What are you doing up here?” Erin folded her arms and leaned into her hip as she lifted an inquisitive brow at Jason.

“Oh, come on don’t be like that,” he said. “I came to see you. Is that such a crime?”

Erin let out a sigh. She didn’t want to deal with Jason right now. When Jason walked through the door, she’d practically had a heart attack. Caleb had been outside for only a few minutes, so she wasn’t sure if he decided to leave or stick around. But when Caleb entered seconds after Jason, sending missiles with his glare at Jason, Erin knew they had a run in outside and she didn’t want Caleb to think she was interested in Jason. Although, she kept telling herself she didn’t care.

“Jason, I’m working. I can’t be distracted by you tonight. If you hadn’t noticed, I have a club full of people and its filling pretty quickly. So, if you don’t mind please leave or go down and enjoy yourself.”

Erin tried not to look over the banister, but her head turned towards the crowd anyway. Caleb was no longer in her eyesight. Maybe he left. It wasn’t something Erin could stop. Her emotions churned thinking about Caleb leaving in a fury because of Jason.

“Damn Erin, that’s cold. You would just kick me out your club when you don’t need me anymore?”

Frustration crept over Erin and she pressed her thin lips tight. Ever since she’d asked Jason to help her one night at the club when Dex was out sick, he figured she owed him forever.

“Are you going to bring that up whenever you think it’ll suit you? Because I remember specifically making a one time deal. So that won’t work in your favor.”

Jason swiped his teeth with his tongue and stepped closer to Erin. “You’re right. You agreed to let me take you out on a date.”

“A single date,” Erin reiterated.”

Jason nodded with a smirk. “One that we have yet to go on.”

Erin tried hard not to roll her eyes. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Jason; he was alright, but he was sneaky, in her opinion, and she regretted making that deal.

“I’ve been busy, Jason.”

“I understand, but you never answered my question.”

Annoyed, Erin shut her jaw tight and spoke through gritted teeth. “What question would that be, Jason?”

“You know I like it when you say my name all rough like that.”

“Jason!”

“I asked you to be my date to the Centennial Ball, but you never gave me an answer.”

“Maybe that was your answer,” a dark ominous voice growled from the doorway.

Both Erin and Jason turned toward Caleb who strode purposefully through the room. He stepped in front of Erin cutting Jason off as he stared into Erin’s gray eyes. Erin wondered how much of the conversation Caleb heard.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t greet you properly before,” he said. With one hand, Caleb grabbed Erin’s chin and pulled her face to his as his other arm snaked around her waist drawing her so close their heartbeats matched. He claimed her lips in a mouthwatering kiss that poured heat over her skin. A shiver slipped down her body. Erin’s eyes closed, and a moan escaped her throat.

It was like she’d left this plane, on a riveting ride to another galaxy with the only man in the world who mattered. Erin couldn’t stop him or herself as Caleb’s tongue prodded against her mouth in a desperate plea to get inside. She opened to him, tasting the spiciness of his tongue that was coated in a cinnamon tinge that rocked her core and sent her nerves into a frenzy. Jesus.

“Oh shit.”

The sound of Amy Van Winkle’s voice brought Erin back to the here and now. With a snap, Erin pulled her head back, severing the connection they shared. Erin stared at Caleb seeing the longing in his gaze, coupled with a smoldering sulfuric heat. His stare penetrated her, making her haphazardly slip a hand down the one-piece knee-length babydoll dress she wore in a fidget. When her hands stilled, Erin’s fingers reached for her lips and she touched them gently as her mind reeled from what had just happened.

This was her opportunity to show Caleb that she was over him and he had no right to kiss her like that. In return Caleb also waited, to see if Erin would slap him and turn him away. His heart thundered as he held on to hope while watching different emotions run across her beautiful face. Surprise, yearning, confusion… love? Was he so desperate for her that he’d imagined it? He wasn’t sure, so he waited for her reproach.

The rebuke was on her tongue, but Erin swallowed it back and took her eyes across the room to Amy.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know I was interrupting?” Amy said questionably with Dex on her heels. Amy was having a hard time trying to figure out why her friend would be kissing Caleb with Jason in the room. Jason had been working overtime to get Erin’s attention, and the scene before Amy was just plain ole weird.

“Um…” Erin finally pushed out of Caleb’s tightknit embrace. Her thoughts tossed. “I need everyone to leave the room, please.” She sounded unsure and in need of deliberation.

“Okay folks, you heard the boss,” Dex said.

Jason and Carl moved slowly across the room with Jason holding a glare of his own on an unbothered Caleb.

“I’ll call you later,” Jason said.

That comment pulled Caleb’s attention away from Erin to Jason. Caleb felt homicidal. It made him wonder if he’d surreptitiously always wanted to punch Jason’s lights out but just never got that far in high school. However, deep down, Caleb knew the killer instinct came from the thought of his Erin being with someone else, anyone else, but especially Jason Singleton.

