“You’re sure it’s not an imposition to stay with Lily? You know day care is closed tomorrow?” She listened and nodded. “Thank you. Really. I owe you. No, I do.” Listening and nodding some more, she finally said, “Of course. I’ll let you know when we know something about the road opening. I wish Lily wasn’t asleep and I could talk to her. Can you have her call me in the morning? Okay. Good. Bye, Cece. And thanks again.” She hit the off button on her phone and gave him a remorseful look. “I’m a bad guardian. That’s what she’s going to think. That I abandoned her.”
“I can advise you to stop beating yourself up but before that let me just say—first, you couldn’t know this was going to happen. And second, you’re allowed to have a life.” He held out his hand as if giving her permission. “Although we have better things to do, feel free to commence your guilt trip at any time.”
“You’re right. And that was a pretty good snap-out-of-it speech. Stuff happens and learning to roll with it is an important lesson for Lily.” She sighed. “What better things do we have to do?”
“Find rooms for the night.”
“Oh. Right.”
Caleb couldn’t really blame her for sounding as if she was going in for a root canal.
* * *
After several hours and numerous phone calls later, Mallory lost track of how many hotels and motels they’d contacted, driven to and been turned away from. It turned out that in addition to the fact that this was Friday night and people were here for the weekend, the end of summer was fast approaching and last-minute vacationers were in town. On top of that, with the road out, many people were just like them—stuck here and needing a room.
Mallory was tired, frustrated and increasingly glad that Lily was safe, sound and sleeping in her own bed, blissfully unaware of what was going on. If not for Caleb’s calm and reassuring presence, she knew she’d be freaking out.
They were now standing at the registration desk of a chain hotel that was pretty much their last hope of finding somewhere to stay for the night. The front-desk clerk, a boyishly good-looking guy in his twenties, was checking the computer for availability. Lights had gone out in the area where they’d eaten dinner, but not all over town. At least not yet. When the guy said “aha”, Mallory allowed herself to hope.
“You have two rooms?” That was what Caleb had asked for and she was beginning to give up hope.
“No. Just one.” He looked at them. “I’m sorry. It’s the only one. Everything else is taken.”
Caleb met her gaze. “We can keep looking if you want. There are a few more places we haven’t tried.” He hesitated for a moment, then continued, “But if they’re full, too, and we come back, this room will probably be gone.”
Mallory was tired and it was getting late. Storms were still rolling through with rain, wind, lightning and thunder. As awkward as sharing a room would be, it was better than spending the night in his truck. Caleb had his wallet out and was reaching for a credit card. Obviously he was in favor of booking a single room and was just waiting for an okay from her. Given a series of not-great options, this one seemed like the best.
“Let’s take it,” she said.
He nodded and handled check-in. The clerk gave him two key cards and pointed out the elevator. The good news was they had a room. Bad news was it was on the top floor and the windows faced west, the direction the storms were coming from.
After the ride up, they found the room and Caleb opened the door for her. Just as she walked in there was a bright flash of lightning and seconds later a loud crack of thunder. Mallory flinched, then turned and burrowed against him. Instantly his arms came around her.
“It’s bright and loud,” he said calmly, rubbing his hand soothingly up and down her back. “But we’re inside and safe.”
She had a feeling he would be someone you’d want to have around in a crisis. But she was independent and resilient all by her lonesome. Didn’t ask for help and didn’t need it. The lightning and thunder had just surprised her.
Stepping away from his solid warmth was harder than it should have been given how short a time she’d known him. Still, she had the sensation of wanting to stay close forever. And because she did, it was important to back away.
“Sorry about that,” she said.
“I’m not.”
The subtext of those two words was that he liked holding her. That was bad because she was counting on him being the neutral one. If his nerve endings were pulsing as hard as hers, she was in trouble. This was going too fast and the intensity of what she was feeling was so much more than she was ready for.
“So, let’s see what we’ve got,” she said, flipping the light switch on the wall beside her.
The room was basic: bathroom, desk, small table and king-size bed. She’d been in rooms like this before. With her boyfriend. She and Lily had stopped more than once on the road from New York to Montana. And now she was here with Caleb. He was bigger, broader, more there than she’d ever experienced before. It was as if she was in a shoe box with him and there was no place to go where they wouldn’t touch.
She looked at the bed again and wondered why it couldn’t at least have been a couple of queen-size ones. Her luck wasn’t that good. Or maybe that wasn’t it at all. If she believed in signs like Winona Cobbs, it would have to be concluded that the universe was pushing her and Caleb together.
“So, I’ll take the floor.” Mallory saw the look on Caleb’s face go from zero to stubborn at her statement. It was sexy for reasons she didn’t understand and she wasn’t in the mood to explore why that was.
“The hell you will.” He settled his hands on lean hips and stared at her. “For the record, I’m perfectly capable of keeping my hands to myself if we shared that bed, but obviously you don’t trust me.”
