A Curvy Girl for the Cadet: A Perfect Fit Novella (9 page)

They ate in silence for a while, but she was more interested in watching him eat than in her own food. He always ate like he was starving, like it was his first meal after a long, long fast. He made love that way too. At least he had that night. She wondered if it was just like that with her, or if it was like that every time with every woman he was with.

“How do you put away so much food and still have that body?” She asked as she sipped on the old fashioned sugary soda that was much better than she had expected.

“I move a lot when I work and I look just like my father.”

“Does he have a full beard too?” She touched his again.

“No.” He took the rest of her half-eaten sandwich, screwed the top back on the soda, and put them back in the bag. “He’s got a hoop earring and wears Hawaiian shirts and ugly sandals.” He looped his arm around her and laid her down in the bed of his truck. “No beard though. I don’t think I can take that.”

“Why do you have one?”

“After I got out I wanted to be different than who I was when I was there. I went to West Point at eighteen and have been in the army until eighteen months ago. I don’t look like the guy I was for all those years. You don’t like it?”

“I like you. The beard is part of you. And all this thick shaggy hair.” She ran her fingers through it.

“My mother hates it.” He shut his eyes and relaxed a little more. “Maggie does too. She says I look like a serial killer. I don’t think so, but I have noticed that people cross the street to avoid me at night.”

“Aubrey used to call you the scary man.”

“Really?” His eyes shot open. “She was afraid of me?”

“No. I don’t think she was. She didn’t know how else to describe you. Danny was very groomed, hair gel and cologne. His underwear and socks matched. She’s not used to anything else, but she’s the one who told me you were nice. She said you stuck out your tongue at her.”

“She told you about that?”

“Of course she did. She tells me everything. She’s a very good girl. I’m very lucky because I know any kid I would have given birth to would have come out cussing and giving the middle finger. But she’s Jane’s, so she’s damn near perfect. The funny thing is that she looks way more like me than her mother. I hope she doesn’t regret that later on in life.”

“Why do you do that? Make your sister seem like she was infallible and like you were the screw up. You’re good at your job. You own a successful business. You’re raising Aubrey to be a kind, respectful kid and you’re beautiful. Why the hell do you act like your sister is perfect and that you were crap?”

“I like myself. I really do, but Jane really was perfect and brilliant and beautiful. Valedictorian. Homecoming queen. Ivy League educated, with legs that went up to her armpits. My parents called her the perfect specimen. They were so glad they created her and disappointed that their second attempt didn’t come out as good as the first.”

“Did they say that to you?”

“Not to me, but about me. They liked me though. My father told me I was more than adequate for their child and that my looks reminded him of his mother. He had a special fondness for his mother.”

Clayton rolled his eyes. “Your parents were dicks,” he said, causing her to laugh. “I’m not going to apologize for that either.”

“You’re very sweet, Clay. You told me your father was a dick. Now tell me something equally awful about your parents to make me feel like less of a freak show.”

“My father was gone a lot when we were kids. He was in the first Gulf War and then just gone all the time for work. My mother got lonely and ended up having an affair with his friend. Instead of divorcing her, he chose to make her life miserable by being a controlling verbally abusive prick. I didn’t know why he was that way, because I remember him being happy when I was little, but I found out the day I tried to kill him for mistreating my mother. That was the day their marriage officially ended. Once I found out I made my mother leave him. I was pissed at them both. At him for being such an incredible piece of shit and at her for allowing herself to be punished for twenty years.”

“Ick. Your parents suck. You win.”

“They made a bunch of horrible mistakes that screwed us up. I understand that my mother was scared and lonely with two small kids and no support. I get that my father felt betrayed and hurt.”

“But you’re still pissed.”

“Yeah. The thing is, my mother is a wonderful sweet person who would do anything for anyone. And my father is an honorable man and now he’s back to the guy I knew when I was little. I’m just pissed that they couldn’t get their shit together when we were kids.”

“I’m sorry, Clay. What do you think it’s going to take for you to stop being mad?”

“I’m going to find a beautiful woman and kiss her.” He slid his hand up her cheek and took her lower lips between his teeth. She had been turned on since she first saw him on the street, but that one action nearly sent her over the edge. “I think I’ve found the perfect one.” He lightly licked across her mouth before he slid his tongue inside.

