Chapter 13
Thirteen
CALEB
I’d make sure she was reimbursed the amount of the receipt as an out-of-pocket expense on the renovation, but I wasn’t telling her tonight. She would protest the reimbursement no doubt, ergo the reason to shelve the issue for a later time.
I didn’t want to hear protests from her right now.
Because right now I had Brooke close to me in the back of the car as we sipped our coffees and watched the rain still steadily pouring down over the city in a kind of cleansing baptism.
Kind of like how I felt, too.
She’s coming home with me.
“ Y our view is stunning, Caleb. City lights at night are my favorite.” When I brought Brooke into this room, she headed straight for the wall of windows and looked out at the city with the Charles River stretched out in a wide arc.
“I agree; it is stunning.” She was talking about the view.
Brooke had no idea the stunning view was her looking out at the city lights reflecting over the river on a rainy night.
Those long legs encased in tall sexy boots topped with a short green skirt, her wavy blonde hair spilling down the back of her black velvet jacket, the contrast of colors she chose against her skin and hair—all of it perfection.
I needed to feel her hair in my hands. I needed my hands on her.
The moment she’d come into my house, I knew she belonged here.
The whole experience was crazy and impulsive for me.
Things were moving quickly with her—far too fast in fact, but there was no slowdown in progress on my end that I could tell.
I just kept pushing and seeing where it would lead.
I knew it was too soon for me to be feeling this way about Brooke, but that didn’t make my feelings go away.
If anything, I wanted her even more. I would let her tell me when she was ready, and then the second that happened, I knew there would be no possibility for me to turn back.
I just knew.
My father was right on the money when he said I would know when the right girl came along. I was looking at her right now. I had found her.
“Caleb, I think I know just how to redesign this room to make the view stand out even more.”
Just stay here forever and that’ll do it. “That’s great you’re already getting some good concepts for designs. See, wasn’t this a great idea I had for you to get acquainted with the space?”
She turned her head back to smile at me. “Yes,” she said shyly. “I can’t believe I’ll be working with all of this.” She lifted both hands up. “The interior has marvelous bones, Caleb. I can’t wait to see the rest of it, especially the garden on the rooftop.”
Marvelous bones—marvelous everything. “Hopefully it won’t be raining tomorrow and you can stroll around up there.
” I moved behind her where she stood at the window and breathed her in.
She smelled like oranges to me. It was an intoxicating scent that drew me in like a moth to a flame, careless of the heat that would eventually incinerate its wings.
Is that what would happen to me? Would the heat of my desire for her incinerate me?
“Oh, I hope so,” she agreed. “I want to explore everything in the daylight.”
Me too. “Are you tired?” I asked.
“You know, not very. Must be the multiple cups of coffee I drank far too late in the day.”
“Well, would you like to watch a movie with me?”
“Which movie?”
“This girl I know recommended it. She is very passionate about certain things and this movie is one of them. I picked it up just tonight on her recommendation. Something to do with emotions and giving them each their rightful place.”
“Caleb? You bought Inside Out ?” She spun around to face me, and I realized I couldn’t resist her anymore. Not one more second of time was going to pass before I got the chance to know what it felt like to kiss her.
“Mmm-hmm.” I took her face in my hands and went for it. Slowly at first, with just lips touching...but it wasn’t enough.
I doubted I would ever find “enough” with her.
The instant I had her mouth against mine I only wanted to experience more of her.
I pushed in tentatively with my tongue and paused for her reaction, praying she would let me in.
If I didn’t find a way inside her somehow, I would probably fucking die. It sure felt that way.
Soft. She was soft when she opened her mouth against my invasion.
I tasted her pumpkin latte from earlier and groaned into her mouth.
Spicy. Sweet. And so fucking soft as she responded to me.
I played with her lips, sucking and pulling on them with just a scrape of teeth, over and over again.
She liked it. I could tell. Beautiful Brooke kissed me back, her tongue tangling with mine as she explored me at her own pace—and allowed me to do the same.
Her hands found their way into my hair where she buried them in and tugged me closer.
