Unexpectedly Yours: A Forever Love Story (InterMix)

by Jeannie Moon

  She just couldn’t get past Mark’s creepy factor. In the end, that was the big deterrent.

  Her sister patted Caroline’s leg before she stood. “Trust your instincts. I trusted mine about Jason. It all worked out.”

  Now her sister had her worried. Understanding was one thing, but she was being downright reasonable.

  “Do you have a fever?”

  “What?” Her sister looked shocked. “A fever? No!”

  “Get hit in the head?” Something wasn’t right.

  “What is wrong with you?”

  “You never trust me to make my own decisions. Never.”

  “That’s not true.” Meg stood and turned to face her. Her arms were folded and she had her lip out in her best pout. It worked like a charm on her husband. Caroline was immune.

  “Seriously, Meg.”

  Her sister went to her dresser and fiddled with a pair of diamond studs that probably cost as much as a small car. “I try to watch out for you. I’m not apologizing for that.”

  “Who are you watching out for this time?”

  Her brother-in-law Jason entered the room and handed Meg an untied black bow tie, which she draped around his neck and went to work on.

  “Caroline said I’m controlling.”

  “You are,” Jason said, kissing the top of his wife’s head. “But we know it’s because you love us.”

  Caroline loved the exchange between them and thought about how lucky she was to have people in her life who had these kinds of relationships. It gave her hope.

  Jason was so classically handsome it was almost like he wasn’t real. His short, dark hair was thick and smooth, his bone structure was almost regal, and his eyes were like his brother’s. Clear, expressive, and blue.

  Jason and Josh’s parents may have been horrible people, but the genetic mix produced gorgeous children.

  “Jason, do you know anyone we can fix Caroline up with?”

  “I don’t do fix-ups,” he said. “They always end badly.”

  Meg pouted again and Jason grinned down at her as she finished tying his tie. “Please?”

  “I don’t really know anyone. I don’t get out much.” Kissing the tip of her nose, he stepped away and sat in a big wing chair by the window to put on his shoes.

  “What about Owen?” Meg had no shame. Asking Jason about his business partner wasn’t fair.

  “You know I am here, Meg? In the room? Ask me about Owen,” Caroline said.

  “Do you want me to fix you up with Owen?”

  “No.” Caroline stood up and stepped toward the bedroom door. “I’m going to get Molly into her pajamas and watch a movie.”

  “Caroline, I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

  “Meg, that’s part of life, and what sucks for me right now is that I haven’t even had the opportunity to lick my wounds.”

  That was kind of a lie; she’d been licking her wounds all day. She’d become intimately involved with two guys named Ben and Jerry. Meg just hadn’t seen it.

  The last two days had been a combination of dream and nightmare. Caroline was doing her best to focus on doing the right thing for herself and, at that moment, for Molly, whom she found in her room changing into her jammies. When Grace, Jason and Josh’s sister and Meg’s best friend, was killed in a car accident with her husband, Caroline found herself thrust into the role of aunt when Meg became Molly’s guardian.

  Caroline cherished the relationship, and Molly was the best part of her visits to her sister’s house. Especially since Meg couldn’t control her need to run Caroline’s life.

  Looking down, Caroline saw Moe Kitty, Molly’s cat, slinking around her legs. “Hey, Moe.”

  The cat looked up at her with his large green eyes and purred. “He sounds like a little motor boat,” she thought aloud.

  “He makes all kinds of noises,” Molly said. “His meows are soooo noisy!”

  As if on cue the cat meowed, seeming like he was almost trying to say words. “What does he want? Attention?” Caroline crouched down and scratched the cat behind the ear. He moved his head and then tried to bite her.

  “He’s not always nice,” Molly said. “I think he’s hungry.”

  “Ah, well we’ll feed him later. Let’s go make some popcorn and watch that movie.”

  Caroline took her niece’s hand and they started to make their way through the rambling home Jason had bought when he and Meg had married six months earlier. She and Molly were walking down the back staircase into the kitchen when she heard voices. One voice in particular, which was big and booming.

