by Iris Morland
Mark snorted. “For one, the ranch is no place for a woman.” He slowly took her in, his gaze traveling from her toes, lingering on her breasts, and then her face. “Secondly, I raise horses.”
“And pigs. Right, bro?” Caleb teased.
This seemed to be an ongoing joke between the two, and Megan rather expected them to start wrestling like young boys right in the middle of her bakery. Harrison just slapped Mark on the shoulder.
“How about we get something to eat and not keep bothering these ladies?” Harrison winked at Megan. “Otherwise I think they’re going to kick us out.”
After serving the Thornton trio, Megan headed to the kitchen to get another sheet of cinnamon rolls to place inside the bakery’s case. She didn’t hear the footsteps following her until she felt an arm snake around her waist.
She didn’t have to look behind her to know who it was.
“I’ve wanted to kiss you all morning,” Caleb rumbled. He kissed the back of her neck, and she shivered in his arms.
“I’m holding a tray,” she said lamely, like it would somehow keep him from kissing her. She was sure she could feel his smile against her skin.
“Then I’ll kiss you here,” he said as he kissed her nape. “And here,” he murmured, kissing her ear. “And here.” The last kiss was on the corner of her mouth.
“Caleb, someone will see us.”
“So? They’ve already seen us.” He cupped her breast, and she had to bite her lip to stifle a moan. “Go out with me tonight.”
She couldn’t think with him thumbing her nipple, and she couldn’t think as he kissed and suckled her neck. She tightened her grip on the tray of cinnamon rolls.
“Why?” It was the only thing that came to mind.
“Why not? Besides, you owe me for staying over last night.”
At that, she swiveled her head to look him in the eye. “I didn’t know there was a payment plan involved.”
“There is now, only because I know you would hate to owe me anything.” His fingers inched up her shirt, touching bare skin. “Go out with me tonight, or I’ll ravish you on the counter right here.”
Her eyes widened. “You wouldn’t.” Yet his fingers only moved higher and higher until he was cupping her breast underneath her bra. She closed her eyes.
“I would, and you know I would.” He whispered in her ear, “Go out to dinner with me, and then I’ll take you home, and I’ll make love to you all night long.” Rolling her nipple between his index finger and thumb, he was relentless. “Or I won’t stop right now.”
When Megan heard a noise, she almost jumped out of her skin. Caleb steadied the tray before she could drop it, and she set it down on the counter with a clatter. Just as she was pulling her bra back into place and her shirt over her belly, Harrison walked into the kitchen.
Caleb just raised an eyebrow.
“Fine, I’ll go,” she hissed. She didn’t know why she was so annoyed. She had a feeling she was just frustrated with him for stoking the flames of her desire and then leaving her hanging. If he wanted to, he could touch her and she’d come under his fingers within seconds.
How humiliating. And disastrous. Oh, and amazing, damn him.
“I need to get back to work,” Harrison said. He made a point not to look at Megan, but she knew he knew that they’d not only been talking back here. Her face flamed. “You coming?” Harrison asked Caleb.
“Yeah, I’ll be right there.”
Harrison raised a dark eyebrow at his brother before nodding at Megan.
Alone again, Caleb drew Megan into his arms. “I’ll pick you up at seven.”
“Is that so? Not six? Seven-thirty? It has to be seven?”
“It has to be seven.” He kissed her forehead. “Be a good girl and be ready for me when I come.”
“Oh, I’m always ready for when you come,” she drawled.
Caleb guffawed, pinching her on the ass in revenge.
“I thought you had to get back to work,” Caleb said as he sat down at the table Harrison and Mark currently occupied. In a semi-private corner, he could almost act like Megan wasn’t only yards away in her kitchen, looking deliciously rumpled after his kisses.
Sure, he could totally act like that wasn’t a reality right now. Too bad his aching cock told him otherwise.
“I lied.” Harrison tossed a bite of muffin into his mouth. “I just thought you’d rather avoid getting caught with your pants down. Again.”
