Page 7 of Drive Me Wild (Owl Creek #2)

C ole is dishing out slices of berry pie while Callie, his mom, is adding dollops of cream. Buzz is outside getting a fire going in the pit, and I feel like I was transported into some kind of family-friendly Hallmark movie.

So homey and cozy.

Despite the scene in front of me and the mouth-watering pie Renée hands me, I’m hyper-aware of the paper in my back pocket. It’s almost as if there is heat radiating from it, threatening to burn my butt cheek.

My mind jumps down a rabbit hole, and I doubt I will escape until I sneak away and read the note.

It has to be from Caleb. But why would he leave a note? What could he possibly say?

We all go outside to sit around the fire, and a quiet descends on everyone. It’s been a long day, and we escape into our own thoughts until Buzz pipes up.

“So Zoe, how long are you in town for this time?”

“What?”

I was definitely thinking about seeing Caleb shirtless and wet earlier.

“That tired, huh, kid?”

“Yeah. I had a long drive over this morning.”

“I’m keeping her as long as possible,” Renée says. “This town could use a little more sass.” She flips her hair and juts out her chin, which is something we used to do to imitate the popular girls in school.

“Your job doesn’t mind?”

“No, Buzz. I work for myself. Mostly. I had a part-time job at the school as a paraeducator, but the levy didn’t pass the special election last month. So my job was cut.”

A hush hung over the party for a minute, each back in their own thoughts.

“I work online. I just need the internet and occasional coffee.”

“You know who has some killer internet? Caleb. He—”

“NO!” Simultaneously, Cole and Renée shake their heads at Buzz.

“What?”

“Zoe doesn’t need to hang out in his bachelor pad stepping over god knows what from his overnight guests.”

“Overnight guests?” My throat tightens, even though I know what they are talking about. I feel ridiculous even caring about it. He doesn’t owe me anything. We’ve only spoken a handful of times and we’ve never even so much as exchanged numbers.

Still, there is a note in my pocket that I’m sure came from him and the confession I made to him last spring about wanting more. Both of these things mean something to me.

I’m just not sure exactly what—yet.

Cole pushes a stick into the fire, sending sparks into the night. “He’s popular with the female tourists and out-of-towners.”

“Not so sure about that anymore, son.”

Cole looks at Buzz, confused.

“He’s been up in the hills with his brother just about every weekend this summer. Our house, too.”

My mind starts racing. Why change? What happened? The way everyone talks about him, he’s been chasing girls since the first hair sprung on his chest.

“What’s he…what are he and Cody up to?”

“Dunno. Working on the forest bioacoustics project, I guess. Those two have a separate universe they live in, just the two of them. You know that.”

Renée shifts in her chair, and a hush falls over us again. Finally, Cole speaks up.

“Good. Good for them. But the library has perfectly good internet so that Zoe can work there.” He turns to me, almost as if he just recalled I am sitting nearby.

“The library is close to the cafe so that you can fuel up on coffee. Talk to Avery. They might have wifi at the cafe, so you can work in a booth occasionally.”

I nod, recalling that I’d worked in the library the first time I visited and that Avery told me earlier today that the cafe is close to Caleb’s shop.

And then my mind drifts back to what’s in my pocket.

I drag my tired ass up the stairs and practically fall on the bed. The only thing keeping my eyes open is knowing I can finally look at the note.

I pull it out of my back pocket and unfold the simple lined paper ripped from a notepad with visible fingerprints. Those have to be Caleb’s. The paper smells like a machine shop and the scribble on it is hard to read, but I manage to make out the words.

“Welcome back. Hope you find the ‘more’ you are looking for.”

I press it to my chest as my heart rate kicks up three notches.

He remembered .

Late Monday morning, I drive to the library to do some work. When I pull up, I notice the parking lot is abandoned, even though Renée had told me the open hours.

Maybe I got it wrong?

I see a sign taped to the door, so I walk up to read it.

“Our sincere apologies, closed until further notice.”

I press my face to the glass to see if there is anyone inside, even though there aren’t any cars in the lot. The building is empty, and the lights are off.

“Well, this sucks,” I say to no one.

I hop back in my car and head to the Daily Dose, where Avery works. The lot is full of cars, and when I step inside, the place is buzzing. I see Avery and wave. She nods to the counter, where there are bar stools, so I slip onto one and wait for her.

She plunks a mug in front of me, and I can see she’s worked up a sweat with all the full tables.

“Coffee?”

“Yeah. Hey, this place is crazy!”

“I know. It’s not usually like this outside of tourist season, but everyone apparently decided to come down to talk about the library.”

“That’s actually why I’m here.”

“You too?” She fills my mug and puts a metal pot of cream in front of me.

“I need to use their internet. There’s none at my new apartment, and the signal sucks at the main house.”

“Well, you’re out of luck. They had a building inspection early this morning for their insurance and discovered extensive termite damage. Place is closed indefinitely.”

She points her head toward the tables of locals, loudly chatting about the fate of the building.

“That’s why everyone is here. To talk about it and speculate where the books are going to go in the meantime.”

“Shit, Avery. I really need the internet to work.”

“Sorry, I don’t know any other place that has a public network.”

I drop my head in my hands and mumble thanks before she runs off to refill mugs and bring orders out to tables.

I don’t know how long I sat here drinking my coffee feeling sorry for myself, but I feel a weight on my body as if someone is looking at me. When I lift my head to look at the mirrored wall in front of me, I see Caleb’s reflection heading my way.

