His muscles screamed in protest the next morning so he sent her a quick text that he couldn’t jog with her. But that didn’t stop him from sexting her all day. As he typed a text message to her on his phone, he realized that he’d never texted such dirty, lascivious thoughts before. What he wanted to do to her, with her, and her hot answers managed to drive his libido into overdrive.
He made plans to meet her after her shift ended for something unexpected and romantic and ignored Jake’s pointed look as he asked for his car once again. Something inside him acknowledged Jake’s concern and recognized the fact that this behavior he exhibited with Delilah was new.
Then there was her job. For the most part he tried to forget what she did for a living, trying to equate what she did with what Jake did. Exotic dancing was just a way to earn money and in no way defined who she was as a person. Did he like strange men got to see her ass wiggle and her tits bounce? Hell no. But did he act like a caveman and storm in to throw her over his shoulder? Well, no, he couldn’t do that. She wasn’t his. Not really. But that thought made him pause.
He loved talking to her. He loved spending time with her. He loved how she moved, how she tasted. He loved how she responded to his kiss and how she looked at him with a bit of wonder and disbelief.
What the disbelief was about he didn’t know, and he hadn’t a clue on how to start that conversation. She tended to shut down whenever their talks strayed into something too personal. He knew as much about her now as he had that first night, and from that little tidbit only how shitty her childhood must have been.
She lingered in his thoughts throughout the day. When he wasn’t with her, he thought about when he would be, so what the hell did that mean? As he sat in his beach chair staring out the huge windows in the living room, he couldn’t help but compare Delilah to Claire. If he was so attracted to Delilah, what did that mean about his marriage to Claire? How can a man go from being so in love with one woman to being so consumed by another? What would have happened if he’d met Delilah while still with Claire?
Of course, the chances of that happening were probably nil to none. If Claire hadn’t died, he never would have signed up for a mail order bride, so he never would have met Thea. He never would have taken a vacation to Malibu, so he never would’ve met Jake and Jake’s tree. He’d never been asked to go to that party where he laid eyes on Delilah. They never would’ve crossed paths.
That thought made him feel…sad. Scared. A bit restless. Realizing that he may never have met Delilah brought an ache to his chest that had him hesitating because what the hell did that mean? He’d only known her for four days. That was way too early to form an opinion about his feelings for her.
Feelings? Holy hell, when did I develop feelings for her?
Caleb rose from his chair and began to pace, his hand running along the back of his neck as he tried to sort out the complicated emotions pouring through him. He’d had a perfect marriage, a perfect wife. He knew the difference between love and lust. Didn’t he? True, he didn’t sleep around. For him sex meant nothing without caring and affection. He’d never been one of those guys who fucked just to fuck.
If he’d met Delilah first, would he have been a different man? Maybe, but maybe the answer was exactly how life was meant to happen. Claire had been his wife, his world, but she’d died. As much as he’d felt that his guts had been ripped out through his nostrils during the year after her death, he knew Claire would never have wanted him to live his life alone. She would’ve been the first person to tell him to go after what he wanted.
Every day he wanted her a little more.
A small voice in the back of his mind told him that he was in for more heartache, but he tried very hard to ignore that unsolicited warning.
****
That night he had another first for her. Kite flying at night. He’d found a park not too far from where she worked and took her there, surprising her by showing her the plastic kite designed with large butterfly wings he’d found at the dollar store.
Letting ladies go first, Delilah unwound the strings and took off running. The kite climbed a little as the cool night air caught it, lifting it upwards. She ran around, yanking on the strings, trying to keep it upright. A few seconds later it came crashing straight down to the ground. They laughed and she tried again. Caleb couldn’t help but notice how beautiful she looked running around carefree.
Eventually, the police came and shown a spotlight on them, informing them that the park was closed. Reluctantly, he bundled her close to him, wrapped the strings around the kite and headed toward her car. Even though he wished the date could have gone longer, Delilah had a wide smile on her face, and that was all that mattered.
****
On Friday he once again took an Uber to her gym and ran next to her on the treadmill. Even though they didn’t talk much, he enjoyed being next to her. After their cool down, she walked him to the locker rooms.
“Listen,” she murmured. “I hate to run but I have somewhere I have to be at two o’clock. I can run you home though.”
“Is this somewhere I can go with you?”
Her browed furrowed a little. “You would be very bored for two hours.”
As he studied her, he realized that this was something she didn’t want to share with him. Her eyes had gone a little flat and her guard went up. It transported him to their first night together, when they’d gone to Denny’s and she’d been strung tighter than a guitar string.
Just then her phone rang, and she dug it out of her pocket, glancing at the number.
“Hold on,” she muttered. “It’s the Pony.”
She turned away to take the call. And before his eyes, she became a whole different person.
“What?” she barked into the phone using a voice he didn’t recognize. “Oh, hell no. Tell that skank tweeker bitch had she come to me with this first I might have considered, but no, Moe, she went to you first. And it ain’t like that in the back. Got it? No, you listen to me. My tits been dancing at that club longer than any others, so I got seniority. So no. If she needs time off to recover from her latest binge then find another girl.”
She disconnected the call, but she didn’t turn around. Caleb studied the rigid set of her shoulders and replayed her end of the conversation back through his mind. He’d never heard her talk like that before. The words had been crude, her accent roughened out as if she were on the street. Even her posture had bowed like she was getting ready to battle.
Delilah turned with a bright smile as she slipped her phone back into her pocket. Once again, she was the poised, self-sufficient woman he’d come to know over the past few days. He raised a brow and waited.
She waved her hand. “Just a work issue. What were we talking about?”
He stared at her for a moment. Was this really how she wanted to play this off? “Anything wrong? You sounded…different.”
She shook her head a bit too quickly. “I’m fine. Everything is absolutely a okay. Oh, I know! I offered to run you home.”
“I can take an Uber,” he offered.
“No, really, its fine, Caleb. Come on.”
She marched off to her little car, leaving him little choice except to follow her. The entire ride to Malibu she kept up this inane chatter about nonsensical things like how warm the day was and how much traffic was on the PCH, leaving him to wonder where in the hell his Delilah had gone.