Riley woke slowly, comfortably warm and toasty with a body much bigger than LouLou’s providing heat all along her back. Large hands rested on her stomach, and her head was pillowed on a muscled arm.
“Good morning.” Caleb’s voice rumbled in her ear.
“Mmm, good morning.” She turned, and they were face-to-face. She traced the side of his face with her fingers, enjoying the tickle of early-morning stubble. “Thanks for staying. Didn’t give you much choice, did I?”
“It wasn’t a hard sell.” He smiled and turned his head to kiss her palm, and her heart thump-thumped in response. “How’re you doing this morning?”
“Better.” She checked the clock on the nightstand, torn between duty—get up, get to the hospital, get busy—and the delicious possibilities right here in her bed. “A bit early to check on Grams. Hungry?” A compromise, then, to justify not rushing off and not being quite ready to let Caleb go yet.
“Not exactly.” He grazed his lips along the line of her neck, biting lightly where it curved into her shoulder.
She shivered and pushed at his shoulders. “What’re you doing? I’ll feed you real food.”
“I don’t want food.” He lifted his head, and their eyes met, blue to brown, sky to earth, him to her. A universe of possibilities swirled between them.
She stilled. “What do you want?”
“You.”
Riley knew the world didn’t freeze in that moment; it only felt that way, like the slow tick of minutes stretched until one second was the same as a thousand. She stared into Caleb’s sky-heavy eyes, sure no one had ever looked at her like he looked at her now. Like she wasn’t just special but everything. The earth and sky and universe all together, packed under her skin. She felt it, too, the possibilities waiting to explode out of her, what they could be together. If she agreed. How could she not?
She nodded, suddenly shy, and was relieved by the flash of his joyful smile.
She smiled back, and with a groan, he claimed her mouth. She loved the taste of him, and he held her so tight, drinking her in with long kisses that left her gasping. Already his hands skimmed her skin, searching out all the places that made her sigh, lingering when the sighs turned into low moans.
She placed her hands under the polo he’d slept in, tugging it up over his tight abs, feeling his strength, the flex of muscle as he sucked in a deep breath, dragging the air from her mouth into him like it was a nutrient he couldn’t live without. She felt the same way, as if she’d been starving for him her whole life. He broke away from her mouth just long enough to strip the polo over his head, and then he did the same with her pink T-shirt and made quick work of her lacy blush bra.
“You’re pink everywhere,” he breathed out, taking in her rosy nipples, and she turned pinker with the compliment, resisting the urge to cover them with her palms like some shy maiden in an old-fashioned movie. Take the compliment, Riley. But it made her nervous, all this open admiration. Suddenly, she was nervous. So nervous that she couldn’t stop the babbling from escaping her lips.
“Grams raised me to have a signature color. It makes a woman stand out, she said.” God, talking about her grandmother while they were naked. She was ruining everything. Caleb would make some polite excuse any moment now, and she’d be alone in her bed. Again.
“You don’t need help standing out.” Caleb cupped one breast in his hand and framed her face with the other, catching her gaze and holding her hostage with the heat she saw there. “God, Riley, you’re beautiful.” And then he was kissing her again, his words rolling around in her head until she felt beautiful, too, and that made her bolder. She pushed into his hands, showing him how much pressure she liked, and he got it. He got it really good. Her head dropped back, and she closed her eyes. No more direction needed, which was a good thing because her brain was out of ideas. Except one.
She tugged at the waist of his khakis, and he growled, “Yes,” while she unbuttoned him. The rest of their clothes found their way to the floor, and she could feel him everywhere, the delicious heat of his skin on hers, the glide of his hands over her body. She kept her hands busy, too, tracing the ridge of muscle in his chest, fluttering down to dip a fingertip into his belly button, a move that made him smile. She smiled back while they explored each other with gentle strokes that gradually grew more urgent, more demanding. His fingers traced her entrance, testing, teasing. She arched into his touch, gasping as the tension grew tighter and her legs quivered.
When he entered her, she was more than ready and cried out from the sheer pleasure of how right it felt. She sought his gaze and found him already watching her. Stroke by building stroke, he took them both over the edge, and when he fell, she fell with him.
Clutching his back, her legs wrapped around his thighs, she kept her eyes open, not wanting to miss the expression on his face. He touched his forehead to hers, panting breaths that brushed her cheeks and matched her own labored breathing. “You,” he said and stopped, arms half propping him up, half collapsing under his own weight.
“You.” She smiled and pulled him all the way on top of her.
He buried his nose in her hair. “Too heavy?”
“Not yet.” She wrapped herself around him and stroked his back until his breathing evened out and he fell asleep. She didn’t join him, just listened to the thump of his heart against hers, counting each beat like a prayer.
* * *
The doorbell startled Riley out of her languid daydreaming, something about cool sheets and warm hands and the sound of her name on Caleb’s lips. He snored softly beside her, but she still wasn’t sleepy. Just very, very happy. Amazing what really good orgasms could do for a girl’s mood. She slipped out from under the weight of Caleb’s arm and walked barefoot to the front door.
“LouLou!” Riley scooped up her poodle and rubbed noses with her. LouLou licked her cheeks with slobbery enthusiasm.
“Good morning to you, too.” Eliza strode in, Lady on her heels. “How’s Gloria?”
“They kept her overnight for observation.” Riley set her dog down. LouLou promptly went to her food bowl to check for kibble. “I’m going to check on her soon, right after I clean up her place. Hopefully, they’ll send her home today. How was my LouLou? Was she a good guest?”
