Page 195 of Dirty Discipline, Vol. 2

“It’s nice to meet you, too. Caine has told me a lot of good things about you.” Although I really couldn’t remember Caine telling me very much about Sara, I was going to throw that in to make Sara feel like I was no threat.

Caine opened the door all the way and said, “Let’s get your stuff into your new home. Sara, do you mind showing her which room is hers? I’ll go get your stuff.”

Sara smiled with her perfect white teeth again, and in her sweetest voice said, “Of course, honey. Neely, follow me please.”

As much as I was excited to finally be back home, I did feel a bit awkward. I knew this living arrangement was going to take a bit of getting used to. I also knew the first thing I needed to do was to make Sara like me and not feel threatened.

Sara opened the door to my new room and sweetly said, “Here it is. Caine and I spent all last weekend shopping to furnish it. I hope you like it.”

I looked around in shock. The room had a queen size bed with beautiful bedding and neatly placed throw pillows. The night stands, armoire and dresser were all a matching antique white with soft white floral details. The curtains were a warm rose color, translucent enough to see through the window to a tree with a bird feeder hanging on a limb. The whole room had almost a princess feel; it was absolutely lovely.

I turned to Sara with wide eyes. “Oh you both shouldn’t have gone to so much trouble! This is absolutely gorgeous, and I—”

Sara cut me off and said a bit tartly, “Nothing is too much for you, Neely.” She smiled again and said as sweetly as before, “Inside the armoire is a flat screen television. Unfortunately, the house only has two bathrooms, so you will have to make the guest one yours.”

I looked at Sara’s tightly drawn mouth. “Sara, I want to thank you for all you have done. I know you don’t know me, and I also know that I am a female Caine cares about. I want you to know I love Caine like a brother, and I would never do anything to get in the way of you two. I promise you there is nothing, nor will there be anything, between Caine and me. I really hope we can become friends, because—”

Sara cut me off again and spoke between clenched teeth. “Just so we’re clear. I did not want you to move in. Caine didn’t ask me, he told me. He thinks you walk on water and you’re his perfect Neely girl.” She said the name with so much venom I expected to see fangs pop out. “I am telling you right now that Caine is mine. You better keep your distance, and let us live our lives. I will pretend to be nice for Caine’s sake. But I don’t want to be your friend, and I don’t want you to be here. Are we clear?”

Before I had a chance to respond, Caine came barging in with boxes under each arm. He let out a huff and said, “God damn, Neely! What do you have in all of these suitcases and boxes? And who taught you how to pack a car? You couldn’t even see through your back window. You could have gotten yourself killed driving that way.”

I tried my best to smile and laugh despite what his girlfriend had just said. Sara quickly put on her fake smile complete with her faux sweetness. After he’d put down the boxes, she leaned in and kissed Caine right on the mouth, slightly nipping at his lip. She pressed her large breasts against him, slid her hands down until they grabbed his ass and leaned over to his ear and whispered loud enough so I could hear, “Hmmm, Caine, you get me so hot seeing you carry all those big boxes. Let’s go to our room and let me show you how hot I am.”

I almost laughed out loud at Caine’s expression. Obviously, he picked up on the fact that Sara was clearly marking her territory, like a dog pissing on a hydrant. He simply patted her back, gave her a kiss on her forehead and turned to me.

“So, Neely, how does a barbeque sound? Coley is coming over in an hour, so I thought we could cook out, drink wine and relax in the hot tub. How does that sound as a welcome back?”

I smiled, despite the fact that I could see Sara seething. “That sounds wonderful. I can’t wait. What can I do to help?”

Caine began to turn out of the room and said, “Not a thing. I’m going to get the rest of your things so you can start to unpack and make yourself at home. You’ve had a long drive, and I’m sure you need to rest a bit.” As I began to open my mouth to protest, he put his hand in the air to stop me and sternly stated, “Not a request. Just settle in.” He then turned away to get the rest of my stuff.

