Caleb grinned and lifted her chin to kiss her. Slowly she took his kiss in, basking in the beauty of his lips and his body against hers. Caleb put the box on top of her car, grabbed her hips and pushed her against the car, making her gasp. The crispness of his Oxford shirt was pure luxury against the soft skin of her hands and chest, and even on her throat when he leaned over to kiss her neck.
“Caleb,” she moaned.
He grabbed her hair and let her perfume destroy the wrecked feeling he had.
“Caleb,” she groaned again a bit louder, trying to get his attention.
And then she pushed him off.
He stepped back, completely stunned. “What the hell? What’s this all about?”
“Listen, don’t be mad at me, okay? But if you’re not going to open up to me about anything, then I’m sorry, but I can’t do this.”
“So, youwerepissed off about what I said earlier. And youweregoing to leave. Why couldn’t you be honest?”
A deep-seeded hurt rooted in her heart, and she snapped back, “It wouldn’t’ve mattered anyway! Besides, I can’t go on with this feeling like all I’m going to be is a booty call!”
“Hey!” he shot back. “You’re the one who tried to make the moves onmethe night of your anxiety attack. I was trying to be a good man and not put that on you, and you came on to me. Now I’m trying to pursue you that way and now you feel like a booty call? That doesn’t make any fucking sense!”
Oh shit,Evie thought. Her hands ran through her hair and then over her mouth. Immediately, she tried to pull his hand before he left. She couldn’t lose him now. “Caleb, please!”
“What?” he shot back as he turned to her abruptly.
Her lips trembled and she lifted her hands to talk and motion withthem, but they were shaking as badly as she was. “Look, I’m so sorry. You’re absolutely right. Youarea good man, but I want to know more about you. Because honestly, I think you need something deeper than a sexual release or being at the bottom of the fucking bottle again. And you won’t let me help you!”
He put his hands on his hips. He couldn’t believe what came out of her mouth. “Evie, not everyone needs saving. Not everyone needs help. And don’t you dare presume to know me!”
Here it came. It knotted in her fists as much as her stomach. Her spine felt hot and cramped. It was coming, and this time Evie would not hold it back. She grabbed him and turned him around before he walked away. “Listen to me.Everyoneneeds help. No one bottles things up like this, hides their life, and drinks like you do unless they’re hurting!” She touched his chest with burning desire, an insatiable craving. “You were there for me in every way I needed before I hardly even knew you. You took such a chance on a stranger and helped them. Why can’t I take a chance on a stranger and help you?”
Evelyn Morgan had finally broke. All her life, she was never able to tell people how she felt except for the times in Los Angeles where it meant her safety. But this man wasn’t some thug trying to sexually assault her or stalk her. This was the man she cared deeply for. Always with a passive and submissive voice in her thirties, she had finally felt confident enough to be open and firm in her stance. Caleb Wright was hurting, somehow, and badly. She made a promise to herself that she would break down those walls. He was worth it.
Caleb was moved. All sorts of emotions blurred into his mind and body, and together they tangled themselves in knots that distorted his reality. He pulled her in hard to kiss her, and even though it hurt her to receive it, it would pain her more to pull away. “I can’t thank you enough for how sweet you are.” He held his fingers in her hair and spoke passionately to her. “You are insanely selfless, kind, giving, and so beautiful.”
He tightened his lips. “Try not to letanyonechange that.”
She smiled and snuggled her face into his hand. “I won’t.”
“Thank you for the date.” He kissed her again.
“Of course, thank you for paying. But you should get going. I know you have to be up early.”
One more kiss, and then another. The sun set delicately over the shopping center, igniting a hot orange and fiery pink hue across the glass windows, the cars, the beautiful partly clouded sky. It burned like the infernal lust between them both, and yet both had so much to say but said nothing.
Evie slowly ceased the rapturous kissing into a gentle caress, and Caleb’s lips were still grazing hers. “Please,” she begged. “Tell me something to turn me off before I beg to go home with you.”
Like an unwavering spirit possessing her body, Caleb’s right hand slid up underneath her blazer and blouse to stroke her lower back. She curved her lower back to him, adoring the way the mass of it dipped and curved into every inch of her skin. Goosebumps broke out like a virus of yearning and desire all over her; one that could be seen by all but only felt by him. His warm hand rubbed firmly back alongside her hip before slipping underneath her pants, where he finally touched the soft curves of her hip.
He crushed her into the side of the car and placed his hand on the roof, slightly entrapping her. And there she would willingly stay a victim to his passion as long as he had the key to her chains.
The kissing continued, and as he groaned, his hormones overtook his common sense, and he blurted out, “Ashleyneverfucking kissed me like this.”
She slipped her hands up on his waist. Since his shirt was buttoned and tucked in with a belt, there was no way she was going to be able to deliver the same succulent touch as he did. She could have pulled it out, but that would look too obvious to any passerby. Even still, her touch made his abs tighten, his muscles contract, and his breathing quicken.
He held her throat and kissed her neck. She shuddered hard with pleasure. And as he did, Evie’s eyes closed, and she whispered, “God, I love it when you kiss my neck.”
“I know you do,” he said softly.
She closed her eyes tighter and opened her mouth to moan quietly, “Why are you doing this right now when we can’t be alone?”
