Moth to a Flame (10 page)

LOOKING INTO CALE’S blazing, blue eyes, I knew he was turned on by my clothing choice. I could have chosen something not so revealing, but for some reason, I wanted to look sexy for him. He truly was becoming my safe haven. We played our parts well. Mine, the damsel in distress, and his, my knight in shining armor.

After we finished our dinner, we cozied up to each other on the couch with another glass of wine. While relaxing, I couldn’t help but let my mind wonder to the fact that he was such a comforting force in my world after only barely knowing him. Conversation flowed easily as we started off talking about our days before my exciting evening. It was interesting to listen to him speak about his upcoming projects. Cale was so passionate about what he did. It was refreshing to hear it in his voice.

We laughed about Anj and her crazy, romantic notions. Boy, did I have stories to tell on that girl. Cale and I were both hysterically laughing after a while. By the time we finished the bottle of wine, I was feeling a good buzz and finally starting to really relax. I situated myself, turning to face him, and draped my legs across his lap.

“Tell me about your family,” I said, hoping to learn more about him.

He cringed at my words but began speaking. “Well, I’m an only child. I grew up with a dad that liked to control every aspect of my life. He ended up running my mom straight into the arms of another man. Once she left us both, he focused his need to control all on me. Every single part of my life was rehearsed by my dad. He had a standard of what he expected me to be and an image to uphold. I lived every day trying to meet his impossible expectations. We’re estranged now,” he said, patting my thigh.

“I’m so sorry,” I consoled, snuggling closer to him. “My mom and I are really close. I couldn’t imagine how lonely you must have felt growing up. My dad died when I was pretty young, but a few years ago, she married Rich and he’s about as awesome as they come. He really takes care of her and loves me too. I’m sorry you never had that.”

“Lia, don’t worry about me. I had a really good friend, Madison, in high school who helped me through a lot of that pain. Unfortunately, she had her own pain that was too much for her to deal with. She killed herself my freshman year of college. Even though I was completely devastated, I still feel comforted by her wise words all those years ago. You would have loved her kick-ass attitude,” he smiled at her memory.

I frowned, tears filling my eyes as I thought of how hard the loss of her must have been for him.

“What are you so afraid of, Lia?” he asked out of the blue, now gently rubbing my thigh as if to coax it out of me.

I felt my entire body tense up, not at all ready to answer his question. “Want more wine?” I questioned breezily, avoiding the question altogether.

When he nodded, I hopped up and quickly escaped into the kitchen. I wanted to tell him about the abduction three years ago. I hadn’t told anyone, and it would probably feel good to share it with someone, especially Cale, but I wasn’t quite ready to go there yet.

After digging through my cabinet, all I could come up with was an old, half-empty bottle of Crown. I grabbed the bottle and a shot glass before heading back to the living room. Cale watched me as I sat back down beside him.

“I guess you’re out of wine?” he inquired, cocking a sexy eyebrow.

“Yep, so this will have to do,” I answered, filling the glass.

I tossed it down my throat, wincing at the burn as it went down. I’m not much of a heavy drinker but desperate times call for desperate measures. I poured another and handed it to him. His eyes lingered on mine before he drank his shot down in one gulp, handing me the glass back. I filled it again and we repeated the process a couple of times. My body started to heat up as the alcohol began taking effect.

“Where are you taking me on our date tomorrow?” I somewhat slurred, definitely feeling the alcohol now.

“It’s a surprise,” he teased back.

“Ugh, no fair. Please tell me,” I begged, giving him my best puppy-dog face.

He laughed at me, shaking his head no. Feeling brave from the alcohol, I hiked a leg over and straddled him. His laughter died down as I felt him tense beneath my touch.

Leaning forward, I brought my lips to his ear and breathily said, “Please.” I could feel his hardness underneath me through my pajama pants, so I ground against him a little to coax out an answer.

He groaned as he quickly grabbed my hips, urging the movement further. “I’ll tell you if you tell me what you’re so afraid of, Lia,” he murmured, licking his lips.