Caleb grunted and gave Harrison the finger. “I haven’t gotten caught with my pants down ever,” he muttered.
“Metaphorically. Jubilee told me all about what happened the day before. And then a little bird told me that you stayed over at Megan Flannigan’s last night.” Harrison grinned at Caleb’s stormy expression. “So that would be a yes, you did stay over.”
“Since when did you become a gossiping old woman?” Mark said in his gravelly voice. “You’re worse than Mom.”
All three brothers stared at each other and then shuddered. No one was worse than Lisa Thornton when interfering in her children’s lives. The thought of becoming like her was as terrifying as going outside without pants on, or an alien invasion, or nuclear war. All three combined would still not be as bad, Caleb thought with another inward shudder.
“I’m not going to go behind his back, so this is different. Take it from someone who’s going to marry the love of his life” —Caleb and Mark groaned simultaneously— “and let me say that you shouldn’t waste any more time, Caleb. You’ll regret it. Get that woman and make her yours.”
“Either shit or get off the pot,” Mark offered.
“Exactly. Except maybe keep that sentiment to yourself.”
Caleb rolled his eyes. “If it’ll shut up you two busybodies, we’re going out tonight. On a real, honest-to-goodness date. If you want to tag along and give me tips, feel free. Maybe you can sit behind us and whisper what I should say into my ear.”
“Hey, I don’t give a shit whether you shit or not.” Mark finished his coffee in a single gulp. “I don’t have a horse in this race.”
“Enough with the metaphors.” Harrison pointed a finger at Caleb. “You’re really taking her out?”
“Yes, and then I’m taking her back to my place to have my way with her. You happy?”
“Deliriously.” Harrison lowered his voice as he added, “But if you hurt her, I’ll have to kill you. She’s my sister now, too.”
“She isn’t your sister yet, and shouldn’t you be worried she’ll kill me?”
Mark grunted again. “He has a point.”
“Thank you, Mark.” Caleb scratched his jaw. “I think.”
Harrison shook his head. “Megan puts on a brave face, but she’s vulnerable if you look below the surface. Don’t break her, Caleb. Because one false move could shatter her.”
Caleb just scowled. For one, since when was his older brother a shrink? Last time he checked was a damn pediatric oncologist. But ever since he’d gotten engaged to Sara, Harrison felt like he needed to give everyone advice. Secondly, Caleb knew that Megan wasn’t that fragile. She had a strength and starch to her spine that he’d never encountered before in another woman.
Maybe it just means that you have the power to shatter someone like her, his mind whispered.
That only soured his mood further, and he couldn’t help but wonder if he was making a huge mistake. Hadn’t he told himself Megan was off limits to him? That made him a fraud and a liar. A man who had secrets that he couldn’t reveal to anyone. A man who’d caused the death of his best friend and had never received any punishment for it.
Right then, Megan’s friend Abby walked by, her phone glued to her ear. Caleb had seen her around town a number of times although he’d never talked to her. She was pretty, although nothing about her screamed beauty queen. Wearing scrubs and her hair in a tight bun, she blended easily into the crowd. Yet Caleb couldn’t help but notice that Mark seemed to vibrate with tension when she passed by.
Now, tha
t was interesting.
Mark had had a fiancée once upon a time, but it had ended badly. Caleb wasn’t sure of all of the details—Mark wasn’t exactly a chatty guy—but at the end of everything, Mark’s fiancée had suddenly become Mark’s best friend’s girlfriend. Ever since then, Mark had had a dark cloud over him, a bitterness that no woman had been able to penetrate. Caleb had honestly wondered if Mark would remain a monk forever.
Based on his reaction to Abby, his stint with celibacy might be at an end.
Abby walked away, probably to a table in the back of the bakery.
Harrison also noticed the look in Mark’s eyes and said casually, “Why don’t you ask her out?”
Mark seemed to jolt out of whatever reverie he’d been under. “What? Who?”
“Abby, of course.”
Mark scowled. “Don’t play matchmaker with me. I’m not interested in dating any woman.”
