They burst through the door of Lauren’s apartment after breaking a land-speed record to get from the vet clinic into the residential part of the building. Lauren had barely gotten her key out of the lock before Caleb shoved her against the door from the inside, slamming it closed. There was no prologue or pretense here; instead, they kissed and groped each other against that door. Caleb reached down to grab Lauren’s thigh and pulled her leg up to wrap around his hip. They writhed against each other, tasting each other, groaning when things felt good. Lauren pulled Caleb’s shirt out of his trousers and slid her hands up the inside to feel his warm skin. God, he was hot. She could feel the traces of his abdominal muscles, the soft fuzz of his chest hair. She pinched one of his nipples and he hissed into her mouth.
“Where’s the bed?” Caleb asked.
Lauren couldn’t make words. Instead, she shoved him toward the bedroom door, which was about six feet from the front entrance. He didn’t even look around, just went where she pushed him. She sent a little prayer to the gods of preparation that she’d actually made the bed the morning before and her room wasn’t too messy, then she steered Caleb toward the bed. His foot must have hit the leg of the bed frame, because he tripped, landing on his back on the mattress.
He didn’t protest, though. In fact, when Lauren crawled onto the bed on top of him, he whispered, “Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about.” Lauren laughed and kissed him. Caleb put his arms around her and leaned up into the kiss, then bucked his hips against her.
“Oh, yeah,” Lauren said. “Let’s do more of that.”
Caleb grabbed the hem of the shirt Lauren wore and pulled the whole thing off over her head. She sat straddling his hips, and he reached up and touched her breasts over her bra. It wasn’t the sexiest bra she owned, just a practical plain beige situation with a little strip of lace at the edge of each cup, but Caleb stared at her as though she were the sexiest thing he’d ever seen. She could give him more. She reached behind her and unhooked the bra, then pulled it off. Caleb’s eyes went wide, then something in his gaze darkened, turning primal.
He leaned up and pulled off his own shirt without bothering to unbutton it. The white undershirt he’d had on under his standard-issue blue oxford shirt landed on the floor next to Lauren’s discarded bra. Caleb leaned up, grasped Lauren’s waist, and took one of her nipples into his mouth. His hot tongue was magic, shooting electric currents through her body, and she sighed and put her hands around his head to keep him there. She could feel him hard between his legs.
“Too much clothing,” she murmured.
He tapped her thigh and she took that as a sign to get off him. As soon as he had space, he undid his belt and pulled his pants off. In a further sign that none of this was planned, he had on a pair of threadbare boxers that didn’t leave much to the imagination.
He had light hair everywhere, though, from his disheveled coif to the hair dusted along his chest, to the slightly darker hair that formed a line pointing into his boxers. And he was cut, like he spent a lot of time in a gym: rounded arm muscles, defined pecs, strong abs. His blue eyes seemed to glow a bit as he stared at her.
She took the hint and slid off her jeans, pulling off her socks in the process. The pink cotton panties were again not exactly her sexiest lingerie either, but Caleb still placed a hand on her hip and hooked his thumb into the waistband.
It had been awhile since she’d gotten naked with a man. She hadn’t gotten much action at all since Derek aside from a thirty-second affair right after the breakup—she’d been too busy with the café and hadn’t gone out of her way to date. She felt self-conscious suddenly. Here was the hottest guy she’d ever been with—unassuming veterinarian in the streets, underwear model in the sheets—about to take off her panties, and a million thoughts spun through her head. She hadn’t shaved in a while, he might not like what he saw, she hadn’t planned to get naked with anyone this week—or month, to be honest—and this kind of spontaneity was so unlike her…
But then she decided to just roll with it. Caleb slid her panties off and said, “Oh, yeah,” which was reassuring.
He positioned her on her back on the bed and slid between her legs, his boxers still on. He kissed her and cupped her breast in one hand, then slid that hand down her stomach and between her legs. She was wet and ready when he slid a finger inside her. Her body practically screamed, Yes, let’s do this.
