Kisses, though? They were allowed. And some heavy petting. Along with heavy breathing. He kind of felt like he was in high school again, where a boob-grab was like winning the lottery.
But this was good, kind of like dating, and Cal was finding he liked this Jenna even more than the high-school Jenna. It made him wonder, if they had stayed together all those years ago, if they would still be a couple. The separation might have been what they needed for Cal to get his head on straight and for Jenna to grow into her independence.
As far as life with Asher, things were calm. Asher worked at the shop and hung out with Julian in his spare time. Cal had called Jill one more time last week, but when she started sputtering more excuses for her drunk husband, Cal hung up on her. He didn’t have the time or patience for that shit.
Cal still hadn’t taken Asher out on his bike. It’d been almost a month, but he still needed to get Asher a helmet that fit him. He’d promised him soon. Things had been a little busy lately, since Jenna was getting ready for the big event for the employees of MacMillan Industries. An event Cal was going to attend, as Jenna’s date.
Normally, he’d never be caught dead at Tory Country Club, but he knew how much work Jenna had put into the party, so he agreed to go in support of her. He wasn’t thrilled, but this was where the trying thing came in. He was trying. So that meant going to this fancy party.
Jenna wasn’t paying attention to him now, as she danced a little around the kitchen. When she got close, he snaked an arm around her waist and tugged until she fell in his lap.
She made an oomph sound and frowned at him. “Hey.”
He snuck his hand under her shirt and tank top, so his palm rested against bare skin. “Hey, yourself.”
She sagged against him and placed her hand on his arms. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, and her thumb rested on the edge of the sun on his shoulder. He leaned in and pressed a kiss under her ear. She shuddered in his arms. “Cal, I gotta leave soon.”
He ignored her. Apparently, Jenna had a meeting at the country club for the party that was next weekend.
When he ran his tongue down her neck, she moaned. “Your brothers are in the other room.”
“They’re busy,” he mumbled against her skin. He couldn’t get enough of her taste, the feel of her in his arms. The way she melted into him with a simple touch. He was gone for her fifty times over, more than he ever had been as an immature teenager. It was weird how love evolved in his head as he got older. Love? Was that what this was, all over again?
She pouted. “I’m going to be late.”
With a sigh, he pulled back and slapped her denim-covered ass. “Fine, then get out of here.”
She stuck out her tongue at him and hopped off his lap. He smiled and picked up his pen to do more bills.
JENNA HAD BEEN gone a half hour when his doorbell rang. “Can you get that?” Brent called from the couch. “Shit, fuck, this damn fucker—I’m kinda busy here!”
Cal rose from the table where he was finished with the bills and walked past Asher and Brent in the living room, still playing video games.
When he opened the door, a tiny vision in red with huge black sunglasses shoved her way past him into the house.
Delilah Jenkins pushed her shades onto her head and gave him a once-over with her dark eyes. She wore a bright red dress and strappy shoes with a purse that was bigger than her head. He’d known Delilah as long as he’d known Jenna. She was the tiniest woman he’d ever met, but she was still too much for him. Too much personality, too much color, too much everything. He thought maybe she and Brent would hit it off, but they’d hooked up once years ago and left it as friends.
Delilah was good people, though. She was smart, owned her own business, and most of all, she loved Jenna. So Delilah was aces in his book.
Brent took his eyes off of the screen for one minute to lean back in the couch. “Hey, D!”
She waggled some fingers at him. “Hey, B. Not here for you, so you can go back to killing pixels.”
“ ’Kay!” he answered.
Delilah turned back to Cal. “Well,” she said, her gaze lingering on his bare chest, “as much as I’m enjoying the view, you’re going to have to get dressed, because no shirt, no shoes, no service and all of that.”
He blinked at her. “Come again?”
She waved a hand at his body. “I need to take you shopping for this shindig Jenna is throwing.”
All these words were foreign. “You need to take me shopping?”
He didn’t shop. He didn’t know how to shop. Most of his clothes were holiday gifts from Brent, because his brother was vain as hell and did shop.
Cal? Not so much.
Delilah wasn’t having his attitude, apparently. Her expression told him he was trying her patience. “Yes, shopping, you big grease monkey. Now get a shirt on and let’s go.”
“And where are we going exactly?”
“The mall.”
He swore his neck started to itch, like hives were forming. “This isn’t funny.”
She placed a hand on her hip in a flourish. “Does it look like I’m laughing? Jenna asked me to do this, so if you wanna keep her sweet ass in this little ol’ house of yours, I suggest you get dressed and then get it my car.”
Okay, he drew the line there. “I am not getting in that fucking car.”
She scowled. “Don’t you dare insult Daisy—”
“Oh, Jesus, you named that damn thing?”
“She’s reliable and cute and—”
“I will go shopping with you on the condition that we take my truck.”
Delilah’s nostrils flared. “Is it clean?”
Cal scrunched his lips to the side before replying. “I’ll put a towel down.”
Delilah shuddered a little. “Fine, now just go get dressed.”
It was a small victory, but he’d take it.
