Let It Be Me (Men of the Misfit Inn Book 1)

by Kait Nolan

  Her silence stretched out so long, Caleb began to sweat.

  “Could you actually forget that kiss?”

  Did that mean she could? Or she couldn’t?

  “Not a chance in hell. I’ve basically spent every waking minute since I stopped, thinking about doing it again.” Might as well embrace the honesty here. “But if that’s what you needed me to do, I’d make my best effort.”

  She looked away, dropping her free hand to Mooch’s head and stroking. The dog leaned into her leg in absolute bliss. Lucky bastard.

  Please don’t say you want to go back to being friends. He’d made the promise, and he’d try to keep it, but he didn’t know how the hell he’d pull it off. Not now that he knew how she tasted, how well she fit against him, and the sounds she made when—

  “I wouldn’t have come tonight if I had a problem with it. I just…”

  “Just what?”

  “I don’t understand what you see in me. I mean, you’ve seen me at my lowest point, my messiest, my least together. What’s attractive about that?”

  Was she kidding?

  “Everything. You’ve never put on airs, never pretended to be someone you’re not. I don’t have to wonder if you’re going to turn into someone else once the honeymoon period is up because I know you. You’re unapologetically you, flaws and all—and I find those pretty charming. That kind of confidence is sexy as hell.”

  Her laugh was short. “None of that was confidence, Caleb. It was you being out of my age bracket and out of my league besides. The possibility for anything like this was literally never on my radar.”

  He didn’t like the idea that she thought he was out of her league. It made her sound like she thought she was less than somehow, and that couldn’t be further from the truth. But he tackled the part of her statement he actually had an answer for. “Are you still on the age thing? I thought we settled that.”

  She pursed her lips. “We didn’t settle anything. You dictated.”

  “I did—but only because I knew you’d balk otherwise. But let’s circle back because I think this is one of the biggies for you. Why is the age difference an issue? We’re both grown adults. We didn’t have some prior relationship where you were my babysitter or something. If the situation were reversed and I was the older one, nobody would bat an eye. It always struck me as a weird double standard. What is wrong with two consenting, grown adults of any age being into each other?”

  She opened her mouth as if to protest, then closed it again. “You’re right. There is no rational reason that an older woman going out with a younger guy is inherently different than the other way around. I can’t decide if that makes me feel better or not.”

  “Why wouldn’t it?”

  Heat crept into her cheeks. “Because I’ve felt like such a dirty old woman checking out your ass.”

  Her admission made him want to do a fist pump and a victory lap around the yard.

  “First off, you are nowhere near old or somehow league deficient. Second,” he grinned, “you checked out my ass?”

  Hiding her face behind her glass, she muttered, “I mean, it’s a work of art. It seemed like a crime not to.”

  “Feel free to have a tactile inspection anytime.”

  “You’re terrible.” The blush spread down her throat and into the collar of her shirt. He wondered if it kept going on down to cover those breasts he was trying not to stare at.

  “You like it.”

  She held his gaze for a long, long moment, and Caleb held his breath.

  “Yeah, I do.”

  Lifting her hand, he brushed a kiss to her knuckles. “As far as I’m concerned, that’s a good start.”

  Chapter 6

  The broad palm Caleb pressed against her lower back was a distraction as they navigated the crowds of Lower Broadway. She hadn’t been up here since the night of the accident—since Blaine. The sight of all the neon signs and honky-tonks had all that old bitterness swirling back up. She’d avoided this place on principle, not wanting to remember that night and everything that came after.

  But Caleb had secured tickets to a sold-out show for Kyle Keenan, one of Nashville’s up-and-comers. As their first public outing, it was a good choice. No one knew them here. While it wasn’t outside the realm of possibility that they could run into someone they knew, it wasn’t the same as if they’d gone out in Hamilton. There was a freedom in anonymity. She could focus on them. On him. And he was a helluva thing to focus on.

  She still couldn’t quite believe Caleb was here with her.

