Page 26 of Drive Me Wild (Owl Creek #2)

C aleb and I snuggle on my bed after a lazy afternoon of sex. There’s a lightness in the air that was missing before, and I know it’s because we’re out in the open with our relationship.

Renée and Cole seemed wary for a few moments, but then they embraced our choice.

It means the world to me to have them on our side.

Renée has been my best friend for as long as I can remember, but there’s been a divide between us for the last few weeks, and I know it’s because I’ve been hiding my growing feelings for Caleb.

Around dinner time, he heads out so I can work on my business proposal. I want to talk to the bank this week about a loan, so I need to make sure everything is in perfect shape. If they approve the loan, I plan to hire someone to run my current business so I can keep it on the books as collateral.

I make a pot of mac-n-cheese and sit at the small table, munching and editing my large document.

It has to be perfect.

I hear a soft knock on my door and holler for whoever it is to come in, knowing it is probably Renée.

Instead, it’s Caleb with a few business planning books.

“I thought you might want to have a few reference books just in case.”

My heart feels like the melted cheese in my dinner. “Where did you get those?”

“I popped by to see Mabel right before she closed. Told her I knew someone who was working on an important business plan. I think she knew it was you.”

He sits down in the only other chair in the apartment. I reach over and thumb through the books.

“That was incredibly thoughtful of you, and I’m a little ashamed I didn’t think of it myself.”

“You’ve been busy.”

“Yeah, but you literally just went to the business I’m trying to buy to get resources.

That’s the first thing I should have done.

” I feel my chest shrink inward. “Can I do this? Can I pull this off? I mean, this is not just buying the inventory and name. I’m buying the whole building, which she’s spent her whole life living in.

There’s so much to cherish and honor there.

” My skin feels hot and clammy as if the temperature has just increased twenty degrees.

“Caleb, she has no children, so I will carry on her legacy.” The air gets thick around me, and I push the pot of mac-n-cheese away as my breathing becomes labored.

“I don’t think I can do this. I mean, look at me. I am not going to be able to get a half-million-dollar loan from the bank. I’m twenty-three, with a business that has been struggling for three months, and I don’t have a credit history. There’s no way this is going to work.”

“Hey, hey.” He comes around the table and kneels on the floor in front of me, taking my hand in his.

“You are brilliant. And capable. You built a business from the ground up right out of high school, and just the other day, you declared that you are going to do what it takes to have what you want. And I’m pretty sure you want this.

You want that house and the bookstore. Right? ”

I nod and lean forward until my head rests on his shoulder.

“Why does this feel so overwhelming?”

“Because there’s more at stake than you’re used to. I know what that’s like. I bought the building and Buzz’s business and had to contend with his legacy, too. But I know you, and I know you can do it.”

I turn my head slightly so my mouth is near his strong neck. Part of me wants to crawl back in bed and pretend I don’t need to be this much of a grown-up today. The other part knows he’s right.

Ever since I saw Mabel’s bookstore, I was in love with that place and with what she’d created.

I saw myself there, tending to customers, puttering around that house, pushing kids on a swing set my future husband would put in the back.

I need to push through this last part of the plan and get the loan.

It was the only way to get more than what I was good at.

“Huh.” I lift my head and look at him, a feeling of foolishness washing over me.

“What?”

“I think this is what it feels like to be afraid you won’t be able to accomplish something. This is the feeling that accompanies great risk and reward.”

He chuckles and then stands up. “I should leave you to your greatness.”

“Thank you for bringing those books. How much do I owe you?”

“Just your pretty smile. They were a gift.”

I wrap my arms around his neck and press my lips to his.

“Thank you for the gift.”

“That’s what good boyfriends do, right?”

“Caleb, you don’t have to buy me gifts to be a good boyfriend. Not that I’m saying I don’t want them.” I grin and plant another kiss on his chiseled face. “But you just have to keep being you.”

He backs me up against the wall and presses his hips into me. I can feel the bulge starting to form.

“You mean, being your sex-pert?”

He chuckles, but I sense something that doesn’t feel funny underneath his laugh. I’m not sure what it is, so I change the subject.

“Hey, how about we go to the racetrack? I want to see some of those cars you built.”

“Really? You want to do that?”

“I do. I want to know that part of you, too.”

“What about tomorrow afternoon? My buddy Tommy is racing a car I sold him a few months ago.”

“If I finish the section of my business plan that I’m working on, then yes.”

“And if you don’t?”

“Then you’ll have to punish me with some sort of torture.” I waggle my eyebrows at him, but instead of getting a cute response, I see a flash of something again. It disappears as quickly as it emerges, so I can’t put my finger on it. Which means I don’t think I can ask him about it—yet.

I stay up late, flipping through the books Caleb brought me to see if any nuggets of wisdom in there will improve my application.

I worry that I haven’t been in business enough years to seem like a good bet for the bank.

I worry I don’t have enough of a down payment.

I worry about a million other details that I can’t control, so I try to focus on what I can.

Solid financials from Mabel. A clear vision and goals. The growth projections need work, but I think I’m getting there.

I can barely keep my eyes open when I finally shut down my laptop and get ready for bed.