CHAPTER FOUR
Cruise
“Do you like teaching?”
We’ve gotten our drinks, ordered our food, and now we’re just waiting for everything to be delivered. I’m going to use my time wisely and ask her about anything that comes to mind. Anything that will let me learn more about this woman who’s intrigued me.
“I love it,” she answers, happiness shining from her eyes. “It’s hard being a high school teacher at my age though,” she sighs. “At twenty-four, I’m not much older than they are, and I look younger than I am.”
“You do,” I agree. “But there’s something about those blue eyes of yours that kind of drag me in. With a look, they tell anyone that you’re old enough to know what you like.”
I’ve caught her looking at me like that a few times. Like she wants to know all my secrets and what I look like without a shirt on. Can’t say I don’t want to know all of that about her too.
“You think so? This is my first year, but last year when I was a student teacher, it was a struggle to ask them to call me Ms. Carson, and that was my thing not theirs, but it’s not gotten any easier yet.”
“You get hit on?” I throw that in there. If she were my teacher, I’d totally hit on her.
She averts her eyes. “Yes, typically by guys who are young enough to send me to jail, which was why I was out on that date last night.”
“Whoever your friend was that set you up should have known better.” I take a drink of my coffee that’s been brought to the table. “You should tell her she needs better friends.”
“I’ll definitely be speaking to Trinity on Monday morning.” She takes an answering drink from her glass. “It’s just so hard to date.” She shrugs, sighing with what sounds like frustration. “I grew up in Laurel Springs, actually saw you play in a few football games, but I didn’t recognize you at The Café. Even though I grew up here though, I didn’t have a high school boyfriend, and college was fun, but I didn’t find anyone there to spend the rest of my life with, ya know? My friends are in two groups. Single and ready to party it up or married and having their first kid. I’m single, but I want to be committed,” she explains. “Probably just scared you off with that admission,” she laughs nervously.
“No.” I shake my head. Little does she know I’ve wanted this a long time, and I’ve been looking too. “You didn’t scare me off. Kinda said some of the things I’ve been thinking about myself lately. I didn’t grow up in Laurel Springs, but when we moved here, it was home. At my age, everybody is basically a bachelor for life, or they’re on child number two. I didn’t want to follow in my dad’s footsteps – having me so young. So I think I’ve kinda stunted my own relationship growth, if that makes sense.”
“It does.” She nods vigorously. “When you have a goal you’re concentrating on, you don’t want anything to get in the way. Then when you reach that goal, you realize everyone passed you by.”
“You get it.”
“I do.” She smiles over her cup at me. “Thank you for saving me last night.”
I smile back at her. “Thank you for needing saving.”
Ruby
I lean back in the seat I’ve occupied for the last hour, managing to stuff one last bite of apple streusel in my mouth, before I moan and push the plate away from me.
“Where the hell do you put it all?” I ask Caleb as he reaches over and grabs what was left on my plate, demolishing it in one bite.
“I work out,” he defends himself. “Less than I should, but I run at least five miles every other day.”
“So you’re a distance runner?” I take a drink of my iced coffee. “Lots of stamina.”
“I got all the stamina you need.” He licks the fork he’d used to cut the sweet pastry, before he laughs at himself. I eye his tongue, hoping he doesn’t notice, thinking about what it would feel like against my skin. “That was a really bad joke.”
“Effective though.” I give him a wink. “Do you just run or do you lift weights too?”
“I’m not a huge fan of lifting, like I used to be. Back when I was in college and in high school that was my thing. Bulk up, and cut, bulk up and cut. These days,” – he pats his stomach – “I prefer to be lean. It’s easier on my body, healthier for my mind. I indulge when I want, within reason, and if it gets out of control, I rein it back in.”
“Spoken like a man who’s never had a weight problem.”
There’s a sharp edge to my voice, and I wonder if he picked up on it. It’s not his fault I’d been overweight my freshman year of high school and had worked hard to lose a total of thirty pounds. Joining the cheerleading squad had helped, but it’d not really changed the way people looked at me. It’s not his fault I’d been passed over by every guy in high school I’d liked, and then still passed over once I lost the weight. It’d taken me a long time to come to terms with the fact that I had to have confidence in myself before anyone else would see it.
“Never have, and I don’t believe for a second you have either,” he admits. “To me, you’re perfect. But if you listen to my buddy, Morgan, talk about me. He’ll tell you I need to lose at least ten pounds.”
“From where I’m looking, you look mighty fine.” I give him a once over, and then let my eyes travel back up and down again, blushing when he notices me.
“Thanks for your vote of confidence.” He pats his stomach again. “I will say this. We gotta get up and move, otherwise I’m gonna fall asleep before I even get home.”
“You might have to roll me out of here,” I groan as I lift myself up out of the chair and start putting my jacket on again, digging in my purse for some cash. When I hand him part of what the bill should be, he looks down at the money, almost like he’s scared it’s going to bite him.
“You remember that thing about my dad kicking my ass cause he’s chivalrous? This is another one of those things. We eat, I pay.”
Not used to this, I still want to do my part. “Then I pay the tip.” I throw down part of my cash. “No arguing.”
He holds his hands up. “Mom taught me never to argue with a lady. If you want to leave the tip, you go on and leave the tip.”
We slowly walk toward the entrance of the restaurant, dodging people as we do. Even though it’s after breakfast rush on a Saturday, there are still people milling about and there’s a wait for a table. When we finally get past all the people, I turn to him. “It’s still raining, but I’m up for a little window shopping if you are.”
“Whatever you wanna do, I’m good with.” He zips up his jacket and puts his hat back on. “As long as I get back home in time to take a nap, I don’t care what we do. I just want to spend some more time with you.”