She didn’t trust herself, but how could she explain something she didn’t understand. “It’s not that, Caleb, but—”
“It’s okay, Mal.” He blew out a long breath. “Obviously you’re uncomfortable with the situation, and I don’t want you to be. It’s late. We should get some sleep.”
Fat chance of that. But it was a sound strategy and they should at least try.
Mallory took the bathroom first and cleaned up as best she could without her own toiletries. When she came out, Caleb went in. She saw that he’d taken the comforter off the bed and a blanket that had probably been an extra one in the closet and folded them to make the floor a little softer.
Yeah, right. Now she felt worse than awful.
She was standing by the foot of the bed when the bathroom door opened and he came out. “Caleb, we can both sleep in the bed. Put the pillows between us or something.”
“I’ll be fine. I’ve spent more than one night on the trail hugging the hard ground. This is an improvement.”
“Really?”
“No rocks.” He nodded but there was no charming grin. There was tension in his eyes and the hard line of his jaw.
“Oh.” She caught the corner of her lip between her teeth. “But you really don’t have to—”
“Yeah, I do.” There was no easygoing tone in his voice. Just an edge to it, as if he were fighting some internal battle. “Now, go to sleep.”
“Okay.”
She crawled into the big bed fully clothed and it felt weird. But there was no way she’d take them off. Caleb turned out the light and disappeared below her line of sight. She heard him punch the pillow and thought it was a little harder than necessary. Then everything was quiet.
That didn’t last long. There was a bright flash of lightning that showed around the curtain covering the window. Almost instantaneously there was a thunderous boom and she knew a storm cell was practically on top of them. She could picture the forecaster on the news pointing out the orange and yellow on the Doppler radar, colors indicating problem spots that looked
so small until you were in the middle of one. That was disconcerting enough and then the electricity went out.
She knew that because the digital clock on the nightstand beside her went dark. There had been a glow coming from buildings around the hotel but it was gone now. Before she could process that, there was another flash and thunder immediately followed. Then it was pitch-black in the room. From sensory overload to nothing was unnerving and she gritted her teeth, trying to hold it together. Even shutting her eyes didn’t help because she knew darkness had swallowed her up.
“Caleb,” she whispered. “Are you asleep?”
His laugh was ironic. “No.”
“The lights are out.”
“Yeah, I noticed.”
“Okay. I wasn’t sure you knew.” She’d mostly just wanted to reassure herself that she wasn’t alone. It took every ounce of her willpower not to slide out of the bed and curl up beside him on the floor. Just to feel the warmth of his skin and the sound of his breathing.
There was another crack of lightning that was followed by the familiar roar. She pulled the covers over her head and pressed her hands to her ears, trying to block out the sound. A whimper escaped her lips.
“That does it. I’m coming in there with you.” Caleb’s voice came to her out of the darkness. “I’m not getting fresh. Just so you know.”
She lowered the sheet and blanket and heard the sound of him moving toward her. The bed dipped from his weight and relief swept through her.
He’d probably heard the sound she’d made and knew she was afraid. “Thank you.”
She didn’t care if it made her a hypocrite. She moved close and he pulled her into his arms. With her ear against his chest, she could hear the steady beat of his heart.
“When I was a little girl there was a bad thunderstorm,” she began. “It woke me up and I was really scared. I went to my parents’ room and tried to crawl into bed with them. Mother told me to stop being a baby and go back to sleep.”
His arms tightened around her. “There’s a word for women like that, but I won’t say it.”
His words made her smile. “There’s a part of me wanting to make excuses for her, but I can’t. If Lily was afraid I’d never send her away.”
“Of course not.”
“And don’t judge. I’m not making excuses for being a wimp now. I just wanted you to know why I react that way to storms.”
“It’s okay. I’m not judging.”
She felt the rumble of his chest. “The thing is, I’ve gotten pretty good at handling everything that life throws at me by myself. But when disaster strikes, I prefer to have the lights on when I deal with it.”
He laughed. “Unfortunately, so often when disaster strikes it usually wipes out all the basics we’ve grown accustomed to.”
“I know.” She sighed. “And that’s why I’m asking you to stay here. Sleep next to me. Just to keep me from freaking out.”
“Okay.”
“I could handle it. I’ve learned how to deal,” she assured him.
“No one doubts it.”
She wiggled closer to his solid length and rested her arm across his flat belly. “But it’s awfully nice to have you here. To not be alone.”
“I’m glad. Good night, Mallory.” His lips brushed her forehead.
It was like a devil wind driving that single spark into a forest fire. Liquid heat poured through her, along with yearning she’d been trying to ignore since they first met, she realized. She rose up on her elbow and looked down, trying to see, but unable to make out his features in the complete darkness. In spite of that, or maybe because of it, she kissed his cheek. If he didn’t want her the way she wanted him, it would just be a friendly, thanks-for-being-patient-with-me kiss. If he did...
Her heart was pounding and she swore there was as much electricity right here in this bed as there was outside. Caleb didn’t respond and she was about to pull away—maybe she even moved a fraction—but suddenly he threaded his fingers through her hair, holding her to him.
