who he was, give her time, and hope that she might discover that she felt the same way about him.

  Elle opened the door and greeted him with a smile but didn’t get the chance to speak before Skye came barreling past her and wrapped her little
arms around his knees then held them up to him.

  “Cal!”

  He chuckled and raised an eyebrow at Elle. To him, it felt like the most natural thing in the world to pick the kid up, but he didn’t have a good feel yet for how comfortable Elle was having him around her daughter.

  He needn’t have worried. She grinned at him. “You don’t have to, but if you want to.”

  He reached down and swung the little girl up in the air. “Skye!”

  She giggled and looked down at him as he held her up.

  “I missed you, Cal!”

  His breath caught in his chest. It reminded him of when he used to go home after an assignment. Little Henry, and Abigail and Anthony, too, but mostly Henry because he was that bit younger, used to greet him this same way. “I missed you, too, sunshine.” He said it before he thought about it.

  Skye giggled. “I’m Skye, not sunshine!”

  He brought her down and sat her on his hip. “Well, doesn’t sunshine come from the sky?”

  She was cute as a button as she wrinkled her nose to consider that one.

  “Come on in,” said Elle. “Mom will be down in a minute. She was running late after the gym.”

  Cal followed her through to the kitchen. Skye rested her head on his shoulder as they went, but then decided to start pawing at his face. He pretended to bite at her hands making her giggle.

  Elle grinned at him. “She adores you.”

  He caught Skye’s finger between his lips and shook his head like a dog with a toy, making her giggle even more. “The feeling is mutual.”

  “Will you be my grandpa?”

  Cal’s heart thudded to a halt. He’d love to be.

  Elle reached out to take her. “Skye!” She rolled her eyes. “Sorry. Don’t let her scare you off.”

  Skye turned away from Elle and buried her face in his neck. “I want you to be my grandpa. I don’t have a grandpa.”

  Elle blew out a sigh. “Sorry, Cal.”

  “It’s fine. It’s no problem. I thought she … your dad …” He stopped. He shouldn’t ask and he knew it, but he was curious.

  Elle made a face. “My dad makes her call him Papa Steve.”

  Cal tried to keep his expression neutral, but he didn’t get it.

  “Skye. Will you run upstairs and tell Grandma that Cal’s here?”

  Cal was relieved when she let him set her down and she trotted off upstairs.

  Elle glanced after her before turning back to him and lowering her voice. “I don’t know how much Mom’s told you about my dad. He’s not a bad guy, not really, but he can be a bit of a jerk. He used to call my mom Grandma, long before I ever had Skye. It was just a kind of dig at her, saying she was like an old lady. She wasn’t! It’s just that she’s always been more responsible about … well, everything. She had the business, and me to take care of, and she’s always been sensible with money. He used to call her that meaning that she was no fun. But she is. You’ve seen that.”

  Cal nodded. He had. She was a lot of fun, she had such a light-hearted approach to life, she was always laughing. Her ex must be an asshole was the only conclusion he could reach.

  “Anyway. Sorry. I didn’t mean to dump all that on you. My point was that he makes Skye call him Papa Steve, as if he thinks people won’t realize he’s her granddad. And his wife, Maddie, she says she’s not old enough to be a grandma, either. So, they had Skye call her Nana. I think Dad did that on purpose so that Mom would only be left with Grandma.” She smiled. “I think it’s kind of backfiring on him now though because all Skye’s friends here have a Grandma and Grandpa and she wants that, too.” She smiled. “Not that I’m trying to rope you into anything.”

  He smiled back at her. He liked her, and he loved how much she loved and looked out for her mom.

  “Unless you want roping in?” She gave him an inquiring look.

  What the hell? She’d shared more with him than she needed to. If this was ever going to work out the way he hoped it would, Elle and Skye would become part of his life. It wouldn’t do any harm to get onside with her from the beginning.

  He glanced at the hallway before he spoke. “I wouldn’t mind.”

  Her eyes widened and she brought her hand up to cover her mouth, just like Teresa did. “Oh, my God! Are you saying what I think you are? That you wouldn’t mind being her grandpa—for real? Not just letting her call you that?”

  Cal couldn’t keep the smile off his face as he nodded. “I’m not going to rush anything though.”

  Elle nodded rapidly. “Yeah! I mean, no! I mean. Oh, Cal, that’s awesome. I’m in your corner, okay?”

  “Thanks.”

  ~ ~ ~

  “Is something going on?” Teresa asked when they got into Cal’s SUV.

  “What kind of something?”