He climbs into the seat next to me, and the side of my body facing him heats up. It’s nearly impossible for me to be near him without little earthquakes erupting in my core.

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

“You look upset.” He nods to Avery as she passes by with a finger in the air, letting him know she’ll be back.

“Have you heard about the library?”

“Yeah. Crazy, huh? The town can’t stop talking about whether they’ll tear the place down or try to raise funds to fix it. Is that what upset you?”

“Well, yeah. That’s where I was going to work. My only source of income requires me to be online, and now my only access to the internet is in a freaking condemned building.”

“You could work at my place.”

I feel a jolt in my chest.

“I wouldn’t want to intrude on your man-lair.”

Avery walks up and plunks down a mug of coffee in front of Caleb. “You owe me the cost of the coffee and the three mugs you haven’t brought back yet.”

“Sorry. I’ll get those back here as soon as I drink this cup.”

“That’s what you said on Friday.”

His lip curls in a grin. “You’re right. But I swear this time I’m good for it.”

“You better be, or I’m withholding coffee tomorrow.” She grabs his cash and winks at me as she walks the money to the register.

“Hey, Avery!” he calls to her. “That’s for two cups.” He points toward my empty mug. “Keep the change.”

Then he slides off the stool and starts to walk away before turning back toward me. “You coming or what?”

I grab my backpack and follow him out the door, hoping Avery doesn’t notice. If he can help me, I don’t want to turn the offer down, even if being around him is a little tortuous.

He’s a few steps ahead of me, waiting at the curb, and again, I get to admire the view.

This time, he’s wearing blue machinist coveralls, with a dirty red shop rag hanging out of his back pocket. The coveralls are loose enough for him to work in but fitting enough that I don’t miss the bulge of his muscles as he moves.

This man is built like a brick house, and it’s panty-melting.

I join him on the curb and cross the street to Buzz’s Auto Body. The large garage door is open, and there’s a car up on a vehicle lift with a young guy standing under it, working.

We head to the back of the shop to a flight of stairs, and I follow him up the dark staircase. At the top, there’s a small landing and a plain wooden door. He opens it and gestures for me to step inside.

I’m met with another dim hallway and start questioning if this was the right decision.

Can I really work in his bachelor pad? What was I thinking?

“All the way to the end.”

I head down to where he is pointing. Some natural light is spilling onto the floor and I can see that the hall opens on one side to a room. When I turn the corner, I gasp.

It’s beautiful here.

Plants hang in the windows, which are tastefully dressed with light-colored but plain drapes.

The walls are painted in a rusty orange color, which only accentuates the greenery that I now see in every nook and cranny.

Fronting one of the nearly floor-to-ceiling windows is a small white wooden table and two chairs, and beyond that, on the wall, a monitor is mounted in a plain wooden case.

“You can use Bluetooth to connect to the monitor.”

I drop my backpack on the dark green couch, pull out my laptop, and set it on the table.

He leads me into the kitchen and shows me where the glasses and some snacks are.

The kitchen is just as simple and pretty as the living room.

The cupboards are glass-fronted, and the stove and fridge are old-fashioned-looking.

I run my finger down the metal of the old stove, and again, I see that the chrome handle is high-polished.

“You like antiques.”

“I do.”

“Me too.”

He’s standing close enough that my body registers his presence, and it makes it hard to concentrate on why we are here in the first place.

“I like fixing things—things that are broken or forgotten. I took this stove and fridge as payment from a guy who couldn’t afford to get his car fixed. He had them sitting in his garage with his broken-down rig, so I traded him.

And this—” he leads me back into the living room and points to an old radio. “This I found at a pawn shop in Port Stratton. The guy let me have it for a few bucks when he realized it wasn’t working anymore.”

He leads me back down the hall to the bathroom, and we pass two other doors. One is open, and I see a desk littered with machine parts and what appears to be a tiny robot standing on top.

“I’ll write down the password. The network name is ‘buzz buzz,’ which is all lowercase, all one word.”

“Cute.”

“Not very inventive, but this is Buzz’s old shop, so…” He looks at me shyly.

“Hey Caleb,” I instinctively grab his arm, and I get a hand full of muscle. “Thanks for letting me work here.”

“Not a problem. Just don’t download a bunch of porn while you’re on my network.”

“Ha!” I bark out a laugh. “Very funny.” And yet the mere mention of sex zaps me in my vag and makes my body hum.

“Um, the thing is…” I feel like a jerk saying this to him, but I don’t want this opportunity to blow up in my face. “The thing is…I don’t want it to get back to Renée that I’m working here.”

He nods his head slowly but doesn’t say a word, so I continue.

“She’s always been like a protective big sister, and I think she would freak out if she knew I was here. On account of—”

“On account of my status as the town gigolo.”

“She didn’t say that , but…”

“Look, Zoe. I’ve got no ulterior motive. I just want to help. But Cole warned me to stay away from you, so I get where you’re coming from. I don’t want to catch any shit from him either.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

We decided I’d tell people that I bought a hotspot in Port Stratton, and I’m working from a few places where I get a good signal.

To keep up the ruse, I will sit in the Daily Dose for about an hour every morning doing off-line admin work, drinking coffee, and then at the sandwich shop by the park in the afternoon before heading home.

I set up my laptop while he writes down the network password. Then he bids me goodbye and stomps back down the stairs to the shop.

I log onto his network and open up several pages in my browser to try and work, but my mind keeps wandering.

I keep thinking about sex.