She kissed him too, not allowing herself to hold anything back. She had had her fair share of drunken fumbles in the back of cars, but she had never had an experience like this. The sun softly beating down on them. The sweet scented smell of nature around them, the sound of the light breeze blowing across the water, and Clayton who kissed her like kissing had been invented just for them.

“You had better stop kissing me like that,” she said. “I only have so much willpower.”

“I don’t want you to have any willpower.” He moved away from her to pull up the tailgate of his truck. “You don’t have to worry.” He lay down beside her again, one hand inching up the hem of her skirt. “There’s no one around and even if there was, the bed of this truck is deep and I’ve got a blanket to keep us covered.”

“You seduce a lot of women in this truck?”

“Just you.” He kissed her, his fingers finding the edge of her panties and slipping inside. He stroked inside her, finding her already wet and fully aroused. He groaned and placed her thigh over his hip. He slid two fingers all the way inside her and she bit down on her lip to keep from crying out. She was so close to orgasm, but she didn’t want to come alone. She unzipped his jeans, slipping her hand inside of his pants and started to stroke his long hard length.

“Daisy,” he panted. He always called out her name when they were together. He was never silent. He never had a problem letting her know how much he liked being with her. “I want to be inside you.”

He rose up over her, pulled her panties aside and plunged inside of her hard. She saw stars. He wasn’t going slow. He wasn’t being gentle and she liked it. She grabbed on to his behind and urged him on.

“Faster, Clay. I’m almost there.” He obeyed and sealed his mouth to hers kissing her as hard as he was loving her.

Orgasm struck her hard and he came with her, both of them crying out as they did. He collapsed on top of her, as he tried to regain his breath. “I don’t think I can get enough of you.”

“Women love to hear that. Especially from men who give them good orgasms.” She lifted her head to kiss him.

“I told myself not to get involved with you, to keep it to one night, because I know I’m not good for you. But it’s too hard to stay away.”

“So what do you suggest?”

“Not fighting this,” he said as he took her mouth again.

*

Clayton walked into the
Sweet Eats
that evening just as they were closing up. Maggie was sitting in one of the comfortable arm chairs in the back of the shop while Alex was cleaning up the counter area.

“Hey.” He nodded his head to Alex and made his way back to his sister.

“Hi, brother.” Maggie smiled happily at him. “I was just thinking about you.”

“Were you?” He took the chair across from her and reached over to rub her expanding belly. “How are Clayton and Claytonia?”

“Claytonia?” She raised a brow. “Really?”

“It’s a good strong name.” He grinned at her. “You don’t like it? You’re so annoyingly picky about this. How about Clayton and Clara? Or if it’s two boys. Clayton One and Clayton two. Or if it’s two girls Claytina and Clayvanna.”

“You’re smiling.” Her eyes grew watery. “I’m so happy you’re smiling.”

“Why are you crying?” He backed away from her, slightly alarmed as tears spilled down her face. “Alex. She’s crying.”

Alex came over, a dish towel slung over his shoulder. “She does that sometimes. Hormones.” He took her face in his hands and wiped away her tears with his thumbs. “Are you okay, baby? You want to go lay down?”

“No.” She sniffed. “I’m happy.”

“I know,” he said softly. “That’s why I love you so much.”

“Clay was smiling. I haven’t seen him do that in a long time. Years.”

Alex turned back to look at him. “How dare you smile at my wife and make her cry.”

He wasn’t aware he had begun smiling again. He wasn’t sure when or why he had stopped, but it seemed like a chore before.

Something had changed for him.

“If she’s going to do that every time I do, I won’t do it anymore.”

“No!” Maggie said, a fresh wave of tears streaming down her cheeks. “I’ll stop crying.” She wept harder.

“Make her stop, Alex.”

“I didn’t start her. We went through this two days ago when your mother sent her a video of cats falling off tables. She cried for two hours. Why were you smiling anyway? You’re usually a cranky son of a bitch.”

“I was just giving her a list of names you could name your kids. All of them had Clay in them.”

“You got some, didn’t you?”

“What?” Clay froze. Alex couldn’t have known that he spent a very satisfying ninety minutes at the deserted swimming hole with Daisy. There was just no way.

“You’re in a good mood and you’re relaxed. There’s only one reason for that.”

“How about it’s a nice day and I’m glad that my little sister is having kids and is happily married to my friend.”

“Who is she?”

“Alex is right, isn’t he?” she wiped her eyes. “You’re with someone.”