That raised the eyebrows of both Harrison and Caleb. Before Caleb could ask the obvious question, Mark just scowled further.
“It’s not that,” he said. “But I don’t have time for a woman. They need attention. Gifts. Things like that. I have to run my ranch.”
“Yes, generally speaking, women do like it when you acknowledge their existence,” Caleb said wryly.
Mark only huffed out an annoyed breath.
“I’m only suggesting asking her out, not marrying her. You need to get out of your shell.” Harrison finished the last of his coffee. “Believe me, a good woman would do a world of good for you.”
“I don’t have any interest in dating, and I most especially don’t want to date a mousy nurse like her.”
Caleb heard the small intake of breath, and to his horror, Abby herself had been within hearing distance of that last statement. She turned white when she realized they’d seen her. To her credit, she didn’t burst into tears or throw a plate at Mark’s face—all deservedly so. She shrugged, a tight smile on her face.
“Isn’t it convenient then that I have no interest in dating asshole ranchers like yourself?” she said lightly.
Mark moved to stand, but it was Harrison who stood first. “Abby, whatever you heard—“
“I heard enough. Have a nice day.”
Caleb could almost convince himself she hadn’t been affected by Mark’s words, but the tension in her shoulders as she left The Rise and Shine spoke otherwise.
“Shit,” Mark muttered. “Shit, shit, shit.”
“Yeah, shit.” Harrison slapped Mark on the back of his head. “You dumbass. Go apologize to her.”
“I might wait until she’s less likely to murder you,” Caleb said. At his brothers’ looks, he shrugged. “Believe me, I’ve been there.”
When Megan returned from her kitchen to see one Thornton with his head in his hands, one with an amused smirk on his face, and another with a look of sheer exasperation, she was wise enough not to say a word.
10
“I hope you like sushi,” Caleb said after he and Megan were seated at a booth in the corner, “because otherwise tonight won’t be much fun for you.”
Megan wrinkled her nose. “Lucky for you that I do like sushi. Although what would’ve happened if I’d said I hated it? Would you go somewhere else with me?”
He heaved a deep sigh. “I guess. Although I would’ve judged you for it for the entire evening.”
Laughing, Megan felt her nerves calm for the first time that evening. Ever since Caleb had come into The Rise and Shine and insisted that she go to dinner with him, she’d been a mess. Actually, she’d been a mess over him for what felt like an eternity. Now that she was sitting across from him, his dark hair tousled and his face showing the shadow of his beard already, she had to stop herself from practically crawling into his lap and eating him up. It didn’t help that he was wearing a button-up that brought out the green in his eyes, or that he looked at her like he could eat her up, too, if given half the chance.
Megan drank almost her entire glass of water before they’d even ordered.
“What are you getting?” Caleb asked as he set down his menu.
“The sashimi platter. And no, I’m not sharing, although I do appreciate that you’ll be paying for it.”
He tipped his head back and laughed, and she drank in the lines of his throat as he laughed. He’s way too handsome, she thought petulantly. If only he had a receding hairline, or a paunch, or overly long nose hair. Something to temper his handsomeness and make him less intimidating in that regard. It didn’t help that their waitress eyed him with obvious interest, or that other women in the restaurant had almost fallen out of their chairs when he’d walked in.
Megan scowled. She didn’t have time to deal with a man as handsome as Caleb Thornton. Didn’t she know going out with him would be bad news?
When Caleb gave her a glance that sent her body aflame, she cleared her throat and asked, “Any news about my favorite criminal?”
Caleb frowned. “Nothing yet. It’s like this guy is a fucking ghost. We did have a tip today that I hope will give us something more substantial to investigate.”
Megan’s ears perked up. “Really?”
“I shouldn’t tell you this, but I’m not on duty right now. This same guy was spotted at Clover Park yesterday evening. A woman was jogging and noticed he was following her.”
“Is she all right?”