She slid a hand down his back, cupped his very smooth ass in her hand, then reached into his boxers to wrap a hand around his cock. He sucked in a breath when she touched him.
“Condoms?” he asked.
“Bedside drawer. But, uh, check the expiration dates.” She rolled her eyes and dropped her head back on a pillow. “That might be the least sexy thing I’ve ever said.”
He chuckled and opened the drawer. He tossed a couple of condoms over his shoulder, probably old expired ones, and then held one up and said, “Eureka.”
“I don’t…do this a lot.”
“Hey, that’s okay. No judgment. This one doesn’t expire until next year, so we’re good.”
“Phew.” Lauren laughed nervously.
“Unless you don’t want to.”
“Oh, I want to. Couldn’t you feel how ready for you I was? Let’s do this.”
Caleb grinned. He really was unbearably cute when he smiled. Handsome, yes, but he had a dimple in his right cheek.
She kissed him. She felt him maneuvering beside her, probably getting his boxers off so he could put on the condom. He pulled away slightly and looked down. His bare cock was something to behold, hard and large and smooth. Lauren ran her hand over his chest as he rolled on the condom. Then he took her hand, rolled her onto her back, and positioned himself between her legs.
“You’re the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen,” he said.
“God, back at you. I didn’t know you were hiding all this under your white coat, Dr. Fitch. It’s like a fun, sexy secret.”
He laughed softly. “I thought you were hot the first time I laid eyes on you. I’ve been wanting you ever since.”
She kissed him and nipped at his lower lip. “Then without further ado…”
Caleb ran his fingers along the entrance to her body, then slipped two fingers inside her. She moaned, loving the pressure of his fingers but wanting much more. She grabbed his cock and steered him toward herself. When she felt the blunt head of his cock at her entrance, she shifted her hips to welcome him and murmured, “Yes, that’s what I want.” When he slid inside, it hurt a little, but it was exactly what she needed. She felt full, stretched, aroused like crazy.
“Move,” she said, and she kissed him.
He thrust in and out and got a rhythm going, touching her everywhere his hands reached. He cupped her breast, twisted his body so he could suck on a nipple, ran his hands over her hip, her belly, her neck, her hair. The warmth of arousal spread through her body and tingles and electricity pulsed from between her legs to her fingers and toes.
Why had she put off doing this for so long again? Being with Caleb made Lauren feel like the world could end in three minutes and it would be fine. She kissed him, nibbled at his earlobe, his jaw, his collarbone. She ran her hands over his pecs and abs, pinched his nipples, experimented with touching him in different places to see how he would react. She gently bit the spot where his neck met his shoulder because that made him groan and whisper something unintelligible. And through all that, he made her feel like nothing else existed in the world except the two of them making this powerful friction that would soon propel them both off a cliff.
What a way to go.
She shoved her fingers into his hair, felt the silky strands of it, then dug her fingers into his shoulders as she groaned. She was half delirious with lust and cried out when he reached between them and pressed a thumb against her clit. Yes, right there, that was it, just a little more pressure…
The orgasm hit her all at once, ripping through her body and making her arch her back and throw her head back. Everything went blissfully white and quiet for a second, and then she came back to herself in time to feel Caleb shudder in her arms and come inside her. She held him through the aftershocks as he murmured nonsense in her ear.
After a moment, he slid off of her and lay beside her. “That was something,” he said.
“Something good, I hope.”
“Something great.” He panted and turned his head to look at her. He smiled.
“Your smile could knock someone out. I’m glad you don’t whip it out much.”
He laughed. “I know I’m not the most cheerful person.”
She wanted to laugh and say something sarcastic, but she didn’t want to break the moment, so instead she patted him on the chest. “You sure smiled a lot this morning. But I’ll keep your secret.”
***
Caleb returned to the bed and slid under the covers with Lauren. She curled around him.
