Page 14 of Hitched

“Really. Well, actions speak louder than words, and you’re still sitting here.”

She swallows, and I swear to God, I see a bead of sweat roll down her temple. But I’m not looking at her temple, oh no, I’m looking at her eyes. Those big blue eyes with so much mystery yet so transparent, all at the same time. As I draw closer to her, she doesn’t move. It’s like she’s frozen in time, battling with herself, knowing that she feels the same magnetism as I do, but also knowing that she’s already created certain boundaries between us, boundaries that I’m trying to break, and she can’t decide if they’re ready to be broken yet or not.

“Caleb…” She says, voice soft, almost begging, making my cock stand right up.

“Laney…” I murmur, so close to her skin I can feel the heat from her, yet I’m not touching her. My guess is it’s been so long since she’s been with a man, that her body is wide awake, yet her mind has objections. When she says my name, it’s a cross between begging me to stop and begging me to continue. My lips graze hers, barely making contact, and then I slide to her neck, doing the same, just a taste, but not enough to say I even touched her, but enough for her to beg for more.

The knock at the door jars her thought. She all but pushes me aside, breaking the spell. “You son of a bitch!” She snarls. “I can’t believe you did that!”

Another knock.

“What the fuck!” I shout at her and at the door.

Laney rises abruptly, all but shuddering, shaking off whatever just happened.

“Did you get what you wanted?” I shout at her.

“Asshole.” She mutters, walking to the door, opening it.

“Oh, that’s rich.” I tell her, watching the girl from the front observe us like she’s watching a ping pong match. “You’re the one that accosted me here, remember.”

“Fuck you.” She spits, stomping away, like an errant child.

“I…is this a bad time?” Luwanda asks.

“No, not at all. What’s going on?” I ask, walking to her.

“Oh, um, your lawyer just called. I think your phone is dead.” She explains, handing me a charging cable.

I pull my phone out of my pocket. Sure enough, it’s dead. “Shit. Thanks.” I say, taking the cable from her. “Any progress with the prints?”

“No, but you can go anytime you like. Chas just left. We have everything we need for now.”

I lift a brow. “Then, why give me a charging cable?”

“Well, I didn’t know how long you and your lawyer would be in there for.”

My eyes roll. “That was not my lawyer. In case you weren’t aware, lawyers don’t typically talk to their clients the way that she talked to me, for the record.” God, how dumb is she? I decide that if Chas is out, then so am I. A constable is handy so he gives me a ride back home, where I take a shower, change my clothes, and do everything to avoid answering my phone to my da, who has left me three messages, all irate, all demanding to know what the fuck is going on, his words, but instead of doing the smart thing, I do something stupid instead, and head over to Chas’s house.

His truck is in the driveway, so I bang on the door. He answers a minute later, by simply holding the door open, and not saying a word. “Still not talking to me, huh.”

“I’m not talking to anyone, for the record. My brothers’ orders.”

I close the door behind me. “You always do what your brothers tell you?”

“No. But I figure since I may need their help on the stand, I better fucking listen this time.”

As soon as I sit down, the door knocks.

“Fuck. That’s Beckett.” Chas rises and opens the door for his brother. Beckett has coffee and donuts, and he’s got a laptop bag hanging on his shoulder.

Beckett sees me and gives me a weak smile. “I didn’t see any of your brothers at the station.” He’s matter-of-fact, like he’s almost disappointed. In fact, the only person that showed up aside from my lawyer, was Laney.

“Yeah, well, they’ve got better things to do. Besides, da probably told them to stay the hell away, to avoid any further muddying of the fucking family name.”

“You should probably call him.” Beckett states. “He even went so far as to call me, looking for you, when he showed up at the police station, and you weren’t there anymore.”

“Fuck…me.” I whine, resting my head on the back of the couch.

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