Oh, that felt fucking good to have her hands in my hair.
I held her in my hands and enjoyed the very best kiss of my lifetime. Kissing Brooke held no comparison to anything that came along before?—
She pulled away abruptly, and that did not feel so nice.
As I fought off the unpleasant feeling of the loss of her lips against mine, it took me a second to register we weren’t alone—that someone was speaking in the room.
Shock was more like it. I’d been so into kissing her I hadn’t even heard Isaac come in. Brooke had heard him, though.
“Sir, where would you like Miss Casterley’s purchases to be delivered?” Isaac asked from behind me.
“The room across the hall from mine.” I answered him without turning around.
I stared down at Brooke’s soft pink lips instead and liked seeing them puffy from what I’d just been doing to her.
Then I got a good look at her eyes and saw how they revealed the evidence of passion in their fiery golden depths as she gazed up at me.
I fucking loved that.
I reached for her again, but she stopped me with her palm against my chest. I could feel a slight tremble in her touch as she held me back. “I think we should watch Inside Out now.”
“Okay,” I said, remembering my vow to let her set the pace.
It had to be that way or this wasn’t going to work.
I did understand clearly now after her revelation at dinner.
Brooke was a woman who needed some level of control over her situation because the terrible loss of her husband and baby had afforded her none. I got it.
“I just—I’d like to be comfortable while we watch it.” She gestured down to her boots.
“Of course. You should change and get comfortable. I’ll show you to your room and then just come back out here when you’re ready. I’ll change, too. We want to enjoy this together.”
She nodded and did that thing where she rolled her lips together as if she were suppressing a smile. I knew it because her golden eyes still smiled at me.
At the door to her bedroom, she turned back toward me, looking a little hesitant but still determined. “We’re just going to watch the movie, Caleb.”
Ahh...the rules for the night were being set. I could live with her rules as long as she kept letting me in a little bit at a time. I could be patient.
I couldn’t resist brushing her blushing cheek with my thumb, though. “We’re just going to watch the movie, Brooke.”
She smiled at me, and I fell a little bit more in love with her.
T his evening had to be one of the most interesting one I’d ever experienced.
For one thing, I’d never done anything like it before.
My agenda with women after we’d retired behind closed doors was all about getting naked and fucking.
End of. Once it was over, I went on my way.
I never stayed the night with any of them.
Janice had “slept” here a total of two nights in six months, and she was the only one who had ever received an invitation.
I’d never worn sweats and a T-shirt while cuddling on the sofa to watch an animated film. I don’t think I’d watched anything animated since Toy Story when I was eleven, to be honest.
Brooke was still gorgeous, even with her hair in a long braid and thick gray socks on her feet. The pink flannel pants she’d picked out at Target swallowed up the shape of her killer legs but I liked knowing she was comfortable and warm after a long, cold, rainy day.
Inside Out was a total surprise. More so the enjoyment I got from watching Brooke watch the movie.
She knew it by heart, but she didn’t do anything spoilerish to ruin it for me.
She let me hold her close against me with my arm around her so I could get my fingers woven into her thick braid.
I already had a fascination with her hair and ached to have it spread out with my hands buried in it.
We played the dancing fingers game with my other hand.
I’d never done that with anyone before, either.
But I would have happily danced fingers with her all night long.
It was close to midnight when the credits started rolling, and I knew it was time to end the party.
Bedtime. She was falling asleep and I was almost there myself.
I wasn’t disappointed, though. Was this what normal couples did?
The boyfriend-girlfriend thing? The whole evening with her had been better than anything I’d ever done, and I’d happily accept any more evenings like this one she might generously throw my way.
I knew I’d get to see her in the morning, too, and I couldn’t fucking wait to experience the whole breakfast-before-work thing with her.
So I helped her up from the couch and delivered her to the guestroom with only one sleepy kiss goodnight.
“Thank you, Caleb, for inviting me to stay here,” she said while stifling a yawn, “and for being patient...with me.” She held the side of my face with her hand and studied me with her beautiful amber eyes.
“I love that you are always such a gentleman.”