“Why did you throw me and Emma together like that?” He paused, shaking his head as if words failed him. “Me,” he repeated with great emphasis. “And Emma.”
He said her name with such contempt she didn’t know whether she wanted to shout with glee or get angry on her friend’s behalf.
Neither response made sense, but then again nothing about her brain, body, or heart was making sense today. Her well-ordered world had broken out in chaos.
He smoldered at her. Smoldered like only a former soap opera leading hero could smolder. It was so freakin’ hot. “Answer me this. Were you or were you not trying to set me up on a date with your friend?”
Ugh. She clutched her stomach as disgust and shame and guilt took hold. When he said it like that, it sounded pretty awful. “Umm…”
“Because from where I was standing,” he continued. “It definitely looked like the woman I’m with was trying to foist me off on her roommate.”
She opened her mouth to protest, but found she couldn’t. Because that was exactly what she’d done.
He took a step toward her and her breath caught in her throat at the fire in his eyes. It was a confusing mix of emotions she saw there. Anger, pain, desire… and something she was afraid to name. Something passionate and deep that matched whatever this was she was feeling.
Whatever it was, it scared the crap of out her and she was pretty sure it scared him too. She swallowed down some of the kneejerk guilt and tried to force reason back into action. Maybe it scared them because they knew it was wrong. They both knew it didn’t make sense.
He was waiting for her to speak, but she didn’t know what to say that wouldn’t hurt them both. She ended up opting for the truth. “I got scared.”
He blinked at her and after a heartbeat, she watched some of the anger fade. But what that left behind didn’t ease her fears, it only made it worse. “We agreed,” she said, hearing the note of panic in her voice. Her tone was close to pleading. “We agreed that this,” she said gesturing between them. “It doesn’t make sense.”
He nodded, his gaze still uncharacteristically serious and intense and filled with more than she dared to hope for. “You’re right, it doesn’t make sense.”
She nodded too, trying desperately to hold back tears. Dammit, she didn’t want him to agree with her. She’d let herself hope for a second there that he might argue with her, try to convince her that they could work.
He took another step toward her hesitantly, as if afraid she might back away. She didn’t. Who knew how much time she’d have left alone with this man—she wanted to savor every ridiculous, heartbreaking, nonsensical second. Some part of her brain was busy storing away memories for a later date. Her senses were taking stock of the way he smelled, that mysterious and complex emotion in his eyes, of the way his lips curved up even when he looking at her like that.
“I love you.” He said it so simply and so quickly. Her brain had been so busy cataloguing these final moments, she’d nearly missed it.
Then it took another second for the words to register and her brain to process them. Something about their utter simplicity floored her. There was no rationalizing or arguing or reasoning, just… I love you.
She blinked. And then she blinked again, but this time one of the tears she’d been holding back slipped out and rolled down her cheek. And that was it. She was a goner. The floodgates opened and the next thing she knew she was ugly crying all over again, and this time it was all over Caleb’s T-shirt.
He’d moved to her so quickly that one second she was staring there facing with through a mist of salty tears, and the next she found herself crushed against him, his face buried in her hair as he murmured soft words of comfort. “Hey, don’t cry. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”
He stopped short and she found herself wondering what he’d been about to say. “You didn’t mean what?”
He hadn’t meant he loved her. It was too crazy. She wasn’t who he wanted and she couldn’t expect him to just change that for her.
“I didn’t mean to make you cry,” he said.
Oh. That… that was better than what she’d been thinking. She sniffled against his shirt.
“Kennedy?” he asked after a long moment.
“Yeah?” She couldn’t bring herself to look at him with her swollen eyes and snotty nose.
“Do you love me too?”
Oh shit. Her heart melted right then and there. He sounded so genuine and so damn vulnerable. He was laying himself out there for her… and she still didn’t quite believe that any of this was real. How could it be?
But whether she trusted in it or not, he deserved the truth. She pushed back and brushed her sleeve roughly over her face to sop up some of the crying mess. Meeting his gaze head on, she nodded. “I think I do.”
His grin was everything. It was sexy and sweet, dangerous and comforting. It was filled with humor and happiness and determination. “Say it.”
She swallowed then licked her lips. Finally she shook her head. “I can’t.”
He didn’t look disappointed, just amused. “Why not?”
She widened her eyes, trying to convey just exactly how insane she believed him to be. “Because it’s nuts, Caleb! This is crazy.”
He nodded slowly. “Yeah, I had a feeling maybe you were struggling with that part.”
“What part? The part where we both agreed from the get go that we are exactly what we don’t want in a boyfriend and girlfriend?”
He nodded. “Yeah, that part.”
She pushed back so she could cross her arms and fix him with her fiercest interviewer stare. “Are you going to try and tell me that all of the sudden I just magically became your dream girl?” Before he could answer she laughed humorlessly. “Poof! I instantly went from a sarcastic bitch to a sweet animal lover.”
He grinned. “I don’t want a sweet animal lover,” he said. “I want you.”
