One More Moment (The McCormicks Book 3)

by Elena Aitken

  She blushed again, but this time she muttered a thank-you.

  “It’s true,” he said. “Are you ready to get started?”

  “I am,” she said a little hesitantly. “But I’ve got to tell you, I’m a little nervous. I’ve never lifted weights before.” She looked around the field where they’d met in the main part of town. “And, I don’t actually see any weights here. Where are we going?”

  Cal laughed. “I remember you told me there was no gym here. But that’s not entirely true. The Springs resort has a gym. I went to check it out last night and it’s actually not bad.”

  “So are we going up to the resort?”

  “Not today.” Cal chuckled and, still holding her hand, walked toward the edge of the field where there were a few trees. “I thought today, we could bring the gym to us.”

  Milena shook her head and laughed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said. “But I’ll play your game, and don’t forget that afterward we’re doing yoga. We don’t need any equipment for that.”

  Cal tried not to groan. The last thing he wanted to do was try yoga. No, scratch that. A few weeks ago, that’s exactly what he would’ve said. But that was before Milena. There was something about this girl—he was pretty sure he’d try anything for her. Including trying to contort himself into awkward positions that his body was not meant to bend in.

  “Oh, I haven’t forgotten. I even brought a yoga mat like you asked.”

  Milena turned to look at him in wonder. “You have a yoga mat?”

  “Of course I have a yoga mat. You don’t think I’m a total caveman, do you?”

  She laughed again. It was a sound Cal could definitely get used to hearing, especially if he was the one to make it happen. She seemed like the kind of girl who needed to laugh more, who needed to enjoy life to the fullest. He didn’t know her story yet, but he intended to find out everything about her. “No, I don’t think you’re caveman,” she said. “But I don’t believe for one minute that you had a yoga mat.”

  Cal tried to look offended. But she totally caught him out. Of course he didn’t have a yoga mat. “Okay, you got me. I borrowed it from Chelsea. But I am excited to use it.”

  She laughed again, because she knew as much as he did that was a lie and he’d rather return it to his little sister in exactly the same condition he’d found it in. Unused.

  “Okay,” she said. “But first, show me these weights. A deal is a deal.”

  Clearly Cal couldn’t bring weights to the field. But one of the new training tools he’d started using in Australia was called a suspension system that used your own body weight. He’d already set it up over one of the trees. He showed it to Milena, who looked very suspicious of the contraption but was a good sport about it, and tried all of the exercises he showed her. It didn’t look like much, but the system actually gave them a very good workout, and in no time Milena had worked up enough of a sweat to take off her sport jacket. Cal tried not to stare as she pulled down the zipper and shrugged out of the coat, revealing a tank top. He tried, but failed, not to stare at the way the material hugged her perfect, round breasts. And when she caught him looking, he didn’t bother trying to cover it up. “I’m sorry to stare,” he said. “But, damn, girl.”

  He’d been good, he’d been patient, but there was something about seeing Milena, her skin glistening just a little from the exertion of the workout, that made him crazy. He took two steps to cross the distance between them, and using a great deal of self-control, reached out one hand. He stroked the back of his hand gently down her cheek to cup her chin and lift it to him. She closed her eyes, and he was a goner. Cal pressed his lips gently to hers. The softness yielded under his touch. She tasted like peppermint.

  He could’ve kissed her all day, but it was too soon. He didn’t know why, but Cal felt he had known her forever and he needed to remember that wasn’t the case. He liked her; he didn’t want to scare her.

  He pulled away but she kept her eyes closed for another moment before she opened them in wonder. “I hope that was okay.” He let his hand find hers again and pulled her close. “I just… I couldn’t not kiss you right then.”

  “No.” She shook her head slightly, and brought her free hand up to her lips. “It was…” She glanced down briefly and when she looked up again, the bewilderment was gone from her eyes, replaced by determination and something else, something hot. Before he could say anything more, Milena took her free hand and wrapped it around the back of his head. She pulled him into her and kissed him with none of the tentative softness from a moment ago. This kiss was full of passion and heat, and the promise for more.

  Forget going slow.

  He wrapped his arms around her; one hand found the back of her neck and the other rested in the dip of her back. Their lips explored, their tongues twisting together. The kiss was hot, sexy—it was…everything.

  Cal took two steps, not letting go of her, and backed her up gently against a tree. She made a small moaning noise that threatened to completely undo him. He broke away from her mouth long enough to trail kisses down her neck, to the top of the tank top where her cleavage was enticingly pressed up for his viewing pleasure. He pressed his lips on the swell of each breast through the fabric. He was aware they were out in public, exposed to whoever happened to walk by, so Cal did his best to keep it PG. But what he really wanted to do was get her alone. It wasn’t possible, at least not for the moment. So with incredible difficulty, he returned his mouth to her lips, and kissed her thoroughly before he forced himself to take a step back.