He didn’t know what to say. He was here with a woman he thought was incredibly sexy, and nothing about seeing her naked was disappointing, but he was aware their personalities were not the most compatible. Maybe that would change now.
He felt a little snoozy and closed his eyes, deciding to revel in the feel of her body curled against his.
What felt like a moment later, she said, “Are you sleeping?”
Without meaning to, he snorted. “Am I?”
She leaned over him and looked down at his face. “Not anymore, apparently. Sorry for waking you up.”
“Probably for the best. I should go see poor Hank before he thinks I’ve abandoned him.”
“Mmm.” She kissed him. “So you are a dog person.”
“Guess so. This dog had my number from the first moment he showed up at the clinic.”
Lauren sighed happily. “You’re cute, you know that?”
“I like to think I’m just an animal person. In vet school, I had to take care of horses and cows and lizards and all kinds of things. The veterinary medical center at Tufts took everything.”
She grinned at him. “So you went to school in Boston. Is that where you’re from?”
“Well, I’m from Maine originally, a little ways outside Portland. But I lived in Boston for a long time. That’s where I was before I moved to Manhattan.”
“Ah, okay. I grew up in Ohio but moved to New York for college and never left.”
“Yeah, that’s something I’ve noticed since moving here. New Yorkers kind of fall into three categories. People who were born and raised here and will never move, transplants who think this is the greatest place in the world and will never move, and people who talk about moving reluctantly because they have to for whatever reason.”
“And you?”
“Well, you know, I thought about moving after my last practice closed, but here I am, so maybe this city is stuck with me.”
He had thought long and hard about going somewhere, anywhere else after Kara had run off. He’d felt humiliated and furious and just wanted to put everything behind him. But Kara had done him the favor of running off to another city, so Caleb had decided to give New York one last shot.
He was reluctant to mention all that to Lauren, though. The divorce had made him feel like a failure, like he hadn’t been good enough for Kara. Still, Lauren should probably know the reason he wasn’t super eager to commit to a relationship.
Her phone rang somewhere in the room. With a sigh, Lauren rolled away and dug through the clothing on the floor. “Shit, I forgot to call in. They’re probably wondering if I’ve died.”
She found her phone in her jeans pocket. And apparently their moment was over, because she pulled a sheet over her naked breasts as she answered the phone.
“I’m so sorry, Monique. I was feeling under the weather this morning and forgot to call. Are you guys able to hold down the fort without me? Oh, shit, Victor called out? Is Paige there? Okay, ask Paige to help you at the counter. She knows how to use the register but not the espresso machine. I’ll get there as soon as I can.” Lauren glanced down at herself. “Er, can you give me forty-five or so? Okay. Soon as I can, I promise.” She hung up and sighed.
“So I guess this is over now,” Caleb said.
“Yeah, sorry. One of my baristas called out and there’s been some pandemonium at the café during the morning rush.” She got out of bed and pulled on a pink robe. “I’m not going to work smelling like sex, though, so they’ll have to make do while I shower.”
Caleb lay back on the bed for a moment. He looked around the room. The walls were painted a soft gray, and Lauren’s furniture was mostly dark wood. It was a nice, feminine room; the bedspread was pink, there were little stuffed animal cats on most available surfaces, and there was a vase full of dry pink roses on her dresser. Also cat toys on the floor. “Do you have a cat here?”
“Yeah. Her name is Molly. She’s a grouchy old lady. She’s here somewhere. She doesn’t really like people, or other cats, or really anything besides me, so we couldn’t keep her at the Cat Café. She’ll probably hide until you leave.”
“So your cat lady bona fides are solid.”
Lauren laughed. “You could say that.” She started picking the clothes up off the floor.
“Well, this was…nice. Guess we have to go back to real life now.”
She stopped and looked at him. “Guess so.”
“Is this a thing now?”
Caleb felt like a dick for even saying that, but he didn’t see much disappointment on Lauren’s face, either. He kind of wanted it to be a thing, but maybe that wasn’t a good idea.
