Chapter 11 Tahoe #3
She tsks in response. “You are a gem. A prize in this world. We spoke about this already. I think you two make a terrific couple, and we’re happy for you. Commitment is important, honey. It’s what separates the men from the boys.” Mrs. May glances at me, winking slyly.
I’m sure the gesture is her rendition of a threat, and that’s all well and good, but I don’t need her threats. The threat looming inside my chest is enough to propel me into this relationship full steam ahead.
When I was growing up, I was aware I was an all-or-nothing type of boy.
That quality carried over to my teens and then my carousing in adulthood.
Merely joining the Navy like my dad wasn’t good enough.
I needed to work my way into the most elite tier of the military.
I was all in. When I was hunting pussy, I was all in.
When any goal presented itself, I crushed it.
It’s a strong character trait on a good day and a debilitating disease the next.
Right now, I’ve committed to making sure Caroline’s heart is cared for properly.
Fucking her too soon, and I’m doing a disservice to her and to my own intentions.
Waiting too long, and I’m asking for trouble from every other swinging dick in this town that wants a piece of her.
Middle ground is what I’m searching for and hoping to land on. Tonight. After this dinner.
“She’s right,” I say to Caroline. “You are a gem.” Her cheeks flush, and she looks down to her lap again.
Mrs. May laughs, pleased I’m siding with her. “You are such a flatterer,” Caroline mutters. Then she asks me for details about the NYC trip. I tell her and the rest of the table as much as I know and can. “Can we go to Central Park?” she asks
I nod. “There’s a deli next to the park that I go to anytime I’m in town. You’ll love it,” I say.
“When you get back, hurricane season starts,” Mr. May says, reminding her of her airport duties.
That piques her interest, and it isn’t long before she’s lost in conversation about storms and aircrafts and weather.
Sort of like my grandparents, who like to banter about the chance of rain on a Wednesday afternoon.
While they talk, I help Mrs. May clear the table, stacking as many dishes as possible before entering the kitchen behind her.
“You’re a natural,” she jokes, taking the top plate that has a glass balancing on it. “If you need a waiting job, I know where you can find one.”
I grin, and I see her face change, and I know whatever she has to say next isn’t something she relishes talking about. “I’m afraid I can’t be employed outside of the Navy, ma’am.”
“That’s a shame,” she says, eyes downcast into the sink filled with soapy water. “What are your plans for the bed and breakfast?” she asks, moving a sponge against a plate.
There it is. The foreigner encroaching upon local land. “That’s an awful big house for just…you,” she adds, looking at me square on.
Telling her I had plans to tear it down and build a single-family home seems like a bad idea, so I go with the truth.
“Well, I’m just going to fix it up first, ma’am.
It needs a lot of work. I haven’t really thought much past that.
The time I spend with it will give me some indication of what I want to do with it. ”
“That’s a big purchase to not have firm plans,” she exclaims.
I swallow hard. “It was a shame it was sitting there empty, don’t you agree? Someone had to buy it. Why not me?”
“Are you going to flip it? Fix it up and sell it?” Now her question makes even more sense.
Clearing my throat, I say, “I’m sticking around here.
” I tell her that I put the offer on the property when I first arrived—that I knew I could make it brighter and more beautiful than it has been in the past. “The house is just a house. Bronze Bay is my home now. This is just my secondhand slice of paradise.”
Her smile seems genuine. “She’s plum crazy about you, son.
I hope that you will stick around. The men around here don’t understand her.
I’ve always been a little proud about that.
Thinking maybe she would move away one day and find her match elsewhere.
Being tied to a small town has both its ups and downs.
” She places the plate into the drying rack and starts washing another.
“I don’t want to frighten you off or anything. Don’t think that.”
I run my hands through my hair. “It takes a lot to scare me off,” I reply. “Do you have any photo albums of Caroline as a teenager?” I joke.
She laughs, and Caroline clears her throat from behind me. I spin to meet her harried gaze. “What are you guys talking about? Only good things hopefully,” she says, grabbing me around the waist. “Daddy thinks it’s going to be a bad season this year,” she adds.
“Don’t change the subject. We were talking about scaring me off,” I tell her, setting my big hands over hers.