  “I know I’ve said it before.” His breath came in pants, as he tried to pull himself together and regain control. “But, damn, girl. You are… You just…”

  “I could say the same about you,” she said. Her breasts heaved, straining against her shirt as she worked to control her breath. “But you promised me a workout.” Her eyes challenged him, with so much more meaning behind the words. “So let’s focus on one thing at a time, shall we?”

  It wasn’t easy, but Cal pulled himself together. “Okay,” he said. “But just know, we’re not finished here.”

  She winked at him and straightened her ponytail. “Oh, we’re definitely not finished here.”

  Milena had never had such an intense workout in her life. Hell, if that’s what strength training was like, she was all for it. Of course, her lips had a better workout than her muscles. But that didn’t matter; she was more than happy to do it again. Soon.

  But first, she had to focus on the day. Because as much as she wanted to, she couldn’t take the entire day off. It was bad enough she’d taken the morning off. Her work was piling up. It was a good thing, of course, but even good problems could become big problems if she didn’t take care.

  Which was exactly why she focused on work all afternoon.

  Estelle had left her the file she had promised, despite the fact that Milena was super distracted with thoughts of Cal and that kiss and how it had felt to be pressed up against the tree with his hands all over her. She still managed to somehow research five potential properties for the family and was about to schedule some showings.

  “Mr. Williams, this is Milena Hill from Lakeside Realty. Have I caught you at a good time?”

  “Absolutely, Milena. Estelle told me you’d give us a call because you were the best in the valley.”

  Milena blushed a little and shook her head, even though she was alone in the office. “I don’t know about that, Mr. Williams, but I will certainly do my best to find you and your family the home you’re looking for.”

  “Please, call me Steve,” he said. “Do you have good news for us?”

  Milena shuffled the papers on her desk in front of her. There still wasn’t a lot available in Cedar Springs, but she was pretty confident there was something in her pile that would be perfect for this family. “I have some great places to show you, Steve. In fact, if you have a little bit of free time this afternoon, I’d be happy to show you some.”

/>   She spent the next few minutes making the arrangements before Milena hung up. She had only about fifteen minutes to get organized and get down to Dream Puffs bakery to meet Steve and his wife. This was the part of the job she liked the most. She still didn’t have a ton of experience, but she already knew that showing families potential properties that could become their perfect home would be the most satisfying part of her day.

  On the flip side, Estelle had warned her that it could also be a great exercise in problem solving when she would have to figure out what they exactly wanted in a property. Often a family didn’t communicate everything right away, so it would be up to Milena to figure it out. She was more than up for the challenge.

  Besides, the distraction would be welcome so she didn’t fixate on her morning with Cal. There was no doubt that if she let herself, she’d overanalyze everything that had happened and what else could have happened if they both hadn’t have had to go to work. The fact that she’d spontaneously asked him if he’d like to continue their date later that night was more than a little distracting. To put it mildly.

  Focus.

  But she couldn’t focus because all Milena could think about was the way his mouth had tasted on hers and even better, the sensations his touch had sent racing through her, right to her core. She hadn’t felt like that since…well, since…she’d never felt like that.

  In their five years of dating, Michael had never once given her that rush of pleasure and intense sensations that Cal did in only ten minutes. Maybe that was what all the fuss was about. On the very few girls’ nights she’d been invited to, the conversation would inevitably dissolve after a few glasses of wine into talks about men and sex and orgasms. Milena always enjoyed those conversations, but she never had much to contribute to the conversation.

  It’s not that her sex life was ever bad, but it certainly didn’t hold any of the earth-shattering intensity that the other women described.

  She couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like with Cal. Wonder was putting it mildly. Ever since he’d come to town, she’d kind of been obsessing about it. Not that she thought in a million years that she’d ever have an actual chance with a famous model—sure, she’d hoped—but Milena was nothing if not practical. And fantasizing about a sexy celebrity was definitely not practical.

  Until that morning.

  Everything had changed.

  Not only had her fantasies changed, but after that kiss, it had become clear that fantasy could become reality.

  Focus.

  Milena sighed. She had a feeling she’d be telling herself that a lot over the next few hours. She opened the door to the bakery, inhaled the scent of the fresh cinnamon buns Suzy was famous for and forced herself to focus on the situation at hand.

  “I’ll take a black coffee, Suzy.” Milena purposely avoided looking at the pans of fresh buns out of the oven. It was bad enough that the smell was all but turning her stomach inside out. Suzy’s cinnamon buns were legendary. They’d also been a huge factor in why she’d been at her heaviest weight only a few years ago. Not that she completely blamed the buns. No, it was her virtually nonexistent self-esteem that was responsible for that.

  “One day I’ll tempt you back into a bun, Milena.” The woman’s smile was just as warm and genuine as she was herself.

  “I’ll tell you what, Suzy. You come up with a fat-free, sugar-free alternative and I’ll be your best customer again.”

  “You know what?” Suzy tapped a pen to her lips. “I might just have to do that. With all these Hollywood types coming to town, something tells me that my usual goodies won’t be as popular as they are with the regulars. I’ll have to come up with a wheat grass, hemp heart, flax seed, something or other muffin of some sort.”

  Milena laughed. “That actually sounds really good.”

