by Raine Miller
“Offer thirty-nine point five and see if she accepts. I feel forty is our threshold on this, but at the same time, I want to make sure she bites hard. There haven’t been any reasonable offers up ’til now, so let’s just see how this first round goes. And not even a whisper of where this is originating, okay?” I shamelessly listened in on his conversation, knowing he was discussing a deal in the millions of dollars as if it were a daily occurrence. It probably was for him, and served as a reminder, yet again, how vastly different my simple life was from his.
“That’s right. William J. Brookermann is the principal on the offer. No, with two n’s. I already said it’s a silent partnership. She cannot suspect, or it’ll flop. Good. Of course, yes, put out feelers with the state. I want to know if it’s been done before. We’ll talk again midweek.”
Caleb ended his call and turned to me, grinning like a boy who’d just found a secret stash of sweets.
“Your business call just now pleases you?” I asked him, now curious about his conversation.
“It does. Very much.”
“Are you buying something?”
“I hope so.” More cryptic answers from him, but I wasn’t the kind of person who begged for answers. I imagined if he wanted to tell me about it, then he would. He hadn’t announced anything to me about his plan to buy some land and build a house on the south end of the island, either. I wondered if his call just now had been part of it. Whatever his business deal was about seemed to be good news, so I dropped the subject.
I could feel his eyes on me as I drove the winding roads up through the hilly grassland to the point. “What do you want to do tonight?” he asked after a moment.
“Thank you for asking,” I paused, “because it saves me from having to tell you what we are doing tonight.”
He laughed. “That’s my girl using her wicked British wit on me again. I’d tickle you senseless if you weren’t driving this ancient vehicle right now.”
I pretended shock. “Are you insulting dear Woody again? I love this ancient vehicle, I’ll have you know. Woody is here to stay.” I stroked over the faux wood-grain fascia as if I were petting a dog.
“He can stay, but what if Woody were to get a loving restoration and then a nice big garage in which to enjoy his retirement? You can take him out on his birthday and special occasions.”
“Oh, Caleb, not again with buying me a new car. We’ve talked about this,” I scolded gently. I knew he meant well, but I still felt uncomfortable with the money issue.
He sighed as if conceding to me, so I knew he wasn’t really angry. He was just really stubborn when he wanted something. “Well, what if I buy a car for use on the island that belongs to me, and you can drive it? How does that idea sit with you?” He put his lips to my ear. “I need to know you are as safe as you can possibly be, or I will worry all the fuckin’ time. A thirty-six-year-old vehicle is too old to be safely reliable anymore. Please don’t make me worry, baby.” He kissed below my ear before moving back into his seat.
Very stubborn. “Can we discuss this further after I explain what we’re doing tonight?”
“Will what we’re doing tonight help you agree to driving the new car with every imaginable safety feature already installed that I’m buying for use on the island?” he fired back. Stubborn, but totally adorable.
“Enjoying a soak in my huge claw-foot tub together, and a massage from you just might.”
“I like that plan, especially where we’ll be having our discussion, baby,” he said wickedly.
“I want you to redesign my master bath to have a huge bathtub incorporated,” he said softly.
“Oh? Because . . . ?” This was a change from what we’d talked about.
“Because I want to do this with you all the time.” Caleb had me leaning back against him in the hot water, his arms holding me captive, but only in the very best way. He trailed his fingers up my arm to cross over to my throat, and then down to shape the fullness of a breast before circling the nipple and playing with it until it was tight and throbbing. Caleb liked to keep up the touching long after the sex was over. It was just one of his sweet ways. One of the many.
But the sex was probably not over yet, because I could feel him hard again, his big cock lying flat against my lower back. I wondered what his next move might be. Would it be as thrilling as what we had done before the bath? Which was me on top, riding his magic tongue with his cock down my throat as I came all over his mouth. He’d lifted me off him before I could find my way back to earth, arranging me half on my side and half on my back. With determined movements he’d gripped one leg and held it straight up for leverage.
