A Fair of the Heart, Welcome To Redemption, Book1 (10 page)

Max looked up, a frown creasing his forehead,
the apple fritter forgotten. “No. I never want to see that asshole
again.”

Caleb’s brows drew together. “Hope you don’t
use words like that around your mother.”

Max had the audacity to grin. “Heck, no.
She’d put a drop of hot sauce on my lips while I was sleeping.”

Caleb chuckled, easily imagining Lauren doing
just that. “Sounds like her. But for the record, no swearing around
me either, all right?”

Max gave a quick, sullen nod. “Sure. Hey,
what about jerk off? Can I say that?”

Caleb grinned, despite himself. God, he loved
this kid. “Negative, pal.”

They polished off their midmorning snack, and
got back to work staining the boards. They finished by ten after
eleven, much to Max’s delight. And when Caleb handed him fifty
bucks, he stared at the money in open-mouthed shock.

“I appreciate hard work, so that’s a bonus
for working your tail off. I plan to give your mom what I owe you
to stick in the bank, but the extra is just between us, got it? For
the fair today.”

“Got it! Thanks!”

“And hey, I’m planning to take you, your mom,
and Emma to the fair tomorrow for a few hours, if that’s all
right…?”

“That would awesome! The fireworks are
tomorrow night. Can we stay for `em?”

“Absolutely. No way I’d want to miss the
fireworks.”

He dropped Max off at home, and since Lauren
was in the middle of a hair appointment, he told her to give him a
call later. Caleb had a few stops to make, including a couple of
service calls, and giving an estimate on a kitchen remodel. He
stopped at Hutch’s for a cheeseburger, visiting with the old man
for a while before heading home. After a quick shower, he settled
in to study for the electrician exam.

As he strode through the house, book in hand,
a nagging doubt crept into his mind. He tried to shake it off, but
suddenly found himself full of uncertainties. A ready-made
family…was he crazy to even consider it? He’d never expected to
fall so hard and fast for anyone, let alone a woman with two
kids—one with major anger issues thanks to a father who, in Caleb’s
opinion, should be sitting in a jail cell for abandoning his
children.

Caleb slapped the book on the kitchen table
and plopped down on a chair. Doubt and confusion warred within him
until he thought his brain might explode. He was simply
over-thinking it, that’s all. He’d known Lauren and the kids less
than a week, for crying out loud. Nothing to get worked up over. He
hadn’t even decided for sure if he wanted to stay in
Redemption.

The doorbell rang. Caleb blew out a hard
breath, loath to answer it. He wasn’t exactly in a mood for
company. With reluctance, he shoved back from the table and headed
for the front door.

* * *

Standing on Caleb’s front porch in nothing
but a mid-thigh length black trench coat and a pair of red
stilettos, Lauren immediately second-guessed her ridiculous plan
the moment her finger pressed the doorbell. Crap…maybe if she
hurried she could get the hell out of there before—

The door swung open and there stood Caleb,
his expression priceless as he took her in from coifed head to
painted toe. “Am I dreaming?” he teased, leaning back against the
doorjamb with his arms crossed.

“Yes. Yes, you are. Now close the door and go
back to sleep.” Good Lord, the man was gorgeous in his snug-fitting
white T-shirt tucked into a pair of well-worn Levi’s. Barefoot and
freshly showered, with his tousled hair slightly damp and smelling
of masculine spice, she swore he could have stepped right off the
cover of a magazine.

Taking her all in, he gave his head a shake,
as if he couldn’t quite believe his eyes. “I have to admit,
you…dressed like this, was the last thing I expected to find on my
doorstep.”

Her face flamed. “Seriously, what do you say
I jump back in my car and race home, and you pretend you didn’t
just witness my total humiliation?”

Caleb straightened. “Not a chance.” He
grabbed her by the hand, hauled her inside, and promptly shut the
door. “So…what brings you by?”

Somehow he managed to ask the question with a
straight face, the shit. “Avon calling.”

At that he laughed. He reached out and
fingered the collar of her coat, which she had clutched in a tight
fist. “I’ve never had a woman stop by to seduce me before.”

“I suppose that’s good to know.” Christ, just
grow a pair already and do what you came here to do.

“You completely naked under that coat?”