  Her toes curled. Josh. Perfect. She heard him laugh and then a high-pitched feminine giggle followed. Could this get worse?

  “Come on, Aunt Caroline.” Molly was tugging on her hand because Caroline hadn’t realized she’d stopped on the stairs.

  “Right.” But every step made her more wary, more uncomfortable, because at the end of the stairway she’d be facing one of her biggest mistakes.

  Molly broke away and ran as soon as she saw her uncle. “Uncle Josh!”

  “Hey, squirt. What are you up to tonight?” He looked more gorgeous in his black tux than should have been legal, and all Caroline could think of was how he looked out of it. But the tall blonde woman in the silver dress next to him smacked the carnal thoughts right out of Caroline’s head.

  “Me and Aunt Caroline are watching a movie.”

  “Aww,” the blonde said. “She’s so cute.”

  Josh hadn’t noticed Caroline was standing there until Molly said something, but when he did, his eyes found hers and she wasn’t sure what she saw. Was it anger? Pity? Caroline was feeling pretty pitiful, so maybe that was it.

  “Hey,” he said.

  He took a step closer and Caroline got a whiff of his cologne and felt a bit weak in the knees. Pathetic.

  “I didn’t know you were babysitting.” God, his voice was like music.

  “I don’t know why you would.” Caroline stepped off the last step and stood next to Molly.

  “You two know each other?” Caroline sensed the blonde felt threatened. Why, she didn’t know. Caroline hadn’t even bothered with a pair of jeans for tonight; she’d gone right for the yoga pants and a slubby T-shirt. She was a mess. She didn’t care.

  “Caroline is Meg’s sister. We go way back.”

  “You’re Meg’s sister?” Josh’s date couldn’t contain her shock. “Wow. You two are so... different.”

  “Imagine that,” Caroline said, annoyed at the implication. “I didn’t get your name.”

  “Oh, sorry,” Josh said. “Caroline, this is Summer.”

  “Summer,” Caroline repeated. “That’s an interesting name.”

  “Yeah. Apparently, I was conceived in the summer.”

  Now there was the perfect example of too much information.

  There was more noise as Jason and Meg entered the room. “Hey there, are we all ready?” Meg asked.

  Jason looked out the window. “The car is here.”

  “We’re going to take my car,” Josh said. “I know you two will be the last out tonight.”

  “I helped organize this,” Meg said. “I have to stay.”

  “I know. That’s why I’m driving.”

  “No limo?” Summer whined.

  Josh shook his head and Caroline thought she saw an eye roll from him that was worthy of a teenage girl, but she couldn’t be sure.

  There wasn’t much she could say or do at that point. Summer was sulking about going to the party in Josh’s new Jaguar instead of a limo. Josh looked annoyed, and Meg was going over her notes for the speech she was giving tonight.

  So Caroline just watched as the two gorgeous Campbell brothers prepared to escort their equally beautiful dates to a ball.

  In contrast, Caroline was preparing for an eveni
ng of Disney princess movies. Kind of perfect since she was feeling a little bit like a pumpkin.

  Meg and Jason kissed Molly goodnight and warned her to be good. Josh said good-bye too, but there was no warning. Summer stood there. Like a mannequin.

  Within a few seconds, the voices, the sound of the high heels clicking on the tile, the jingling keys were gone with the partygoers, and Caroline was left with Molly and her cat, who was purring at Caroline’s feet again.

  “I’m not stupid, cat. You might look cute, but I’m not going to let you bite me.”

  Ironically, that’s the same way she felt about men right at that moment. The cat meowed.

  Caroline walked away.

  She wasn’t about to be bitten.

  ***

  Josh pulled into the long driveway at Meg and Jason’s house, thankful the evening was over. Summer had caught a ride back to the city with friends after the benefit, and Josh was looking forward to a good night’s sleep.