Caroline’s mother looks on fondly, and I try to keep my dick in check. It has no clue we’re in her parent’s house. “I wasn’t awful-looking as a teenager,” she cries. “Let me show you something cooler.” She pulls on my arm, and I follow her to a window next to a smaller table inside the kitchen.
“The hill,” I say, nodding toward the steep decline.
“The famous hill,” Caroline chimes in, releasing me a touch.
She points down the hill and through a copse of trees.
“My hangar,” she says. You can’t see her parents’ house from her hangar, but you can definitely see her house from here.
It’s the angle. The distance between the two is more than you’d guess.
“Because the property is close to the airfield with planes taking off and landing they got an amazing deal on the house and all of this land.” It looks like they own half of this tiny city from where I’m standing.
“While this is a nice view and all,” I whisper into her ear, “I’d really like to be looking out of your window right now.
” I have one arm wrapped around her waist—a heavy weight showing her how much I want to be on her in every way possible.
“Except without clothes on,” I add, so softly I wonder if she’s heard me. Telltale pink cheeks tell me her truth.
“Dessert first?” she squeaks, turning to glance at her parents. Mr. May is drying dishes, and Mrs. May is prattling on about the NYC trip while she tops a pie with whipped cream. The fact that they have a dishwasher but wash dishes together tells me something about them as people.
If you pay attention, you can know someone without speaking a word.
Part of my training as a SEAL is reading people’s body language and expressions.
The phrase actions speak louder than words was never more true than when I discovered how easily people can be deciphered.
It’s when my heart gets mixed in that my radar is fucked.
Caroline confounds me constantly and profusely, yet I want to unravel her one thread at a time.
Swallowing hard, I reply, “As long as you’re on the menu for second dessert.” My chest squeezes a little, knowing I’m finally going to be having a piece of her I’ve never had before.
“Don’t mind my mom about that commitment stuff.
She doesn’t know that we’re going slow,” she says, facing the window once again, trying her best to brush off my come-on.
“Don’t let her scare you. Even if you say you aren’t, I don’t see how it wouldn’t.
” Licking her bottom lip, she chances a quick glance up at my face.
“Caroline.” I say her name like a curse word and a scold at the same time, and both of her parents turn to look.
“Pie?” Mrs. May says, a chipper, hopeful smile on her face.
“Yes, of course, Mama. We’ll be right in.”
Mr. May grabs a newspaper and vanishes into the dining room after his wife. Taking Caroline by her elbows, I spin her toward me. “Do you honestly think I’m afraid of committing to you?” I ask, eyes narrowed.
She shrugs both shoulders. “It wouldn’t surprise me. Isn’t that what men typically do these days? Have problems with staying with one girl. With the exception of a few good ones, most of the guys I know are like Whit.”
“Whit is an idiot,” I return. “He’s also an asshole.”
She grins, pulling her bottom lip with her thumb and forefinger. “Sort of,” she replies.
“Are you defending him?” I ask, rumbling with mock outrage.
She smiles wider. “What if I am?”
“Then I’ll have to kill him.”
She drops her lip and looks at me, eyes wide, a horrified grimace transforming her beautiful face. “I’m joking, Caroline. I’m not going to kill him.”
I have to give her credit for making a valiant attempt at masking her terror.
“I knew that,” she says, rolling her eyes.
Glancing at the door to make sure we’re truly alone, I settle my hands on either side of her ribcage and look her straight in her piercing blue eyes.
“There’s always a point in life, a moment that stands out as the one.
The moment that changes things—forces you to realize that despite what you want, the world is giving you something else.
Yes, I wanted the airport,” I admit, pulling her closer.
Lowering my voice even further, I say, “Then I danced with you in front of your window. The moonlight. Your voice when you asked what I would do if you took off your dress. The way I walked away. That was a moment when I realized I could thrive within the parameters of restraint. Because I want you. All of you. For as long as you’re willing to offer yourself to me. ”
She breathes out deeply, alternating her gaze between my eyes and lips.
“We can define the word commitment if you want, but to me? That’s fucking commitment.” I shake my head. “I don’t want anyone else. There isn’t anyone else for me.”
“Pie is getting cold,” Mr. May bellows from the other room. Caroline looks like she’s about to reply but then thinks better of it.