by Cathryn Fox
“The counsellor said the same thing, and so do the members of my single parent support group.” He turns to me. “Gemma,” he says, his voice almost panicked.
“Yeah.”
“All of this, everything I just told you is between us, okay?”
“Of course, Callan. You don’t even have to say that.”
He frowns and grips a fistful of his hair. “I’m not even sure why I opened my mouth.”
“Because you needed to, and your secrets are safe with me, just like I know mine are safe with you.”
He smiles, pushes my hair from my face, and drops a soft kiss onto my mouth. His mood shifts, and I can finally breathe again. “Don’t we have a race to win?”
“We don’t have to—”
“Are you kidding me?” He holds his hand up, one finger out. “One, I’m looking forward to a free meal in the city when we win, and two, let’s go show douche-bag how good of a team we make.”
I smile. “We do make a good team.”
“Let’s do this then.” He glances at the clock on the nightstand. “When does it start?”
“Any time now, but we should shower.” I jerk my thumb toward the ensuite bathroom. “Do you want to go first?”
He shakes his head, a small, sexy grin turning up the corners of his mouth. “Did you really just ask me that?”
“Yeah, sort of why?” I ask, as that playful smirk sizzles over my flesh like a hot caress. “What am I missing?”
“We can shower together.”
“Oh, right,” I say, not used to this kind of attention from a man, but loving every second of it. After sex, Brad showered alone, and I was grateful, needing quiet time to sort through all the horrible things I was feeling. With Callan, there are no bad feelings, only happy memories.
He shoves the blankets off, comes around to my side and takes my hand. He lifts me from the bed, and my naked body collides with his. He groans. “Maybe showering together is a bad idea.”
“Oh, hang on a second,” I say, and turn, his morning boner pressing into my ass as I lean forward and fuss with the sheets. “I always like to make my bed in the morning.”
“The only thing you’re making…is my cock hard.”
I try to stifle a chuckle, loving that his mood is lighter and hoping somehow, some way, if not today, then down the road, he’ll take my words to heart and learn to hold on to the past in a way that still allows him to have a future.
“Oh, I didn’t know.”
“Sure you didn’t,” he says and I yelp when he scoops me up and marches me into the bathroom. “Do you think they’ll mind waiting a bit longer?” he growls into my ear as he turns the water on and adjusts the temperature.
“Do they even have a choice?”
“No,” he says and squirts a generous amount of soap into his hand to wash me. I sigh as his big, warm hands race over my body, touching and cleaning every inch of me. He puts his fingers between my legs, and lightly strokes my sensitized clit. My head falls back against his chest.
“Callan, that feels incredible.”
His mouth is close to my ear, his breath hot on my neck when he says, “Put your hands on the wall.”
Without question, I step away from him and do what he’s asked. He growls.
“Spread your legs.”
I widen my legs and tip my ass up to him, and I’m rewarded with a thick finger inside me. He strokes me deep, but it’s not enough. I need his cock.
“Callan, please fuck me.”
He growls and I glance over my shoulder to see him take his big, fat cock into his hand. He strokes himself. “This what you want?” he asks.
“Yes,” I murmur.
He steps up to me and positions himself near my opening. His strong fingers grip my hips, and he powers forward, filling me so thoroughly, so deeply, it steals the breath from my lungs.
His hands circle my body and he cups my breasts, squeezing them as he moves inside me. I push back, wanting him deeper, wanting everything. My God, I love this man’s cock inside me. Love the way he takes me.
“Just like that,” I say and lick my lips. My fingers claw against the tiled wall as he holds my hips tight and changes the pace and rhythm until my legs nearly give way. But he’s there behind me, holding tight so I don’t fall.
I gulp, as pleasure centers between my legs. Small ripples spread from my core, to my sex, and I clench hard around his pumping cock as the dam breaks and I release all over him.
“Fuck yes,” he says into my ear. He pulls out, slides all the way in again, and his cock swells, as he tumbles into his own orgasm. “Yeah,” he murmurs, and I look at him over my shoulder loving the look on his face when his walls crumble and he gives into the pleasure.