Then he’d fucked me hard, with those deep-blue eyes drilling into me as intently as his cock had until he throbbed out his own orgasm.
I was so out of it afterward, I wasn’t even aware of him preparing the bath we were in right now. Caleb had gotten everything ready and then carried me in here to get in the water with him.
“You weren’t so keen about having a bathtub before today,” I reminded him.
“That’s because I never had anyone I wanted to take a bath with before.”
“So, I am your bathing buddy now?”
“Yep—bathing buddy, shower buddy, bed buddy—all of those.” He thrust his pelvis into my back so I could feel exactly how hard and ready he was for more.
“You are insatiable.”
“You make me insatiable and have from the beginning. I can’t help it. Especially when I have your tight naked ass pressed up against my cock. What do you think I am, woman? An alien?”
“Sometimes I do, yes.” I turned slightly so I could meet his eyes. “Sometimes I think you can’t possibly be a real human man because of how amazing you are, and how kind and generous—Caleb, I want to tell you something important—”
He stopped me with two of his fingers pressed to my lips. “Wait—before you say whatever it is, I have a request.”
“All right,” I said, curious. “What is your request?”
“I’d like to give you something first. I’ve had it for a few weeks, but then I wasn’t so sure if you would welcome it, so I’ve held back from giving it to you to wait for the right time. But, I’d like to give it to you now, before you tell me your something important.” He tilted his head at me. “Please?”
“Okay, Caleb.” I absolutely adored him like this. He could be so demanding and dominant during sex, and then transform into the sweetest, most romantic gentleman imaginable. I don’t know how he did it, but the combination was pure magic for me. “I can’t seem to say no to you.”
“I can’t give you my gift from inside the bathtub, either.”
We both laughed as he helped me out of the tub. I loved this part, too. Caleb liked to dry me off and get me settled after we showered. He was very good as he drew the supersoft Egyptian cotton towel over my skin. He gave extra attention to my breasts and even dropped a few soft kisses as he worked. “You’re so beautiful, standing here like this for me,” he said on a whisper.
Caleb was very good at just about everything, and I didn’t even try to stop the few tears that fell as I watched him take care of me. He didn’t react at all to my crying, which oddly, only served to help me to fall even harder for him. The only concession he made to having noticed my tears was when he finished with the towel at my cheeks before helping me into my robe.
HE handed me a red velvet case with Cartier embossed on the top. “For you,” he said with an unreadable expression as my heart bounced around inside my chest.
Dressed in my robe, I sat beside him and accepted the box with shaking hands. I lifted the lid to find a link bracelet in white gold with the classic Cartier C diamond clasp. The bracelet had three charms attached. A lighthouse with what looked like a diamond at the top to represent the light, a little house with a round window filled in with a red stone, and finally a heart-shaped padlock with a tiny key linked to the lock handle.
“Oh, Caleb, it’s so beautiful. Thank yo
u. Thank you for such a perfect gift.” I leaned forward and kissed him. “Where did you get this?”
“I found it when I was in Abu Dhabi, and I thought you might like it.”
“I more than like it. I love it. How did you know I always wanted a charm bracelet?”
“Well, I didn’t, but I hoped you would,” he said. “I’m really glad you love it—so does this mean you’ll drive the new car I’m getting for you?” He gave me his melting little-boy grin.
“You aren’t going to let the car thing go, I can see. All right, I agree to the car, but right now I want you to help me put this gorgeous bracelet on, and tell me why you chose each charm.”
“Thank you,” he said while gently closing the diamond C clasp around my wrist. “It started when I was looking for something that would remind you of me when you wore it. I know the C is for Cartier, but it’s also the first letter of Caleb, so you should think of me when you see that part.” He winked. “The little house with the round window is your cottage of course, but the little red stone in the window reminded me of a meatball . . . so you got a cottage with a meatball window. That should be self-explanatory.” He chuckled. “The lighthouse is the Fairchild Light to represent how you are a south-end island girl.” He kissed me sweetly. “The padlock is my heart . . . to which there is only one key. The key is you. You are my key, Brooke Casterley.”
