Chapter Sixteen
Daphne
I could not believe how bossy Caldwell became once I confirmed that we were going to be parents. Not that he hadn’t been commanding in many past situations, but this was different. I really kind of liked the protective thing and the way he spoke to my belly when he first saw the wee pooch. And his morning greeting—that I am sure he meant to be private—nearly brought me to tears. The careful sex stuff was not going to win him any brownie points and, thankfully, I persuaded him to knock that shit off. My hormones had definite needs!
I was happy to find that we had no problem regaining the comfortableness we had so quickly fallen into since he darkened or lightened or enchanted my doorway. There was one thing—or a few things—we had never spoken about that probably…most likely needed to be addressed. Like, for starters, how much did I owe him for his work? When we were apart and I had time to myself, I realized that I had never ever paid one dime for materials or any of the furnishings that had been brought into the house. It had to be a very large amount as I knew that what Caldwell had installed included all top of the line items.
The other thing we should’ve talked about; were we going to live together to raise our baby? Of course, it wasn’t necessary in modern society. However, since the storm, minus our few weeks of separation for work and our feud, Caldwell had been living with me. No complaints there. Did he want to continue our same cohabitation? Did he want his own place? Did he want us to find a place that was neutral? I really hated to leave my house since he had done so much to make it our dream house. When he first arrived he said it was a house he had driven past several times and even dreamed of purchasing.
“What are you so deep in thought about?” Caldwell’s sexy voice stirred up my thoughts and had them dancing right out of my head. He had the ability to make me melt with his voice, his manly citrus scent, his touch…his looks.
What wasn’t appealing about him?
“Ummm…” I stumbled to find the right words. “I heard your brother sold his house and is going to live in a reality mansion.” Let him take it from there I told myself after opening that little can of worms—bait?
He laughed. “Yes, the little shit left me high and dry…without a place to live. But, I couldn’t blame him. They offered a crazy amount to buy it and, at the same time, he got a call back from a show he has been auditioning for since it first aired on the home channel.” He shook his head as he finished and paid attention to the street signs as he slowed.
Damn! It looked like I was going to have to be bolder. “So where have you been staying?”
“I was away for the week he moved stuff out. Ashton was not terribly pleased with me, but I did help a little before the movers took over.” He stopped speaking as he turned up some residential street and I tried to think of my next investigative question. Fortunately, he started up again, “I’ve been staying in my office at the gallery and taking cold showers in a funky little stall or heading over to shower at a gym I belong to downtown. When I was on my trip to New York, I made sure that I had a peace offering ready to bring to you…the dining set you had shown me in a magazine.” He had pulled to the curb and turned off the car. “I hoped it was my key back in?” There was an unmistakable questioning element in his last words.
What the hell?! Just spit it out already! “Do you want to live with me in my house? We can make it ours. We already have. I owe you so much money. Probably as much as I paid for the damn house. Shit! Maybe more. I’m sorry I haven’t paid you…and…”
I never said another word since two hands had grabbed the sides of my face and pulled me in for a whirlwind, closing credits, glamour movie kiss. If I had panties on they would’ve dropped or burst into flames. Seriously, it was most likely the best kiss he had ever given me. No! That is just downright silly. It had to be all of the emotion that was behind it and raging hormones on my part. But when we finally came up for air, I had tears streaming down my face. He hadn’t even said a word. He had just simply kissed the ever-loving bejesus out of me.
When Caldwell broke our kiss, dislodging my fingers from his scalp—I’d rather they had been attacking his back—he started to get out of his sporty car. A fancy car that I had never seen until he arrived at my door bearing another wonderful gift for the house. “Let’s go see some houses.” He smiled as he walked around the front of the car to my door. His “shut up kiss” had me wondering if he would eventually answer me. My thoughts were stilled as he opened the door and extended his hand to me.
Damn it! Not a word but a lot of hand holding, caresses along with kisses between touring different houses. It was his grinning, gorgeous face that got to me the most. He seemed to be up to something—playing some sort of game with me—or just waiting for me to ask him again. No way was I about to go there again as much as it was killing me.
Walking into a house that was very similar to my house’s Streamline Moderne style, I wondered if it had been built by the same architect as mine. I, also, wondered if it was on Caldwell’s dream house list. As if he were reading my mind, he shocked me with his words when he leaned close enough to whisper in my ear: “This reminds me of our house, but ours is better.”