Damn, this boy knew how to take the wind out of her sails. She opened her mouth, ready to protest some more, but he tugged her close, forcing her arms apart so he could resume holding her without interference.
“I was an idiot,” he said. “My head was so far up my ass I couldn’t see the perfection that was staring me in the face.”
She let out a breathless laugh. “Perfection, huh?”
“Well,” he rolled his eyes with a grin. “Perfection for me. Don’t let it go to your head.”
She smiled up at him. “Too late. I’m perfect. You said so, it’s official.”
He groaned, but his grin never faltered. “I’ve created a monster, haven’t I?”
Her smile faded a bit as her original nerves returned. “How do I know this isn’t just desire talking? I mean, no one is denying the chemistry between us and—”
“Is that what this for you?” he challenged.
She didn’t have to think. The answer was no. This went so beyond chemistry and hormones and all the other ways she’d tried to rationalize this relationship. The thought of him with another woman made her heart feel like shredded wheat. The way he looked at her made her feel like she could conquer the world.
The way they were together… well, despite the fact that it didn’t work on paper, it worked in real life. They complemented one another in some strange way. She sniffled as she took in this face which was so hot and so infinitely dear to her. Maybe he needed someone who was pragmatic just like maybe her life could use a romantic.
Maybe the reason opposites attracted was because they evened each other out.
Taking a deep breath, she admitted the truth to herself. Being with Caleb had made her feel more alive, like the world was filled with possibilities she’d never known, or at least had forgotten about sometime between childhood and now. He made her feel impulsive, he made her want to laugh, and smile, and call in sick so she could stay in bed all day long.
It wasn’t her. But then again… maybe it was. Just like there was more to Caleb than just the sexy soaps star. He had a strong work ethic
and a surprisingly small ego for an actor. He wasn’t a stereotype and neither was she. He helped her become a fuller version of herself and maybe he needed her to do the same for him.
The fact that she’d manage to find some reason in this chaotic, emotional mess made the last of her fears fade. Yes, it might be crazy but there was a method to this madness.
She watched anxiety cloud his gaze at her silence. “You don’t think that, do you?”
She shook her head quickly, hating that she’d given him a moment of doubt. “No,” she said. “What I feel for you goes way beyond chemistry.”
His cocky grin was back once more and she wished she could remember that smile, the look in his eyes, everything about this moment for the rest of her life. This, she decided, was heaven on earth.
“So what is it between us then?” he asked, knowing full well the answer but she couldn’t fault him for wanting to hear it. Hearing it from him had flipped her world upside down and made everything feel possible. He deserved no less.
“It’s love,” she said, her heart clenching in her chest at the pure joy on his face. Leaning in closer she went up on tiptoe so she could plant a kiss on his lips. “I love you, Caleb Jennings.”
He leaned down until his forehead was resting against hers. “Damn straight you do.”
“Don’t let it go to your head,” she said, feigning a stern tone.
“Too late,” he said, imitating her voice pretty damn well, she had to admit. “You love me. You said so, it’s official.”
She laughed, sighing as she imitated him in return. “I’ve created a monster haven’t I?”
He nodded, kissing her with all of the emotions she saw in his gaze. “Totally.”
She grinned. And she was totally okay with that.
Epilogue
Caleb and Yvette sat beside one another in the same booth where they had decidedly not celebrated Valentine’s Day. But this time, he was in fantastic mood. Partly because he wasn’t sporting an itchy beard, but mainly because his life was pretty damn perfect.
He’d finally found his one true love and he was once again gainfully employed as an actor. Well, as a clown. Close enough.
“What are you grinning about, Bobo?” Yvette asked as she reached past him to pass Kennedy the bowl of chips.
He shrugged. “Why shouldn’t I be happy? It’s my birthday.” Though, he could admit that even for the birthday boy, he was grinning like a fool. But he didn’t care. Life was good and if that meant he was going to permanently wear this dopey smile, he was cool with it.
Yvette and Kat had swapped out Doctor Hottie for Bobo now that he was officially a clown. Yeah, that’s right—he was the new Mr. Hermithead, and he couldn’t have been happier about it. Once his pride got over itself, he realized that it was the funnest job he’d ever had. Just like his daytime soap gig, he got paid to act and help people escape, though now his demographic was slightly younger and as far as he could tell, they couldn’t give a crap what his pecs looked like beneath his ridiculous outfit.
Some parents watched him too, and over the last few months he’d accrued a small but loyal fan base among the stay at home moms who watched him with their kids. The best part about that? It drove his girlfriend nuts.
No one had ever been jealous over him before and he found that he loved it.
Kennedy had insisted on throwing him a thirtieth birthday party and he’d insisted that it be just them and his closest friends and at his favorite bar. The perfect start to the next decade of his life. It had been a close call there for a while. He’d been certain his thirties were doomed to be an extension of his twenties—one big experiment in searching for the wrong things.
Like his dream woman, for example. She was as mythical as she was boring. He grinned when Kennedy stole a wing from his plastic basket—it was his favorite bar, but definitely not the classiest.