  After considerable angsting, she’d made a major effort for tonight, doing up her hair and makeup, pulling out an outfit that showed off attributes she’d forgotten she had. Nothing about her appearance said “mom,” and when Caleb periodically looked down at her, his gaze raking over every inch in an appreciative sweep that was almost a physical caress—the only kind she’d gotten since that back deck kiss because he’d slowed way the hell down—it felt good. She felt sexy.

  He was good at bringing that out in her. Over the past week, he’d managed to convince her he was sincerely into her, and she was no longer certain she was being punked. Mostly, she felt lucky to have snared the interest of a gorgeous, honorable, interesting guy. One who caught the eye of every woman in a thirty-foot radius. It was hard not to preen, just a little, at the looks of envy being shot her way.

  Once they reached the venue, Caleb steered her past the entrance, with its trailing line wrapped several layers deep down the sidewalk. Instead, he led her around the corner and down the alley behind the building.

  “What are we doing?”

  “Going in the back.”

  “I don’t think we can do that.”

  He flashed those double-barrel dimples and knocked on the door. “You can with my connection.”

  A tank of a dude, who was obviously a bouncer, opened it. His scowl instantly faded. “Hey, Caleb.”

  “Hey, Hank.”

  Hank stepped back and waved them inside. “Come on back.”

  So Caleb had an in with some of the crew or something? Wow. That was lucky.

  They trailed Hank down several narrow corridors before stopping outside a closed door. Hank jerked a head toward it. “He’s waiting on you.”

  “Thanks, man.” Caleb saluted him and knocked.

  A moment later, the door swung open and Kyle Keenan himself beamed at them. He pulled Caleb into a back-thumping hug. “Been too damned long, man. Come in.”

  Stunned, Emerson could only follow them inside, cutting a glance at her date. “You know Kyle Keenan?”

  Kyle clutched his chest and gave a dramatic stagger. “You wound me, little brother, not telling your lady about me.”

  “Little brother?” She glanced between the two men, searching Caleb’s olive skin and thick, dark hair for any resemblance to the all-American, blue-eyed, blondness of Kyle. If they shared any genetic link, she certainly couldn’t see it.

  Kyle aimed a Significant Look at Caleb and darted in to catch him in a headlock. They tussled, grunting and laughing in a way that said brothers more clearly than blood ever could.

  Caleb twisted out of his grip, holding him at arm’s length. “Better not. Be a shame for me to kick your ass right before you go on.”

  “You wish.”

  “I’m not scrawny anymore. I lift hoses that weigh more than you every day.”

  “I still know all the ticklish spots that’ll make you say uncle.”

  Emerson found her lips twitching. “Well, that seems like useful information to have.”

  Caleb sobered, glaring at Kyle. “Don’t even think about it.”

  “And deprive you of the pleasure of finding them yourself? I would never.” Kyle took her hand in a firm shake. His warm smile put her at ease. “Great to finally meet you, Emerson. I’ve heard a lot about you over the years. Nice to see he finally got up the balls to do something about it.”

  Scowling, Caleb crossed his arms. “It wasn’t about me being
a chicken shit.”

  “Sure it wasn’t.” Ignoring his brother, Kyle turned back to her. “I understand you’re an audiobook narrator?”

  “I am.”

  “I’m a big fan of audiobooks. With my crazy schedule, I don’t think I’d ever get a chance to read if I could only do it sitting down. I end up listening while I’m working out or trying to get some downtime on the tour bus.”

  “They’re good for that.”

  “And you won an Audie a couple years back, right? For one of Dinah McClure’s books.”

  Emerson’s jaw dropped. “I…did. How did you know that?” Nobody outside the industry ever seemed to know about the audiobook version of the Emmys.

  “Caleb was bust-a-gut proud about it. As he should be. Helluva professional achievement.”

  She slid him a look, noting a faint hint of color under that dark complexion.

  That win was three years ago. He really had talked about her a lot, and for a long time, with someone who was some kind of family. It gave credence to his claim of having waited for her for years. She’d glossed over that the other night, but now it circled back around in her brain. He’d truly waited for her to be ready for whatever this was between them. No man had ever paid that much attention, taken that much care with her. But was she ready?

