“Maybe I want you in my personal space.”
“Until someone shows up.”
His lips—those full sensual lips—offered a hint of a smile…the “hint” being oh, so sexy. “I know a way around that,” he promised.
“Do I dare ask?”
“Better I demonstrated,” he assured her. And then, in a flash, he tugged her into the pantry and shut the door. A second later, the impossible happened. Caleb kissed her.
5
HE’D BEEN SEDUCED by watching her beside the pool, eating cake, laughing with family. Being her. That’s all Shay had to do to tear down his resolve to stay hands-off, and she’d done it in a mere hour. A pretty quick turnaround unless one considered it had been ten years in the making. And he wasn’t giving either of them time to think. They’d done enough of that. Done enough stalling and lusting, and as for himself, he’d had enough time to change his mind—or hers.
She tasted like chocolate icing with a hint of salt and sunshine. Addictive. Perfect. Her tongue was tentative at first, her body stiff. Until she melted—melted like that icing had in the hot Texas sun by the pool. And there was no doubt—this kiss was everything he’d expected and more. This kiss was a kiss that demanded more, because it wasn’t just a kiss. It was a doorway to long-suppressed passion. It was the beginning.
Shay knew it, too—he sensed it in her increasing response. The way she lifted to her toes, the way her tongue softly caressed and then reached deeper, seeking more. He slanted his mouth over hers, giving her what she requested. Her reply was a delicate purring sound deep in her throat, barely audible, but so seductive. Her fingers walked up his chest and twined behind his neck, her chest hugging his. Their hips aligned and, yes, he was hard again. A half-naked Shay, kissing him like there was no tomorrow, could have gotten him hard behind enemy lines, under fire. Instead, they were isolated, in a dark pantry, which was enhancing the sense of taste and touch. He told himself to pull away, to drag her out of the pantry before they were discovered. This was meant to be a quick kiss, the kiss that tore down barriers and took them beyond the “what if?” to “what next?”
She had him vibrating with need. He hesitated. Actually, it was one of his hips vibrating. Like… Shay tore her mouth from his. “Phone,” she whispered and reached for her hip, the one resting against his vibrating one.
Okay. Maybe the kiss wasn’t as good for her as it was for him, because she was actually planning to answer the call.
Her hand flattened on his chest, and she answered his unspoken worries, as if she sensed his thoughts. “I have my service on a special vibrate alarm. I’m not on call. They wouldn’t call unless it’s urgent.”
Understanding inked into his mind about the same moment she reached for the door. She was about to exit when she leaned back toward him and pointed. “We…we…” Exasperation laced her voice, the darkness shrouding her features. “I don’t know what to say.”
She opened the door and darted out. Caleb was about to follow when it slammed on him. He grimaced about the time Kent’s voice filtered through the air. “We decided to start the poker game early. Where’s Caleb? We want his dime involved.”
Oh, crap. The poker game was at the kitchen table, the eat-in table by the patio door overlooking the kitchen. Shay wasn’t trapped, but he was.
“Where is he?” Kent asked.
“In the pantry,” Shay said matter-of-factly.
“Why the heck is he in the pantry?”
“He went in to look for the cookies Mom made for him,” she said, and instantly a lightbulb went off in Caleb’s mind. He flipped the light on and started looking for the Tupperware container Sharon always hid his cookies in so Kent wouldn’t eat them all. He found it on the second shelf and opened the lid.
“That doesn’t explain why the door is shut,” Kent said, suspicious.
“I shut him in to shut him up. He’s a nag, like you. I have to call my service. I have some sort of emergency.”
Caleb opened the door with a cookie in his mouth as Shay headed down the hall, phone in hand. “This is Dr. Shay White,” she was saying.
Caleb eyed Kent. “Don’t even think about touching my cookies.”
Kent laughed and walked toward him, determined to snatch a cookie. “You can bet them on a hand of poker.”
“Forget it,” Caleb said. He’d never been a lucky poker player. The question was, had his gamble with Shay paid off? And how long was it going to be before he could get her alone and find out? He’d come too far to turn back. Soon, he vowed. Tonight, if he had his way. Though it hadn’t been planned like that, her parents would be gone for almost two weeks. A perfect time to get the apple off the tree, and then reattach it permanently. He and Shay were going to work off the fascination. It was a better plan than walking around on pins and needles—the only plan he had.
***
IT WAS THIRTY MINUTES after that sultry encounter in the pantry with Caleb, and Shay had showered and changed, and still, her body hummed from his touch, his kiss. Standing in front of the mirror in the bathroom, which was attached to her old room and was well-stocked thanks to her mother, she dried her hair to a sleek finish…and thought about Caleb. Thought about the kiss.
Any hope that kissing Caleb would prove the kiss of the past was nothing but a blown-up memory was gone. Kaput. For the first time ever, it seemed as if she and Caleb might really explore what was between them. And for the first time ever, she realized if it went wrong, the divide between them, and him and the family, could become too much to recover. She was terrified, which was an unexpected reaction to something she’d believed she wanted. But this was real, not fantasy, and there was a lot on the line.
A flashback of Caleb pulling her into the pantry played in her head. Of the feel of his hard body pressed to her. Good gosh, she was a mess. Shay leaned on the sink and turned off the dryer. Her eyes were glossy with the memory, and she could still taste him on her lips, still feel his hands on her body. His hot-and-cold routine had officially reached extreme levels and so had her body’s demand for satisfaction. Hot and cold, she reminded herself. Whatever got into Caleb in that kitchen wouldn’t last. There was no reason to panic. They would put this behind them like they had every other “almost” moment, despite the fact that this time didn’t exactly rank as an “almost” worthy event.
Thank goodness a patient had given her an excuse for leaving the party early. Shay stopped at the full-length mirror and sighed. Faded jeans and a Sex and the City T-shirt hardly seemed the right attire for an office visit, but she didn’t have time for a trip home.
Shoving her purse over her shoulder, she headed for the doorway, remembering the night she and her friend Anna—a doctor who worked in her building—had gone to the Sex and the City movie for a girl’s night out. Shay had often seen Caleb as her “Mr. Big,” the kind of guy you want but never really have. But then, shockingly, during the movie the heroine, Carrie, had gotten her man—and married Big.