“I’m not with anybody,” he said, not knowing if that was the truth or not. He didn’t want to stay away from Daisy. He wasn’t going to force himself to anymore, but they weren’t together. This wasn’t for the long haul. He wasn’t sure if he could stay here, take over and be the man that everyone depended on, because if he screwed up again he just wouldn’t be letting down his men. His mistake would cause a ripple effect throughout their community.

And then there was Daisy herself who was so warm and giving and needed to be loved. Deserved to be loved by someone who wasn’t as fucked up as him.

“Who is she, Clay?”

“Some girl I picked up,” he lied, knowing they wouldn’t stop questioning him if he remained so evasive. “Just drop it, okay?” He had kissed Daisy in the middle of a busy street where anyone could have seen them, where Abraham had seen them. He wasn’t embarrassed about it. She was sexy and beautiful and she made him forget himself.

But he didn’t want Maggie to think he was using her. And he was. He was using her to talk to, and make love to, and to make himself feel good. Feel things that he hadn’t been able to feel since he went away to war.

“Let’s back off, Maggie,” Alex said giving Clayton an understanding look. “Sometimes a man just needs to blow off steam and it’s none of our business.”

“Blow off steam?” She shook her head. “That’s a big bunch of crap.”

“It’s not.” Alex kissed her. “I ended up marrying the girl I blew off steam with.”

Maggie smacked his arm, but she smiled up at him. “You’re an ass.”

“I’m a liar. I’ve loved you since I was fourteen-years-old. It just took me fifteen years to realize it.”

Clayton was uncomfortable that he was witnessing yet another private moment between his sister and her husband, but he was glad Maggie had finally stopped crying. He was glad his friend was there for his sister and that his mother had a man in her life and that his father finally seemed happy. He could go back to Afghanistan without having to worry about any of them.

Chapter 9

Two nights later Daisy woke up when she felt a presence over her. It was pitch black, but when the small hand reached out and touched her she knew that Aubrey had come for a rare nighttime visit.

“Hello, baby.” She grabbed on to her little girl and pulled her into bed with her. Aubrey used to come to her a lot at night after Danny had died. Daisy had never turned her away. She had come to love when Aubrey came to her then. She was supposed to be comforting her, but Aubrey soothed her more during that hard time. “Did you have a bad dream?”

“No, Mama. I heard a noise.”

“A noise?”

“There’s something in the house.”

“What?” She sat up and reached for the metal baseball bat she kept under her bed. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.” She switched on the light. “Mama, what are you going to do with that?”

Daisy wasn’t sure, but it seemed like the right thing to grab. “I’m going to bust someone’s ass.” She got up and inched her way to the door. “You stay here and get my phone.”

“I don’t think it’s a person. I think it’s an animal. It was making a noise.”

“An animal?” For some reason that scared her more than the thought of an intruder. “I’m going to see what it is. You stay here, Cookie.”

“No.” She wrapped her arms around her hips. “I’m going with you. If you are brave, I am brave.”

Daisy wasn’t brave. Her pounding heart told her she was scared shitless. But she was the grownup, the guardian, the protector of this kid, so she had to see what was in her house. “Where did you hear the sound?”

“The living room. Listen,” Aubrey whispered, as they went down the hall. And then Daisy heard it. A flapping, chirping, squeaking sound.

“What the hell is that?” She flipped on the light switch and a huge brown bat flew right in front of her face.

She screamed, and then Aubrey screamed, and then they both screamed as they saw that not one, but two bats were flying around the room.

“Mama, get them out! Get them out!”

“How?” She ducked as one flew dangerously close to their heads.

“Hit them with the bat!”

“You want me to hit the bat with the bat?” Her sweet girl had become a little blood thirsty when flying rodent looking things were near.

Suddenly their front door burst open and a half naked man burst through it holding a chainsaw. They screamed again until Daisy saw it was Clayton, wearing nothing but a pair of boxers.

“What’s the matter?”

“What the hell are you going to do with that?” She grabbed on to Aubrey and yanked her closer.

“I heard you screaming. I wanted to make sure you weren’t hurt. Holy shit!” The bat flew straight at his face before taking a sharp ascent and headed out the door.

“We’ve got bats,” Aubrey said, her face still buried in Daisy’s middle.

“Bats? As in more than one?”

“Yes!” The other bat made an appearance then from the eaves of the house. “What are you going to do with that? Cut it in half.”