He looked about ready to rip it open and find
out for himself. The thought sent all her pink parts into
overdrive. She caught her bottom lip between her teeth and struck
what she hoped was a sexy pose. “May-be.”

“What do I have to do to find out?”

“To be honest, a drink might help. Got any
wine?”

He thought about it for a moment, then
grasped her hand and led her into the kitchen. He opened the
fridge, pulled out an unopened bottle of white wine and handed it
to her, then grabbed two glasses from the cabinet above the sink
and a corkscrew from the drawer below it. Without a word, he led
her down the hall to the third room on the left. A bedroom.

“Yours?” she asked as she looked around with
interest. The room, done in shades of blue, with a beautiful pine,
six-drawer side-by-side armoire and matching panel headboard was
quite masculine in tone. But the room seemed to be missing the
usual personal bric-a-brac you would find in someone’s bedroom.
Just a couple of framed prints on the walls and antique looking
water bowl and pitcher set on top of the dresser.

“The guest room. I’ve been sleeping in here
since…I returned home.”

Home. Lauren’s hopes soared. That he still
considered Redemption home was definitely promising. “And the bed’s
made. I’m impressed.” Great, direct his attention to the bed. Now
that’s all he’ll be focusing on.

You came over in a thong and high heels to
seduce him, dumb ass. Isn’t the bed what you want him to focus on?
And if his initial reaction was any indication, his mind’s been
focused there since the moment he opened the front door.

She delicately cleared her throat. “Is there
something wrong with your own room? Or did your mom remodel it into
a den or something?”

“No, it looks pretty much the same as when I
left: posters all over the walls, shelves full of signed Packers
paraphernalia.” He grinned. “A stack of nudie mags under my
bed.”

Lauren rolled her eyes.

He set the glasses down on the nightstand and
took the bottle from her hand. “So…who’s watching the kids?”

“My neighbor, Carrie.” Lauren sat down on the
edge of the bed and squeezed her thighs together. Her trench coat
billowed slightly. After a quick glance at Caleb, who had deftly
worked the cork from the bottle, she pressed it down and crossed
her ankles. Good Lord, you’d think she was a virgin the way her
nerves were getting to her. Take a deep breath and relax. You want
this—you want him.

Caleb handed her a glass of wine and sat down
next to her. They both took a couple of sips. Lauren watched him
from her peripheral vision while feigning interest in the painting
over the bed. She could feel the heat of his gaze as if it were a
living thing, consuming her from the inside out. Miracle she didn’t
burst into flames.

“I don’t know what it is you do to me, lady,
but I swear I’m as anxious as the first time I had a girl alone in
my room.”

“Really? Not me, I’m cool as a cucumber.”

Caleb chuckled. “What a pair we are.” He
drained his glass, and then poured himself another. Guess she
wasn’t the only one with unsteady nerves. He gulped down half the
second glass, twirled it around in his hands a few times, then
finally turned to face her. “I’ve wanted you since the first moment
I laid eyes on you.” As soon as the words left his mouth, he gave
his head self-deprecating shake. “Sorry. That sounded a whole lot
better in my head. Talk about pathetic clichés.”

“Actually, it was the most romantic thing any
man has ever said to me. My ex wasn’t one to waste words, and
sadly, he was my first. And my only.” She took another sip of her
wine before casting him a sidelong glance. “Now who’s
pathetic?”

Caleb took her glass from her hand and set
both on the floor. “You’re beautiful, smart, funny…any man would be
damn lucky to have you. And you deserved a helluva lot better than
an asshole like that for your first.” He cupped the side of her
face and gently traced the hollow of her cheek with his thumb.

Lauren’s eyes drifted shut as the tenderness
of his touch nearly overwhelmed her. Amazed by how much she’d come
to desire this man, and to trust him, she leaned into his strength,
absorbing it like a dry sponge. It had been so long since she and
John were intimate, but as anxious as she was right now, there
really was nowhere on earth she’d rather be.

“You okay?” he murmured, his warm breath
whispering over her cheek, causing goose bumps to break out across
her heated skin. “If you’ve changed your mind, if you’re not ready
for this, I’ll understand.”

She turned slightly, just enough to meet his
gaze. “No, I want this. I mean, I’m the one who…” She waved a hand
at herself to make her point. “It’s just been awhile, you
know?”

