by Brenda Novak
She emerged from the bathroom, and he stood up, planning to guide her out and drive her home. It was the right thing to do. If she wanted to go dancing, she could go with someone else. But when she reached him, she slipped her hand in his and said, “They’re playing John Mayer’s ‘Wonderland.’ I love that song. Can we dance?”
Caleb hesitated. He really didn’t want to make the situation any more complicated than it already was. But she was looking up at him with those wide eyes, wearing an expression of such hopeful expectation that he couldn’t bring himself to deny her.
Knowing he’d probably pay a high price for the next few minutes, he nodded and led her out onto the dance floor, where she put her arms around his neck and snuggled up to him. He could feel her breasts against his chest as John sang about the wonder of discovering a woman, and at that point he couldn’t even think about leaving.
There was unethical…and then there was irresistible.
MADISON WAS EXHAUSTED when Caleb brought her home, but she’d had a wonderful time. She hadn’t laughed so much since before she’d married Danny, and she didn’t want the evening to end. Not yet. After Caleb went home she’d have to revert to her old life—become Ellis Purcell’s daughter again and deal with the contents of the box beneath her mother’s house. She still wasn’t sure what to do with it. But she couldn’t leave it where it was.
“Would you like to come in for a nightcap?” she asked as he walked her to the door, hoping to hold reality at bay a little longer.
He shook his head. “Not tonight.”
“Why not?”
“It’s late.”
“You’re going to be home by midnight, and you drank nothing but soda at the club,” she said with a laugh. “I guess your idea of wild is about as tame as mine.”
“I doubt it,” he said dryly.
She raised her eyebrows. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means if I’d had anything stronger, or the situation was different, I wouldn’t be going home right now. At least not by my choice.”
She studied his handsome face, wondering at the thoughts behind the dark eyes that had watched her so closely all night. “So you do want to stay?”
He didn’t answer but extended his hand to her.
Butterflies filled Madison’s stomach as she accepted it—a sensation that only grew more pronounced when he pulled her against him. “What do you think?” he breathed. Then he kissed her, much more powerfully than he had the first time.
Madison liked the barely leashed tension she felt in Caleb. She also liked the taste and smell of him. She immediately began to imagine his bare chest as she’d seen it that day in her yard, and couldn’t resist slipping a hand beneath his shirt to feel the smooth skin at his waist.
As the wet warmth of his tongue moved against her own, her knees went weak and the butterflies in her stomach spread throughout her body. But before she could decide whether or not to let things go any further, he pushed her gently away from him.
“I want to stay, but not because I’m interested in a nightcap,” he said, and walked toward his cottage.
Madison stared after him, too surprised to respond. She liked Caleb. She enjoyed his company and found him incredibly attractive. But she didn’t know him very well, and her own life was…complicated.
“Caleb?” she called, torn between letting him go and asking him to stay.
He stopped a few feet away and turned.
“I—you’re leaving at the end of your lease.”
“I know,” he said, and started moving again.
“If we were to make love, it would probably be a mistake.”
He reached the cottage, opened his door and flipped on the light. “I know.”
“That doesn’t mean I’m not tempted.”
It was difficult to tell from a distance, but she thought she saw him grin. “I know,” he said and stepped inside.
“You could have acted a little more excited,” Madison mumbled, chuckling as he closed the door. He hadn’t pressed her or indicated in any way that being with her tonight was important to him. He’d only admitted that he wanted something significantly more intimate than meals and laundry, and it was probably a sad commentary on the state of her psyche that such nominal interest tempted her as much as it did.
“He’s too disruptive to my peace of mind,” she murmured to herself. She needed to be thinking about other things—like the women’s shoes and underwear, and the locket, lurking beneath her mother’s house. She’d decided she’d take care of that problem tonight, while Brianna was at Danny’s. But the thought of driving there in the dark and sneaking into the damp crawl space while her mother slept and Johnny camped out in the garage chilled her blood.
The telephone rang. Madison glanced at it, surprised that anyone would call her so late, then hurried to pick up for fear it was something to do with Brianna.
“Hello?”
“Everything okay over there?”
Caleb. Madison smiled in spite of herself. “Everything’s fine. Why wouldn’t it be?”
“Just checking.”
“I should’ve let old Mr. Sanderson move in. You know that, don’t you?” She peeked outside to see him standing at his window again. The light in his living room provided a backdrop.
“You’re probably right.”
“Except that you’ve shown me a few things he never could have,” she said.
“Like?”
“That I’m not dead from the neck down.”
His chuckle was soft and stirring. “You seem perfectly vital and healthy to me.”
“So tell me why you want to go back to San Francisco,” she said. “What’s there?”
“A whole other life.”
“What does that entail? Friends? A job? A woman?”
“A view of the bay.”
“That’s it?”
“Pretty much.”
“We have a good view of the water here, if you just walk across the street to the beach.”
“I’ve noticed that,” he said. “But to be honest, I’m partial to the view from this window.”
Madison smiled. “What can you see?”
“Whatever you’re willing to show me.”
