Blue Colla Make Ya Holla (26 page)

“Thatta girl,” he encouraged. “You know just what to do.”

It didn’t take long for the kitten to finish. She protested loudly when the bottle ran dry. “She’s still hungry.”

Boone took a baby wipe from the package and began rubbing her bottom. “Yeah, but I don’t want to feed her any more right now. I don’t know how long she’s been without food, and too much too soon might make her sick.”

Caroline watched him with concern. “What in the world are you doing?”

“Caroline, didn’t you ever have kittens or puppies at your house growing up?”

She laughed. “In that mausoleum? Please! The only time I ever got to play with kittens and puppies was at your house.”

He nodded, but his expression was full of pity as he explained, “Mama cats clean their babies’ bottoms after they eat…it stimulates them to go to the bathroom. And since this one doesn’t appear to have a mama, that’ll be your job from now on.”

“What?”

“I have to get the shop opened,” he reminded her. “Since you’re not working anywhere at the moment, you get to be the kitty mama.”

Caroline watched as he put the kitten on some kind of waterproof pad where it promptly peed. “How do you know when she’s about to pee?”

He laughed. “You don’t. It’s going to get messy, princess.”

“Don’t call me that!” The protest was more heated than his teasing tone had warranted. But William had always taunted her about being a spoiled brat, being a princess that couldn’t do anything but take up space and look pretty. Then he’d add the last part was getting harder and harder to manage as her ass kept getting wider. Of course, he’d always attacked when she’d made suggestions about spending more time at home or going to marriage counseling, or asking if he’d be home for dinner.

“I should have known,” she muttered.

*

Boone knew instantly
that he’d said something wrong. “Hey, I didn’t mean anything by that.”

She looked up at him, her big blue eyes full of hurt, and it was like a punch in the gut. He wanted nothing more than to make that look go away.

Shaking her head, her reply was soft. “I know. I’m sorry for being…overly sensitive, I guess.”

As she started to move away from him, Boone knew he couldn’t let that happen. Capturing her hand, he tugged her back. “No. If something hurts you, Caroline, you need to tell me…That way I won’t do it again.”

“It wasn’t you…just, William always called me that, and not in a nice way.”

Boone wanted to kick his ass. It wasn’t the first time he’d felt that way, but it was the first time prompted by protectiveness and not jealousy. “Well, I’ll never call you anything in a not nice way. You deserve a man who appreciates you, Caroline, who would look at you every day and know just how lucky he was to have you.”

God, he wanted it to be him. He’d never wanted anything so badly in his life.

The question burned in his mind, and he had to ask it. “Why did you marry him, Caroline? I never understood that.”

She looked down, a flush staining her cheeks. “It just seemed like the best option at the time…Every time I questioned whether or not it was a good idea, my dad would remind me that no one else was beating down the door to ask me.”

He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. She had to know she was beautiful. “That’s bullshit. You know you’re beautiful.”

She looked up then, her lips parted and a look of surprise on her face. “I know you think that, but not everyone agrees.”

Standing so close to her that he could smell the sweet scent of her shampoo and see the tiny freckles on her nose, his eyes roamed further to the gentle curve of her lower lip. She looked up at him then, wide blue eyes flaring with awareness.

It was as simple as breathing. Leaning in, he settled his lips on hers, savoring the softness, the resilience of her flesh as he staked a claim that had been burning inside him for decades. She tasted like heaven to him, sweet and tart at the same time, like the apples he used to steal in the spring.

She stiffened against him, shock and surprise battling against the sweetness of a kiss he’d waited eighteen years for. There was no question the kiss would win out. To be certain of it, he poured everything he had into it. His lips moved over hers, firm but gentle. Insistent but never harsh.

She sank against him, her body softening, her lips parting. There was no victory dance, only the headlong rush. Taking her bottom lip between his, he nipped it gently, then soothed it lightly with his tongue. Her answering sigh sparked the need in him, the hunger for something more primal.

Tracing the soft curves of her lips with his tongue, he delved inside. A shallow thrust and retreat, something to make her yearn for more.

As much as he wanted her, he needed her to want him more, to be mindless with it. Maybe it was pride, or maybe it was the desperate fear of being crushed by rejection from her, but he needed her to go wild for him. He needed to see the girl next door turn into something dark and edgy because he drove her to it.

Sliding his hand up her back, twining his fingers in the golden strands still damp from the rain, he tugged her head back. It was a dominant gesture, one that stated emphatically that he was in charge. A soft moan escaped her, along with a little shiver that told him she liked it.

The softness of her body against him, the hardened points of her nipples pressing into his chest, was driving him wild. With one hand still tugging at her hair and his lips playing on hers with single-minded determination, his other hand roamed freely. From her rounded shoulders, down to the curve of her waist, and then to the swell of her hips. A dozen images played in his mind, each one involving his fingers digging into that soft flesh as he buried himself inside her again and again.