“A thing?”
“I just mean,” Caleb said, sitting up. “The ink on my divorce papers is still drying. And the whole process was…not pretty. I’m not really ready to date right now.”
“You’re divorced.”
“Yeah. This was great and, honestly, I want to do it again, but I don’t really have it in me to do anything romantic.”
“Well, I guess you’re in luck.”
He watched her futz around the room, unable to read her tone. Was she bitter? Honest?
She dropped her clothes in a hamper and said, “My ex-boyfriend just got married. It was… I don’t know. I’m still processing how I feel about it. I thought I’d marry that guy once, but it wasn’t meant to be, and now he’s married to somebody else. So I decided I’m going to focus on myself for a bit. Relationships…end. They don’t go how you plan. And rather than deal with the frustrations of that, or with dating, which I don’t really have time for, I’m prioritizing myself. Doing what makes me happy, what fulfills me. If the right guy comes along, awesome, but if not, I’ll be okay.”
Caleb appreciated that. He was still adjusting to being on his own—he and Kara had lived together since vet school, and before that he’d had roommates, so he’d never had his own place before. He hadn’t gone as far as prioritizing himself so much as just trying to find some kind of normalcy. It seemed remarkable for someone to choose themselves; Caleb had always figured that once he’d recovered, he’d date again, even if he planned to never get married again.
He must have been staring, because Lauren stared back.
“Like, I get it,” she said. “Breakups are the worst. Can I ask what happened?”
“She cheated on me, then closed the clinic we ran together without consulting me, and then the cherry on top was her running off with the guy to another state.”
Lauren winced. “Oof. I’m so sorry.”
“I’m…making my peace with it. But, like I said, things got messy, especially when we were dividing up our business assets, and I just… I can’t put myself through all that again. I know ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ is a cliché, but it really is me.”
“But it’s me, too, is what I’m saying.” Lauren sat at the foot of the bed. “Derek getting married really threw me for a loop. He and his wife knew each other for, like, five minutes before he proposed. My friend, Lindsay, says a lot of guys just hit a certain age and are suddenly ready to settle down. So it’s not me per se. But I felt like it was me. I dunno. Sorry, you don’t need to hear all this.”
“It’s all right. I’m familiar with that feeling.”
“Bottom line is we don’t have a romantic future. And I’m okay with that.”
Caleb knew he had no business in a relationship while he still harbored so much bitterness toward Kara, but hearing Lauren state the situation so bluntly was oddly upsetting. Disappointing, even. Why would that be? Lauren was sexy and great in bed, but she was also kind of a presumptuous know-it-all cat lady who ran a business in which people sipped coffee and pet cats. They’d spent most of the time they’d known each other bickering. Even if he wasn’t still a mess over his divorce, getting involved with this woman seemed like a silly idea.
And yet.
Her robe was starting to slip off her shoulder to reveal the edge of her breast, and it was basically the sexiest thing he had ever seen. He wanted to reach into that robe and cup her just-more-than-a-handful breasts.
“Your eyes are all red,” Lauren said as she got off the bed.
“Yeah, my contacts have been in for a few hours longer than they should have been.”
“Aha. I thought I saw you wearing glasses.”
“I do a lot of the time, but dogs licking my face are occupational hazards, and it’s hard to get the smudges off sometimes.” He cleared his throat. “Even if we have no romantic future, this was nice. Just putting it out there that I’m incredibly attracted to you and would not say no if you wanted to take me back to your place and jump me again.”
“You kind of jumped me.”
He felt himself smile. He liked this woman a lot when they weren’t arguing. “It was a mutual jumping.”
“Well, I need to hop in the shower. But it’s a pretty big shower. Room for two if you want to conserve water.”
So, no romantic future, but perhaps some sexy fun in the short term. Hard to say no to that. He tossed the covers aside. “Well, if it’s to conserve water…”