Page 1 of Taken By the Bad Boy
Chapter One
Mae Blake felt herheart pounding as she watched Caleb Dowd walk into her shop.Last night had been a giant mistake, and she couldn’t even blame it on alcohol.She only had one drink—one freaking drink—and she had done the walk of shame that very morning.
She had quickly washed the night away, and then came down to open the shop, while not really thinking about what it all meant to be opening.She had snuck out of Caleb’s house last night.
It was still surreal to her that she had lost her virginity last night, at thirty years old.Yeah, she knew it was a little crazy to still be a virgin at that age, but it was just something that had been out of her control.Or at least, until last night.
The whole night was like a dream to her.She didn’t know how she made it to Caleb’s home, and of course how they then had sex.Lots and lots of sex.He’d been so incredibly sweet and kind, and it had been one of the best nights of her life.
Then, reality had set in, because it had just been sex, hadn’t it?
Mae didn’t stay at the front desk, and quickly moved between the stacks of books, all while peeking through to see if Caleb had taken the hint and left.It was a little after ten, and so far, she didn’t have any customers.She was all alone.This was so stupid, sneaking around her own bookstore.
“Mae, I know you’re in here,” Caleb said.
Why did his voice have to sound so good?
She stayed quiet, because maybe if she was silent, he’d get the hint and just leave.Of course, there was no such luck, and she heard him moving between the stacks.Spending all her life in this bookstore, helping her grandfather, she knew exactly where she was going, but somehow, Caleb seemed to know as well.
Before she realized what was happening, she had been pressed up into a corner with no way of escaping.
Caleb wrapped an arm around her waist, and pressed her hands above her head.“I finally caught you,” he said.
“What are you doing?”
He tutted.“You know, I don’t like when a date sneaks out without even a backward glance.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking a—” She didn’t even get to finish as Caleb took possession of her lips, and all thought fled her mind.
Mae wasn’t going to kiss him, however, his kisses were so damn addictive, and there was no way she could say no.Kissing him back was the only option, especially as he ran his tongue across her bottom lip, and she moaned.
Caleb let her go and sunk his fingers into her hair with one hand, and with the other, he ran his hand down and grabbed her ass, making her moan.She felt the hard ridge of his cock as it pressed against her core.There was just no thought left for her.She belonged to him in that moment.
Even as reality set in, she tried to think of reasons not to kiss this man.The resident bad boy.He didn’t have the best reputation, and it kind of scared her.All the women wanted to date him, including the married ones.He was every woman’s wet dream, and there had been rumors about him helping wives cheat on their husbands.
Caleb broke the kiss and she pulled away from him.
“You can’t do that,” she said.
“I can’t?Are you going to tell me you didn’t want my kiss?”
Mae had never been a liar, and she was not going to start now.“What are you doing here?”she asked.
“Well, Mae, I find it hard to believe you snuck out on me.”He gave a little tut.
“I didn’t sneak out.”
“You did the walk of shame, and I had a whole breakfast planned.Coffee, some baked goods, that kind of thing.”
Why would he say this to her?
“I, uh, I didn’t think you’d want to wake up with me still there,” she said.
Also, she had been terrified.She didn’t exactly know what the protocol was for the morning after the night before.Did he expect her to leave?Did he even want to see her the next morning?It was all a little hazy.She was never the woman waking up the next morning against a man.
Caleb reached out and stroked a curl behind her ear.“If I didn’t want to wake up next to you, Mae, I wouldn’t have taken you home.”And with that he kissed her on the nose.
The sound of her doorbell pulled her attention away.She did not want her private life to be the focus of gossip, but she had a feeling that was exactly what it was going to be.Halloween Point was a small town that tended to thrive most of the year by all the Halloween activities.It was a tourist town, a beautiful, sweet, idealistic town.She had grown up there with her grandparents after her parents died in a car accident.She was the only one left.
