Page 17 of Caleb's Salvation
What I’d gotten was something else. Some helpful support. A chance to for me to help myself.
Independence. Pride in myself. Things I never thought I would have. Maybe it was selfish to want more.
Finally, he let go of my wrist with one last brush of his thumb against my skin.
Was Caleb a man worth fighting for? The way he touched me, I believed he was.
Boldly, I reached over and patted his cheek. “Poor Cal,” I said. “I know you’re fighting it, but eventually I’m going to win. You’ll see.”
I left with a wave and a smile on my face as I took care of a bunch of other tables. No, Caleb didn’t know. It was in that moment. That single moment when he touched my wrist and had to force himself to let go, that I’d formed a new plan.
I was going to call itThe Break Caleb Down Plan. And I didn’t care how long it took.
5
Present
Cal
She was standing just outside of Gert’s store. I’d parked my truck and gotten out but froze as I watched her tilt her head back and let the sun hit her and her kid’s faces. It was February. Full-on winter when the sun didn’t rise until ten-thirty and was gone by six. On days when there actually was sun. Not dismally cloudy skies or, worse, never-ending snow.
Today wasn’t one of those days. The sun was high and beaming and, despite the cold, Vivienne was taking in every drop. I didn’t blame her.
I didn’t think they would last. None of them. Shelby, Kate. Certainly not Vivienne, who didn’t have the comfort of a man keeping her warm at night. At least, I was fairly certain she didn’t.
Ty, it was easy to see, had become enchanted with Vivienne. What had begun as a task I’d assigned him had quickly become his passion. A simpleHow is she doing?would result in a jabber-fest of everything Vivienne and Sam. Did she feel the same way for Ty?
She should. He was good-looking, her age, a decent person.
Her age.
Why shouldn’t they start dating?
Because Ty’s got the maturity of an eighteen-year-old and Vivienne has a son she needs to raise.
I blinked away those thoughts. Again, not my responsibility.
Except she’d been in Hope’s Point now five months, silently wrecking me, messing with my peace of mind making me feel and want things I hadn’t thought about in seven years.
Sex, you dumb asshole. She makes you think about fucking.
I closed my eyes on a low grown. The fantasy last night had been the worst yet. Her on my bed, her red hair spread out on my pillows, naked with her skin so pale, so delicate. It made me feel like a Viking marauder, like I’d conquered her and was ready to bend her to my will.
I hadn’t even gotten as far as thrusting inside her before I was awake, rock hard and jacking myself off. Just the thought had my dick twitching again.
I coughed to cover the sound I’d made.
The sound that alerted her to my presence. She and the boy turned in my direction.
“Good morning, Caleb.” She beamed.
I scowled at the use of my full name and she scrunched up her face. My scowls were no longer effective on her, which was ridiculous as they had been working on my men for years.
“Oh, no. You can’t look sour at me today. This is the first real sun we’ve had in over a week. Nothing is spoiling this for us, isn’t that right, Sammy?”
He babbled around the teething ring he was holding in his chubby little hand. Almost ten months old. He was probably crawling by now, although I wondered how he did that on the wood floor of the cabin. It wasn’t like it was sanded down to a smooth finish. It was a cabin.
I tried to force away the image of him picking up splinters in his hands and knees.