“That was the most beautiful explanation I’ve ever heard . . .”
“Look at the back of the padlock, and you’ll see my initials are engraved there. I had yours added to the shaft of the key.”
In beautiful antique script were the initials C.J.W.B. on the padlock, and on the key were mine, B.E.C. “So I won’t ever forget that you are the heart and I am your key?” I asked.
“That is correct, beautiful.”
“What if I told you that you are the same for me, Caleb? That I am the heart and you are my key?”
“Am I, Brooke?”
I nodded my head up and down because I needed a moment to compose myself from the onslaught of emotions bubbling up. “You are inside my h-heart, Caaa—leb. You’re in here s-so very deep, inside a p-part of me I thought—I thought—wouldn’t ever be c-capable of f-f-feeling this way.” I splayed my palm over my heart and struggled to get the rest of the words out. “But my heart does work. You healed what was broken inside it and brought that part back to life. I know now what I was feeling. I didn’t recognize it right away because I’d never felt it before, but I figured it out when you went away on your trip. I missed you dreadfully, but more than that, I saw how much you cared by having your people looking out for me while you were away. That’s when I knew for sure. So, at the same time you were choosing this beautiful gift for me, I was realizing I had fallen in love with you.” I took his face in both of my hands, rubbed my thumbs over his cheeks, and felt the stubble on his jaw beneath my fingers. “I love you, Caleb Blackstone, who is so very deep inside of my heart.”
He closed his eyes for a moment as he took in my words. I heard a rush of breath come out of him and realized he’d been waiting to hear me say it. But now, finally faced with hearing those three important words from me, he was stirred up. I could feel him trembling beneath my hands as I touched him. As clear as day for me to see—telling Caleb I loved him was profoundly meaningful to him.
Loving him had made me realize something. It wasn’t about one’s station in life. I love him—every beautiful, generous, thoughtful part of him. And it was so easy to do so, as if he’d been made for me. I was now seeing it must be the same for him. He loves me completely. It hadn’t made sense to me before, but loving him had opened my eyes to the startling fact. Love simply was.
Caleb didn’t say a word when he swept me up into his arms and kissed me. He kissed me the whole distance as he carried me up the stairs. He didn’t stop kissing me while he stripped me out of my robe, nor while slipping out of his jeans, which he’d donned after our bath. He kept on kissing me once we were naked on my bed together, and he’d put himself inside me.
When we were as close as two people could possibly be, he said it back to me.
“I love you, Brooke. Only you.”
He didn’t hold back after that with any of the words he spoke to me.
Neither did I.
Brooke
Monday morning came all too quickly for both of us, I think. Resurfacing back to reality after our emotionally binding weekend was like coming down from floating in the clouds to walking barefoot in the desert. But since we were doing it together as a couple, it was okay.
As I was settling the cottage for my days and nights away in Boston, Caleb’s phone started blowing up. He took call after call, growing more agitated with each one in a way I’d never witnessed coming from him before.
“No response is the best way to handle it, Calvin, and if you want the funds for your subsidiaries to continue flowing from BGE to your press, then shut this whole mess the fuck down as quietly as possible. Make it go away and you will be rewarded.” He tapped into his phone.
“What? Hell, no! Those shithead parasites aren’t getting a statement from me. Seriously, Georgie, you know me better than that by now. Fucking figure it out. Use the full resources of the company that you have at your disposal, and don’t give me a reason to find someone else to head up the department. Hanging up now.” More taps into his phone.
“I don’t care. Why should I, exactly? It’s private information they are not entitled to know. Todd, I shouldn’t even have to say this, you are the head of fucking PR—do your job and relate to the public, for fuck’s sake! I already told you what to do, but you didn’t like my suggestion.” He ended the call abruptly, and on to the next.
