“Well, don’t you look all kinds of sexy, with your glasses and your topknot bun thing?” Cal grinned at Kat from the bedroom doorway. Kat thought he looked pretty sexy himself, wearing those low-slung blue jeans and a lightweight cotton Henley. The vein that ran up his forearm completely distracted her until she saw what he held in his hands.
“Are those doughnut holes?” Kat sat up, immediately at attention. While Cal was certainly delicious, Kat’s stomach had been rumbling for the past half an hour, ever since she’d realized Cal was no longer in the bed next to her.
“Yes, ma’am, they are. Who knew Blue Ridge would only have Yankee doughnuts?” Cal mused. He set the doughnuts and coffee on the nightstand and then bent down and gave Kat a peck on the lips. “Hey, darlin’.”
“Hey, Cal.” A giggle almost escaped from her. She stifled it but then wondered why in the world she felt she needed to do so. She’d said she loved him, and he’d said it back, and now she was sitting in his bed with him feeding her doughnut holes. Heck, they’d even survived picking out paint.
“Open up,” he said, teasing her with a tasty morsel.
“Mmm.” She swallowed the doughnut hole, gave him a kiss, and then settled back in the pillows. “What’s with all this?” she waved her hand at him.
“All what?” Cal popped a doughnut hole into his mouth.
“This ‘wearing all these clothes’ business.”
“Oh, you want me to get rid of the clothes?” Cal gripped the bottom of his shirt.
“Yes, please.”
“Well, since you asked so nicely.” In flash, Cal rid himself of his clothes and was back under the covers with Kat nestled against his side. “That better?”
“Definitely.” Kat sighed contently and closed her eyes. “What’s on the agenda today?”
“Tobias is swinging by, and we’re going to go get the new door. I’ll put it up, and then we can paint over this gawd-awful color.” Cal shifted, nuzzling her a little closer. “Then, after the sun goes down, we could go for a swim. It’ll be chilly, but that’s half the fun.”
“I don’t have a suit, so I’ll need to—oh.” Kat did giggle then. “I have never gone skinny-dipping.”
“Oh, hell—we didn’t wear suits until we were nine, ten.” He huffed a laugh and got a faraway look in his eyes. “There was a little crick behind the house. We’d run out there, naked as jaybirds, as soon as it got the least bit warm, and have contests to see who could the stand the cold the longest. We’d stay in the water until everything was blue.”
Kat chuckled. “ ‘Crick.’ ” They’d ended up spooning against each other, Kat’s back against Cal’s chest.
“Hell yeah, you’re going to get a crick in your neck if you keep craning your head around like that.” Cal tried to roll her, but Kat was steadfast in remaining exactly where she was. She pulled his arms tighter around her and wriggled her butt against his erection.
“No, I meant you say ‘crick’ instead of ‘creek.’ I like it.”
“I think there’s something else you might like,” he murmured against her neck as he slid into her from behind.
“Oh yeah. I definitely like that.” Kat closed her eyes and let herself sink into the pleasure of his movements, of his big hands on her hip, her waist, sliding down to her belly and lower, until his thumb brushed the bundle of nerves that threatened to send her into orbit. Cal continued to murmur sweet and dirty things in her ear even as he thrust faster and stroked harder. She grabbed his ass, her fingers in the cleft, and he rolled her under him. Kat’s legs were closed, at least as much as she could be with him buried in her, and Cal spread his legs around hers, pushing deeper. Kat moaned into the pillow. Between Cal’s fingers and the mattress, the friction was almost too much.
She could feel Cal beginning to shake behind her. “Darlin’, I don’t know how much longer I can make it last. You’re so tight when I take you like this,” he ground out. “Damn, you feel good.”
He rocked against her one more time, and she was soaring, legs quaking from trying to hold on. Kat whimpered as her climax crested. Cal kissed her hard, roaring a sob into her mouth while he rode out his orgasm, until he collapsed on her, giving her his whole weight. Kat reached behind her and ran her fingers through his hair, petting the back of his neck while his breathing slowed.
“Wow.” Kat laughed; it’s all she could do after that. She felt Cal slip out of her, and he rolled onto his back, breathing hard. “Now, that’s what I call a wake-up call.”
Cal looked over at her and shook his head. “You still have your glasses on.”
“I’m talented that way,” Kat said with a snort. She crawled over and gave him a kiss. “Good morning, Cal.”