“An angel.” Eliza sat on one of two stools by the breakfast bar. “An angel who chewed through one of my throw pillows, but an angel nonetheless.”
“She didn’t! It’s been months since she’s shredded a pillow. Of course, I’ll buy you a new one.” Riley offered Eliza a selection of Keurig flavors to choose from. Eliza pointed to the French vanilla, and Riley popped it in the coffee maker, lining up a hazelnut for herself.
“Pfft, who cares about a pillow? It’s a small sacrifice considering Gloria’s in the hospital. Do they know why she fell?”
So Riley filled her in, and soon they were both sipping their hot brews while the dogs lounged on the couch. She ended with “I can never thank you enough for taking care of LouLou last night. You’re the absolute best.”
Eliza preened at the praise, smoothing her short hair behind an ear. “I do try. Honestly, it was no trouble—unless you’re a tasseled throw pillow—and I can watch her again today if you need to go to the hospital.”
Riley’s tears surprised her. Dry-eyed one minute, she was crying the next. She’d been on the go for so long, always on call, always with her to-do list and budget constraints. She hadn’t realized how much of a one-way street she’d been living on, always giving and never letting anyone in. That a kind word or action could reduce her to tears? Well, she blamed that on the orgasms, too. She was raw this morning, an exposed emotional nerve, exposed and apparently weeping.
Eliza leapt from her seat and came around the corner to hug her. “Honey, it’ll be okay. Your Grams is a fighter. And so are we! I hurried over this morning because I heard from my friend at the Historical Preservation Society. Things are looking good. Very good. She says the Dorothy should sail through the approval process and be on the national registry of protected buildings in no time.”
Riley hugged Eliza back extra hard. “That’s wonderful news! I can’t wait to tell Grams.”
“What’d I miss?” Caleb leaned against the arch between the main living area and the hallway that led to the bedrooms. He was dressed in his usual khakis and polo, so usual they were the same ones he’d worn yesterday. They were a bit rumpled from doubling as pajamas and then their time spent on the floor, as was his hair. All in all, Caleb Donovan looked pretty darn good to Riley, rumpled and with the stubble he’d tickled her with still dotting his face. She sighed at the memory, tingling in places she didn’t want to tingle with Eliza standing close.
Eliza looked from Caleb to Riley. “It’s like that now, is it? Well, Sydney will be happy. She’s been rooting for you two all along, and her money was on you getting together before the end of October, which puts me out a fiver. Patty’s still in the game, though. She bet on a wedding before Christmas.”
“A wedding?” Riley covered her face with one hand. Could this conversation get more embarrassing? “You bet on us? I can’t believe you.”
“What’d you bet?” Caleb sauntered into the kitchen and raised his eyes at the K-Cup collection and maybe the whole idea of nosy neighbors and wedding bets. Who knew what was running through his mind? He had his amiable businessman face on. He wasn’t a raw nerve, twanging with every shift of emotional wind in the room. Maybe he had mind-blowing sex all the time. Maybe this morning was business as usual for him. Riley found herself tearing up again. God, it was worse than puberty, this business of opening up her heart again.
Wait, was that what she was doing? Opening her heart to him? A Donovan? The man who fired her? He stood next to her, his hand to the small of her back, thumb tracing small circles on the skin between the soft fabric of her shirt and waist of her jean shorts. Goose bumps rose on her arms. Yeah, that was definitely what she was doing. Stupid or not—and she suspected stupid indeed—she had to admit Caleb Donovan was working his way into her heart, one body-melting touch at a time.
“Help yourself.” Riley gestured at the array of coffees. She did pride herself on always having at least a dozen choices on hand. He chose a dark roast and rolled it in his hands before popping it in the Keurig. She flushed, watching those hands, remembering where they’d been a few short hours ago. Focus, Riley. “Yeah, Eliza, what did you bet on? Lust on Labor Day? Reckless during Rosh Hashanah? Homicide by Halloween?”
Eliza laughed so hard, coffee spilled out of her mug. “Nothing that dramatic. Humped and dumped, to be honest. No offense, Caleb. You don’t make the greatest first impression.”
“Something of a cynic, aren’t you?” Caleb sipped his dark roast from a mug that said World’s Best Granddaughter.
“Me?” Eliza chuckled. “Have you met yourself? Can’t believe how long it takes young people these days to get around to admitting their feelings.”
Since no feelings had been discussed this morning, Riley ducked her head, her hair shielding her flaming cheeks. Maybe they hadn’t discussed any feelings, but she’d sure felt the feelings. All the feelings. She sneaked a side peek at Caleb. Had he felt them, too?
He knocked back his coffee in a few gulps. “Why don’t we head back to the hospital? I’m sure you’re worried about Grams.”
“Sure, give me a few minutes to clean up her place first. Don’t want the bloodstains retraumatizing her.” How could she be worrying about what Caleb did or didn’t feel when Grams was still in the hospital? Out-of-whack hormones were no joke, a lesson she’d learned during puberty but had apparently forgotten lately.
“Eliza, would you mind sticking around for LouLou? I’ll text when I know what’s going on.”
Eliza saluted her. “Dog sitter on duty.”
Riley kissed her cheek. “I appreciate you.”
“I know you do.” Eliza pulled her into a hug. “Remember you’ve got people, Riley. People who love you.”
Stupid hormones and orgasms and raw emotional nerves. She sniffed back more tears. “I love you, too.”