With a smug smirk on his face, Jason exited the room and Caleb turned his madness onto Erin.

“Please tell me you’re not seriously entertaining that asshole?”

His voice was deep and grim.

Erin folded her arms. “Okay, I won’t.”

Caleb felt a stab of pain ricochet through his chest.

“You’re seeing him,” he said feeling betrayed.

“It’s none of your business who I’m seeing, Caleb.”

“Bullshit,” he said.

Erin’s eyes rose in surprise. “Excuse me?”

Caleb attempted to reign in his anger by taking a deep breath.

“In case you forgot, I don’t belong to you, Caleb. Haven’t for three years now. So, if I want to date Jason, I will.”

Erin didn’t know that what she was saying was killing him, more than being on the battlefield ever could. When Caleb spoke again it was in a soft whisper.

“You never loved me…”

Erin's eyes lurched. “What?” She said her voice elevated.

“You said you’d wait—”

“You son of a bitch!” Erin fumed. Now her madness was turned up tenfold. “How dare you accuse me of-of…” Her mind whirled. “Get out!” She screamed.

Caleb took a minuscule step back and swept his eye over her as if for the last time, then he turned and left the room.

When Erin woke the next day, last night’s events were still at the forefront of her mind. What the hell happened? One minute she was surveying the crowd, the next she was standing in a room with her ex-fiancé and Jason. She’d thought about Caleb’s last words and his parting glare.

“You never loved me.”

Erin let out a heavy sigh. How could he fix his lips to say it? That, Erin couldn’t understand. Sure, she’d taken things a little too far by making it seem like she was dating Jason, but nothing could be farther from the truth. Actually, Jason had been wearing her down trying to get a date, for the full two years Erin had shown her face and owned the club. There was a multitude of times she told Jason no. But Erin had to admit, Jason wasn’t one to give up. She also knew he had some sort of strange hard-on for getting what belonged to Caleb.

It wasn’t the only reason she turned him down time and time again, but in a desperate need of help at Nocturnal Encounters, Erin had reached out to Jason when they were short staffed. And Jason ran to her rescue, not without making sure to get something out of it, of course. At the time, Erin didn’t care about agreeing to the date. She only wanted him to help her before she had to close the club down because there were just not enough eyes on the place that night. Now she regretted it fully, and not just because dating wasn’t something she was interested in.

Erin was still in love with Caleb. Although she told herself she was over him, it was only a mantra she tried to speak enough times, so she would believe it. But truth be told, Erin was only fooling herself. If the kiss she shared with Caleb was any indication, Erin certainly wasn’t over him. And what a kiss it was. Erin quivered thinking about the heat pouring over her skin. The wetness of his tongue. The undertaking of his claim. Her heart sped up and Erin sat up in bed. She was getting worked up all over again, and for what? Erin’s eyes found the clock on the wall and even with only a shadow of the morning sun peeking through the blinds, she could read the hands. 8:15 am. Erin let out a sigh. Maybe she should move out of town. How could she ever stay knowing Caleb was back?

She loved him too much and being without him was something Erin never imagined she’d have to live through. The few years hadn’t been enough to convince her that she could and seeing him now, touching him, tasting him, only further proved her point. Just as those thoughts scattered through her brain, Erin dismissed them. She couldn’t very well leave everything she’d built. And she loved her home here in Pensacola, so somehow, she’d have to make it work.

Tossing her legs over the side of the bed, Erin’s feet sank into her plush carpet and she padded across the room to her master bath. Inside, she ran a hot shower and shed her clothes with thoughts of Caleb still lingering. A whimpering sound caught her attention and Erin turned to the door and smiled.

“Good morning,” she said. “I love you, but today, I need this shower to myself. You understand, don’t you?”

The Labrador retriever whimpered some more, and he sat back on his haunches and dropped his golden ears.

“Okay, so you may be upset with me now, but you won’t after I feed you breakfast.”

As if the lab knew what she was saying, his ears lifted, and he barked once.

“In a minute,” Erin said.

He barked again.

“George, if you keep that up, I’ll take my sweet time.”

George whimpered again and ducked his head then stretched out across the floor.

“Hmmm, good boy.”

George whined one last time and Erin chuckled.

“You couldn’t go down honorably, could you?”

As if to answer her question silently, George moved his ears and shut his eyes. “You’re as dramatic as your father was last night.”

George had been a part of Erin’s life since junior high. Unfortunately, Erin wasn’t the only one left behind when Caleb decided to enlist in the Army. George grew up with Caleb. The lab had known Caleb since he was a pup, but when Caleb and Erin became a couple, George grew to love her and became Erin’s best friend while Caleb was away.

Erin slipped into the shower. Immediately, the beads of warm water massaged her bones. She turned her back then dropped her head to the downpour and held her position. It was exactly what she needed. Another whimper came from the doorway.