He lifts me to my full height, until my back is against his chest, and with his cock still inside me, he walks me backward until we’re both under the spray. My sex continues to throb, until he slides from me, and as I revel in my post-orgasmic bliss, one working brain cell kicks in.
“We didn’t use a condom,” I murmur.
He goes completely still. “Shit.” His hands go to my shoulders and he turns me to face him, and my heart clenches at the pained look on his face. “Gemma…”
“It’s okay, Callan,” I say quickly. “I’m actually on the pill.”
He exhales a fast breath, his relief palpable. “Thank God.”
The man really does not want any more kids. Maybe it’s more like he’s afraid to put himself out there again, afraid of loving and losing. After having his life ripped out from beneath him, I can understand that.
“I use a condom for other reasons,” I say.
“I’m clean, Gemma,” he says, his eyes searching my face. “I’ve not been with anyone in years, as you well know.”
My heart wobbles a little and I’m glad that I’m the one he chose to be with after all this time. “I’m clean too.”
“I know,” he says, and brushes his knuckles over my cheek, the gesture so soft and tender, my heart can’t help but want to get involved. “That was…” He gives a low, slow whistle.
“Fun,” I say.
“Yeah, but…” He frowns as his words fall off. “But it was also really…nice.”
“It was nice,” I say and go up on my toes to press a soft kiss to his mouth, tugging that luscious bottom lip between my teeth, leaving a mark on him. When I let go, he runs his tongue over his bruised lip.
“We should get a move on.”
“Wait,” I say. “It’s Sunday. When are you back to work?”
“Not until Wednesday.”
Relief races through me. It’s probably not great that I’m not ready for this weekend to be over. “Is being here keeping you from things that need your attention?”
“Well, actually yeah. It kind of is.”
My heart sinks. “If you have to go—”
He presses his fingers to my lips and chuckles. “Playing games with your family is keeping me from this,” he says and lightly runs his finger over my sex. “This is what needs my attention.”
“Oh,” I say and laugh at his playfulness. “You can give that all the attention it needs later tonight. Actually, maybe we can take the boat out this afternoon. That would be fun.”
“Look at you, wanting to get all creative.”
“I’ve got you for a little longer, Callan. I plan to take full advantage of you.”
He laughs, shuts the water off and steps from the shower. “They’re going to know, Gemma. One look at us and they’re going to know what’s been keeping us.” He wraps a towel around me and helps me out.
I shrug. “We’re adults, doing what adults do. If we have sex written all over us, then Brad really will get that it’s over.”
“Okay, then. Let’s head on down. You go ahead first. I’m going to check in with my folks and Kaitlyn.”
I dress, head into the bathroom to comb and tie my hair back, and then make my way downstairs to give him privacy to talk to his daughter. As I leave the r
oom, I hear the pleasure in his voice as he talks to his little girl that means so much to him, and it brings a smile to my face. He’s such a great dad. I touch my stomach, wonder at the joy of motherhood. It’s something I want, something Brad and I talked about early on, before I saw his true, possessive nature.
I lightly brush my hand over my stomach, the thoughts of my own child making me smile, but that’s when a horrible thought hits. I forgot to take my birth control yesterday. After sleeping over at Callan’s the night before, and rushing to get here, it slipped my mind completely, but I’m sure we’re fine. I turn back at the foot of the stairs and sneak into the room to grab my purse. Callan is sitting on the bed, frowning, staring at the phone in his hands.
I’m about to leave but turn back around. “Is everything okay,” I ask, worry zinging through me.
His head lifts. “Kaitlyn is fine, and so are my parents.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing I can’t fix, really.” He pushes off the bed. “My babysitter messaged. She just accepted an au pair position overseas. I’m going to have to find a new nanny for the summer. I’ll put a couple calls in to the agency tomorrow morning when it opens. Not much I can do about it right now.”