“I was trying to save you from doom. Don’t judge my weapon of choice. I keep my gun locked up and this was the first thing I could grab.”

“Thank you for coming, but what the hell are we going to do?”

“Chase it out. Grab me a broom.” A half hour later Clayton had chased the remaining bat out of the house, found the hole that they came through and plugged it. Now he was sitting on the edge of her couch, drinking a glass of lemonade that Aubrey had brought him.

She was surprised to see him, but glad he had come, even if he had burst through the door wielding a chainsaw.

“Do you want more to drink? You worked hard chasing that last bat through the house.” She ran her fingers through his thick hair, realizing too late that the touch was probably too intimate to do in front of Aubrey who noticed everything, but still she couldn’t make herself stop.

“I’m good, thank you.” He looked over to Aubrey. “There’s no more bats in the house, but it’s a good thing that your ears are so awesome or there might have been more.”

“Mama didn’t hear them. She doesn’t hear anything when she sleeps. I told her because I was scared.”

“You don’t have to be scared anymore.” He gently ran his hand down her hair. “You were good to tell her. Go back to bed, honey.”

“Thank you for chasing the bats away, Mr. Calhoun.” Aubrey hugged him. She could tell that Clayton was surprised by the move, but he hugged her back, looking much more natural with a child than she had expected.

“You’re welcome.”

Aubrey pulled away from him to hug Daisy. “Goodnight again, Mama.”

“Goodnight again, baby.” Daisy watched her until she disappeared down the hallway. “I love that kid.”

“You should. She’s sweet.” He grabbed her hips and pulled her close, resting his cheek against her stomach. “You scared the shit out of me.”

“Were we that loud?”

“Yes. Our houses are close together. I thought somebody had broken in.”

“And you were prepared to chop them up into tiny little pieces for us. I’m touched.” She leaned down and kissed his forehead. “I’m glad you came over. I had no freaking idea what I was going to do about those bats. My plan was to lock me and Aubrey in a room and hope they went away on their own by morning. We really needed you tonight,” she told him as she reached up to stroke his beard.

“You would have figured something out.” He shut his eyes and she could tell that now the adrenaline was gone the tiredness was setting in. But she didn’t want him to go just yet.

“I’m still feeling a little freaked out. That bat came right at my face. Will you stay a little while? We’ll stay here on the couch.”

“Okay.” In one swoop, he had rolled her on to the couch, her body tucked neatly into his.

“Get a blanket,” she ordered softly. He pulled one of the oversized throws off the side and tossed it over them.

He buried his face in her neck, kissing her there once. She knew the kiss wasn’t meant to be arousing, but it was. He always turned her on, without even trying and now he was there with his hard body wrapped around hers, nearly naked, only underwear covering his beautiful scarred body.

“I like sleeping with you,” he told her in a sleepy voice.

“I know. You never fail to voice how appreciative you are when we are together.”

He opened his eyes, giving her a devilish smile. “I meant actually sleeping. Not sex and like is not a strong enough word for how I feel about that.”

“You’re going to stay the night?”

“You don’t want me to?”

“No. I do.”

“I’ll be gone before she wakes up. I don’t sleep that well, but I slept well with you. And if we didn’t have to go back to work that afternoon, I would have stayed in the back of that truck and dreamed with you.”

She was speechless at those words. He was truly sweet. He didn’t even know how sweet he was and she knew her heart was in danger. She wasn’t ready to fall in love. She didn’t want to fall in love.

She still missed Danny. But she was still angry at her husband for so many things. And Clay told her he wasn’t good for her, that being home in Durant wasn’t good enough for him, but her heart was stupid and foolish and easy. She could fall in love with this man and it would be awful when it all went wrong.

But he was here now and he was sleepy and he wanted to be with her. And she would let him because her body didn’t feel right until it was with him.

She ran her fingers up his leg, touching that thick scar on his thigh. “You make me hard when you touch me there,” he said, his voice thick with arousal. “Quit it.”

“I wasn’t trying to. I was just wondering what happened to you.”

“IED. Improvised explosive device. A big one went off, killing three of my men and four kids who were playing soccer nearby. They put nails, and rocks and ball bearings in it. It can literally rip a man apart. I was lucky the nail that was lodged in my thigh only nicked my femoral artery. I could have bled out in seconds. I would have bled out if Abraham wasn’t there. He stopped me from pulling it out of my leg. I had too much adrenaline pumping through me to realize that wasn’t the only place I had been hit. I was in the hospital for weeks, but nobody knows that except the army. I made sure they didn’t notify my family.”