Sara waited until he left and glared at me. “Just so you know, Neely, if he had to choose between me and you, he would choose me in a second. So don’t push me to force him to make that decision.” She then put on her flawless phony smile with her nauseating sweet voice and said, “Towels are under the sink if you need them.” And then she left.

I took a deep breath to calm down. What a bitch! What could Caine possibly see in that girl? It was eerie how she could go from ideal Stepford Wife to total killer lunatic within seconds. Without a doubt, I knew I needed to play nice. I didn’t want Caine to be put in an uncomfortable situation, or feel like he had to play referee. My hope of becoming friends with Sara now seemed hopeless, but I would at least try, or at the very least, I could fake it.

I looked around the room again to take the time to see all the little details which were put in place. It was obvious Caine wanted to make sure I was comfortable and felt protected. My bed had a gorgeous quilt folded over the end in case I got cold. The window had a special lock which had to be installed. But what really took my breath away was what was on the nightstands and dresser. In silver antique frames were different pictures of Caine, Coley, and me. There were pictures of us all laughing and goofing around, and there were pictures that touched my heart. One frame in particular was a picture of Coley and me posing for our prom picture. I couldn’t believe Caine took the time to dig up these old pictures. I didn’t even have a picture of my prom night. In fact, I didn’t really have any pictures left.

I was so engrossed gazing at the pictures that I didn’t hear Caine come into the room. He walked over and put his arm around my shoulders.

“I thought you might like these.”

“Caine, I can’t believe how beautiful this room is. You didn’t need to do all of this. You have to at least let me pay you back for the furniture and—”

He quickly cut me off. “You’ve had a rough time lately, and it is about time someone does something nice for you. My mom taught me to be a good host, I guess. I’ve been excited to have you here.” He let out a deep breath and squeezed my shoulder. “Just don’t tell the guys at work that I picked out sheets with flowers on them. I’d never hear the end of it.”

Smiling, I lifted my head to look into Caine’s warm brown eyes, and stood on my tiptoes so I could kiss his cheek. “I’ve never had someone care so much about me or make me feel like everything is going to be all right. I’ve been alone for a really long time. Married…yes. But very alone.”

He lifted my chin so I was looking into his eyes again. “You aren’t alone anymore. I promise you that from now on things are going to improve…for both of us. No more heartache, no more bastard ex-husband. You have a new job, a new home and a new start on life. I needed this just as much as you. Lately, I’ve felt like I’ve been missing something, like my past was disappearing. Having you return brings that all back. I need you here, too.”

I turned into Caine’s chest and took in his scent. His arms wrapped around me, pulling me closer. I didn’t want to pull away. I wanted to stay this way, in his arms, forever. Tears were beginning to burn the back of my eyes, and I was doing everything I could to hold them back. Caine stroked his hand down my hair gently. The simple gesture of affection caused the tears to finally flow. I just needed to release all the pain and anger I had built over the past few years. He just held me and continued to stroke my hair. Caine didn’t say anything. He didn’t try to find the right words. He just let me cry and let me be with my emotions. He held me like he did during the days after my mother died, giving me the silent comfort I so desperately needed. Even after I stopped crying, he continued to hold me. For the first time in a long time, I felt like I had hope. Caine slowly pulled away and smiled so big, laugh lines formed around his eyes.

“I don’t like it when you cry,” Caine stated as he wiped away the tears from my eyes.

“I know. I’m sorry,” I sniffed.

Caine placed his calloused hands on each side of my face and slowly kissed my forehead. His lips were like fire on my skin and electricity shot through me. I wasn’t sure if I should press my body closer, begging for more, or run to the other side of the room before I embarrassed myself. Before I could really grasp everything that was going through me, Caine gave me another big “brotherly” bear hug and spun me around in a circle. With one quick move, Caine was able to reestablish our comfortable and platonic relationship. I couldn’t help but feel disappointed that the closeness had come to an end.

“I want you to be happy here. I’m glad you’re back, and this is gonna be a blast. Just like old times. Now start unpacking, and meet me on the back porch with drink in hand! We got a barbeque to get ready!”

---