She softened instantly. “I like us, too.”
He slid his fingers under her hair, caressing the delicate skin of her neck. “Then let’s be ‘us’ during this rare solitary time we have, and see where it leads. Don’t think about what everyone else will say. Just you and me. Can you do that?”
Her lips trembled. “Yes. Yes, I’d like that.”
He smiled. “Good.” He kissed her temple, and then her jaw, and then her neck. “You smell like sunshine.”
“I smell like your cologne,” she said, a smile in her voice. “I was afraid someone would notice.”
He pulled back and looked at her. “I’m really going to have to work on your paranoia,” he said, his hands sliding up her sides, over her breasts.
She moaned. “Not here, Caleb.”
“Oh, yes,” he said. “Most definitely here.” He shoved her T-shirt up and pressed down her bra, thumbing her nipples. “I’ve fantasized about you in this house too many times to miss this opportunity.”
Her hands went to his arms, but she didn’t push him away. “I have to get the key to my car before the car dealership closes,” she panted.
“I’m staying the night at your place,” he said. “I’ll take you to work tomorrow and get the key before you leave work.” His hand slid around her backside, and molded her to his hips, nuzzling his erection in the V of her body. “Problem solved.”
“I don’t remember inviting you to stay the night,” she said.
“Oh, I remember,” he said, brushing his lips over hers. “In the shower.”
“I was being blackmailed at the time, if I remember correctly,” she said. “You were withholding on me.”
She’d wanted to come. He’d wanted assurance he could wake up to another shower adventure the next morning. “I’m staying the night tonight. And tomorrow night.” He stared down at her. “And every night for at least the next two weeks.”
She wet her lips. “At the end of the two weeks, Caleb, then what?”
“I’m sure we can come up with any number of possibilities. Right now. I’m trying to figure out which fantasy to act out first.” He slid down to his knees in front of her. “The one where I strip you naked in the hallway seems a good place to start.”
***
THE FOLLOWING FRIDAY NIGHT, almost a week into Shay and Caleb’s little escape from the family, they sat in the corner of a dimly lit fondue restaurant with Jennifer, Sabrina, Bobby and Ryan. Dinner was over, and the women had gathered at one end of the table to talk while the guys did the same at the other end. Shay couldn’t help but steal looks at Caleb here and there. The week had been such a wonderful whirlwind of all kinds of intimacy and pleasure. They’d spent the week at her place, but they planned to spend the weekend at his to accommodate his sunrise jumps.
Sabrina’s phone rang, and she eyed the number and rolled her eyes. She looked at Ryan, who was tall and dark compared to Bobby’s tall and blond, and held up the phone. “One guess.”
“Your father,” Ryan said, understanding immediately.
She nodded.
Ryan flagged the waitress and pointed to his wife. “We need another margarita right here.”
Sabrina smiled and turned back to Shay and Jennifer. “Oh, I love that man. He knows exactly what I need. I should probably hire you to examine my head, Shay. I mean, my father is a politician. I write a political column. I know what happens when I disagree with one of his positions—I get the press, and him, on my backside. But what do I do? I write what I feel.”
The waiter set a margarita in front of her, and she took a big drink.
“You might as well get used to this,” Jennifer said, blowing blond hair from her eyes and reaching for Sabrina’s drink to have a sip. “Every time she does this, we all need a drink.”
Shay glanced at Caleb, who was watching her, a smile in his eyes, clearly enjoying having her here, in the midst of his friends. Shay liked it, too.
“So what do you say, Shay?” Sabrina asked. “Will you take me on as a patient?”
Shay laughed. “Not a chance,” she said. “I never take on family or friends as patients. But off the record, my opinion is, it takes a confident, well-adjusted person to stand up for their own beliefs when you know you will feel some pain for doing so.”
“Wow,” Sabrina said. “You’re good. That was the perfect thing to say.”
Shay laughed. “If only my real patients were that easy.” She glanced at Jennifer. “Sabrina’s coming out to my flight lesson tomorrow. You should come.”
“I wish I could,” Jennifer said. “I have a clinic. My animals need me. But I’m loving the idea of the women of the Hotzone having their own wings. That’s so cool. We’ll show these guys they aren’t the only ones with skill.”