“What did I tell you George?”

The Labrador went silent again and Erin smirked. “Men, she mumbled, “they want what they want.”

Erin lifted her head and tossed it back to allow droplets to rain down her face. The water soaked her red strands of hair, and without trying, her thoughts shifted to Caleb again. She saw them at prom, dancing to Kelly Clarkson’s, “A Moment Like This.” Erin smiled unknowingly. She’d actually worn a ballgown made for Cinderella. Her hair was in a simple updo with flowers stuffed throughout her bun. The shoes were glass slippers with a four-inch heel that lit up the color of the rainbow every time she took a step.

“How awful,” Erin said to herself as the memory roamed.

Caleb, on the other hand, had been dressed like her Prince. In a white tuxedo with a red bow around his collar, Caleb’s moves on the dance floor were careful and slow. Though he didn’t have the muscle then that he had now, Caleb was still charming in his suit that fit his frame perfectly. His blonde hair had been trimmed down and slicked back, and a red rose sat in the pocket of his suit jacket. Erin smiled, and her thoughts skipped to prom night, when she was supposed to give up her virginity.

They sat in the back seat of the rented limo on Honeycove Hill; the popular hangout spot where high school students were notorious for going to make out. Erin was as nervous as a jitterbug. But Caleb was sweet and understanding.

“Relax,” Caleb said.

Erin looked up at him. She sat tucked under his arm with one leg bouncing in a nervous rhythm.

“We don’t have to do anything you’re not comfortable with,” he promised.

Erin bit down on her lip. “But you’re the senior basketball player. You’re supposed to get lucky tonight,” she said with a light-hearted smirk.

Caleb tipped the edge of her chin with his finger. “You mean more to me than getting ‘lucky’ in the back seat of a car. I want your first time to be special. Memorable. In fact, I’d have it no other way.”

Erin’s heart tugged. How she’d manage to end up with a guy like Caleb was a mystery to her.

“I want to,” she said. “With you.”

They stared at each other and Caleb brought his lips down to hers in a sparkling kiss. His hands cruised down her dress and sat warmly on top of her thigh.

“Are you sure?” he asked, their breaths bated.

Erin swallowed. The nervousness had not gone away, but still she acquiesced.

“Yes.”

Her voice had been barely above a whisper and Caleb kissed her again. That night ended with them changing from the limo to Caleb’s Dodge Durango. They went back to Honeycove Hill but were met with police who’d shown up to break up the high school goers party. They could’ve easily gone to a hotel since Caleb worked at the local grocery store part-time. But he’d decided that night wasn’t the night for them to become physical, and since then, Erin was still waiting. That was six years ago right before graduation.

The sound of the doorbell pulled Erin from her memories. Whoever it was would have to wait since she wasn’t ready to be yanked from her shower or her musings. George left the bathroom and trotted down the hallway where Erin could hear him barking at the door. Grabbing her Dove body wash, Erin applied the cleanser to a washcloth and leisurely took the soapy fabric over her body. She’d just covered her feet when the doorbell rang again, this time more urgently.

George was barking louder. The knocker wouldn’t be ignored, but Erin had a mind to disregard them anyway. She sped up her shower, then rinsed and jumped out. She took her time, drying, and tossing on a clean pajama white shirt and pants. Her steps weren’t rushed as she strolled down the hallway of her two-bedroom, one-and-a-half-bathroom townhome.

When she got to the door, Erin leaned down and took a grazing hand up and down George’s fur. The Labrador calmed under her touch and sat at her feet. Surprisingly, the person on the other side was still there. Erin could tell from the shadow that seeped through the bottom of her door. Erin pushed her face against the wooden frame and closed one eye looking through her peephole. When she pulled back, Erin immediately unlocked the door and removed the chain. Swinging it open, she put a hand on her lean hip.

“Why are you knocking on my door this early?”

Amy Van Winkle held up a bag. “I brought your favorite, home-cooked apple pie.”

George rose back to his feet and his tail stood upright. Erin’s mouth watered, but she kept her lips tight. She peered at Amy, something wasn’t right.

“Did you make this?” Erin asked.

“Of course,” Amy chirped. The corners of Amy’s lips lifted, and she smiled like a Cheshire cat.

“You want something,” Erin said. “What is it?”

Amy turned her head to the side and frowned. “So, I can’t just stop by to bring my best friend homemade apple pie?”

“At,” Erin turned back to glance at the clock on her wall, “9 am, no.”

Amy huffed. “Can I at least come in?”

Erin stepped aside allowing Amy entrance. After Amy cleared the threshold, Erin shut the door. Slowly, Amy rotated on her heels and handed the pie over to Erin.

“Hey George!” Amy greeted.

George barked, and Amy patted him on the top of his head. “So,” Amy said looking back at Erin, “About last night.”