  She’d guess that there was. There was a twinkle in his eye that she hadn’t seen before, and Elle had been giving off weird vibes when Teresa had come back downstairs with Skye.

  She pushed at his arm. “Don’t play the innocent with me.”

  When he turned to her, his smile looked anything but innocent. “I would never do that. I am many things, but innocent isn’t one of them.”

  All the muscles in her stomach and lower tightened in the heat of that look. It was a new one, and she liked it—a lot.

  “So, tell me what you and Elle were scheming? You were, weren’t you?”

  He chuckled. “Perhaps. But even if we were, I might have to ask you if it would be okay if she and I shared a secret—for a while, at least. A secret that I hope you’ll like when you discover it.”

  Teresa put her hand over her heart and was about to make some smart remark about him being sweet, but she was taken by surprise when her eyes filled with tears.

  Cal’s smile evaporated. “Hey. I’m sorry. I don’t …”

  She held her hand up to stop him. “It’s okay. It’s great. I’m just.” She shrugged. “Sorry. It’s lovely. I love the idea of you and her sharing something. I love that …” She shook her head. “But I don’t want to freak you out or scare you off. So, are we going for that drink?”

  His expression turned serious, as though he was about to say something, but instead he nodded. “Okay.” He started the engine and reached across to take hold of her hand as he drove.

  She could tell he needed silence. She was already used to that with him. What surprised her was that she didn’t mind it. She enjoyed it, too. Usually with people in the salon who didn’t talk much—mostly the men—she spent the quiet moments wondering what they were thinking or trying to get ahead on what they might say when they spoke again. With Cal she was comfortable to just be. She enjoyed sharing space with him, being beside him. It didn’t need to be anything more than that for her to feel relaxed—and happy.

  She only realized that they’d passed the Boathouse when he reached the other end of Main. She squeezed his hand and raised an eyebrow when he looked over.

  “I should have asked first. I didn’t feel like getting the third degree from Kenzie again, so … I thought we could go to my place. You haven’t seen it yet.”

  Her heart started to hammer in her chest. Now, that, she hadn’t been expecting.

  “Do you want to?”

  Her eyes darted to his face, it sounded like he was asking another question entirely. But she couldn’t tell, he had his gaze fixed on the road ahead.

  “I’d love to.” Whichever question he was asking, that was her honest answer.

  When they got there, he opened the door and let her go in ahead of him. “Come on in, I’ll get us a drink and we can sit outside if you like. There’s a deck out the back.”

  “Okay, thanks.”

  She wandered around while he fixed the drinks. The place looked bare. Sure, it was only a rental, she knew that, but there were very few signs that there was anyone living here. There was a photo sitting on the mantel, and she went to it. It must be his sister and her kids.
She smiled. They were gorgeous. The little girl, Abigail, looked like her mom. Anthony, the middle one had an air of Cal about him. He didn’t look that much like him, but there was a seriousness in his expression that she’d bet he’d learned from his uncle. She hoped that Darla’s new man would bring some fun into their lives. The little one, Henry, was laughing at the camera. She imagined Cal must miss them. It was telling that this photo was the only personal item she could see in the whole place.

  She jumped when he appeared in the doorway from the kitchen. “Wine?”

  She nodded. “Whatever works.”

  He shrugged. “Wine, beer, whisky, vodka. I guessed you’d like wine best.”

  She grinned. “Do you have soda water?”

  “Yup.”

  She grinned. “Any chance you’d have such a thing as a lime?”

  He smiled. “As a matter of fact, I do. And I should have known. You were drinking vodka, lime, and soda that first night.”

  “Do you pick up on all the little details?”

  He smiled back at her. “I do and usually I store them. My only excuse is that I was mildly traumatized by the first part of that evening.”

  She had to laugh. “You weren’t the only one.”

  He crossed the room in two strides and closed his arms around her. “I’m glad we figured it out and got past that.”

  She looked up into his eyes and slid her arms up around his shoulders. “Me too.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  They took their drinks out onto the back deck. It was nice enough out here, but Cal couldn’t help wishing that he already had the house over at Lakeside. He could happily picture sitting out on the deck there with her, watching the sun go down over the lake.

  “Do you have a lease on this place?”

  Cal set his glass down on the table. It didn’t surprise him that she seemed to be thinking along the same lines he was. He didn’t have huge experience talking with women, but he generally found that they chattered away, chasing their own train of thought with no awareness of his. Teresa wasn’t like that. She was in tune with him somehow.

  “Only month to month. Austin, the realtor, he owns it and he said he usually rents this one on a monthly basis to newcomers.”