Score (Gina Watson) (4 page)

She smirked. “I just like to know where I stand going in, that’s all.”

He whispered, “Where you stand is next to me.”

Big hazel eyes filled with liquid as she smiled softly. “Next to you.”

“Next… to… me…” he whispered between kisses.

Then he took her bottom lip between his teeth and lightly sucked. His tongue nudged her lips apart, and he kissed her long and deep. She gave as good as she got, plundering his mouth with her tongue. They stayed entangled for several minutes. He grew hard, and then they dove in for round two.

3

D
ESPITE HER SUBCONSCIOUS telling her to not be, Chloe remained hopeful whenever she thought of Cal. He’d had to sneak out in the early morning because it wouldn’t have done to have the girls asking questions. She and Cal had been entangled all night, even during slumber. He was due to come over tonight to look at her footage of the LeBlanc family and outline a plan for the home movies. For the first time, Chloe felt like she was doing something truly useful for the LeBlanc family. She dared to hope that maybe the films might be finished before Steve passed on. The doctors said he could go any day now. The respiratory muscles had shut down a while ago, and he’d been on a ventilator. Eventually he would succumb to pneumonia.

At the hospital, Chloe was ending her day and charting treatment progress. She pulled her cellphone from her pocket to log the time. It showed five unread texts. She touched her finger to the message icon and the messages were revealed.
Miss yr sexiness already.
That had come in at 7:28.
Can still taste U—
8:30.
R U ignoring me?—
9:22.
I guess U R—
9:34.
U don’t like being bothered at work? See U 2nite, wish U a wonderful day, counting minutes til we meet again!
That last one had come at 9:45. With a smile stretching her face wide, she replied,
Not ignoring U, just busy, I feel the same way!

Was Cal serious when he spoke of a relationship? God, she’d always wanted that, dreamed of that. Her face heated when she recalled one of the most embarrassing moments her attraction to Cal had caused. It was his eighteenth birthday—he was older than her by five months—and she’d gotten him a gift. Cal had always loved taking pictures and making videos, so she’d purchased a novelty item, a camera that took and developed pictures and spit them out in the form of stickers. She’d dressed for the occasion. Shaved, primped, curled, tweezed, and polished for him, wanting him to recognize how grown up she’d become. She’d worn a sleeveless black cocktail dress and patent leather pumps. When she’d found him, on top of a ladder, changing a light bulb on the front porch of his home, he did a double take. For a moment he took her in and no words were spoken. She thought she saw an increased heat and intensity in his eyes, but then he’d said, “What the hell are you wearing?” She’d felt so small. She’d wanted the ground to open up and swallow her down. Still she’d given him his gift and they’d messed with it for a while before he tossed it aside, complaining that it took the most horrid pictures.

The whole evening had been ruined for her.

And yet apparently he’d changed.

Chloe put her phone in her pocket and thought how different Cal was from other guys she dated. Men usually kept their feelings hidden. So he was quite atypical. Yet… She looked at her phone. Had his text said he missed her? No, he said he missed her sexiness. He was counting the minutes to more sex. Well, truthfully, so was she. She’d be a fool if she weren’t. And so what that she was a little mixed up? She couldn’t wait to see him, whatever the reason.

She finished up and rushed home to shower and change.

At 6:30 sharp, Chloe’s doorbell rang. She opened it to reveal Cal leaning in her doorway, his smirk dripping with sex. He wore black dress slacks and a white oxford shirt, sleeves rolled to his elbows. He sported an industrial-looking watch on his wrist, and his light brown hair was styled into a messy bed-head look. With lowered eyes, his long dark lashes cast shadows across his cheeks. His sexy, playful grin could melt panties, and Chloe felt hers moisten with need.

“Chloe” he said as he handed her a bouquet of pink tulips.

She smiled. And then she blushed. “My favorite.” But he would know that.

“I remember Mom constantly complaining that a certain little blond-haired girl kept sneaking into our yard and stealing her tulips.”

The heat in Chloe’s face went up a few degrees. Cal reached his hand out, brushing her cheek.

“You’re blushing. Cute.”

She cleared her throat. “Please come in.”

“What smells so good?”

“I’ve got tilapia blackening in the oven. I made rice and gravy too. And”—she pressed both hands to her hips—“my grandmother brought over some yeast rolls.”

“Shut up, woman!”

Chloe smiled, put the tulips down, and lifted the foil on a pan of rolls so Cal could take one. He took two instead, immediately biting into one. “Hey, don’t fill up on rolls.”

“Mmm, I’m going to ask for your grandmother’s hand in marriage.”

Chloe laughed as she watched him enjoy the rolls. When given the chance, he’d always stolen hers when they were kids. She’d remembered that and called her grandmother this morning to see if she would prepare a batch.

“And now you don’t have to thieve them away from me.”

“Thieve what away?”

“The rolls. You always snatched my roll from my lunch.”

“I never did that!”

“You
always
did that.”

Cal smiled and demolished the second roll in two bites.

“It was only because I secretly wanted to have otherworldly sex with you.”

Chloe threw the kitchen towel at his head.

She opened the oven door and bent over to peer inside. “I think just five minutes mo—” She jumped. “Oh!” Cal had come up behind her, had reached one hand between her legs and wrapped the other arm across her chest. When she angled her face toward him, his tongue swept into her mouth, causing her to go breathless. He growled when she pulled away, but she said, “The gravy will burn.”