I nod, and bite my bottom lip. If he was stuck, I could help out. I mean, look at how he’s helping me. It would be a good way to pay him back. I’m about to offer when my phone pings. I search my purse, but it’s not there. Now where did I put it. I thought it was in here. Callan lifts my phone from the nightstand.
“You put it here.”
“Right, I forgot.” I read my sister’s message.
Amanda: If you two can keep your hands off each other for five minutes, we’d like to get started.
I shove my phone into my purse and chuckle as heat warms my cheeks, no doubt turning pink.
“We’d better go,” I say.
Callan gives me a slap on the ass to set me into motion. We hurry downstairs and while family and friends are outside, we find Amanda in the kitchen waiting for us.
“About time,” she says, and pours us each a big mug of coffee.
“You’re the best,” I say, and she laughs as I sit to enjoy the first few sips.
“About time you realized that, too.” Her smile drops.
“What?” I ask.
She nods toward the deck. “Brad is back.”
I take another sip of my coffee. “I figured he would be. He loves to hang out here for some reason.”
“The reason is because he wants you back, which makes it strange that he’s here with someone.”
“Someone?” I ask, my pulse jumping a notch.
She drops down beside me. “Yeah, a fellow officer, I believe. I’m not sure what that’s all about. But right now, the two of them are giving the kids rides in the cop car.” Just then a siren sounds from outside.
“I guess it’s about making me jealous so I come to my senses and run back to him.” I glance at Callan and find him watching me carefully. “I really wish he would find someone and move on.” I honestly don’t think he’s fighting for me back because he loves me. I think it’s more that he hates that I left, that he’s threatened by his ultimate lack of control—being left by someone. I’ve read enough articles about the behavior, and some say the threats could increase after leaving. Other than constantly messaging me, though, nothing has really frightened me, and with Callan here, I feel completely safe.
I grab a muffin from the platter in the center of the table and hand it to Callan. “Let’s hope he gets it today,” Callan states before he bites into the fruit-filled muffin.
“You good, Gemma?” Amanda asks.
“Of course.” I reach out and put my hand on Callan’s. “How could I not be good when I have Callan here with me?”
“You know, I have a confession,” Amanda says, a sheepish grin on her face.
We both look at her. “What?” I ask.
“When I first saw you and Callan together, I had this weird feeling he was here, I don’t know, like a pretend boyfriend or something.” She rolls her eyes. “I clearly watch too many rom coms. But I thought this set up was a way to get Brad off your case and let him know once and for all that you were done with him.” She smiles. “But now…seeing you two together. I can see I was wrong.”
“You were?”
“You two really care about each other. It’s easy to tell.”
I swallow. I hate lying to my sister and family, and honestly, am I really lying at all? I care about Callan and if he didn’t care about me, he wouldn’t be here helping.
She presses her hands on the table and stands. “Of course, I didn’t need to see it with my own eyes to know.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
She gives me a sly grin. “Oh, just that my room is next to yours, in case you forgot, and my ears told me how crazy you two are about each other.”
I groan at her crassness, my gaze going to Callan. We might be fibbing about our relationship, but my sister is right about one thing.
I am crazy about him.
11
Gemma
By the time I step outside with my sister, Brad is back from giving the kids a ride. I instantly feel his eyes drilling into my back. I glance over my shoulder, but Callan’s phone was ringing, so he stayed behind to answer it. Without him by my side, Brad steps away from the pretty brunette who’s shooting daggers my way, and cups my elbow.
“Can we talk?” he asks, his dark eyes narrow, his body tight.
I pull away from him. “I really have nothing to say, Brad, and your girlfriend doesn’t seem very happy that you’re talking to me.”
His teeth clench, the muscles in his jaw rippling as I provoke his temper. Not that it takes much. He was always angry about one thing or another, always putting me down for not doing this or that right.
“Yeah, well, I have something to say to you.” He reaches out and touches my arm, and all my nerve endings jump, and not in a good way. “I want you back, Gemma. We were good together.”
