Hold On (Delos Series Book 5) (36 page)

Gasping, she threw off the covers, her bare feet meeting the cold cedar floor. She had never slept so late! Pushing off the bed, she quickly gathered her clothes, opening the door. Down the hall she could hear Christmas music coming from a radio in the living room. Where was Beau? She didn’t see him as she crossed the hall to the bathroom. She needed to get awake first. Take a hot shower, wash her hair, and get dressed, in that order.

By the time she emerged nearly an hour later, she met Beau coming in the front door. He was carrying a huge load of cut pine in his arms for their fireplace. He stomped off the snow from his boots, looking handsome in his leather jacket and the green muffler around his neck, his baseball cap in place.

“Hey, sleepyhead,” he teased, shutting the door, grinning at her. “Finally woke up, huh?” He took the wood to the fireplace, opened up the screen, and tossed a few logs into it.

“Hi, Beau. I think I need coffee,” she mumbled, giving him an apologetic look in return.

“I just made a pot,” he said, straightening. “You were in the shower when I came in last time.”

“Bless you,” she whispered, moving to the kitchen.

Chuckling, Beau took off his cold-weather gear, hanging it on hooks next to the door. Callie’s shining hair fell around her shoulders, and she wore a dark blue sweatshirt with Christmas decorations on the front, making her look more like a child than a woman. It was obvious that she loved Christmas.

His body ached as he watched her move in those jeans that made her hips and long legs so damn tempting. She never wore tight clothes, preferring clothes that fit her comfortably. They couldn’t hide her charms from him, though.

She had poured him a cup of coffee when he sauntered into the kitchen. “Hungry?” he asked.

“I am,” she admitted. “What about you? Have you eaten?”

“A long time ago. Go sit down at the table,” he coaxed. “I made scrambled eggs and diced ham with sliced red and green peppers earlier. I put it in the fridge. I can warm it up for you if it sounds tempting.”

Giving him a grateful look, she moved to the table and sat down. “Sounds wonderful, thank you.”

He nodded and opened the fridge, taking out the bowl. “That’s pretty much the intention, gal.”

“You’re spoiling me, Beau. You know that?”

He arched a brow as he put some olive oil in a black iron skillet. “Every once in a while, I find we all need a little spoiling. It’s good for our soul. Why do you say that?”

Heat nettled her cheeks. “Well . . . I just thought that because you’re so caring . . .”

He took a fork, pulling the egg concoction out of the bowl and into the warming skillet. “I care about only you, Callie. Okay?” He gave her a sharp look to reinforce his statement. He saw her green eyes flare with hope, and much more.

He decided to take the light approach. “You seemed to sleep real well after I climbed into bed with you. Did you?”

She rolled her eyes. “I felt as if I’d died.” Then she muttered, “Delete that. I did sleep. I slept a full seven hours after you held me last night, Beau. And no more nightmares. Usually, if I try to go back to bed, it picks up where it left off and I get a repeat.”

“Hmm,” he teased, giving her a wicked look. “Maybe I should hold you more often in bed . . .” He saw her lips pull into a slight smile, her eyes telling him that she was considering exactly that.

“I’m giving it serious thought, Beau.”

He said nothing but grinned as he warmed up the eggs in the skillet. Callie was careful with her heart and Beau understood that. He felt good that he’d been a man of his word and had not tried to seduce her last night. God knew, he’d wanted to. What kept him from doing it? He wanted Callie’s trust, the way she’d given it to him before at Bagram. Last night, he’d taken a huge risk by making the suggestion to hold her in bed. He hadn’t expected her to agree, but she had. If only he could get inside this woman’s head and heart. Patience was the key. Could that one time with her outweigh her trauma and shock? Or not? He was going to find out.

“I was out in the indoor riding arena with Graham this morning,” he told her, putting the warmed eggs on a plate. “I asked him which horse would be a good one for me to learn to ride on.”

“Oh, that’s great. What did Grandpa say?”

He brought the plate and flatware over to Callie. “He said there’s a twenty-five-year-old quarter horse named Dude who would be good for me.”

“Dude is quiet and smart,” Callie agreed.

“Want some toast?”

“That would be great, Beau. Thank you.” She was still drowsy. Getting a good night’s sleep though, a full seven hours, uninterrupted, made her feel so much better—it was amazing. After he brought over a plate of toast and strawberry jam, Beau joined her. He sat at her right elbow, watching her eat with her right hand.

“How’s the arm doing this morning?”

“Better. I can feel it’s still weak, but it’s so nice to be able to eat with my right hand again.”

“Do you think you can still teach me to ride?” he teased.

“I think so. After you learn the basics, shall we go for a short trail ride this afternoon? It looks sunny out.”

He turned to look out the window. “Yes, that would be great. Right now, it’s about thirty degrees outside.”

“We’ll dress warmly,” she promised. Looking over at their tree, she said, “Tonight, let’s trim it. Sound good?”

“Sure. It looks like there are plenty of leftover decorations from the family tree.”

“There are,” she agreed, enjoying her food. “We’ll go over and get some boxes of stuff later.”

Beau nodded. He watched Callie eat with real enjoyment for the first time since he’d arrived. She seemed happy. And relaxed. And she was going to be his.

*

By two p.m.,
Beau was on Dude, in a comfortable western saddle riding next to Callie, who was on Ghost, the gray cutting horse. He wondered if Graham McKinley had given him that name and smiled secretly. Beau would have put money on it and planned to ask the Marine just that later when he saw him.