  Somebody knocked on the dressing room door. “Fifteen minutes.”

  “That’s my cue.” Kyle flashed another broad smile. “Emerson, great to meet you.”

  “And you. My daughter’s never going to believe I met you.”

  “Fiona, right? Caleb mentioned she’d just headed off to college.” If Kyle thought it was weird that she had a college-aged kid, he didn’t show it.

  “She has.”

  “Let’s torture her a little. Take a pic of us, little bro.” He wrapped a loose arm around her shoulders and they both mugged for the camera.

  “Best wait to send that until after the show,” Emerson warned. “Otherwise she’s going to be blowing up both our phones.”

  “Fair point.” Caleb turned to his brother. “Are you in town for a bit?”

  “Yes, thank Jesus. I’ve had about enough of the road and Mercy Lee’s bullshit. Let’s get dinner and catch up before I head back out on the road again. Emerson, I hope you’ll come. I’d love to get to know you better.”

  Caleb’s brother or not, having dinner with a country music singer with no little bit of name recognition firmly put her life in the category of surreal. “That would be…great.”

  “Have a good show tonight, bro. Text me. We’ll figure out time and place.”

  Then they were being led down more labyrinthine halls and to their seats.

  Once they were settled at one of the small, high-top tables right near the stage, she propped her chin in one hand. “Well, you’re full of surprises. Why didn’t you ever mention you were related to Kyle Keenan?”

  Those big shoulders bunched in a shrug. “It’s complicated. And he’s not somebody famous to me. He’s just Kyle. But I thought you might enjoy coming out.”

  She wondered about those complications. As well as she knew him, there were significant gaps in his past she wasn’t familiar with. But now wasn’t the time to ask. “I really am. I haven’t been down here in years.” She looked around, taking in the intimate space, already packed with other patrons.

  “Why is that? Not a fan of crowds?”

  “Not especially. Super crowded venues mean lots of noise, and I can’t really talk easily under those conditions and still protect my voice. But I do enjoy good music, so I don’t mind putting up with them for that.”

  He studied her, those dark eyes always seeming to see too much. “I feel like there’s more to the story.”

  Might as well put it out there so he knew where she was coming from. “The last time I came down here, I was out with Paisley and her guy of the month.” She told him about the karaoke bar and finding Blaine with his tongue down the blonde’s throat.

  “Asshole.” Though his tone was mild, Caleb’s eyes were hot with temper. “Is that why I’ve never seen you out with anybody in all these years?”

  “Partly. It was also the night of the accident. I’d just left there when you called me. So then there was Fiona. After that, it just didn’t seem worth it to try. I didn’t have the emotional bandwidth to cope with the disappointment on top of everything she needed.”

  Which Caleb had understood. She was only just starting to fully grasp what he’d done for her and wonder about the depth of feeling that lay under that decision. Nobody waited four years, put in all that effort toward friendship, for someone who was only a passing crush. That scared the hell out of her. What were his expectations? Could she possibly meet them?

  She wanted to. She wanted to deserve all that attention and effort. A part of her wanted to drop all her guards, all that caution, and throw herself into this full-force. But she wasn’t at all sure she could trust her own judgment in this arena.

  The crowd began to cheer, drawing their attention to the stage, where Kyle and his band were filing out and taking their positions for this unplugged show. Caleb scooted his barstool next to hers, draping an arm along the back.

  “Good evening, Nashville!” Kyle called.

  The audience whooped and hollered.

  “It’s been a minute since I’ve been back in this neck of the woods, and it’s always nice to be on home turf. I wanna give a special shout out to my brother and his girl, who came out tonight.”

  Caleb’s girl. The words shot a surprising thrill through her.

  She might not know a hundred percent how she felt, but she knew she appreciated this man and all his thoughtful consideration. So she leaned into his side, brushing a kiss to the underside of his jaw before settling into his embrace to enjoy the show.