“Good morning, darlin’.” He gave her a kiss back. “Toby’ll be here in a few minutes.”
“Good grief—you’d better scoot, then.”
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Kat danced in the middle of the living room, shaking her butt and stomping her feet in glee. She’d found out a whole lot in the previous two hours, thanks to her ally, Donald Reynolds, whose access to all the databases at Reynolds Restaurant Group hadn’t been deactivated. Then, the attorneys prosecuting Topher just happened to call and she’d given them an earful. She definitely was going to have to go back to be deposed, but it would be so worth it. Topher Reynolds was not going to orchestrate another business’s failure in order to force a below-market sale. Now, she had information to compile to show Cal.
She was busy making a projection chart when the doorbell rang. She saved the document, shut the laptop, and went to the door.
Son of a ham sandwich.
Kat stepped back from the peephole and thought hard. Amanda the Ex was outside. Amanda the Ex, who hated this little town yet drove close to three hours here. She debated pretending not to be home, but when Amanda knocked loudly and yelled, “Calhoun, I know you’re in there. Your car is in the driveway!” she got a little irritated. No, she got a lot irritated.
In fact, Kat got angry every time she thought about how this wretched woman treated Cal. This would be a perfect opportunity to confront her, so Kat took a deep breath and opened the front door.
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Kat Fahey was all Cal could think about during the morning’s hardware-store run—what they were going to do, what was next, everything. He wanted nothing other than to get his woman alone somewhere, anywhere, and make some damn plans for their future. He was ready to get on with the next stage of his life, and so far, things were going swimmingly. He had signed the last of the paperwork needed to close out his father’s estate, Nolan was healthy and working the perfect job for him, and Tobias seemed to be pulling out of the depression he’d been in since She’d left. Most importantly, Kat was right by his side.
Yet, Cal couldn’t get escape the nagging feeling that things were going a little too well. He didn’t normally count himself as the suspicious type, but if the past predicted the future, he was about due for some sort of catastrophe. Toby pulled into the long driveway that led to Cal’s house, and there it was. Or rather, there was the catastrophe’s transportation. Range Rovers were not that common in this part of Owlcreek, and the expensive car with a monogram in the distinctive pink, blue, and purple jellyfish-patterned vinyl was definitely out of place in front of his house.
“Isn’t that . . . ?” Toby’s voice trailed off. “Oh, hot damn. I actually kind of want to see this. Kat’ll eat that little girl alive.”
Cal groaned. “Toby, the last thing I need is you stirring shit. I’ll grab the door out of the back, and you can be on your way.”
Tobias scoffed at his brother. “I didn’t say I was going to do anything, I just said I kind of wanted to see it. I’ll grab the door. You go do damage control.”
Tobias pulled his truck to the side of the driveway, and Cal made his way to the front door. Previously, Amanda had a tendency to just happen to run into him, especially if he just happened to be with a woman, regardless of if that woman was a date or a business partner. Most likely, someone had seen Cal with Kat at Foley’s and then told Amanda, and she’d had to see for herself the woman who had taken her place. He paused outside the door, then chastised himself for being a chicken.
Just do it, Cal.
He hoped for the best, and just as he put his hand on the doorknob, Amanda burst out of the front door. Cal stepped back to avoid getting smacked in the face and to let Amanda out. She stumbled onto the front porch and ran right into Cal, who wasn’t going to let her pass without finding out his ex-wife’s purpose for visiting his house.
“Amanda.”
Amanda started when he said her name, and when she raised her head, Cal was shocked to find her normally impeccably made-up face smeared and streaked.
“Cal? What are you doing here?”
“Well, I live here. What are you doing here? You hate this town.”
Amanda sniveled and her lip quivered. “This place is horrible. Horrible, Cal. How can you choose to live here instead of in our house in Buckhead? It was perfect.” She sniffled. “Do you have a tissue, or are you still carrying those gross handkerchiefs?”
“Still carrying the snot rag. Now answer my question, Amanda.”
“I just wanted to see what she looked like,” Amanda admitted. “She’s really different from me, huh?”
“Yeah, she is.” Cal huffed a small laugh. “Completely different. Amanda, what are you doing?”
Amanda laughed, the sound small and slightly hysterical. “I don’t know, Cal. I’m almost twenty-five and I don’t have a clue. David kicked me out of the internship program—oh, who am I kidding? My own brother fired me because I’m an idiot! He told me that I just needed to get married and have dinner parties.”
