Page 16 of Untouchable

He wanted to fuck her again.

A surge of rage swept through her, the likes of which she’d never experienced before.

“What is it?” Reese demanded, grabbing Kelly’s arm. “What’s the matter? Did something happen?”

Something had happened. Caleb Marshall had happened. And ten-year-old Kelly’s life had gone into a downward spiral she’d never been able to pull out of.

But she wasn’t helpless. And she wasn’t weak.

Caleb wasn’t as untouchable as he thought, and he wasn’t irresistible either.

So Kelly tapped out her reply.

I guess. As long as we’re not talking about seconds. They’re never as tasty as the first time.

Not seconds. Dessert.

5

Caleb Marshall toldhimself not to be a heartless ass and to make the damn call.

It was already four, which meant it was after ten in Paris. Pretty soon it would be too late to phone, and he knew he needed to get it over with today.

So he stopped procrastinating, hit Send on his email, and reached over for his phone.

He’d known Wes since first grade, but he hadn’t talked to him in more than two years. He hated making calls like this.

“Fuck,” Wes said, answering on the second ring without any semblance of a greeting. “If evenyouare making a pity call, then I must be in really bad shape.”

Typical.

“Are you?”

“What do you think?”

“I have no idea. But I’m sorry about your mom.” Caleb said the words automatically since they were the ones he’d called to say. They felt artificial though, as if they weren’t the ones that needed to be spoken.

“Yeah. How did you hear?”

“I ran into your dad the other day. What’s the prognosis?”

“Less than six months? They don’t really know. They’ve got nothing left to try.”

“And there are no clinical trials or anything?”

“No. There’s nothing to hope for here.”

Caleb didn’t answer. He didn’t know what to say, and he didn’t like feeling that way. He was tempted to end the conversation quickly, but if he had a real friend in the world, it was Wes.

“Are you coming home anytime soon?” he asked at last.

“I’m going to try to get there in a couple of weeks.”

“Good. Give me a call when you’re in town.”

“Will do. Any new trauma with you?”

“I don’t do trauma.”