HE DREW THE line at a tie. He accepted the navy dress pants, white cotton shirt, and tan sport coat. But no way in hell was he going to be able to deal with all the assholes at this party with a noose around his neck.
Delilah wasn’t thrilled about his refusal but seemed happy with all his other purchases, including a pair of dress shoes that he knew he’d burn in an elaborate funeral pyre when this was all over.
He wasn’t a dick, though, so he offered to buy Delilah lunch. She’d taken time out of her day to argue with his sorry blue-collar ass. The least he could do was buy her a burger.
Of course, Delilah didn’t want a burger.
They found a restaurant near the mall that Delilah liked, and while Cal ate his burger, Delilah dug into her salad. It was huge, the plate taking up nearly a quarter of the table, and she was eating it all.
Cal didn’t know where she put it.
“So,” she said after taking a sip of her water, “you’re probably going to hate this party.”
He swirled a fry in ketchup. “Yep.”
“But you’re doing it for Jenna.”
“Yep.”
Delilah shifted her lips to the side. “You know there are some women in town who are really sad you’re off the market.”
“Was never on it,” he grunted.
“Brent’s on it.”
That made him grin. “He loves it.”
Delilah smiled too. “Lovable asshole.” Delilah stabbed a cherry tomato with her fork. “So Jenna said you want to work on motorcycles at the shop.”
“Trying to convince Dad. But he says we don’t have enough manpower.”
“Are you able to hire someone else?”
“I had Brent crunch the numbers, and we could hire another mechanic if he was willing to take base salary.”
She crunched her tomato and swallowed. “I know someone.”
That brought his head up. “Yeah?”
Delilah studied him carefully. “Yep, a friend of a friend kind of thing. She’s really good and is looking to get her foot in the door.”
“She, huh?” He chuckled. “You trying to
slip that past me?”
“No.”
“Well, I’m still working on Dad. Have her send me her résumé, will ya?”
“Sure.”
“And . . . uh . . . thanks for today. I don’t really care what I look like, but I don’t want to make Jenna look bad.”
She touched the back of his hand where it rested on the table. “And you won’t. You could walk in there in sweatpants and a T-shirt, and Jenna wouldn’t give a shit.”
“Ya think?”
“I know. But it’ll make her family happy. And I must say, you look quite handsome in those clothes.”
Cal popped an imaginary collar, and Delilah laughed.
JENNA HAD DONE a lot for MacMillan Investments since she’d been hired. She’d reworked their mission statement and was partnering with a graphic designer to update the company logo. She’d improved communication among staff and management. Hell, she’d even bought a damn Keurig for the break room, which she liked to think might have been the best thing she’d done yet. And she was currently in the midst of planning the biggest event the company had ever sponsored.
But all her brother could do was bitch about how Cal was coming to the country club as her date.
“You’ll be busy coordinating anyway,” he said, glaring at her from behind his desk. “Why do you have to bring a date?”
“Why do you care?” she shot back, drumming her nails on the arm of the chair. He’d called her into his office under the pretense of asking her a question about the party, but it was easy to see that all he wanted to do was be a pain in the ass.
“This is a MacMillan employee party,” he said.
“Each employee is allowed to bring a date. A significant other. And Cal is my significant other.” Significant other-ish, she amended in her head. Because it was kind of unspoken, what they had. “He has been for about a month, even though all of you want to act like he’s not.” The division in this town between the haves and have-nots was ridiculous and antiquated.
Plus, she happened to think Cal had a whole lot of haves.
“I don’t see why this whole party is even necessary,” Dylan complained. “The company morale is fine.”
Jenna raised her eyebrows.
Dylan opened his mouth like he was going to speak but then shut it and looked away.
Jenna wished she had the type of brother who would simply support her. Who would clap her on the back and tell her she did a good job. She’d told Dylan plenty of times over the years that she was proud of the work he put into their father’s company. And now, when she came back to help, all he could do was sneer at her ideas and her date.
She twisted her fingers together, gazed at her lap, and thought about Cal, who took in a half-brother he hadn’t known, cared for him, and supported him. And she could barely get the brother she grew up with to acknowledge that she was his coworker.
It’s not that she needed his approval. But she sure as hell would have liked it.
His chair creaked, and she looked up to see him leaned back, an elbow propped on the armrest, his chin in his fingers. His gaze was unfocused over her shoulder, his jaw hard. “If you insist on bringing Cal, then I guess I don’t have any say.”
“You don’t have any say at all, Dylan. I’m almost thirty. Who I date is not your concern, and I don’t need your approval.”
“Guess I thought you got that rebelling thing about of your system when you were a teenager.”
She leaned forward, pinning him with a sharp look. “That’s what you think this is about? Rebelling against . . . what, exactly?”
“Your upbringing . . . your family—”
“My God, Dylan. Initially, sure, Cal was a rebellion. When I was freaking sixteen years old. And then it quickly became about love, and I can tell you right now, today, being with Cal has nothing to do with my family and everything to do with how he makes me feel.”