  “Sure it does.” Suzy shook her head and handed her a cup of coffee. “Until then, my offer for cinnamon buns always stands.”

  “I know it does.” Milena dropped a few dollars into the cup on the counter. “But I’ll stick with my coffee.” Especially since she’d started her workouts with Cal. Assuming there would be more of them.

  And she certainly hoped there would be.

  Of all kinds.

  Milena’s mind went quickly to a very sexy place that involved a very different type of workout than they’d engaged in that morning. She could feel the heat of her blush, and quickly cleared her thoughts. She couldn’t be thinking of Cal like that right before she met with the Williams family.

  As if she’d conjured them, the bells on the door tinkled as a man she assumed to be Steve, his wife, and two small children walked in.

  Pushing aside anymore sexy thoughts about Cal McCormick, Milena put her game face on and greeted the Williamses with a smile.

  Chapter Four

  Cal was running a little later than he’d wanted to. Rehearsal had run long because the girl standing in for the part of Gwen didn’t know her lines, having just been given the script that morning. It’s not that she was bad; it’s just that she wasn’t the actress who was supposed to be playing the part, which meant it was the first time she’d read those lines and she just wasn’t prepared. It’s not that she was bad—far from it. Alison Peppar was actually pretty good. Or at least she would be if she’d had any time to prepare for rehearsal.

  But Cal could easily see himself acting across from her. If Alison played the role of Gwen. But she wasn’t. That was the whole problem. He still didn’t know who his co-star would be, and that only added to his aggravation and the troubles for a long rehearsal.

  Not that Cal would normally care; after all, he himself was completely new. It was just that it had meant everything took a little bit longer than it should have, and on that day in particular, every minute already felt like an eternity. Because all Cal could think about was the way he’d pushed Milena up against that tree.

  He’d taken a risk by kissing her. She just didn’t seem like the type of girl who kissed a lot of guys. Not that she was the type not to. It’s just…there was something different about her. Something wholesome, and pure, and just…different.

  For starters, the woman had no idea how sexy she was. It was easy for him to see that she was a little bit shy and insecure. Not that she had any reason to be. Her curves, her body, her lips—her everything—did it for him.

  He’d known from the moment he’d seen her that kissing her was going to be amazing. A woman couldn’t spark that much electricity in him with only a smile and not have a kiss be absolutely incredible. But the reality had been so much better than the fantasy. Which was why every moment of rehearsal had felt like agony.

  When the day had started, he had no intention of putting their date on pause just to pick it up later that night. But when they had to part company to go on with their respective days, Cal didn’t see any other option. He needed to continue that date. And part two was going to be even better than part one.

  He grabbed a quick shower, put on some fresh clothes, and was gone before any of his brothers could stop him and question him. He had received a text from Declan earlier about going to hang out at the Paw later, and he knew his older brother had to be going crazy trying to figure out what Cal had meant when he responded only with, “Can’t. Meeting a sexy lady.”

  Knowing his brother, Declan would probably be making a list of all the potential date candidates in town and then spending the evening trying to work out the mystery.

  At least it would give him something to do. His brother desperately needed to find a hobby since coming back to Cedar Springs. Running his not-for-profit charity DAR took up most of his time, but the man needed to have a little fun too. After all, one can only save the world for so long before they needed to loosen up.

  At any rate, that wasn’t his problem. Not tonight. But whatever happened, he’d be avoiding the Grizzly Paw. Just in case Declan got it into his head to go out anyway. He wanted to be alone with Milena. If he had his way, he’d already have a house tha
t he could take her back to, wine and dine her, and spend the evening talking and getting to know her. Because as attracted as he was to her physically, it was her spirit that turned him on the most. Cal just knew there was so much more to her than he’d already gotten to see and he wanted to see it all.

  He couldn’t decide whether he was more excited for that part of their date or kissing her again.

  He raced into town in his brand-new convertible and pulled up to her house just in time to see her come outside. She closed the door and stood on the porch, wearing a sexy little sundress that hugged her tight and flirted with her knees. He wanted to yell out when she pulled on a little over-the-shoulder shrug to cover up her bare arms.

  She should never be covered up.

  He jumped out of the car and sprinted up the path, stopping directly in front of her. “You look amazing.” She did. But it didn’t matter what Milena wore; she would have looked amazing because that smile that made her eyes dance in mischief as though she had a special secret she was keeping just for him was the most gorgeous thing she could be wearing.

  She looked down as if to object, but Cal stopped her and held her chin in his hand. She opened her mouth to protest, but he silenced her with a kiss. He didn’t know why she couldn’t accept a compliment, but he had full intentions to change that.

  “I’m sorry I’m late.” He took her hand and led her to his car.

  “Oh, it’s fine.” She slipped into the passenger seat and Cal waited a moment to admire how perfect she looked in his car. He was like a teenager, and he didn’t even care. “I was showing houses all afternoon and only just got back and got changed myself, so it worked out well.” He got in the seat next to her and she asked, “Are you sure you’re okay with letting me choose our date location for tonight?”