Beau’s butt was sore, but at least he’d learned how to steer Dude and not make a complete fool of himself. Riding a horse was a helluva lot of different than throwing a leg over a mule’s broad back. The afternoon was perfect, with no wind, a warm sun, and a deep blue winter sky vault above them. Callie was leading him from the indoor arena toward a flat trail that skirted the massive pastures where the cattle remained. It was a wide trail, and two horses could easily walk together. Beau liked that their legs occasionally touched one another. The change in Callie was remarkable and filled him with hope. Graham had been right about getting her outdoors.

“I noticed in the main house that there was a room with a long metal barre at the wall with mirrors behind it,” he said, holding her gaze. “Is that where you work out and belly dance?”

“Oh, yes,” she said, smiling. “I go over there every other day and work out. I know you operators are always working out on heavy gym equipment there at Bagram, but I would go over to the women’s gym and do the same thing. Only”—she held up her gloved hand—“I didn’t do weight lifting. I did a lot of warm-up and stretching exercises before putting on some Turkish belly-dancing music, plugging in my iPod earbuds, and then dancing.”

“Wish I could see you do that.”

She smiled. “Tomorrow? I work out about three p.m. every other day. You can come over and watch how athletic belly dancing really is.”

“I’d like that. You were incredibly graceful and hot when you danced at Bagram.” He saw her cheeks grow pink beneath his gruffly spoken compliment.

“Thanks. I think you’re getting a heck of a workout around here, Beau. Every time I see you, you’re helping Grandpa. There’s a lot of work that goes on in the winter, and he’s shorthanded during the holiday season. A lot of his wranglers go home at that time.”

“I like helping out. You’re feeding me and keeping a roof over my head, so why shouldn’t I pay you back in some way?” His pulse bounded as she gave him a blinding smile and he saw the gold dancing in the depths of her eyes. More hope filled Beau, because more than anything, he wanted to help Callie get through this trauma period.

Never mind, he was falling even more helplessly in love with her every hour they were together. The ache to love her grew every day within him. They were slowly moving toward one another, and he could feel her wanting him. Beau was sure Callie knew he wanted her. It wasn’t like he could hide his physical reaction to her. And he was positive that last night she’d been well aware of his hard erection against her backside.

Every day, they moved closer to one another. And every day, Beau was grateful to be here with her. When would she give the signal to him? He knew he was physically attracted to her, but his heart and his soul were equally invested in her as well. Beau had never felt what he felt for Callie before. He couldn’t see his life without her being a permanent part of it.

B
eau had never
seen a belly dancer work out, so he was more than a little curious as Callie led him into her dance room at the main house the next afternoon. They had already spent the morning cleaning out box stalls, with Beau doing most of the heavy work because Callie’s broken arm could not handle the weight of a pitchfork full of straw and horse poop. But she did help by currycombing each horse as he cleaned out six stalls. They worked well together, and both of them felt a new connection beginning to form between them.

The sunlight poured into two large windows opposite the barre where Callie was beginning her stretching exercises. Beau sat down on the shining cedar floor, its red and gold colors showing its age and beauty. The door to the exercise room was open, and Maisy popped in.

“Oh, good,” she called to Callie. “It’s great to see you back at work,” and she grinned, waved to them, and continued down the hall.

Beau observed Callie, now wearing gray sweatpants and a loose red T-shirt that hung to her slender waist. Her molten hair was up in a ponytail. Her bare feet gave her an especially vulnerable look this morning.

The room was cool but not cold, and Callie’s iPod sat nearby on the floor. She had looked up from her stretching as her grandmother had greeted her.

“Have you not been doing your usual exercises?” Beau asked.

“No,” Callie admitted. “When I got home, I felt paralyzed. Like a wounded rabbit, all I wanted to do for the first five days was hide in my bedroom. I slept a lot, but it was all broken sleep peppered with nightmares.”

Nodding, Beau said nothing. Callie looked delicious as she held her hand on the barre and then did what she called a “fencing position stretch,” getting her thighs warmed up for the demands that would be put on them later. The windows behind him showed off the bright azure sky, and the western sunshine poured into the area, warming it naturally. In two more days, it would be Christmas.

They had decorated their tree last night and it turned out to be a lot of fun, giving their cabin a festive look.

Now Graham came to a halt in the doorway, his hands on his hips.

“About time,” he called out to Callie.

She grinned. “Hi, Grandpa. Yeah, if I don’t get back to doing this, I’ll lose all that muscle I need for dancing,” she said, and smiled over at him.

“That’s true. Well, it’s good to see you working out again, Callie.” Graham buttonholed Beau. “I’m going into Butte—got to make a run for more sweet feed. Want to go along?”

Beau stood. “Yes, sir.” He gave Callie an apologetic look. “Maybe I can stay next time for your workout, gal.”

She wiped the dampness off her brow. “Sure, no worries. You guys go have fun! And hey, stay out of trouble.” Laughter bubbled out of her.

Graham winked at her. “Nah, our type attracts it. But we’ll be on our best behavior, baby girl. See you later.” He lifted his hand, disappearing down the hall.

Beau smiled and caught up with Graham. He’d been trying to get into town the last few days because he wanted to buy Callie’s family Christmas gifts. Graham knew about his plan and had promised to take him to town. Just his luck that it would happen now! Beau had been looking forward to seeing Callie belly dance once more.

*