“You throw a mean dinner party, Mandy. You could be a party planner.” She looked so pitiful that he couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. “But I’m not helping you. You need to start living your life, not the life you think you’re supposed to live.”
“I know.” Amanda blew out a shaky breath. “It’s really scary.”
“I know.”
Just then, Kat stuck her head out of the door. “Cal, Toby’s gotten the door—oh. Hello.”
Amanda looked like she was going to either throw up or shriek and run off when Kat addressed her. Cal definitely felt sorry for his ex-wife, but not enough to prolong this conversation.
“Kat, darlin’, let me wrap this up. I’ll be inside in a jiffy.” He gave Kat’s hand a squeeze and brushed his lips across hers. She blushed and, with a little nod to him and Amanda, disappeared back inside.
“You never looked at me like that,” Amanda whispered.
“You never gave me a reason to, Amanda.” Cal sighed. “I’m sorry. I really am.”
Amanda sniffled some more before taking a deep breath. “Goodbye, Cal.”
He watched her wobble off, her high heels getting caught in the gravel. He waved after she got into her vehicle, and then she gave him a sad smile and drove away.
“I wasn’t mean to her.” Kat was peeking out the door, looking at the Range Rover at the end of the driveway. “I mean, I wasn’t exactly ‘Hey, let’s be friends,’ but I wasn’t mean.”
Cal chuckled. “I know.”
“She’s beautiful in that very blonde debutant kind of way. I feel sorry for her.” Kat joined Cal on the front porch. “I feel bad about making her cry.”
“You shouldn’t. You just told her what she needed to hear, what I’ve been telling her for a while. She doesn’t like that at all.” Cal gathered Kat in his arms. “But she doesn’t matter. I hope you know that.”
“Oh, I know. I just wanted to make sure she knew.” Kat wound her arms around his neck and couldn’t resist running her fingers through the hair that curled above his collar.
Tobias poked his head out the front door. “Come on, Little Brother, there’s plenty of time for canoodling. Let’s get this door hung.” He gave both of them a stern look and disappeared back inside.
“You’d better do what your brother says, Cal, and besides, the quicker you get finished, the sooner I can show you something really exciting.” Kat wiggled her eyebrows at him, and Cal practically ran inside the house.
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Cal was ready to drop trou and pounce on Kat five hours ago when she first teased him with her “something exciting,” and now he practically vibrated with need. Of course, Tobias kept dragging ass and delaying finishing the job, which he happened to think was hilarious. Toby’s dawdling made Cal want to throttle him. Tobias’s blurted “Holy sexy librarian, Batman!” as he’d left the house didn’t help matters, because now all Cal could think about was Kat in her business suits with stockings, garters, and no panties.
Cal knew he was leering at Kat now, but he really couldn’t help it. Something about her sitting in the living room in a tank top and leggings, her hair piled on her head and glasses perched on her nose, made him absolutely crazy.
“Okay, Miss Topknot, show me what you got.”
Kat gave him a saucy grin. “Okay, big man, come here and sit by me, and we’ll get started.” She patted the cushion next to her, and Cal was on the horrible floral couch in an instant. He was all ready for sexy times, but she pushed her glasses up on her nose and adjusted the laptop so he could see it.
“So, if you ask me, which of course you didn’t but I don’t really care because I’m going to tell you anyway, Hemlock Creek Tavern is completely viable as a sustainable business if you go back to the farm-to-table, craft booze, townie business model.”
“Hold on, darlin’. Give me a chance to get the blood directed to my brain again.” Kat snickered and handed him the mouse. Cal took a deep breath and began clicking through the spreadsheets. He asked questions about some of the figures and acronyms, but mostly he was just in awe that Kat had pulled all of this information together in such a short time, and for him.
“So, what do you think?” Her lip-chewing habit had reappeared.
“I think, darlin’, that you are amazing.” He gathered her hands in his. “And that you’re going to push me like I’ve never been pushed before, and that’s a good thing—no, the best thing. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
“Oh, Cal. You’re going to make me cry.” Kat’s chin wobbled a little bit, and Cal put his lips to hers. “That’s not really helping me on the ‘not crying’ front, Calhoun Harper,” she murmured.
Cal chuckled, then smiled, and then hauled her into his lap, where he kissed her again. “I love you, Kat. I truly, honestly, do.”
“I love you, too, Cal. I love you, too.”