“Let it burn.” His voice was low and raspy.

“Just give me a second.” She pulled the pan from the heat and turned in his arms so he could kiss her properly. He kissed her as if he needed her breath in his lungs. She’d never been kissed so deeply before. His tongue plundered every available surface, licking and tasting. All she could do was cling to his shoulders as he held her and thrust in and out of her mouth.

Chloe’s chin and cheeks were hot and raw from the five o’clock shadow of whiskers on his face, her lips full and plump when Cal finally pulled back.

“You look gorgeous. I can’t keep my hands off you. When you’re not in my arms, I feel like part of me is missing.”

His revelation rendered her speechless. They stared into one another’s eyes. This new Cal disoriented Chloe, and she was afraid he was getting deeper into her system than was safe. When he was with her like this, she could see herself so easily loving him—if she didn’t already. She closed her eyes and inhaled a deep cleansing breath. “Do you want to eat?”

He kissed her nose and released her. “I’d love to. I wasn’t expecting a fancy meal. When you said we’d get together, I figured we’d order takeout.”

Chloe looked him up and down. “I like your dress clothes.”

Cal smiled. “Yeah? I’ll keep that in mind. I was out with Cory doing some groveling for his business.”

Furrowing her brow, Chloe said, “Groveling?”

“You know he just set up his veterinary practice in Whiskey Cove, right? We were doing some marketing. Actually, I don’t know that we accomplished much of anything outside of getting Cory additional numbers for his black book. The town’s gone crazy. Every local mama wants to set Cory up with her daughter.”

Chloe laced her hands behind Cal’s neck. “Envious much?”

He smiled his panty-melting smile, revealing pearly white and straight teeth. She loved his smile. “How can I be envious when I’ve got you in my arms?”

He nuzzled and nipped at the shell of her ear. “Mmm, you smell like vanilla, and the scent drives me crazy.” He inhaled. “I just wish Cory would take it easy. He’s burning through women at an alarming rate. I guess he isn’t solely to blame, but I don’t want him to get into trouble.”

“Cory will make his own way, and I’m sure he’ll make a few mistakes as he does. We all do. But I know one sure thing about St. Martin men.”

He rubbed her earlobe between his thumb and index finger. “Oh yeah, what is it you know about St. Martin men?”

“They own their mistakes.”

When Cal was ten, he’d accidentally driven a golf ball through one of the windows of her house. He’d been escorted by his father to fess up and to offer to help with chores around their house, as a form of punishment, she guessed. She’d heard Clifton St. Martin say to Cal, on her front porch, “St. Martin men own their mistakes, son.”

Cal grimaced. “You sound like my father.” His eyes fixed on something in the distance.

“Cal?”

He smiled and kissed her chastely on the lips. Then he earned a squeal and a swat from her when he patted her on the behind.

“Get the food, I’m hungry.”

He set the table with the stack of dishes she’d laid out on the counter, and she put her tulips in water, adding them to the setup. She served him two pieces of fish and dished out the rice and gravy. Cal uncorked a bottle of chardonnay from a local winery and filled their glasses. Watching them eat together, anybody would have thought they’d been together for years.

Chloe considered Cory’s new vet practice. “I don’t mind helping Cory with his marketing needs. You know I have a degree in marketing.”

“That’s right.” Cal’s brow hitched.

“What?”

“I don’t think I want you anywhere near Cory.”

She shrugged. “Suit yourself. So how’s your dad been?”

It was Cal’s turn to shrug, “Pretty good, I guess.”

“You don’t see him very often, do you?” She knew he didn’t.

“There’s really no point. He doesn’t approve of or maintain any interest in what I do.”

“You mean video and film production.”

Cal narrowed his eyes. “That’s exactly what I mean.”

Should she press? When he blew out a long breath, she decided it might help. “Do you maintain an interest in his business?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

She called on all she could recall from Geology 101. “Well, if both sides of a shelf are pushing, it creates a bow, you know, like with tectonic plates. Wouldn’t it be better if one side gave in a little and let the other pass?”

Cal stared intently at her, almost glaring. “Are you saying I should quit the art program and go work for my father?”

“No, never! Is that what you heard me say?” She drank some wine. “I’m saying you might consider sharing an interest in his business to prevent damaging your relationship beyond repair.”

“Why should I do that when he couldn’t give a shit about my work?”

“I have no answers for you, Cal, other than to suggest it might be better to get along with your father than to risk being at odds with him all the time. What if something were to happen and you never cleared the air?” She shrugged, hating to see him fighting with his dad.

Cal dropped his fork, his eyes wide. “What’s going to happen to him?”

“Nothing. I meant hypothetically.” Chloe shook her head. “Never mind.”

They cleared the table. Chloe washed the dishes and to her surprise, Cal dried and put them away. He refilled their glasses and they moved to the office area of Chloe’s living room. She drew a heavy box from under the desk.

“I pulled all the video I had.”

Cal pushed her aside to lift the box.

“I marked and dated all the tapes. They’re in chronological order.”

“Wow, there’s a lot of footage here.” He rummaged through the box. “Is it all from before he got so sick?”

“Actually, there’s a good mixture.”

Cal turned to her “Hey, I was thinking of doing a documentary of sorts, with some interspersed family footage. I was hoping to use the film to spread the word and educate people about ALS—what it is, how it progresses, and current research. What do you think?”