Kaleb
Authors: Nicole Edwards
Kaleb
An
Alluring Indulgence
Novel
Nicole Edwards
Dedication:
To all of my readers, this one is for you.
You make me smile, you make me laugh, and above all
else, you make me love what I do.
Thank you. ~Nic~
Copyright © 2012 by Nicole Edwards
All rights reserved.
Kaleb
– An Alluring Indulgence Novel
is a work of fiction.
Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the
products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any
resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely
coincidental.
This
book may not be resold or redistributed without the express consent of the
author.
Cover Image by: MARYNA BORYSEVYCH
Table of
Contents
One
♂♀
“Are
you fucking kidding?” Kaleb could barely make out his youngest brothers words
as Zane doubled over in laughter.
“Hell, no.
I’m dead serious. Sawyer was standing on the side of the road, holding up a
sign that said ‘will work for sex’. I shit you not.” Kaleb finished pouring his
coffee before taking his mug back to his desk, dodging Zane in the process.
Hello?
This was Sawyer Walker they were talking about, so Kaleb shouldn’t have been
all that surprised really. But, he’d been hard pressed to keep his jaw out of
his lap as he drove past his brother standing shirtless, wearing jeans and shit
kickers while standing on the side of the road holding up the damn sign. To top
it off, there was a truck full of women pulled over talking to him.
“You
know Dad’s gonna be pissed when he sees it.” Zane doubled over in another fit
of laughter.
Kaleb
wasn’t all that worried about their father and what he thought about Sawyer’s
wild and crazy antics. It was their mother they actually had to worry about.
Curtis Walker would laugh right along with Zane, but Lorrie Walker would be fit
to be tied.
But
that was Sawyer for you. At thirty three, he wasn’t supposed to be the wildest
of the seven of them, but he even gave Zane a run for his money.
The
screen door slammed and Zane sat upright, immediately choking on his laughter.
As Travis made his way into the small kitchen, Kaleb barely suppressed a groan.
“What’s
going on?” The oldest of the seven Walker brothers wasn’t smiling, and Kaleb
had a feeling he wouldn’t find Sawyer’s antics all that funny anyway, so Kaleb
kept his mouth shut.
“Sawyer’s
down on Main and 1
st
half-dressed holding up a sign.”
“Fuck.”
Kaleb muttered and pinned his brother with a death glare.
“Seriously,
Zane?”
He
was met with a shrug.
Telling
Travis anything that didn’t pertain to Walker Demolition was like telling their
mother as far as Kaleb was concerned. The oldest of the Walker boys at thirty
five, Travis had turned into an old man in recent years – at least as far as
his mood was concerned.
“Fuck.”
Travis groaned as he turned to the coffee pot sitting on the counter. “When
will he ever grow up?”
Today,
just like any other day, Kaleb was going to give Travis a wide berth, not to
mention, knock Zane upside his head for telling on Sawyer. “Likely never if I
had to guess.” Kaleb chimed in, knowing that was the only sufficient answer.
“Did
you hear back from Carl Stranford?” Travis glanced over his shoulder at Kaleb
before returning his attention to pouring his coffee. “You were going by his
house yesterday?”
Suddenly
wishing he’d had more coffee, Kaleb rubbed his hand over the back of his neck
trying to squeeze some of the tension out. Not that there ever was a good time
to have this conversation with Travis, but now certainly wasn’t it.
“Yeah.”
He definitely stopped by Carl’s, just like he had several times that week, but his
brief conversation hadn’t resulted in anything other than the expected
‘Let
me think about it, Kaleb, and get back with you.’
“Shit.”
Travis groaned, obviously knowing what that response had been before Kaleb even
had to say it out loud. “That man keeps stalling, and I don’t know what the
hell for. You’d think he’d be ready to sell off a portion of that land by now.
He’s all but lost every one of his crops and to tell you the truth, I’m getting
damn tired of waiting.”
And
if Carl didn’t do something soon, he’d lose a lot more than just his crops, but
Kaleb wasn’t going to share that with Travis just yet. Until he had the chance
to talk to Zoey about it, he wasn’t ready to spread the devastating news.
Not
to mention, it wouldn’t matter what he told Travis because until he had a firm
agreement from Carl, none of it mattered. His oldest brother would just get
even more pissed off than he already was.
Walker
Demolition – the company Kaleb and his brothers had built from the ground up –
had grown leaps and bounds over the last few years, and instead of being
content with what they’d built, Travis was ready to venture in another
direction, expand their horizon’s he’d said.
Instead
of focusing solely on tearing shit up, Travis had come up with the idea to
build a resort.
Not that Kaleb didn’t think it was a
brilliant idea because he did.
He was just content with the tearing shit
up part.
The
plans he’d seen for a mega resort the likes of which their small town had never
seen, were underway. They’d received the necessary approvals, and now the only
thing left to do was to secure the land. Travis had already bought out two of
their adjacent neighbors, acquiring a good three hundred acres of decrepit old
farmland, but he hadn’t been satisfied with that. Now he was looking for
another hundred that backed up to what they’d already purchased. Only this land
belonged to Carl Stranford, an ornery old farmer who had been giving them the
runaround for the better part of the last six months.
“Call
him.” Zane’s tone was laced with sarcasm. “Or better yet, go see him. Maybe
some of your macho intimidation will make him come to a decision.”
Kaleb
groaned.
Zane
was the youngest of seven and considering the age difference between him and
Travis, he didn’t remember much of the Travis they had all grown up with. The
fun loving, hang on by the seat of your pants guy they’d all wanted to be like.
But that man never returned from the four year stint in the Army. In his place
was the grouchy, unsmiling man that sat before them now.
“I
might just do that.” Travis snapped, before turning and walking out of the
room.
When
the screen door slammed behind their brother, Zane turned to Kaleb. “Why don’t
you go talk to Carl? Or better yet, Zoey?”
“What
does Zoey have to do with this?”
Zane
liked to give Kaleb shit about Carl Stranford’s only daughter. Not only had she
been Kaleb’s closest female friend for the better part of the last decade, she
was also the woman Kaleb had always wanted, but never had. Despite the ever
present physical attraction, he’d somehow managed to be friends with her
without ever trying to push it any further, although he’d wanted to.
More than wanted to.
Since
she’d never shown even an inkling of interest in him other than friendship,
Kaleb had opted to take what he could get and they’d established a very solid
friendship. Hell, the woman knew everything there was to know about him and
most of his brothers, yet she still chose to associate with him, so he
considered himself lucky.
They
were infamous in their little town, but that was mostly due to their wild and
crazy behavior since about the time each of them could walk. They were a rowdy
bunch, and there was a long list of rumors associated with them – some true,
some not entirely true. For whatever reason, Zoey chose to ignore them, and for
that, he was grateful.
Not that Zoey Stranford wasn’t as wild
as they came.
That was partly what he found so damn
attractive about the woman. She didn’t care what other people thought about
her, and it seemed her one goal was to have fun and not hurt anyone in the
process.
So,
he’d mastered the art of pretending when it came to Zoey. First and foremost,
he was her friend, but that wasn’t the problem. His issue was in learning to
hide the unbridled lust burning deep and hot for as long as he’d known her.
And
since his brothers had dubbed her the one woman who wouldn’t give him the time
of day, they loved to give him a hard time about her.
It
certainly wasn’t a hardship being friends with Zoey, but it had gotten
increasingly more difficult in the last few years. Ever since she and that
jackass Jason Tribbons divorced, Kaleb did everything he possibly could to make
sure he kept his feelings for her hidden. But hell, he wasn’t a saint and he
wasn’t sure how much longer he could pull off the charade.