He traced the line of her jaw, the column of
her throat. “Believe it or not, it’s been awhile for me, too. In
fact…” His words trailed off, and he hung his head for a second.
“Damn. I don’t have any protection.”

“I do.” Her cheeks grew hot as a slow smile
spread across his handsome face. “Carrie stuffed a few condoms in
my hand as I was leaving.”

He leaned in and kissed her, a slow drag of
his lips across hers. Lauren pressed against him, eager for his
touch, wanting this man so badly she was practically shaking with
need. Throwing caution to the wind, she disentangled herself from
his arms and stood up, ready to shed her coat—along with her
inhibitions.

Caleb leaned back and held her gaze, his
smile reassuring. She smiled coyly, catching her bottom lip between
her teeth as she slowly unbuttoned her coat and spread it open
before letting it drop to the floor. Standing before him in nothing
but a pair of red stilettos and a lacy red thong, Lauren held her
breath as he raked his gaze up and down her slightly trembling
frame.

“My God, you’re stunning,” he said, rising to
his feet to stand before her. Caleb drank in the sight of her, his
gaze so hot it literally warmed her from head to toe. He grabbed
the hem of his T-shirt and yanked it over his head, tossing it on
the floor beside her coat.

Having Caleb semi naked as well helped to
settle her nerves a bit, and she eagerly reached out to trace a
finger over his tight abs. “You’re pretty spectacular
yourself.”

He stepped closer and cupped both of her
breasts in his big hands. Lauren’s head fell back and her eyes
fluttered shut as he teased and molded, her nipples tightening into
pebbled peaks. A soft moan escaped her as heat flooded her core and
her entire body sizzled to life.

“God, how I want you,” Caleb admitted in a
low tone as he slipped an arm under her knees and swept her off her
feet.

Lauren felt faint with desire. And not simply
because it had been forever since she’d had sex; since she’d felt
loved and cherished. The need to feel a man’s arms around her, to
feel him buried deep inside her, had lain dormant for so long she’d
almost forgotten what it felt like—until the incredibly sexy Caleb
Hunter appeared on her doorstep and sent her libido into a
tailspin.

“You okay?” he whispered, gazing down at her
with concern. “Feels like I lost you.”

“Sorry. I’m fine, please continue.”

He chuckled, a sexy masculine rumble. “Yes,
ma’am.”

She tunneled her fingers through his hair as
he spun them around and carefully laid her on the bed. He stretched
out beside her, his head propped on one hand while the other moved
over her body in almost worshipful fashion, tracing the curves of
her breasts, the flare of her hip, the smooth line of her legs. He
gently stroked his way back up, past the apex of her thighs,
brushing against the golden curls—making her breath catch—before
leaning in to dip his tongue into her navel.

Lauren clutched the bedspread beneath her in
a death grip to keep from catapulting off the bed. Every inch of
her hummed with anticipation as he slipped his fingers beneath the
waistband of her thong and slowly peeled the tiny scrap of material
down her legs. She lifted her feet so he could remove them,
expecting him to slip her stilettos off as well. He didn’t.
Instead, he climbed off the bed and stood before her as he grasped
the button of his jeans.

Lauren watched with feminine appreciation as
he unbuttoned his jeans and slid the zipper down, slowly, as if
giving her one last chance to back out. But thoughts of fleeing had
long since dissipated, and all she longed to do was strip those
jeans off him herself and have her way with him.

A shameless floozy only in her own mind,
however, she settled for merely ogling him as he worked the
well-worn denim down his muscular thighs and legs. He dropped them
to the floor and kicked them aside. The proof of his desire swelled
unmistakably behind his boxer-briefs. A slow throb flared to life
in her lower belly as he yanked them off and freed his hard length.
Her heart thudded crazily as she took in his powerfully built arms
and shoulders, his broad chest, lean abs, and those thickly muscled
thighs. He truly was the most amazing man she’d ever laid eyes
on.

Caleb lay down beside her, gathering her in
his arms again and molding his hard frame against her soft curves.
He stroked a hand down her back as he reclaimed her mouth. His hot
tongue plunged between her lips, exploring, searching, demanding
yet coaxing.