“Mallory? Do you know what you’re asking? If I’m misunderstanding the signal, we can both roll over and go to sleep. I won’t leave you.” His voice was ragged, showing what it would cost him to let her go. “But if I didn’t...”
She settled her hand over his and half turned her head to press a kiss into his palm. “You didn’t.”
“For the record,” he said, “I had every intention of being noble.”
“Sometimes nobility is highly overrated.”
“Thank God.”
The fervent note in his voice thrilled her and washed away any misgivings. This felt so right that she turned off her head and gave her gut instinct free rein. The tension between them intensified in the most exciting possible way as he rolled onto his side and found her mouth with his, as easily as if he had GPS. She kissed him back and melted into him, absorbing the charm, strength and sexiness that was Caleb Dalton.
He kissed her for a long time—her forehead, nose, lips and cheeks. Whispering in her ear, he said, “I’ve been preoccupied with your neck since the day we met.”
“Oh?”
“Yes, ma’am. It’s very distracting.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.” His laugh vibrated against her skin. “It’s every bit as soft and sweet as I imagined it would be.”
The words were both a dream and a promise—surreal and seductive. “I’m glad I didn’t disappoint.”
“I don’t think that’s even possible.”
His fingers found the waistband of her slacks and undid the button, then slowly lowered the zipper. She suddenly went hot all over and needed the feel of his hand on her bare skin and helped him along. She wiggled out of her pants, taking her panties, too, then kicked them away before his warm palm rested possessively on her belly.
She held her breath, waiting, wanting, craving. But he didn’t go further. Not then, and she moaned in frustration.
“Sweet Mallory. We have all night, you know. We have nowhere to go and no way to get there.”
“Thank God,” she whispered, echoing his words.
He kissed his way down her throat again and found the ridge of her collarbone, tracing it with his tongue before blowing softly on the lingering moistness. Tingles skittered and danced over her skin and the knot of need tightened a fraction inside her.
Mallory rested her hand on his chest, disappointed that it was still covered by his two layers of shirt, one long-sleeved and the other plain white. She slid her fingers underneath, almost frantic to feel his warm skin. It was covered by a light dusting of hair that felt perfect and, oh, how she would like a visual.
“I wish I could see you.”
“I’d give almost anything to see you.” He reached under her blouse and gently cupped a breast covered by her bra. “But my hands are drawing pictures for my mind and you are one beautiful lady, Mallory Franklin.”
She smiled and kissed his neck so that he could feel the upward curve of her lips and how his words pleased her. “My hands would like to draw pictures, too, but your shirt is in the way.”
“Your wish is my command.”
The bed moved and cool air crept in when he rolled away. Moments later he was back, reaching for her hand. He placed it on his chest, over his hammering heart. She explored the broad expanse, and the coarse hair tickled her fingers. But oh, what a picture it made in her mind. The contours and muscles. He had an honest-to-goodness six-pack that was nothing like a male model in a magazine. This was real and there was no doubt about Photoshopping, because her hands and fingers didn’t lie.
Something else didn’t lie. He shifted closer and she felt his hardness pressing against her thigh, proof that he wanted her as much as she wanted him.
As if he could read her mind, he undid the buttons on
her blouse, starting from the bottom and slowly moving up. She held her breath when his efficient fingers brushed by her breasts, lingering for a moment—two—then continuing up to part the sides of her shirt.
He bent and took her breast in his mouth, latching on to her nipple through the silky fabric. So preoccupied with the pleasure pouring through her, she was hardly aware when those clever fingers reached behind her back and easily flicked open her bra.
“I’m doing my damnedest to paint a picture in my head,” he said raggedly, “but all this stuff is in my way.”
“Can’t have that.”
Because she desperately wanted the feel of his warm hands on her, she sat up. Eagerly he swept off the rest of her clothes. In seconds she was back in his arms, while his mouth and hands skimmed over her, making magic wherever they went.
And they went everywhere.
He snuggled her closer and she could feel the hardness behind the fly of his pants pressed to the most womanly part of her. The picture in her head was erotic and exhilarating, but instinct was saying hurry. Except that would rush things. Like he’d said, they couldn’t go anywhere. Wouldn’t she be foolish to rush something so wonderful?
“I can hear you thinking,” he said.
“And?”
“Stop it.”
She laughed and placed a soft kiss on his chest.
“Mallory—”
Her name on his lips was a warm breath against her neck, as if he were branding her, marking her as his. And what had been wonderful just moments ago was moving in the direction of absolutely perfect. He was kissing his way down her shoulder, over her ribs, to her navel.
“Caleb?”
“Hmm?”
He said the single sound against her belly, and the vibration went straight to nerve endings that were swollen and sensitive. Her chest grew tight, so tight she could hardly breathe, hardly talk.
“I really think you should take off your pants now.”
His only response was a groan and the mattress moved as he hustled to comply.
“Wait—” She put a hand on his arm, somehow finding it in the darkness.
From Maverick to Daddy Page 11