He watched her munch on his food, giving him a little smirk at her conquest. Who would have thought his one true love would be a challenging, career-obsessed woman who didn’t like animals or kids?
Not him. He’d been such an idiot to think he could predict love like that. Luckily Kennedy seemed to have a soft spot for dopes in clown suits.
Besides, it wasn’t like she could judge too harshly, what with her weird checklist for the perfect, most logical boyfriend. As if logic had anything to do with love. He wrapped an around her shoulders, reveling in the happiness that was this group.
Kat had her Bryce, Yvette had her Darren, and he’d found Kennedy—his true love. He might be he sappiest of them all, but at least he’d found a woman who loved that about him. In a couple somebody had to be the mushy one, she’d informed him very logically while they laid in the bed the weekend before.
Maybe this was true. But Caleb considered it his mission in life to bring romance and whimsy to Kennedy’s uptight world. It was his honor-bound duty as her boyfriend—literally her clown of a boyfriend—to ensure that that her life was filled with passion and excitement and more love and romance than she could handle.
“You ready to head out of here soon?” Kennedy asked, slipping her hand into his under the table.
The night was winding down. They’d had dinner earlier at one of his favorite spots, and now everyone was slowing down on the drinks and stifling yawns.
She grinned up at him as she leaned in closer, her sexy voice so close to his ear, her breath warm against his neck. “I was thinking I could hail us a taxi.”
“Good luck,” he said, doing his best impersonation of his former self. The guy she’d met that first night who’d had his head stuck so far up his ass it was a wonder he could see the hottie who’d been right in front of his eyes. It had become something of a joke between them, reenacting that first encounter. God, it had only been a matter of months but so much had changed between then and now, it was like he was looking back on another lifetime.
Everything was different now, and everything was also so right. He’d found his dream career—one that played to all his strengths and let him do what he loved every day. He also got to work alongside one of the smartest, quickest, most enchanting women he’d ever met… a woman he was proud to call his girlfriend.
Patrick had come back. Of course he had—Kennedy wasn’t the kind of woman you just walked away from. He almost pitied the man his poor decision to leave her in the first place. But if he hadn’t, Caleb might never have won her for himself. Kennedy had nicely turned him away, explaining that she’d changed while he’d been gone.
And she had. She seemed happy with the changes, embracing more excitement and irrational passion, as she called it, than she ever had before. He didn’t know about all that, all he knew was what he could see. And he could say with full certainty that she smiled more these days, and was way quicker to laugh. He liked to think that he was as good for her as she was for him.
As if to prove his point, she smiled up at him with that sexy, mysterious little grin he’d worship until the day he died.
“If you play your cards right, I might just let you share my cab,” she teased.
He leaned down to plant a kiss on her lips. “Oh, I’m counting on it.” And he was. He had it all arranged. Emma had kindly agreed to be elsewhere and she’d let him in earlier that day to set the stage.
She didn’t know it but at this moment her room was filled with roses and candles. The box with her engagement ring was stuffed inside her underwear drawer ready for him to pull out once she’d been thoroughly dazzled by his romantic know-how.
Some might argue that it was too soon, but he knew better. When you knew, you knew. And he knew.
Kennedy was it. She was the one.
She was everything he’d never known he’d ever wanted.
Thanks for reading! If you’d like to stay up to date on Maggie’s new releases, join her monthly newsletter and receive a FREE, exclusive novella, Heiress at Sea, when you sign up here: https://www.instafreebie.com/free/n6uux
Want more steamy romantic co
medies? Check out the Starting from Zero series. Click on the links below for three standalone sexy romantic comedies about fresh starts and new beginnings.
Less Than Three: What’s worse than butt dialing the man who could make or break your career? Accidentally sleeping with him.
Love Times Two: It's a double wedding disaster when Elizabeth finds out her fiancé cheated on her just before the TV crews arrive to document the bridal preparations for a reality show. Luckily, her sister found a replacement groom...who just happens to be the same guy whose bed she woke up in after a night of drowning her sorrows.
The Plus One: First they were best friends. Then they were enemies. Now they’re lovers. And all because of one night of drunken karaoke.
About the Author
MAGGIE DALLEN IS a big city girl living in Montana. She writes romantic comedies in a range of genres including young adult, historical, contemporary, and fantasy. An unapologetic addict of all things romance, she loves to connect with fellow avid readers. Subscribe to her newsletter at http://eepurl.com/bFEVsL
LINKS & OTHER WORKS
Facebook: facebook.com/MaggieDallenAuthor
Twitter: twitter.com/Mag_Dallen
Website: maggiedallen.com
Check out Maggie’s other books:
Barely a Fairy Tale Series
Cinderella Blackmail
Snow White Espionage
Rose Red Rebellion
Beauty & The Heist
Starting from Zero Series
Love Times Two
Less Than Three
The Plus One
Chance Romance Series
The Accidental Engagement
The Accidental Boyfriend
The Accidental Elopement
Reel Romance Series
Her Leading Man
His Leading Lady
Her Leading Hero (Releasing December 2017)
What the critics say about Maggie’s books!
Desire for Days Page 12
