Chapter 39
It took hours to get the girls settled down.
Somehow, Jules, Avril, and even little Tobi sensed something was wrong.
They were all tense. Which made Markie fussy and cranky.
But somehow Auggie and her two lieutenants managed to get the younger five girls into bed, and reassured January enough to at least try to rest. But Cal suspected that girl wouldn’t be getting much sleep at all.
He’d told January himself several times. He wasn’t leaving. He would listen for any sound. He would keep her safe. No matter what. Bruce would have to get through him before he ever got near one of the girls again.
Cal meant every word.
Somehow, it ended up just being him and Auggie in the living room after that. Both Junie and Em had suspiciously headed upstairs to their rooms. Cal appreciated it—and he knew they were doing it on purpose. Em had made a lot of snarky comments, after all.
And Junie had a knowing look in her blue eyes.
A look that told him that one was probably part witch, when it came down to it.
Just like Augusta Dawn. Junie was almost as dangerous as her older sister.
Men didn’t stand a chance against women like those two.
Em probably had the same tendencies, but since he had semi-adopted that one as a pseudo-sister years ago, he probably just couldn’t see it.
“You didn’t have to stay.”
“I wasn’t going to just leave…” Cal just reached out for her. “Damn it, woman…there was no way in hell I could leave you tonight. Or the girls.”
It felt like she had him heart and soul now. And she most likely didn’t even have a clue. Something had changed in him tonight. Forever.
“I am not going to be a charity case here. If that’s what you’re thinking…”
“Of course not. No way. I don’t want you to ever think that.”
“Then what do you really want from me?”
Everything.
This was the woman he wanted everything from—and he wanted to give her his everything in return.
Cal was just wise enough of a strategist to know that was the last thing he should tell her now. So instead, he just held out his hand and waited. “What do you think?”
Oh, he was such a jerk.
A beautiful, tempting, monster of a jerk.
For doing this to her. She really hadn’t wanted this.
She had told herself the instant she’d learned about the girls and what they needed that she wasn’t going to screw up their safety and security by adding a relationship between her and a man to the mix.
She’d told herself that it wasn’t fair to them.
That she would just wait until they were older and more settled and more secure.
And she would have to find a man she could really, truly trust first. How could she expose them all to a man she didn’t fully trust?
And she’d only fully had them for four and a half months—how could she expect them to adjust to everything in so short of a time, and then add in a man like Cal?
It had seemed like such an easy thing to think and say. She didn’t trust men in general, anyway, so why would she trust one with the girls?
She was starting to get the impression that she had been deluding herself there.
This was the first man she had trusted in a long, long time. If…ever. Had she ever fully trusted a man before? She honestly didn’t think she had.
“I think…hell, how am I supposed to know? I’m not good at figuring men out in general. Especially men like you.”
“Like me? How?”
Oh, he was playing her. There was no denying that. “You know. Arrogant is a good place to start.”
Arrogant, most definitely. Confident, self-assured.
This was a man who knew what he wanted and wouldn’t stop until he got it.
But…how much could Auggie really see herself being able to give?
She didn’t want to let either of them down, if this…
went much further. “I am not in a good place for a man like you. I think we both know that. You are not exactly what I had planned.”
He stood. And then he was coming for her. Auggie was half-tempted to run, really. But…not like she could escape. Even if she tried. So she stood her ground.
And then his hands were on her, wrapping around her waist. He held her gingerly. It was obvious the man was hurting. And stubborn, so very, very stubborn. Well, so was she.
“You are definitely not what I had planned, either.”
There was a rueful tone in his words that Auggie definitely didn’t appreciate. “Just what does that mean?”
“I think you know. You will never be the kind of woman a man gets involved with easily. I think we both know that—and appreciate it. I know I do.”
What exactly was that supposed to mean? She almost asked, then she looked into his eyes. And knew… “Who said anything about relationships being easy? Especially with…men like you.”
They were right back to that. No denying it.
“You think it is arrogance driving me? Making me want you?” He paused a moment, then his hands tightened. She found herself pressed against that hard chest. Her entire body tingled. Her focus shifted from her father, from the girls, from everything.
And narrowed.
To him. Calloway Grady.
Damn it. He was totally driving her crazy. And she didn’t even know how it had started.
But when he kissed her—damned if Auggie didn’t kiss him right back.
This was insane. She knew that. But she kept kissing him anyway.
And if the baby hadn’t chosen that moment to start wailing again—well, Auggie probably would have just stayed right where she was forever. And kissed him back for eternity.
Nothing had felt right like this before. And that mattered so much.