  God knew he barely slept last night. Having Caroline in his bed made that pretty much impossible. Even when she’d dozed off, he lay there, watching her sleep. It wasn’t anything he’d ever done before, with any woman, but she was different. He felt the need to watch over her. To make sure she was okay.

  Just seeing her before the group left for the benefit got his blood humming. She had been a total mess, and looked at him like he’d kicked a puppy, but he’d still felt himself drawn to her. And thinking about how touching her would make him feel.

  He was in such trouble.

  She hadn’t been all too happy about seeing him either, and he could only imagine what she thought of Summer. Summer. Pretty girl, but she couldn’t hold a candle to Caroline in terms of brain power, and as a result his evening was filled with insipid chatter about what everyone was wearing at the dinner. At least her friends could give her the limo ride she so wanted.

  Very different from the evening he’d shared with Caroline the night before.

  When he got into the mud room, he saw a light glowing from somewhere near the kitchen, and as he entered the main part of the house, he heard a familiar tick-tick-tick sound of someone’s fingers tapping on a keyboard.

  The light was coming from the den, and that’s where Josh found Caroline sitting cross-legged on the plush, over-sized sofa, her computer in her lap, totally zoned on whatever she was doing.

  He approached her from behind and watched. She was writing. The words were flying onto the page and Caroline had no idea he was even in the room. It was a wild thing to watch. He’d seen athletes in the zone, and he assumed it was the same thing for her. She was working the page, typing so fast he couldn’t follow her fingers.

  The shocker came when he saw what she was writing.

  Sex.

  Hot, sweaty sex. The girl may not have a lot of experience, but she had a hell of an imagination.

  He read over her shoulder for a minute and let himself get drawn in. It was kind of amazing because she was writing the sex from her male character’s point of view. And she was doing it pretty well. There were just a few things she could have tweaked. Mostly that the guy, Travis, wouldn’t be thinking so much. Why did women always want men to think so damn much?

  She was writing something now about a burn. A burn? Eh. He felt a lot of things during sex, but no burning. She should fix that.

  “I don’t think that’s right.” There was no way for Josh to anticipate how Caroline was going to react.

  “AHHHHHH!” She jumped and had to clutch her computer to keep it from falling, and the look on her face was a wash of emotions he couldn’t read. “What the hell! Oh, my God! Are you crazy?”

  “What?”

  “You scared the shit out of me!” Caroline flipped the laptop closed and held it to her chest like a shield while trying to steady her breathing. She looked really shaken. Instinctively, Josh reached out, laying his hands on her shoulders. The second he touched her he knew he’d made a mistake. Both of them froze and Caroline’s face told him everything.

  “Josh, um...”

  “I didn’t mean to scare you.” He was whispering, wanting to soothe her, reassure her. “I’m sorry.”

  “I didn’t hear you come in. God, it could have been anyone.”

  “It wasn’t, though. It was me.” He’d started to rub the tension out of her shoulders. His fingers brushed the soft skin at her neck, and a wisp of her hair got caught in them. He should step back. Take away his hands. But he couldn’t. What the hell was his problem?

  “What are you doing here, anyway?”

  “I’m playing golf with Jason in the morning, so I decided to stay out here rather than drive back into the city.”

  She let out a deep breath. “Where’s your date?”

  “She caught a ride home with friends.” Why hadn’t he stepped back yet? Why hadn’t he let go? “Are you okay?”

  “You scared me to death.”

  “I’m sorry.” Now his hands, his fingers, were kneading her neck.

  Her face was so perfect. Soft skin, a light blush on her lips, and lashes that almost brushed her cheeks. Josh watched as Caroline relaxed into his hands and her eyes drifted shut. When she opened them, she saw how close they were. The only thing separating them was her laptop, and if he moved his face just a little, their lips would touch. It took everything Josh had not to do it. “I... I should go to bed,” she said. Maybe reluctantly?

  “Yeah. Of course. Me too.”