  “How the hell did he get up there?” Roadie asked.

  Caleb squinted at the picture Emerson had texted of herself pointing over her shoulder at Mooch, who lay stretched out on top of the upper kitchen cabinets. Her face asked the same question. “Apparently nobody ever told him he wasn’t a cat.”

  “Damnedest thing I ever saw.”

  Caleb couldn’t stop the dopey grin as he texted back. Does he need a rescue?

  He’d take any excuse to pop over and see her.

  He didn’t usually mind his two days on, three days off schedule. He enjoyed most of the work, whether he was fighting fires, out on medical calls, or just hanging around the firehouse shooting the shit while cleaning equipment and running drills. But that had been before he’d started dating Emerson. Now he was counting the hours until his shift was over, like they hadn’t been spending every non-work hour together the past three weeks. But damn, after waiting all this time, he didn’t want to waste a minute.

  “Awww, lookit, y’all! Grad’s texting his girlfriend,” Pork Chop cooed.

  Without even looking, Caleb shot up his middle finger. “You just wish you had a woman half as amazing as Emerson.”

  Fonzie flipped a chair around and straddled it. “You sure she’s not just trying you on for size like a fancy pair of shoes?”

  “Did you seriously just compare me to a pair of shoes?”

  “I’m just sayin’. Lot of those single moms like to do that while they’re figuring out their shit. Try a guy out as a fun little novelty. Especially the pretty ones. Doesn’t mean they’re gonna keep you at the end of the day.”

  “If she doesn’t keep you, it means you weren’t treating her right to begin with.” Caleb had the lock on that. He’d had years to plan how to woo this woman.

  “I don’t know about novelty, but I wouldn’t get too comfortable. Single moms are always gonna put the kids first. That’s a fact,” Showboat announced.

  “Fiona’s in college, and a great kid to boot.”

  “And yeah, that’s great. Package deal, you better like the whole package for sure. But you gotta be prepared to always come second. I’m not. It’s why I don’t date single moms.”

 
; Caleb crossed his ankles and stretched out in his chair. “I don’t have the same titanic ego you do. I don’t need to be the center of the universe.”

  The guys roared with laughter and laid into Showboat as the fresh target of ribbing.

  “In all seriousness, we just wanna make sure Grad watches himself,” Klunker weighed in. “He’s been building this up all this time. It can’t possibly be as smooth sailing as he’s imagining.”

  Rolling his eyes, Caleb shoved up out of his chair and put the med kit away. “You all have a very dim view of relationships with complicated women.”

  “Women aren’t supposed to be complicated,” Fonzie declared.

  Peach, the lone woman in the company, clocked him in the face with a pair of rolled up socks. “And we see why you’re still single.”

  Cue Ball, their captain, waded into the laughter. “Ignore them. Single moms are people worthy of love, same as everyone else. Just take it slow and don’t get in over your head or get ahead of yourself.” As he had himself married a single mom of two ten years ago, Caleb figured he was the only one of the bunch with anything worth listening to.

  “Hey Grad, you’ve got a visitor.” Roadie stepped aside to reveal Emerson, a massive plastic container in her hands and a hesitant smile on her face.

  Caleb shot out of his chair. “Hey! What are you doing here?”

  “I come bearing cookies. Oatmeal chocolate chip.”

  The stupid grin popped out again. She’d made his favorite cookies.

  “They seemed like a good excuse to stop by to see you.”

  Caleb took her hand, reeling her in. “You don’t need an excuse.”

  “I can just…relieve you of those so you have your hands free.” Peach gently extricated the box from her grip.

  “If y’all wipe out my cookies before I get any, I will cheerfully murder you all,” Caleb announced, then pulled Emerson in for the kiss he really wanted.

  He swallowed her little squeak of surprise, relishing her surrender by degrees, until she stopped noticing the adolescent ooooing happening around them and gave herself over to the kiss. To him. Yeah, he needed this. Needed the taste of her and that quiet sound of pleasure in her throat. He needed everything from this woman.