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I felt warm and could smell the delicious scent unique to him enveloping me. I was being held by someone whose arms Iwantedaround me. All new experiences.
The hour-long commute would make me happy tonight.
Because Caleb would be holding me.
Watchful is how I would describe Caleb as we left the boat. He carried both bags as I led him to where the car was parked. It reminded me of shopping at Target with him actually. He didn’t use public transportation, and I’d only seen Isaac driving him around the city, so I imagined he was “learning” his way through this experience, too.
When I stopped at Woody and stuck my key in the lock to open up the back hatch, he paused—surprised—I was sure of it, before catching himself and stowing our bags inside. I doubted Caleb had ever been driven around in a car older than him before, but he didn’t say anything. He merely followed me to the driver’s side and opened the door for me after I’d unlocked it. Even though he was the passenger, Caleb did not forget his lovely manners. I had to pinch myself in the brief space of time it took for him to walk around to the other side and get in with me. Caleb was coming home with me.Caleb. Was. Coming. Home. With. Me.
Once we were both in, he turned toward me and said, “I need to do something first.”
“What’s that?”
He leaned over the console and took my face in his hands—a gesture I adored from him—and whispered, “This.”
Caleb kissed me senseless, deeply and thoroughly until I probably couldn’t remember my own name, let alone drive. Hisscratchy beard caressed around my lips as he pulled on the bottom one with his teeth, teasing me until I was a wet mess—ready to straddle him in a public car park. Seriously, the man was sexually dangerous, and all he’d done was put me in the car and kiss me.
“Careful, or I’ll never be able to drive us,” I murmured against his mouth.
“Sorry.” He backed off, but he kept one hand under my chin and rubbed his thumb along my bottom lip. “I’ve wanted to do that all day.” More with the beautiful, blue-with-gold-rings-around-them eyes studying me for a serious moment. “I’m okay now,” he said with his little-boy smirk. “We can go.” A beat or two of silence passed. “Where are we going?”
I couldn’t help but laugh. It was so nice to not care about the awkwardness that much. We were going to have to figure it out somehow, but if Caleb kept up with being so adorable, it wouldn’t be a problem for me. “We are going to stop in for a quick visit to Nan at therapy, and then I’m taking you to the cottage where I’ll make us some dinner. After that, we can do whatever you want.”
“WhateverI want?”
“As long as it involves warm socks on my feet, I am game,” I answered wickedly.
“Uhmmmm…” he groaned lowly as he shifted in the seat. So he was feeling it, too...
Good.
Payback was fair play.
“Nan, I’ve brought a friend with me—someone who knows you well. Do you remember?—”
“Caleb Blackstone, you may have grown taller, but I’d recognize your face anywhere. You look so much like your father when he was your age.” Nan’s face lit up, and she reached out her hand to him—which he took in both of his and held warmly.
“Mrs. Casterley, you haven’t aged a day. It’s so wonderful to see you again. Brooke tells me you are about to be released from here.” I watched him greet my nan after nearly a decade and marveled at how lovely he was with people. Especially people he clearly adored. Caleb possessed social skills in conversation that, sadly, was lacking in many people of our generation, so I was content to sit back and watch them get reacquainted. I knew Nan would pin me to the wall later and want to know what I was doing with a man like Caleb Blackstone, and I’d have to tell hersomething.
And what would that be?He treats me with respect, says he wants me, and makes me feel like the person I was before I made my terrible mistake.It was the truth, even if it scared me to believe it. She would be skeptical of his intentions toward me and probably ask him outright. She didn’t work for his family anymore, so she wouldn’t be censured by any sense of obligation to hold back her opinions from a respected employer, plus Nan was very protective of me now, especially after Marcus...
My inner reflections were interrupted when Herman strolled in with his own bouquet of autumn flowers in his hand. The Blackstone men were certainly blessed with romantic inclinations—something that probably served themverywell when it came time for their women to show appreciation, like I was going to do as soon as I had Caleb alone in my cottage.
“Is that my nephew I see flirting with my girl?” Herman bellowed.
“Uncle Herman, I think some congratulations are due if I’m not mistaken.”
As I watched the two of them reconnect, I was struck by the similarity in body shape and bone structure. I knew why I’d told Caleb he reminded me of someone I knew living on the island. Blood didn’t lie and it was clearly evident they were related. If I didn’t know better, I would think they were father and son.
I overheard Caleb mention the Blackwater estate to Herman and watched the two of them go deep into conversation about it. He’d said he wanted to “fix” the situation of it being closed and the employees dismissed, so maybe he wanted Herman’s advice on the matter. It would be lovely to see Blackwater restored for some useful purpose if the family didn’t want it for holidays anymore. I hoped whoever bought the property had to consider its historic value beyond just an appraisal of house and land. I still thought it odd that he hadn’t known about it being shuttered and on the market. Didn’t his family communicate about something as important as a home that had been in the family for generations? Again, I had to shake my head at the problems of the rich...
“Herman and Nan certainly enjoyed your visit this evening,” I said to him as I drove to the cottage over the twisty lanes I could navigate by the feel of the bumps and the turns.
“I enjoyed it, too. I’m really glad you brought me there tonight. Thank you.” He reached over and gave my thigh a squeeze as if just his words weren’t sufficient to express his thanks.
“Why so grateful, Caleb?”
He sighed before answering. “Well, I guess it has something to do with being ashamed of losing interest in things that shouldhold a higher place of importance to me. After I finished up at Harvard, I went off and immersed myself in work and business to the point I excluded pretty much everything else, even my family. I regret that now, because I know now I missed out on a lot of time with the people I care about.”