Our?! I wanted to shout as he had used the word twice in one sentence. That had to be the answer to my question. I was taking that as an affirmative answer. Especially with his smirking expression as he studied me as if he was waiting for me to respond.
When I didn’t fall into his trap or whatever he was doing to me, he pulled me into his body. I willingly went into his arms expecting a kiss, but instead he said words that were almost better. “One more stop and then I need to get you home to our bed.”
I could play his game too: “Or our counter, or our door, or our wall, or our…” Again, like earlier, Caldwell crushed his mouth to mine—silencing me. When we finally pulled apart, I breathlessly spoke up, “No stop. Let’s go straight home.”
“No can do.” And before I could protest, he had me back in the car and then out of it once he parked in the parking lot of one of my favorite places.
“Bel Rêves? We don’t have to deliver my clothes today.” I remained seat-belted in, ready for him to back out of the slot and take off in the direction of my…our house. He didn’t listen to me but instead turned the engine off, got out and gathered up my paper shopping bags filled with old clothes.
Giving up, I got out, followed him to the door and opened it since his hands were occupied. Walking in through the backdoor, Caldwell deposited my bags in a bin they had set up for donations. I nearly jumped when the owner, Alexandrite—Alexa to her friends—as she greeted us like she was expecting us. Strange! I swear I heard her mutter something that sounded a lot like “finally” and I tilted my head.
“Thank you so much, Daphne. Can’t wait to see what you brought us.” She was definitely more excited than usual and I started thinking that maybe she had news of her own that she wanted to share and nothing to do with me.
“Let’s look around while we’re here,” Caldwell announced, forgetting all about our previous plans as he strutted through racks of vintage clothing surrounded by amazing trinkets and jaw-dropping furnishings. I loved that everything she stocked was in fairly decent condition and nothing smelled musty-dirty as many antique shops did. It could be that she sold organic products for the home that were made by a company called Rhett Scarlett. I always loaded up on a few items every time I popped in. Whatever the smell was, mixed in with the ambiance, it was a charming shop exploding with treasures.
“Over here,” Caldwell called out and I went to see what he had found…apparently with Alexa’s help since she was close to him. Yes, she was standing on the opposite side of a glass case and when I looked down between them, I gasped. “Which one do you like?”
Daphne, it is a case filled with rings. Get a grip, girl! It could mean anything at all. I stood still with my head dipped as my mind battled on silently.
Not letting me get a word to form between my lips, Caldwell pointed as he spoke, “I’m kind of leaning toward this design.” Alexa immediately pulled out the ring that had an octagonal-squarish diamond setting with a lemon-lime color gem in the middle. It was stunning with a yellow-gold band that had four diamonds on each side, close to the main event.
“It’s from the 1930s…Art Deco and the middle stone is a peridot surrounded by diamonds,” Alexa explained as Caldwell took it from her. I just stood dumbfounded in a haze when she added, “It might fit.”
Caldwell spoke up, asking, “Do you like it?”
I nodded my head, looking down at his fingers arranging the ring between his thumb and forefinger as he stepped closer to me and Alexa slipped away. Was he…was this planned…was it a proposal…just a gift? I got my answer within seconds as Caldwell dropped down on one knee and began to utter words I would remember for the rest of my life.
“Daphne, from the moment you opened your front door, I knew that you were meant for me. I will thank my brother every day forever for being sick. Someone was looking out for me…guiding me to you. I would deceive you all over again as shitty as that sounds. I would not change a moment except for maybe calling you Dickhead.” We both laughed before he continued, “I love you. You are the woman I want to live with forever and I can’t wait to fill our house with lots of kids—”
I quickly cut him off. “—let’s see how we are as parents of one.”
“Okay,” he agreed with a grin that made my knees weak. “Just say you’ll marry me?” He didn’t wait for my answer as he grasped my hand, pulling it toward him, and began to slip the ring in place. It fit perfectly!
“Did you…was this…how did you know my…” Caldwell was on his feet and I was in his arms, silenced by his lips. I realized at that moment in time that my rambling words were a Godsend and I would have to continue that practice for years to come. I never wanted to be out of his arms for too long with the added bonus of his kisses. Panting softly as he allowed me to take a much needed breath, I answered “yes” against his lips and said my first “I love you” to Caldwell. It may have been the first but it would not be the last as I liked how it sounded and that it had him repeating the same words back to me with the addition of one word “more” that I wasn’t sure was possible.