Chapter 8 #3
“Hey!” he shot back. “You’re the one who tried to make the moves on me the night of your anxiety attack. I was trying to be a good man and not put that on you, and you came on to me. Now I’m trying to pursue you that way and now you feel like a booty call? That doesn’t make any fucking sense!”
Oh shit, Evie thought. Her hands ran through her hair and then over her mouth. Immediately, she tried to pull his hand before he left. She couldn’t lose him now. “Caleb, please!”
“What?” he shot back as he turned to her abruptly.
Her lips trembled and she lifted her hands to talk and motion with them, but they were shaking as badly as she was.
“Look, I’m so sorry. You’re absolutely right.
You are a good man, but I want to know more about you.
Because honestly, I think you need something deeper than a sexual release or being at the bottom of the fucking bottle again. And you won’t let me help you!”
He put his hands on his hips. He couldn’t believe what came out of her mouth. “Evie, not everyone needs saving. Not everyone needs help. And don’t you dare presume to know me!”
Here it came. It knotted in her fists as much as her stomach.
Her spine felt hot and cramped. It was coming, and this time Evie would not hold it back.
She grabbed him and turned him around before he walked away.
“Listen to me. Everyone needs help. No one bottles things up like this, hides their life, and drinks like you do unless they’re hurting!
” She touched his chest with burning desire, an insatiable craving.
“You were there for me in every way I needed before I hardly even knew you. You took such a chance on a stranger and helped them. Why can’t I take a chance on a stranger and help you? ”
Evelyn Morgan had finally broke. All her life, she was never able to tell people how she felt except for the times in Los Angeles where it meant her safety.
But this man wasn’t some thug trying to sexually assault her or stalk her.
This was the man she cared deeply for. Always with a passive and submissive voice in her thirties, she had finally felt confident enough to be open and firm in her stance.
Caleb Wright was hurting, somehow, and badly.
She made a promise to herself that she would break down those walls. He was worth it.
Caleb was moved. All sorts of emotions blurred into his mind and body, and together they tangled themselves in knots that distorted his reality.
He pulled her in hard to kiss her, and even though it hurt her to receive it, it would pain her more to pull away.
“I can’t thank you enough for how sweet you are.
” He held his fingers in her hair and spoke passionately to her.
“You are insanely selfless, kind, giving, and so beautiful.”
He tightened his lips. “Try not to let anyone change that.”
She smiled and snuggled her face into his hand. “I won’t.”
“Thank you for the date.” He kissed her again.
“Of course, thank you for paying. But you should get going. I know you have to be up early.”
One more kiss, and then another. The sun set delicately over the shopping center, igniting a hot orange and fiery pink hue across the glass windows, the cars, the beautiful partly clouded sky. It burned like the infernal lust between them both, and yet both had so much to say but said nothing.
Evie slowly ceased the rapturous kissing into a gentle caress, and Caleb’s lips were still grazing hers. “Please,” she begged. “Tell me something to turn me off before I beg to go home with you.”
Like an unwavering spirit possessing her body, Caleb’s right hand slid up underneath her blazer and blouse to stroke her lower back.
She curved her lower back to him, adoring the way the mass of it dipped and curved into every inch of her skin.
Goosebumps broke out like a virus of yearning and desire all over her; one that could be seen by all but only felt by him.
His warm hand rubbed firmly back alongside her hip before slipping underneath her pants, where he finally touched the soft curves of her hip.
He crushed her into the side of the car and placed his hand on the roof, slightly entrapping her. And there she would willingly stay a victim to his passion as long as he had the key to her chains.
The kissing continued, and as he groaned, his hormones overtook his common sense, and he blurted out, “Ashley never fucking kissed me like this.”
She slipped her hands up on his waist. Since his shirt was buttoned and tucked in with a belt, there was no way she was going to be able to deliver the same succulent touch as he did.
She could have pulled it out, but that would look too obvious to any passerby.
Even still, her touch made his abs tighten, his muscles contract, and his breathing quicken.
He held her throat and kissed her neck. She shuddered hard with pleasure. And as he did, Evie’s eyes closed, and she whispered, “God, I love it when you kiss my neck.”
“I know you do,” he said softly.
She closed her eyes tighter and opened her mouth to moan quietly, “Why are you doing this right now when we can’t be alone?”
He broke away. “I’m so stupid. Sorry, I completely forgot where we were.”
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” he sighed while looking down at the ground. “I was worried you were gonna stay pissed at me in there.”
Evie looked away in thought. She thought about everything that had happened.
Truthfully, she was in no position to be getting pissed off at someone for being who they were.
She simply held him close. She held him hard.
It caused him, the tired, the lonely, the secretive, and calloused man that he was, to feel the best relief once more.
The sun felt like not only was it setting on the day, but it was setting for a lot of hurt he still carried within the rucksack of his heart.
Slowly, Caleb wrapped his arms around her. “Why are we like this with each other? We hardly know each other.”
She snuggled into his chest, finding the loud traffic off in the intersection to be nothing of a bother to her. Evie’s eyes closed in that affectionate moment. “Let’s not analyze it. Let’s just live it.”