The question caught me off guard and I jumped off of him to my feet, wanting to avoid it altogether. The sudden movement coupled with my alcohol-induced fog sent me careening onto the floor. Then a pair of strong arms scooped me up.

“Time for bed, little lady,” he whispered as he carried me towards the bedroom.

When we reached my bed, he used one hand to pull back the covers before he set me down. I snuggled into my pillow as he drew the covers over me. His kiss on my cheek was the last thing I remembered before slipping into peaceful oblivion.

The Saturday morning sun streaming in through the window caused me to wake up and notice my pounding head. When I rolled over to check the time, my eyes landed on a note, some ibuprofen, and a bottle of water on my bedside table. I smiled at Cale’s thoughtfulness. After swallowing the pills down, I eagerly opened his letter.

Even his handwriting was sexy. Lord, I had it bad for this guy already. I grinned all the way to the shower, thinking about this completely adorable guy I had somehow snagged up all for myself.

THERE WERE SOME things I had to take care of before our date tonight. Lia hadn’t dated until now, so I had to make it special for her. Hopefully she would go along with what I’d had planned. After a trip to the sporting goods store and the supermarket, I had everything all set.

As I was loading the rest of my purchases into the truck, my phone rang. Hoping it might be Lia, I answered quickly but was stunned into silence when my dad began speaking.

“Hello, son. Listen, I know it’s been a while, but I wanted to let you know that your homes have been featured in the Austin Homes magazine. I didn’t even know you were building homes since you stopped calling your dad, but I’m proud of your achievements, Cale. Roger from the country club said that you built one for his sister. They said it was impeccable work.

“I know you never finished your education—or really started it for that matter—but I think you should move back to Austin and work here at the firm with me. We need another good architect, and with your experience, we could really use you. Of course I’d pay you well and even pay for you to finish your education.

“Also, Gordon and Becky’s daughter Vanessa just moved back in with them. She is going through a divorce, but I always thought you two would—”

“Dad, that’s enough!” I yelled through the phone, interrupting his long-winded speech. “I’ve made a life for myself. I’m doing just fine without you planning every step of the way. Things are finally going the way that I want them. I even met a girl, Dad. So please just stop trying to run my life. You think that, after this many years, you’d be interested in what’s going on with me. But no, you would rather pick up right back where you left off—with you controlling my life,” I spat. I was seriously close to hanging up on him.

“Cale, you always were ungrateful like your mother. Don’t forget that, even though we weren’t talking, it was ‘Daddy’s’ money and friends that helped get you out of that mess a few years ago,” he spewed back at me.

Damn, so it was my dad.

I had hoped and prayed the judge would go easy on me, but the charges had been stacked a mile high from that accident, so it hadn’t looked promising without facing some sort of jail time. Miraculously, it had all seemed to settle pretty simply. I’d just thought my luck had finally been turning. That fucker hadn’t even let me deal with my problems on my own.

“Dad, I don’t have time for this. Maybe one day we can talk when you aren’t trying to force me to do things your way. You clearly have my number, so try harder next time,” I growled before ending the call.

I knocked on Lia’s door, holding one arm behind my back and a backpack slung over my other shoulder. I heard the click of one, two, three locks before she swung the door open with an ear-to-ear grin. The smile on that beautiful girl was enough to erase the shitty conversation with my dad.

I pulled the flowers from behind my back—well, the plant, actually. “Lia, I got you a plant. Since you seem offended by flowers, I wanted to get it right. You can think of me when you water it,” I winked.

She took the plant from me and chuckled, “What will I ever do with you Cale Reeves?” before she set the plant on the table by the window. “So, what’s the plan?” she asked. “Are you taking me to a movie? Dinner? I’ve been going crazy wondering about our date!”

She was dressed in a sparkly, black top, a sexy pair of dark skinny jeans that hugged every curve of her ass, and some impossibly high heels. Her hair was pulled back into a sleek ponytail, accentuating her high cheekbones. My dick was going to hate me for what I was about to say.

“Lia, I told you to dress comfortably. You’re going to have to change,” I sighed, not really wanting to see her in anything but those badass jeans.