With his flirting, the feeling of weak knees and liquid warmth she’d experienced earlier, while he was kissing her, returned. Madison would never have thought herself bold enough to play along with him. But he was in his house and she was in hers and loosening up a bit seemed almost…safe. At least it was safer than having him any closer.
“So, if I were to unzip my dress and let it slip down a little, like this—” she lowered her zipper and let her dress fall to just above her breasts “—you could probably see that?”
“I could definitely see that.” His voice had grown deeper, his expression—or what she could see of it—more intense. Somehow guessing at his reaction made what she was doing that much more titillating.
“And…if I were to lower it a little more, say to here—” she dropped her dress several inches more, to just below her breasts “—you could tell what kind of bra I’m wearing?”
“Black lace,” he breathed. “My favorite.”
The depth of his attention, which she could feel despite the distance, made her giddy. “And if I were to go a little farther…” she heard him suck air between his teeth as she followed suit “…you’d be able to tell if my panties match my bra?”
He groaned. “It’s a thong. What are you doing wearing a thong?”
She laughed. “It sort of went with the dress.”
“Oh, yeah? Turn around for me,” he said. “Let me get a better look.”
Taking a deep breath, she let the dress fall to the floor, stepped out of it and turned slowly in a circle.
“You’re killing me,” he said.
“Are you sure you don’t want that nightcap?” she asked, scarcely able to get the words out for the pounding of her heart.
He didn’t answer right away. Pressing hi
s forehead to the glass, he closed his eyes. After a few seconds he finally said, “I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because…”
“Caleb?”
When he looked up, she took hold of the front clasp that fastened her lacy bra. She didn’t know if she had the nerve to do what she wanted to. She’d never done a striptease in her life. But neither had she ever experienced such wanton desire. “Are you sure?” she asked. Before he could answer, she unsnapped the clasp and let her bra drop onto the floor with her dress.
Caleb’s mouth fell open. He obviously hadn’t expected what she’d just done. But she didn’t regret it. The appreciation on his face was worth it.
“Beautiful,” he whispered. Then, after a brief silence, he added, “Throw on a robe and come over here.”
The pounding of Madison’s heart seemed to tap out, Hurry over there…hurry over there…not every girl gets to be with a man like Caleb…don’t miss out. But she’d promised herself she’d make good decisions. She had a six-year-old to think about.
“I know this will probably punch a big hole in my sexy siren act,” she said, “but I have no birth control. I haven’t been with anybody since Danny.”
“I bought some when we stopped for gas.”
“You knew it might come to this tonight?” she asked, feeling slightly indignant.
He chuckled softly. “On some level.”
She said nothing. She was thinking. Make good decisions, avoid emotional upset, take no risks? Or go to Caleb?
Somehow, making good decisions and avoiding unnecessary risk had never seemed so hopelessly unappealing. “You come over here,” she said.
“I’m on my way.” He hung up, and then it was too late to change her mind.
Suddenly far too nervous to remain as she was, Madison put on her bra and got her robe. She was just tying it when Caleb knocked.
That didn’t take long. She wondered if she had the nerve to answer. She walked down the hall, backed away, bit her knuckle and, when he knocked again, finally opened the door.
He loomed above her, his face shadowed, the moon directly behind him. For the first time, she found his height a little intimidating. Or maybe it was the intensity of his expression. It seemed to suggest they’d gone too far to turn back now, even though they weren’t even touching.
What am I doing? she asked herself. But she didn’t wonder long. She stood back in silent invitation for him to enter, and the moment she closed the door, he slipped his hands inside her robe and around her waist, staring into her eyes as he drew her up against his hard length. He kissed her neck, curled one hand around her bottom, and she couldn’t wait for his lips to find her mouth and his hands to seek all the places that begged to be touched.
“Caleb?”
“Hmm?” He sounded distracted as he pushed her robe off her shoulders and gazed down at what his hands revealed.
“If you’re used to being with really experienced women, I’m not sure I—”
He caressed her lace-covered breasts, and she sucked in a quick breath. “You don’t have anything to worry about,” he said.
Lowering his head, he kissed the indentation beneath her collarbone, his breath hot, his lips barely grazing her skin. Then his hands sought the clasp of her bra, and Madison squeezed her eyes closed, waiting expectantly for that moment when he’d slip off her bra and actually touch her. But he didn’t immediately do so.
She opened her eyes to look up at him. “What is it?” she asked, every nerve taut. She thought she might die if he backed out now.
“I want to go slow, but I don’t think I have enough control right now.” Surprise echoed through his voice. “I’ve never wanted anyone so much.”
She was shaking; surely that told him how she felt. “I’m already burning from the inside out, Caleb. And I want you to burn, too. Burn for me.”
What had started out slow now moved very fast. “We’ll do it again—slower—afterward, okay?” he promised. “Tell me I’ll have another chance.”
Madison would have told him almost anything. She murmured something and he said, “I know you might hate me for this later, Maddy, but I have to have you.”