Caleb said, “I’m sorry. I know we both need to be up. We should probably go now.”
She grinned up to him. “Would it kill you to skip a shower once in exchange for some rest and relaxation?”
He chuckled and combed his fingers through her hair. His eyes never left hers. “I can tell you right now that resting and relaxing with you is the last thing I’d do.”
“I’m serious, Mr. Wright.” It suddenly made her nearly die inside with laughter realizing that he was practically named after the infamous joke of finding “Mr. Right.” She’d keep it to herself, not wanting to sound corny.
Instead, she pressed on with her concern about his never-ending workload.
“I respect that you’re military, and I’m sure it’s hard to shut off.
But don’t you think maybe once instead of constantly being on the go like you are, you can rest a second? ”
“I do rest, actually,” he said with a smile. She was being so cute to him!
This was her chance to get him to possibly open up, just a bit. “Oh yeah? Like what?”
“Well,” he looked around and said easily, “I like taking Zack and Olivia to the lake and go hiking.”
She laughed. “No, I mean like true relaxation.”
“But…that is relaxation for me.”
“Is it really?” she asked, genuinely curious.
“Yep.”
“Do you ever just, lay on the couch and watch your favorite movie or something?”
“Not really. I do for their birthdays or like holidays. But not really.” Then he asked, “What about you?”
“Oh, I love snuggling up in my pjs, basking with some homemade brownies, enjoying a few good movies, or listening to a good album!”
“Even with all that work you gotta do around your house? How do you ever really sit and rest knowing there’s so much to be done?”
Evie rubbed his chest. Their ravenous makeout session had run its course, and they were both apparently okay with that.
“I keep trying to fix things, and it’s overwhelming.
I keep watching YouTube videos, but it’s so hard to understand, and everything is so different.
I need to mow my lawn properly, but I don’t even know where to start because it’s kinda big. ”
He smirked. “It’s barely two acres.”
“That’s big!” she laughed.
“Darling, you’re in Missouri. Like eight hours isn’t a long drive, two acres isn’t a big yard.”
“It’s a lot when you don’t have a riding lawn mower.”
Caleb thought curiously and looked at her. He remembered what he had offered a few days ago.
They had said their warm goodbyes with hugs and went home. Evie was definitely going to need to devour that chocolate cake after what just happened.
That night, they texted each other nearly nonstop. Evie listened to the scanner and was trying one more damn time to fix the hinge on her cupboard. The whole door fell off, making her jump and growl into the air with frustration. Teddy came in and lay on it.
She lifted him off and cuddled him sweetly.
Caleb texted her a selfie, and she opened it.
A warmness befell her heart, and she smiled with a light in her eyes.
He was snuggled up in bed with his kids watching a movie.
The text read, “I asked them what movie they wanted to watch. They got so excited to pop up the corn and have snacks in bed. Olivia wanted Frozen, and Zack wanted Shrek. So, we’re watching them both. ”
“Caleb!” she wrote back enthusiastically. “This is so darling! Look how happy they are. But I’m confused. I thought they were going to stay at their grandma’s tonight?”
He wrote back, “I asked them if they’d rather stay with Grandma or watch movies in bed with me. They chose this without hesitation.” He ended it with a smiley emoji.
Evie’s heart grew so warm. She held her chest and wrote back, “All bundled up by their daddy and smiling at the TV. I’m so happy for you. See, isn’t it wonderful? And I’m proud of you. You even allowed snacks in the bed!”
He reacted with a laughing emoji. And reacted again whenever she sent the picture of the cupboard door on the floor and told him what happened. He wrote, “Your hinge is rusted and old. You need new ones. I’ve got some around here I can bring over sometime.”
The texting continued after he put his children to bed, and she made her way to bed for the night.
Teddy purred by her stomach. He was now alone in his own bed.
They would roll over to a different position and talk the night away until 2:00 a.m. Even though she didn’t get to know a lot about him, she was thankful he was interested in her life. And that would be good enough for her.
Friday came. Coming home from work, Evie pulled up and saw his truck in her driveway with a trailer hitched to it.
The sound of a lawnmower hummed in the side yard, and there he came with a big can of Diet Coke in his hand, his baseball hat on forward with the Chiefs’ logo on it, sunglasses, and a boyish smile.
She folded her arms and shook her head in a grin.
He called out to her with his can raised.
Evie approached him, and he shut off the motor. Then he twisted to rest his arm on the front. “Hey, sugar momma. Wanna take a ride on the wild side?”
“With the way my yard looked, that would be on the wild side! You are the coolest person ever! I can’t thank you enough for this!”
He looked around suspiciously. “Well, it ain’t gonna come for free.” He winked. “You’re gonna owe me something.”
“Oh yeah?” She smiled and leaned into him. “What is it?”
His look said it all. The deal was set.
Caleb continued to mow her yard and inside, she watched through the kitchen window while she made the brownies he had requested.
Watching all of those baking shows had finally paid off.
On the TV screen, one of the Batman movies was queued up and ready to go upon his request. And last but not least, he had brought his overnight bag.
He was going to stay the night and learn how to relax.