“It’s over, Brad.” I step back, putting a measure of physical and emotional distance between us. “I’m with Callan now.”
“Since when?” he asks, a smirk playing on his lips like he has a secret.
I glance at the door again, waiting for Callan to come outside. Truthfully, it’s not even because I need his help with Brad, it’s because I actually miss him. Cripes, I’ve only been away from him for a few seconds and I miss him. “Long enough to know he’s the guy for me,” I say with a lift of my chin.
He scoffs. “Yeah, I don’t think so.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? Have you been watching me?” Unease creeps down my spine, and I wrap my arms around myself. My God, I think he’s been keeping tabs, and that’s just messed up. My first thought is to go to the police, until I remember he’s a cop, and I don’t think any good could come from that.
“Let’s just say, you guys are up to something and I plan to get to the bottom of it.”
“Dig all you want. We’re happy together. Anyone can see that.”
He opens his mouth, no doubt to refute that, but from the lawn below the deck, Mom and Dad wave and call out, “Are you guys ready to play?”
Brad plasters on a big smile. “You bet we are,” he says, and I just shake my head.
What did I ever see in him? Then again, he was always kind and charming, and my parents really encouraged me to give him a chance. It was behind closed doors where his true controlling nature came out.
Callan comes outside and slides his arm around me. I turn to him and smile.
“Everything okay?” I ask, as Brad walks away and makes his way to the lawn with his new girl, where family and friends are gathered, waiting on instructions for the race.
“Yeah, just about a change in meeting times for the support group.” He gestures with a nod toward Brad as he heads down the stairs to join the others on the lawn. “What did he want?” he asks when we’re alone.
I lean into him, comforted by his warmth and strength. “He said he wanted to talk.”
“I won’t leave you alone again.”
“It’s okay, I told him I have nothing to say.”
“I’m still not leaving you alone.” He slides his arm around my waist. “Let’s go have some fun.”
We make our way to the lawn, and all my aunts, uncles, sisters and husbands and their kids are paired up—the littlest ones are in strollers or their parents’ arms, of course. My mom hands out the homemade cards with her written instructions for the games, and smiles at us all. She loves having everyone home and I’m really glad I came.
“We have a series of tests,” she explains, and I glance around to see obstacle courses set up. They do it differently every year. This time it looks like we have to climb through a tube, swing across bars, and build something, although I can’t figure out what it is until I glance at the card.
“A marshmallow launcher,” Callan says with a laugh. “What is that?”
“I guess we’ll figure out when we reach it.”
“Oh, look a hacky sack juggle,” Nicole says to her husband Adam. “Your soccer days are going to help with that one.”
“You’ll have to take that one, too. I can’t juggle anything,” I say to Callan. “Looks like we finish off with a scavenger hunt. Some fun search clues here.”
“Your family really gets into this,” he says with a frown.
“You don’t want to play?”
“No, I do. I just wish Kaitlyn was here. She’d love this.”
“Next year we will bring her, and until then, we could set something up like this at the Boys and Girls club,” I say and he nods, like he too is aware that there won’t be a next year for us.
“This would be a fun activity for the kids at the club,” he says, cementing the fact that yeah, there will be no next year.
But I’m not going to think about that or worry about it. Right now, we’re playing a role to get Brad off my back, and having fun with each other while we do it. Mom holds up a white flag as we all stand at the end of our tube.
“Ready, set go,” she says, and I drop to my knees to go first. I hurry through the tunnel, feeling like a kid again and when I jump from the other side, I realize I’m the last one out. For a brief second I brace myself, then realize it’s Callan I’m with and he’s not about to get me in private and belittle me. It’s just a game, for God’s sake. I actually feel sorry for the girl with Brad, even if she looked at me like she wanted to hurl me from the deck. I wave for Callan to go. He makes it through much quicker than I do. I’m pretty good on the bars, so I finish them quickly, but my sister is still ahead of me. So is everyone else.
