This issue was a little bit of a trigger to him due to his own father’s parental neglect. At least Red had made regular child support payments. Money had never been the issue with Red’s absence. Three boys going without a father was a recipe for disaster.
“On Saturday when I returned home from having coffee with you, Donny was in my driveway waiting for me.” He could see a look of escalating tension on her face. “He informed me that he’s retained an attorney in the hope of getting joint custody.” She let out a strangled sound. “This from a man who barely sees his child and doesn’t know the first thing about her likes and dislikes.” Tears pooled in her eyes, and she tried to blink them away.
“Yet he wants joint custody!” she said, her voice raised. Several of her team members were still in the room and within earshot. They quickly packed up their belongings and made a fast path out of the room.
“And now I’m being unprofessional,” she said, wiping tears from her cheeks and breathing heavily. It made his soul ache to see her so broken up about the situation. She had every right to be upset.
He placed his arm around her and pulled her close. Now, it was just the two of them in the space. He ached to do what he’d been wanting to do since the first time they’d met. Caleb wanted to kiss her as she’d never been kissed before.
“It’s not unprofessional to be emotional,” he told her. “Plus, the shoot is over. You’re on a break.”
“You’re a sweetheart, Caleb. Has anyone ever told you that?” she asked, making a sniffling noise. Her eyes were a little red, but she couldn’t have looked more beautiful in this moment. He gave her a lot of credit for showing her vulnerability.
“My mom says it several times a week,” he said, smirking. He got just the reaction he wanted from Sophia. Her lips began to twitch, and a smile stretched across her face.
She placed her hands on his chest and threw her head back in laughter. “I walked right into that one, didn’t I?” Suddenly, she was so close to him, tantalizingly close. She smelled like something sweet, a mix of flowers and vanilla. Maybe some sort of soap. Whatever it was, he just wanted to be near her, to immerse himself in this alluring scent.
“I don’t know if this is the time or place, but—” he began, before being interrupted by Sophia.
“Kiss me, Caleb,” she said, grabbing hold of his sweater and pulling him toward her so that he had easy access to her lips. Caleb dipped his head down and placed his lips over hers in a kiss that went from tender to fiery in an instant. Her lips were soft and supple. This kiss had been months in the making. He’d wanted to kiss Sophia ever since he first spotted her across the room in True’s tavern.
It had been well worth the agonizing wait. He wasn’t sure if his feet were still on the ground. He was soaring. Flying.
Sophia kissed him back fiercely, as if she too was feeling a sense of urgency. Want pulsed in the air between them. He felt a little bit frantic, as if they needed to make this connection in the here and now before anyone interrupted them. There had been so many moments that had passed through his fingers when he had wanted nothing more than to kissher. Caleb encircled Sophia’s waist with his hands and pulled her against him so that no space lay between them.
It wasn’t until after the kiss ended that Caleb remembered that he’d promised himself not to allow his heart to overrule his head.
CHAPTER TEN
Kissing Caleb during work hours probably hadn’t been the smartest move she had ever made, Sophia realized. On the other hand, she didn’t regret doing so for a single second. She reached up and touched her lips. They still felt scorched by Caleb’s kisses. Their moment of intimacy had been inevitable since they had begun circling around each other since the night of the engagement party. She found herself attracted to him in a way she’d never experienced before, and she didn’t quite know what to do with herself.
Was something real brewing between them? Or was this just random stolen kisses spurred on by mutual attraction? What were Caleb’s feelings on the matter? Was a kiss simply a kiss? Only this make-out session hadn’t been ordinary in any way, shape, or form.
Relationships had always disappointed her. Not that she and Caleb were in a relationship or anything. They were simply feeling things out with each other. There was no sense in getting in over her head since she didn’t even know if he was sticking around Moose Falls. By this time nextyear, he might be back in California chasing moonbeams and stardust.
I hope he stays.The thought came out of nowhere, surprising her with its intensity. She didn’t want to get too attached to this man. He was a walking, talking embodiment of potential heartbreak.
Her mind was racing, and she couldn’t seem to slow it down.
When it was time to head home, Sophia thought about stopping by Caleb’s office to say goodbye, but nixed the idea. She already had Caleb on a nonstop rotation in her head. Why add to it? He might even start thinking she was assuming they were an item, and that could be embarrassing.
She knew that she was overthinking things, but being so out of practice with men was hampering her quite a bit.
When she pulled up to her house, she saw her father’s car in the driveway, along with Patience’s truck. It was thoughtful of her dad to finish the day at her home so she didn’t have to go to his house, pack Lily up, drive home, and then start dinner. He truly was the sweetest man in the world. She didn’t know what she had ever done to deserve such a loving father. Sometimes she wondered why her mother had been so eager to divorce such a wonderful man. According to Skip, she’d been looking for a more exciting romantic partner, which had always seemed like a choice one made in high school.
As soon as she opened the door to her house and stepped inside, the aroma of barbecue sauce made her weak in the knees. Her stomach grumbled noisily. Barbecued ribs. She would know the scent anywhere. Her father was literally an angel walking the Earth.
The sound of laughter led her straight to the playroom, where her father was playing the role of horsey while Lily rode on his back.
Sophia cleared her throat to announce her arrival. Her father looked up at her with a pained expression on his face. “Oh, thank God, you’re here. One more round of this and I might end up in the ER.”
“Horsey! Horsey!” Lily cried out as she held on to an invisible pair of reins.
“Lily, I think horsey needs a break, okay?” Sophia asked, bending down to scoop her up in her arms. “Where’s Patience?” she asked, looking around the room for her sister.
“She’s in the kitchen,” Lily announced. “Do you smell the food she’s making?”
“Okay, I’m going to go say hello to the chef,” Sophia said. “Lily, do you want to come with me?”