“Why not?”

“I didn’t want them to worry any more than they already were. Either I lived or I died. They didn’t need to know the details of the in between.”

“They sent someone to tell me,” she whispered. “I opened the door and fell to my knees, but he had only been injured then. I say only like it wasn’t the worst thing that had ever happened to him. His helicopter was shot down just as it was taking off. He was the only one who survived and he barely did. He had massive internal injuries, but he healed. He just hadn’t healed enough for the military to allow him to go back to active duty.”

“I heard about that.” Clayton buried his hand deep into her hair. “I saw the pictures of the wreckage. He shouldn’t have survived. There’s no way he should have survived.”

“But he did. Only to get behind the wheel of a car drunk out of his mind and crash into a pole. I’m just glad he killed himself and no one else. I’m almost glad he died that night. Because I knew he was going to keep drinking and keep putting people’s lives at risk every time he got behind the wheel.”

“Daisy. Sweetheart, don’t cry.” He wiped the tears from her cheeks.

“I promise I’ll only cry a little this time. I’m sad. Not just for Danny. I’m sad for you. I’m sad that you almost died.” She gave him a wobbly smile. “This is your fault. There is something about you that makes me want to completely break down.” She felt safe with him, safe enough to say to him what she was too afraid to tell anyone else.

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“You should. Kiss me. Just a little bit. Just enough so I don’t feel what I’m feeling anymore.”

His slid his hands up her cheeks and kissed her, just like she asked, just soft enough, just sweet enough, just enough to bring her comfort and make her forget the sadness that had washed over her.

He broke the kiss and pulled her closer so that their bodies were just a mass of tangled limbs and she drifted off to sleep wondering how she ever slept without him before.

*

What the hell was he doing here? Clayton looked down at Daisy who was still in his arms, huddled close to him as if she were cold. It wasn’t cold. It was almost summer and the rays from the early morning sun hit her face, lighting it as she slept. But she was still so close to him. Wrapped around him. He knew he should get up, go home before Aubrey woke up, but he couldn’t pull himself away just yet.

And that was a problem.

He kissed her cheek, brushing the hair out of the way so he could see her sleeping face more clearly. He thought he had it rough when the IED struck his unit, but her husband…

He had it much worse. His shit was darker than Clayton’s, deeper and he couldn’t pull out of it. He couldn’t pull himself together for this woman and the kid who was depending on him.

He kissed her again, hating that she had to go through that but, as he lifted his lips from her skin he felt he wasn’t alone with her and he looked up to see Aubrey standing there in her little princess printed nightgown. They had been busted.

He opened his mouth to say something to her, but couldn’t think of any words to explain this.

“You slept over?” she asked as if mildly curious.

“Yes.” He swallowed, feeling as if he were a kid explaining to an angry father why he was in his daughter’s bed. “I wanted to make sure there were no more bats.”

“Were there?”

“No. You didn’t hear your mom screaming, right?”

Aubrey grinned at him. “She screams loud.”

“You do too. I’m surprised they didn’t hear you in the next county.”

“You were kissing her.” Aubrey’s eyes traveled to Daisy. “Do you like her?”

“Yes.” He couldn’t lie to her. He did like Daisy. He liked her a troubling amount.

“Maybe you should marry her.”

Clayton looked down at Daisy who hadn’t stirred once in her sleep.

“She’s really tired. She can’t hear us. You should marry her if you like her. Mama needs a new husband. She’s a good wife.”

“Is she? How do you know?”

“She’ll love you. Mama is good at that. She’ll love you.”

His heart slammed against his ribs in that moment and the urge to flee hit him hard. The last thing he needed was some little kid dreaming up a happy ending for him and her mother. She didn’t need him in her life. One wounded ex-soldier was enough for any woman. And he had other plans anyway. None of them had involved becoming someone’s husband. “Your mom is still tired. Why don’t you let her sleep in a little longer while you get ready for school?”

*

“You’re here. In person,” Harvey Kurt said to Clayton as he sat in his office later that morning. “I’m taking that as a sign that you’re ready to talk seriously about the job offer now.”

Kurt was a former Army Ranger, turned FBI agent, turned defense contractor who had tracked Clayton down and offered him a spot on his team. “I’m ready to talk.”