A tiny yowl from the floor brought reality crashing in on them. The kitten clearly felt like she had been ignored for long enough and began to climb his pant leg, one needle-like claw after another.

Caroline pulled back from the kiss, gasping, her damp lips parted and her eyes wide.

“Why?”

He blinked at her, his brain unable to process anything because all the blood in his body was still rushing south. Bending to scoop up the kitten wasn’t easy since he was stiff as a damned poker. “What the hell does that mean? Why?” he repeated to her as he rubbed the kitten’s chin. It immediately began to rumble out a purr that could shake the windows.

Caroline pinned him with a hard, assessing stare. “Do you want me, or do you just feel sorry for me?”

He dropped his head, his chin resting against his chest. “I feel a lot of things right now, Caroline. And I imagine most of them are going to send me back out for another jog in the rain…but not a damn one of them is pity.”

‡

C
aroline awoke from
a night of lust-fueled dreams. Well, they hadn’t all been lust fueled. Some had involved the tiny kitten that had saved her from making a mistake of epic, disastrous proportion. Kissing Boone—no, she corrected. Being kissed by Boone, because he’d very clearly been the one in charge of everything, including her, had been an eye-opening experience.

Holy hell! That boy could kiss! Man. He was a man. Not a boy. He’d made that abundantly clear. In seconds, he’d robbed her of the ability to think, much less speak.

His strong arms had closed about her, his hard body pressed against her. Just remembering the heavy ridge of his erection pressed against her belly made her hot all over again. Then he’d done that thing…pulling her hair. Not enough to hurt, just enough to put her where he wanted her. Oh yeah. Boone was a full-grown man alright, and there was no going back to seeing him as anything else.

Sitting up, she caught a whiff of Boone’s cologne. He hadn’t let her sleep on the couch, insisting that she take his bed. Not that smelling the intoxicating scent of him on the sheets had helped her out with all those naughty dreams. Forcing herself to get out of the bed, she rose and quickly straightened the covers before walking out into the living room.

The apartment was empty. A note on the table told her Boone had taken the kitten to the vet. Caroline hoped the little thing would be okay. She’d snuck in a few cuddles during the night. It was the rumble/purr/growl combo at impossible decibels that sucked her in. It was irresistible.

Leaving the note on the table, ignoring the little voice in her head pointing out just how thoughtful he was, she headed for the kitchen. She’d just poured a glass of orange juice when she heard the door open. Glancing up, she caught her reflection in the microwave door. Yeah. That was not her best look. Nowhere to hide, Caroline simply hung her head.

“Good morning, sunshine,” he said.

She glared at him. “Don’t tell me you’re one of those morning people?”

“This isn’t morning,” he replied. “It’s practically lunch time.”

She glanced at the clock. It was only half past nine. “You are,” she said accusingly.

He chuckled again as he pulled the kitten from the small box he’d used to transport her in. “You’d never make it in the army, baby.”

“What did they say about her?” she asked, changing the subject.

“Worms. Fleas, though she’s been treated for both now. The eye infection is a little worse. There’s ointment in the box…three times a day,” he said as he placed the kitten in the makeshift pen he’d created for her.

“Where are you going?”

“To sand and paint a countertop. The grand opening is in three days.”

Caroline stared at him. He was seriously going to act like nothing had changed? Like he hadn’t kissed her senseless in that very same kitchen the night before? “That’s it? You’re just going to leave me here and go to work?”

*

Boone took in
her disheveled appearance. Her hair was crazy from tossing and turning all night, hopefully because she’d been thinking about him. She was sleepy-eyed and grumpy, her yoga pants and sweatshirt askew. It shouldn’t have been sexy, but then it was Caroline and she was never not sexy to him.

Sometime during the night, as he’d lain awake hornier for her than he’d been as a sixteen-year-old kid, he’d realized that she had no idea. Somehow, over the course of her marriage, her asshole of an ex-husband had whittled her self-esteem down to nothing. It didn’t surprise him. William had always been a bully, picking on anyone weaker than him. He’d apparently found Caroline’s weak spot and had hammered away at it until she was just lost.

All the things Lucy had said to him at the bar had run through his mind on a loop. He wanted Caroline, but how she saw him wasn’t the only obstacle. How she saw herself was going to be the biggest hurdle.

“What should I do instead, Caroline? Is there some reason I should stay here with you?” As he said it, he moved toward her, backing her against the door of the refrigerator. Their bodies were barely more than a breath apart. “Give me a reason to stay.”

She licked her lips nervously. Her breath was coming in soft little pants. She was nervous, yes, but he knew there was more to it. Placing his hands on the freezer door, on either side of her head, he leaned in. But he didn’t kiss her mouth, as badly as he wanted it. Instead, he placed a gentle kiss on the end of her freckled nose. “Just one reason,” he urged.