Page 66 of Shake the Habit

“Really?”

“Really,” I said. “Of course.”

“Thank you for that. I do love him and I’ll help keep him safe. We’ll do that together, so you don’t have to worry.”

“I don’t want you to worry about things, either,” I said. “You definitely don’t have to worry about people caring about you. They do. I do.”

He leaned forward, and I knew that he was going to kiss me. I wanted to comfort him, but I needed him, too.

Caleb’s lips gently touched mine. “Is that ok?” he asked. “You’re still crying.”

“I’m not,” I said, and reached to kiss him again. This time, his hand slid from my cheek and into my hair and his other arm pulled me closer. It was funny—not how he kissed, because that was wonderful. The funny part was my reaction. I got kind of breathless and kind of dizzy, and I felt a little like I was flying or maybe floating off the bed. I held him closer to keep myself steady, but everything stayed gentle and easy. There was no pressure for more.

The pressure came in another form and from another source. Sir suddenly climbed across my body, stepping on me with what felt like ten or twenty paws. “Ugh,” I grunted, pulling away fromCaleb and trying to scramble out from under the dog’s weight. It had to have been much more than a hundred pounds now.

“No, Sir. Not there—hell!” Caleb yelped, frantically pushing at the dog’s big body. Sir had planted one of his lead-weighted feet directly onto Caleb’s crotch and I thought that maybe that area was extra sensitive at this moment. Sir barked back and then Caleb rolled right off the bed.

“My Lord!” I leaned over the side to look at where he was curled on the ground in a semi-fetal position, his eyes closed. “Are you all right?”

“Give me a minute,” he answered, his voice rough. “I wasn’t ready for that.”

“Sir!” I scolded, but he had stretched out happily in the warm place that Caleb had recently occupied, and he didn’t bother to respond. “I think he didn’t feel good about us…getting closer,” I said to the person on the floor.

Caleb’s eyes opened. “Do you feel good about that?”

I swallowed. I really was different from before, not the same woman at all. Wasn’t that true? I wasn’t going to ruin this with him. I would be careful and I wouldn’t hurt either of us.

“I feel good,” I answered slowly. “Do you?”

His face was creased in pain, and his voice still sounded funny when he answered. “I never felt better in my whole life.” Then he smiled and I smiled back, and we both started to laugh. Sir grunted with annoyance at how we’d disturbed him with this new noise. He stretched out and pushed me with his big paw.

We only laughed harder. It turned out to be a wonderful night, after all.

Chapter 14

Cassidy and Aria looked at the garment on the hanger and neither of them spoke, but the looks on their faces said more than enough. No, those looks told me. Gross. Please.

“Y’all, come on,” I cajoled. “This is cute.”

“It looks like something my mother would sleep in,” Aria mentioned, and Cass nodded hard in agreement.

“You’re right, Ari. I can definitely picture Aunt Amber wearing that gown.”

I slammed the hanger back onto the rack. “All right, then. You two find something for me!”

They were happy to try. In less than two minutes, both of them held up new selections. “Mine’s better,” Cassidy said, and after a moment, Aria had to agree.

“It’s perfect with her coloring,” she said, regretfully putting hers back. “You’ll be so cute in that, KayKay!”

I looked at Cassidy’s pick for me, a lace demi bra in deep teal, with matching little shorts. It was beautiful and the price wasn’t too bad. I’d gotten a slight tan because I’d been testing out my bikini in the back yard, and unlike Aria, I didn’t burn. The teal would have been nice with that and it might have helped to bring out the gold streaks in my eyes, which both of these girls always swore were there. They crossed their hearts and said absolutely, there was gold.

Yes, they were correct that this little lingerie set was very cute. The shorts would have emphasized the muscle I’d gained in my butt region due to all the running I’d been doing. I’d started to throw in planking and crunches, and this would show off that work, too. It was much sexier than what I’d picked and much more flattering.

“So?” Cass prompted.

“No,” I answered firmly. “No way. I’d be almost naked.”

“Are you kidding me?” she demanded. “I spent twenty years of my life covering you up and the one time I try to get you to show it off…”

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