The heat I feel on my cheeks says a blush is working its way up my neck, but surprisingly I’m okay with it. Caleb Harrison can embarrass me any day. “You ready?” he asks, reaching out for my hand.
“Sure am,” I clasp our fingers together as we take off into the soggy mid-morning weather.
“Ya know I like rain like this. A soft drizzle, coating the streets, washing everything new again.” He holds onto me tighter as I step down from the curb and we cross the street.
Downtown Calvert City looks like it could have been plucked from any postcard in the nineteen fifties. Mom and Pop shops have their doors open, even though the weather is wet and cool. Many of them have cider available or hot cocoa as we browse through their wares.
“I like this too,” I admit, entwining my fingers in his. “A nice, steady, drizzle, it’s my favorite. I have a tin roof on my duplex and I was listening to it come down this morning before you came to get me. It’s the most relaxing sound.” I turn him toward a small store I’ve been to a few times. “Over here, they have the best shampoo for curly hair. She handmakes it and it’s got essential oils in it that curly hair needs. If I hadn’t run out, my hair wouldn’t look so insane today.” I touch my braid with my free hand.
“Not insane, kinda cute.” He tugs on the end of the braid. “I like this look on you.”
When he smiles, the hint of a dimple shows on his left cheek, and I can’t help but smile back. “Whatever you say,” I laugh.
When we walk inside, he separates, looking at some of the stuff this shop has for men. He picks up some moisturizing oil I bought my dad not long ago. “I got that for my dad to use instead of aftershave.” I glance at the bottle to make sure it’s the right one. “Yeah, this one, and he loves it. Says it doesn’t dry his face out, and it smells like the beach.” I pick up another one. “I liked this one too; it smells a little spicier, sexier than the one I gave my dad.”
I reach over, grab the bottle and lift it up to Caleb’s nose. The hint of teakwood is enough to make me inhale deeply as I bring it under mine next.
It’s one of my favorite scents, and I’d love to smell it on him.
“You like the way this smells, huh?”
“Yeah.” I nod, blushing again. “Huge turn-on.” I smack my hand over my mouth as I realize what I’ve just said. It’s a little too early in whatever this is to be talking about turn-off’s and turn-on’s, but there’s something about this guy and his deep brown eyes that makes me just want to keep talking.
A slow grin spreads across his face. “Is that right?”
“Ruby, I got your shampoo and conditioner.” The cashier and part-owner of the store yells from across the room.
Saved by the bell, I turn around, thankfully hiding myself from his direct gaze to go and purchase what I need. When I feel him stand behind me, I turn around and get the bottle of oil. “Add this to it too.” Deciding to go for broke, I am as direct as I can. “I’m the one who wants to smell it on your neck, I might as well be the one to pay for it.”
His eyes darken when I lick my suddenly dry lips and I wonder just what the hell I’m doing. This direct person isn’t me. Typically I play coy, make a guy chase me, and in the end, I push them away because they come on too strong and suffocate me. But this guy? Maybe I want to chase him a little bit, maybe I’m feeling like it could be mutual, and when he catches me, I want him to take me. I want him to show me what I’ve been missing with these college guys, because there is no doubt in my mind, as I watch his big hand grab his bag, he’s a man.
We walk back out into the weather, this time quieter with one another, but there’s a tension that wasn’t there before. It’s not unwelcome. It’s a string of sexual awareness we didn’t have when we’d walked in. I can’t even bring myself to regret I created the tension there, because I’ve never gone after what I want before. This will be the first time and hopefully it won’t be a bust.
“You wanna head back?” I tilt my head toward his Jeep.
He pulls his phone out of his pocket and glances at the time. “We should, even though I’m having a really good time with you. I do need to get that nap in. If not, I won’t be worth shit tonight.”
The whole way back to my apartment, I grapple with what I want to ask. I want to see him again, but I’ve never been the type of woman to be forward. To ask the guy out on the date, more for fear that I’ll get shot down, but I’m worried I’ll let this moment pass me by.
Caleb takes the decision out of my hands, when he pulls up to my duplex and cuts the ignition. “I’d like to see you again, the next couple of days might be a little crazy for me after the weather we’ve had, so can we plan something for Friday night? Would that be okay with you?”
Inside my heart is pounding, I want to jump up and down and give the finger to the part of my personality that always expects the worst. But I don’t, I keep it together. “Sounds good, what do you want to do?”
“We can check out the new bar, if that’s okay?”
Recently a brewery opened up a few streets over from The Café, boasting its own bar. I’ve wanted to check it out, but I never wanted to go by myself. “Text me the time, when you get your schedule?”
We’re staring at one another, so badly I want to lean over the seat and kiss him. Press my lips to his and know exactly what it feels like.
“What the hell,” he mumbles as he takes the decision out of my hands once again, grasping my neck in his palm and pulling me close. His lips are soft as they coax mine open. His tongue tastes like the syrup he had on his pancakes and there’s a hint of the coffee he drank. I moan softly in the back of my throat, wishing the console didn’t separate us. When he pulls away, we’re both breathing slightly faster than we were before.
“I gotta go.” His voice is husky.
Mine is partially breathless. “That nap, huh?”
“Yeah.” He sounds as if he regrets his job at this moment. “I’ll text you though?”
“I’d like that a lot.”
“Let me walk you.” He makes to get out, but I stop him.
“Nah, I like to run.” I give him a grin.
Getting out of the Jeep, I run to the front porch, dodging puddles as I go. He waits until I open the door and wave at him. As I make it safely inside, I can’t help but feel like today was a life changer.