“Hey. Yeah, I am done with these goddamn paparazzi circus performers. I need you to reach out to LeRoy in security for setting up a plan for round-the-clock surveillance. Two, with one on call should be sufficient. Twenty-four seven, when out of my sight—at least until this all cools down, or some new sensation pops up in the world to distract the vipers away from her.”
I glanced up from watering Nan’s potted fern to find him tracking me. He mouthed “Love you” to me as he listened to whoever was speaking to him. He held out his hand, beckoning me to come to him. He took hold of my hand when I came into his reach. “I’ll be in around eight thirty. Thank you.” His call ended, he pulled me down to sit beside him on the living room couch. He took hold of my chin and gave me such an intense look, I knew something was wrong.
“Who was that on the phone?”
“Just now? Victoria. Before her, it was a series of crybabies in need of some slaps upside the head, unfortunately.”
“Caleb, what has happened?”
He still had hold of my chin, which he maneuvered toward his lips for a soft kiss before pulling back again and delivering the same intense blaze from his eyes as before. “I need you to remember all of the things we said to each other this weekend. Those were real words, real feelings, real emotions—the real fucking truth about us. Okay?”
I felt myself break out in a sweat. “You’re scaring me. What is this all about? Caleb—I don’t know what—”
“Shh . . . it’s going to be fine,” he soothed, “don’t be scared, baby. I’m handling it. All I need from you right now is to trust me to take care of everything to keep you protected. Because I won’t let anyone or anything hurt you or take from what we have together.”
Protected from what? “Please tell me,” I begged, feeling like I might be suddenly sick. Oh God. My first thought was Marcus’s family. Could they have found me via my connection to Caleb? Probably yes.
“I love you, Brooke,” he reminded me, his voice roughly insistent.
“I know you do. I love you, too.” Caleb loves me—don’t forget that.
His jaw tensed. “The paparazzi got wind of the wedding this weekend. They also have photos. Probably sourced from a caterer or someone who facilitated on Saturday, and now the photos have been leaked with lots and
lots of speculation. Celebrity news in every format knows about you and me. I had hoped we could have a long time of incognito and quiet before we were faced with this kind of thing. But, that time has evaporated, I’m afraid.”
“What are they saying?”
“Here’s CNZ’s top story of the day.” He handed me his phone with a screenshot and photos from the website of a popular celebrity-news TV show. REAL LIFE CINDERELLA STORY—BLACKSTONE BILLIONAIRE CLAIMED BY THE MAID’S GRANDDAUGHTER the headline read. There was a picture of us together at the wedding. Caleb and I dressed to the nines, standing in the doorway of Stone Church, taken just at the moment when he’d kissed the top of my head. The lighting in the photo made it look as if my dress were white instead of the multicolored gold lace it was actually made of. The photo was misleading and suggestive—as if we were the bride and groom, coming out of the chapel newly married. If I were seeing it from a bystander’s viewpoint, I would certainly think so. Done purposefully to appear as if we’d had the secret wedding instead of Herman and Nan. The truth wildly stretched to make a nonstory into a headline, which would sell more papers and magazines. Fucking hell.
Oh, my God. “Caleb, I don’t know what to say.” And I really didn’t, because it was shocking to think the general public was seeing my picture, and reading my name, and . . . watching me. Do they know? Did the Pattens know where I was? Marcus’s family had stayed away, but they had to suspect I knew things about them. Or did they think they were untouchable? I wondered if I should be afraid.
“You don’t have to say anything, Brooke. I dreaded this happening eventually, but hoped we could have a more gradual introduction of you and me as a couple to the public. The paparazzi dog me all the time, and I fucking hate them. Unfortunately, the wedding tipped them off, or more likely somebody on the island offered the tip for money.” He grimaced disgustedly. “It happens all the time.”