He nodded. “She arrived home before he could do anything, but he also didn’t wear a mask over his face this time. She was able to identify that he has a scar on his lower lip about three inches long. That’s not exactly something you see on a lot of people, so it helps us for obvious reasons.”
Megan sat back in her booth, considering. Once they caught this guy, Caleb wouldn’t be around her bakery anymore, would he? Their association would end, and she couldn’t stop her throat from closing at the thought. It was stupid, but she didn’t want it to end. Caleb drove her crazy. She wanted to strangle him almost as often as she wanted to kiss him. And yet…through all of this, he’d been her one constant.
She smiled wanly. “I’m glad you got something legitimate. I’m tired of looking over my shoulder, afraid that he’s found me and is going to do whatever it is he thinks he wants to do.”
“I won’t let that happen,” he vowed. “He won’t put a finger on you—not on my watch.”
“I know.”
Their entrees soon arrived, and the evening was taken up with eating and enjoying each other. Megan playfully slapped his hand away when he tried to snag some of her sashimi, while she stole multiple pieces of tempura when he wasn’t looking. He told her he’d get his revenge for that, which only made her shiver with delight.
She also noticed that Caleb didn’t order any alcohol. She wondered if her admission that she didn’t drink anymore had affected him somehow, or at the very least, he didn’t drink out of consideration for her. Her heart swelled.
When she sipped her water, the bite of wasabi hot on her tongue, he pointed his chin at her choice of beverage.
“So you don’t drink at all?”
She stilled. Her fingers curling about the cold glass, she struggled to answer. Why was he asking this now? She didn’t want to talk about the past. She never wanted to talk about the past because some things were better off left dead and buried, the bones disintegrating into the earth.
“No, I don’t. I haven’t since that night.” She looked away, refusing to see the pity on his face. His own regrets about that night, when she’d thrown herself at him and he’d pushed her away. Her gut churned and her face heated with embarrassment, even after so many years.
“You were just a dumb kid, you know. Anyone could’ve gotten screwed up like that. If I had a dollar for how many dumb kids I’ve arrested for things like that—”
“Don’t, Caleb. Please don’t.” She pushed her food away, no longer hungry. “I really don’t want to talk about this.”
“Because we’ve never talked about it. I know you were angry with me for a long time. A
re you still angry?”
Her honest answer? She didn’t know. Her anger was jumbled up with so many other emotions regarding Caleb that it was difficult to figure out where one thread started and another ended. She’d hated Caleb for many years—for arresting her, for rejecting her. For humiliating her. For indirectly causing her to lose her scholarship and forcing her to stay in Fair Haven when she’d gotten so close to leaving.
“I don’t know,” she said finally. “It’s all so messed up. I wanted to hate you for all eternity. It was easier than confronting what I’d done to screw up my own life.”
His eyes darkened, and a well of sadness she’d only glimpsed before shimmered in his eyes. “I get it. I do. You’re not the only one who’s fucked up.” He pushed his fingers through his hair. “Honestly, if anyone were to win that battle, it would be me.”
She frowned in confusion. As far as she knew, Caleb Thornton had been a model citizen since he’d been born. He’d gotten good grades, had played sports, had graduated with honors and attended college before returning home to become a police officer. He’d worked his way up in the ranks with determination and sheer hard work.
The look on his face prompted her to say more than she would have otherwise. Perhaps it was the hint of vulnerability in his expression, or her desire to discover what he’d done that still haunted him. Maybe if she opened up, he would as well.
“I think I hated you the most when you told me I was a child when I tried to kiss you.” His eyes widened at that, but she just shook her head. “I wanted to seem like an adult, but you destroyed that. You reminded me that I didn’t know a damn thing—especially when it came to men.”
“Megan, you know good and well that even if I’d wanted you then, I couldn’t have acted on it. You were all of seventeen.”
“I was going to be eighteen in a month, and you aren’t that much older than me. Don’t act like you wanted me then. I know your feelings have changed—I think they have—but back then—”
He gritted his teeth. “Do you really think that I don’t want you now?”
