“Don’t be sorry for nonsense like that. Come ‘ere.”
I opened my arms to her body, and she fell into my embrace. There were notes of vanilla in her hair, a far cry from the tangy notes I recalled from her younger years. She was soft and warm. Delicate in my arms and trembling on her feet. She wasn’t the young girl I remembered. The powerful, sassy, cussing little thing that enjoyed bonfires and slinging back bottles of beer to keep up with the likes of us.
“I hate that I caused you all so much trouble,” Katie said.
“Don’t be,” I said as I rubbed her back. “I’d rather deal with all this than you bein’ in some shitty marriage. Harder to clean up those messes.”
“I should’ve never made the mess in the first place.”
“The important thing is you’re okay,” I said.
“I don’t think I am.”
“Then the important thing is you’re gonna be okay.”
She snuggled closer to me, and I tightened my grasp. Visions of her eighteenth birthday flashed through my mind. The first and last time I’d ever held this woman the way I wanted to. The first and last time I’d ever felt her body this close. I knew she was recuperating, and I knew she was vulnerable, but I wanted to kiss her. To tilt her head up toward mine and warm her with my tongue.
But I knew better. She needed space to grieve and cope and plan her next steps.
“Thanks,” Katie said.
“Anytime, doll. You know this.”
She looked up at me with her sparkling brown eyes and her pin-straight hair. She was flattening out her curls, and I found that I missed them. Her hair sat on her shoulders and fluttered around her cheeks, but all I could see were those bouncing curls hanging down her back.
She had changed so much, and it only served to stoke my anger for Michael’s part in all this.
He’d done this to her. Changed her. I knew he had.
“I’m going to go get some breakfast,” Katie said. “You want anything?”
“Already ate, doll. You go enjoy yourself. And your room’s rented out as long as you need it. “
“You didn’t have to do that,” she said with a grin.
I watched a flush taint her cheeks. She was so sexy it hurt to look at her.
Fuck, I wanted to kiss her.
“It’s there for you to use. I’m serious. Whatever you need, all you gotta do is pick up that phone and ask,” I said.
She wrapped her arms around me one last time before she headed to the dining hall. I had no idea what had come over me. It was like my body had picked up where it left off all those years ago. I wanted to follow her and have breakfast with her. I wanted her to sit and get off her feet while I fixed her a plate. I wanted to do all the things for her I knew that asshole Michael hadn’t been doing for her because she deserved that and so much more.
I watched her until she turned the corner, and she chanced a glance back at me. Her eyes sparkled with her smile as I waved, trying to find something for my brain to do other than fantasize about her naked.
She waved at me before she disappeared, and I drew in a deep breath, trying to clear my mind of all the impure thoughts.
Down boy.
CHAPTER 3
CALEB
I was boarded up in my office working on some logistics for a new resort we were opening in South Carolina. It was our first resort out on the East Coast, and so much needed to go right.
When it came to expansion, I was a beast.
Dominate the market.
Leave them wanting more and more.
It was our code.
That’s why we were so damn good at what we did.
I needed to agree on a layout for the building and figure out how many people we’d need to hire. I needed to figure out how much of a workload it would add to everyone and what kinds of animals we’d have on the resort property. I had to plan out amenities and figure out what was going to set this resort apart from all the other ones.
Every new resort needed a ‘wow factor’.
But I couldn't concentrate. With all the guests pouring by my office, I could hear them snickering and gossiping about Katie. Wondering how she could let a catch like Michael go and wondering if she had been cheating on him.
Fucking morons.
Theorizing she was a lesbian or a gold digger that couldn’t keep up with the lifestyle or whatever. Made me sick.
What kind of people had she fallen in with at college? The city was supposed to broaden her horizons, not close her up into this petty little group.
I couldn’t take it anymore, so before I unleashed my wrath on the cowards, I decided to get myself a drink.
Dylan wouldn’t like the fact that I was drinking on the job, but I didn’t care. My mind kept swirling with how Katie was doing. I hadn’t seen her since we’d helped her get settled into her room last night. I wanted to know how she was, but I was trying to respect her need for privacy.
I doubted she wanted to see anyone after what happened last night.
When I entered the bar, I watched Katie’s brother raise his beer in the air. Hunter was tall like myself, with dirty blonde hair and brown eyes like his sister. Though where Hunter was long-legged and lanky, Katie was all luscious curves and femininity.
“Hunter, my maaaan! What’s got you day-drinking?” I asked.
“It’s celebratory,” he said as I sat down next to him.
“A beer, thanks,” I said to the bartender. “Celebratory, huh?”
“Michael was a fuckin’ prick, and now he’s gone. No more havin’ to pretend I like the son of a bitch just so Katie could stay longer.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Every time they came to visit, it was on his schedule. And things had to be like he liked them. Shit in the fridge. Healthy food on the table. Nothin’ fried, greased, or cooked in oil.”
“Sounds like a good time,” I said flatly.
“And if he didn’t like somethin’, he made an excuse to leave. An’ she was always expected to leave with ‘im. She followed him, Caleb. Didn’t stand at his side but followed him like some obedient servant. I don’t know what the fuck was wrong with her, but I’m glad she’s done with it now.”
It made me angry to hear some of the things Hunter was rattling on about. Her ex-fiancé sounded like an abusive control freak. It made me relieved that Katie wasn’t going to be marrying a man like that, but that didn’t mean her heart wasn’t broken.
I tipped my beer up to my lips and guzzled it down, then breathed a sigh of relief.
I didn’t know why I felt all that relief.
“You’ve always been so protective of Katie. Why didn’t you say somethin’ if you didn’t like the guy?” I asked.
“I did. Many times. But she kept brushin’ it off, talkin’ ‘bout how he was doing so much for her and momma. She changed around him, Caleb. She ain’t the sister I remember.”
“Explain,” I said.
“She stopped partyin’. Stopped drinkin’ beer. It was all ‘wine and sparklin’ water’ whenever she came over. She traded that loud voice of hers for somethin’ more tempered and hell, she fuckin’ stopped cussin’.”
“People grow up and change. What makes you think it was Michael?” I asked.
“Cause the change didn’t start ‘til after their first fight.”
“What did they fight about?”
“Her partyin’ in college. I don’t know what was said. She still won’t talk ‘bout it. But after that argument, she called me cryin’ ‘til she fell asleep. I was in a fuckin’ airport ‘bout to book me a ticket to the city before I heard her snorin’ into the phone.”
“And her snorin’ stopped you?” I asked.
“She sounded peaceful. Not the cryin’ mess that had called. So I sat in the airport ‘til I could get her back on the phone. She sounded different and begged me not to come out ‘cause she was swamped with finals, so I didn’t. But I should’ve. I know that’s when shit turned with them. When he had his grip on her and didn’t look back.”
“Well, she’s out now. We can all be thankful for that.”
“Truer words were never spoken, my friend.”
We simultaneously picked up our glasses and took a big gulp.