Madison smiled at the sound of her childhood name on his lips. “Why would I hate you?”
He didn’t answer. He kicked her robe aside and removed her bra, leaving it where it landed. Her panties soon followed. Scooping her into his arms, he started toward the back of the house, but her bedroom seemed too far away. She made him stop so she could remove his clothes—his shirt, his pants, everything. And when she pressed against him, both of them fully naked, and felt him shaking like she was, she knew they weren’t going to make it another foot. Arching into him, she breathed, “Take me now, Caleb. Right now.”
She didn’t need to ask twice. He waited only long enough to put on a condom before leaning her against the wall in the dark hallway and burying himself inside her. She cried out, clenching her hands in his hair. She felt herself stretch almost painfully to accept him, yet she wanted to draw him deeper, cling to him, lock her legs around him.
He lifted her and bore the bulk of her weight between him and the wall as he began to move, and the way he looked at her, the way he kissed her, made her feel as though more than their bodies touched.
Suddenly, Caleb was the only thing that mattered. Almost immediately Madison felt a spiraling sensation inside her, something she hadn’t experienced for a long, long time. She couldn’t believe Caleb had the power to arouse her like this, so easily, so completely. But when she felt her body tense and that first wave roll through her, she cried out his name, determined that he wouldn’t retain any more control than she had, and took him with her.
A moment later, they were breathing heavily, their hearts thudding in unison, their skin slick with sweat.
Caleb’s eyes were closed, his forehead resting against hers. With his large body pressing her into the wall, Madison felt completely safe. And content…“That was incredible, Maddy,” he whispered.
She could have said the same thing. But she was too busy reveling in the feel of him against her, inside her, everywhere.
He gathered her in his arms, as if to carry her to the bedroom, but before they’d moved an inch, he straightened. “Uh-oh.”
Madison blinked up at him. “Uh-oh” wasn’t what she’d expected.
“What is it?” she asked, suddenly a little self-conscious about her wild abandon.
He kissed her on the shoulder and gently lowered her to her feet. “Hurry and get dressed. Someone’s here.”
It took a few seconds for that piece of information to register, but when she listened, Madison could hear a car’s engine. “Not now!”
She started to collect her clothes, but Caleb moved more quickly. He handed them to her on his way to the bathroom. She heard the toilet flush, then he reappeared and thrust his legs into his pants.
“I’ll see who it is,” he said.
“This late, it’s got to be Johnny,” she told him. “And—and you can’t answer my door. It’ll be too obvious that I’m…that we’re…I don’t want him to say anything to Danny or Brianna.”
“I’ll go out the back and walk around, as if I’m coming from the cottage,” he said. “Keep your doors locked until I know it’s safe.”
“Okay.” Hearing the back door close, she hurried to her room and pulled on some sweats so she could go to the kitchen and look out at the drive. What she saw when she got there was a new Ford Explorer. A short man with a neatly trimmed goatee and a stocky build had gotten out. It wasn’t Johnny. It was Tye.
What was Tye doing here? He hadn’t been over since she’d moved in and needed his help to set up her new television. Taking a moment to slow the pounding of her heart, she went to the door and threw it open. “Tye? What’s going on?”
“Who the hell is this?” her brother said, jerking his head toward Caleb, who’d met him in the drive.
Madison didn’t dare glance in Caleb’s directi
on, afraid the look in her eyes would give away the fact that they’d just made love—or the fact that she wanted to make love with him again. “It’s Caleb Trovato.”
“Who’s Caleb Trovato?”
“My, um, renter,” she said, even though calling Caleb her renter suddenly seemed a remote term for a man she now knew more intimately than any other, except Danny.
“You didn’t tell me you’d taken in a renter.”
“I didn’t think about it. The last time we talked, it was just after we’d moved Dad’s grave, and I, um, had a lot on my mind.” Her throat suddenly dry, she swallowed. “What are you doing here, anyway?” she asked, hoping to deflect his attention.
Tye shot Caleb a look that said he could leave, but Caleb propped his hands on his hips and stood his ground.
Madison’s cheeks began to burn as she felt Caleb watching her. Falling into bed with a man she’d known only two weeks wasn’t characteristic of her. She focused on her brother to avoid Caleb’s possessive glance. “Is something wrong?”
“Isn’t that Dad’s truck?” he asked, motioning to the blue Ford parked in the drive.
She looked over to see the Ford sitting dark and empty as it had for the past few years, and felt an eerie chill down her spine. She didn’t want her father’s truck there, parked in the middle of the new life she was trying to build. But she liked the fact that she could overcome her fears enough to lend it to Caleb. That said something. “Yes. I’m borrowing it,” she said, to keep things simple.
“Borrowing it,” he repeated. “After all the time it’s been locked up in that garage.”
“Anything wrong with that?”
“I guess not,” he said, but he didn’t sound happy about it. “Have you heard from Sharon?” he asked.
“Sharon?” She could smell Caleb’s cologne on her skin as she raised a hand to scratch her forehead, and quickly lowered her arm. “Don’t you know where she is?”