  His thumb brushed one of her cheeks and Caroline sucked in a breath before looking up. “You really shouldn’t touch me like that, Josh.”

  It took him a second to step back and drop his hands. She was right. He shouldn’t.

  “Sleep well, Caroline.”

  “Thank you.”

  He watched her pack her things into a tote bag, and just as she got to the room’s doorway he felt the need to tell her what he thought. “Caroline?”

  She stopped.

  “For what it’s worth, what I read over your shoulder was good. Hot.”

  “Thanks.” She put her head down. Wouldn’t make eye contact with him. Shit.

  “You should be proud of it.”

  “I appreciate that.”

  “Sometimes you have to fight for what you want.” His words shot a chill right through him and an inkling of self-awareness sparked inside. Was he talking to Caroline, or himself?

  Chapter 6

  “You seem upset about something,” Meg said.

  “No. I’m just distracted. Work.”

  Liar, liar, pants on fire! Caroline wondered if she just should have gone home when she got up that morning. She heard Jason and Josh leave for an early tee time, and she had the perfect opportunity to escape. But she didn’t. She slept late, dreaming that a big blond guy was making love to her. That was her distraction right there.

  Now the men were out at Molly’s soccer game and once again, instead of leaving, she stayed.

  “Right.” Meg dropped the tomatoes into the large salad bowl. “Can you look for another job if you’re that unhappy?”

  “I don’t know what would change at a new place. I’m still going to be a woman.”

  “Is that really the problem?” Meg asked. Being in a female-dominated profession, Meg couldn’t understand how much gender played a role in some fields. Caroline would never say teachers had it easy, Meg worked harder than anyone, but women in teaching didn’t suffer career setbacks for being women. “Is it your boss? If he’s harassing you . . . ”

  “Mark? He’s definitely part of the problem. But that it’s possible that may improve soon.”

  “Why? Are you going to go out with him?”

  While that thought had crossed her mind, more than once, she knew it wasn’t the right thing to do. No, what she was about to tell her sister was pretty pathetic and Caroline had to hold back a rea
ction that was half amusement, half disgust. Not because what she was about to say was funny, but because it was sadly ironic. “He already thinks I have a boyfriend.”

  Meg laughed out loud. One of her full, involved laughs, and Caroline was wondering if she should be insulted. “Oh that’s perfect. You didn’t tell me that last night. Who’s the lucky guy?”

  “Umm... well ... ” Oh, what the hell. She didn’t have to tell her sister all the details. “Believe it or not, it’s Josh.”

  Her sister froze in place. “Wait. What? Did you say Josh? Our Josh?”

  “The one and the same.”

  Meg put down the knife and walked around the island. She was quiet... never a good sign in Caroline’s opinion, and when she took a seat right next to her at the island, Meg drew a deep breath and one side of her mouth turned up in a wry grin. “Okay,” she said calmly. “From the beginning. How did this happen?”

  “It’s not a big deal.”

  “Maybe not, but I sense a good story. Give.”

  “Why?”

  “I want details.” Meg folded her arms and tossed her mane of blonde hair. “Then I’ll decide if it’s a big deal or not. I told Mom not to let you move into the city.”

  She was back to Control Freak Meg. Wonderful. Just what Caroline wanted.

  “Meg, I’m a grown woman and a professional engineer. If I can keep a skyscraper from falling down, I think can make my own decisions.”

  “Caroline, we worry about you. You’re going to have to get used to it.” Meg didn’t budge. She fixed her gaze and stared. “Are you going to tell me?”

  “Tell you what?” Turning toward the door, Caroline saw they’d been joined by their mother. Great. She needed one more person ready to tell her what to do.

  Caroline wished her mother and her sister would just back off. Since she was thirteen they’d tried to control her every move, telling her where to go to school, whom she should be friends with, how she should run her career— and giving way too much advice on her love life. She knew they cared, but it always felt more like she was being ganged up on rather than helped.

  “Nothing,” Caroline said, answering her sister’s question about her new love life.