He tilted his chin up, stubborn to the core. Why were all the men in her life stubborn? “I don’t trust him. He can be violent, you know.”
Jenna rolled her eyes. “He was an eighteen-year-old hothead when he hit you. Get over it already.”
“He broke my nose.”
“I think it was an improvement to your face.”
Dylan’s eyes went wide. Then his lips began to twitch, fending off a smile. “I had a regal nose before, and now it’s a bump.”
Jenna snorted. “Regal, my ass.”
Dylan did smile then, one that she knew was meant to appease her, to end this aggressive conversation. So she smiled back. She hoped this was some sort of truce. Although with Dylan, she could never be sure. They didn’t have enough in common to be friends. Jenna had always wondered if it would improve when they got older. So far, it hadn’t.
She sighed. “Look, I don’t want to fight with you about this. Cal’s in my life, and I’m sorry, but you’ll have to accept it. I don’t want to be at odds all the time.”
Dylan nodded. “All right.”
“All right?”
“Yes, all right.”
She stood up and smoothed her skirt. “I can get back to work now?”
“Yeah, I have to as well.”
When she had her hand on the door, he called her name. She looked over her shoulder.
His eyes were unreadable. “I hope everything goes well at the party.”
She gave him a nod and walked out, with an odd feeling prickling her spine.
Chapter Twenty-Three
“SO,” JENNA SAID, her heels clicking smartly on the pavement of the country club parking lot, “we need to get in there and make sure the tables are set up correctly. I said ten to a table, not twelve, but something about the manager makes me think they are going to try to squeeze twelve to a table—”
“Jenna,” Cal’s voice came from her side, but she was on a roll.
“Twelve is just too damn many to a table. And don’t you hate it when there aren’t enough trash cans, and you don’t know where to put your hors d’oeuvres napkin? So I want to make sure there are plenty of trash receptacles.”
“Jenna.” His tone was firmer now.
“And I gave them the recipe for a signature drink, but I swear they’ll mess it up, so I want to taste it first—oooh!”
She was pushed up against a brick wall, and a hot body was pressing her into it. Cal’s hands rested on her face, and she thought about telling him he was messing up her makeup, but she was too lost in those slate eyes. “Sunshine, you’re gonna stroke out if you don’t take a breath.”
She struggled weakly, “Cal, I can’t—”
“Breathe.”
She scowled at him.
His lips quirked. “Take a deep breath. In and out. There, that’s it.”
While following his mandated breathing exercises, she glanced around to see where they were. He’d managed to shuffle them into an alcove along the side of the building not visible from the parking lot or entrance. There were rows of tall hedges blocking them in. So no one would see them.
The tight band around her chest loosened. This event was going to give her a heart attack. She wanted the employees to be happy and impressed and have a good time. Her dad had been skeptical about its being effective, and everything about her wanted to prove to him how much this could improve company morale.
But she admitted she’d been acting a little nutty. If she went in there with all cylinders engaged, she might make enemies.
Attract more bees with honey and all that.
She raised her arms and gripped Cal’s waist as his hands slipped down to grasp either side of her neck. Cal looked, well, pretty damn amazing. His straight-leg navy pants made him look taller, while accentuating his strong thighs and absolutely amazing ass. His white button-down shirt was open at the collar and set off his tan skin. The color also made his eyes blaze. His hair was a little on the longer side, and he hadn’t done much with it, so the messy hair with his crisp clothes gave him just about the sexiest look she’d ever seen. Clean-cut with an
edge. She’d take Cal in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt—or nothing at all—any day, but she didn’t mind this look on him either.
Her hand drifted down and squeezed his ass. He grunted softly and leaned in, teasing her lips with slight brushes of his before she squeezed his ass again. They hadn’t had sex again, not since that weekend they’d spent together before Asher arrived. She ached for Cal like crazy, but what they had now was fragile, so fragile they didn’t even talk about it. And with the way they were in bed, she knew it would make everything come crashing down on their heads.
They’d have to face it soon, though. Their families were talking and asking questions. And most of all, Jenna was falling for Cal the man way harder than she’d ever fallen for Cal the teenager. So she had to know if he was falling too, because if not, she was in for a rough landing.
Cal broke out of the kiss. “You look beautiful.” His lips traveled down the column of her throat. She should push on his chest and tell him to step back, that they had to get to the party, but damn, it had been so long, and his lips felt so good. And his words . . . his words were even better. His strong fingers gripped her hip, his mouth brushing the shell of her ear. “Everyone’ll take a little piece of sunshine tonight, but I know you save the best for me.”
She smiled, loving the heat of his body seeping into hers. The tension left her muscles, and she swore she could have melted into him right there.
“So you need to relax,” he said. His mouth sucked lightly on her collarbone. “No one will notice the little things. You’ve been working your ass off on this, and it will show, okay?”
She nodded.
He stepped back and slowly righted her clothes, putting her back together. Then he raised an eyebrow. “You feeling better now?”
She felt like liquid. “Yes, thank you.”
He pointed at her with an expression of mock severity. “We’ll finish this later.”
Dirty Thoughts Page 18
