Kaleb (9 page)

“Oh,
right, you’re the little girl from next door. I didn’t recognize you since you
don’t look like a
boy
.” Regina said in the poorest excuse for nice that
he’d ever seen. She was talking to Zoey as though she weren’t twice the woman
Regina could ever be.

Turning
his attention on the woman beside him, he smiled down at her and then turned to
go. He didn’t have anything to say to the scheming, cheating bitch
who
once had Kaleb convinced they were going to get married
one day. He’d never fully fallen into that trap until...

Realizing
he didn’t want to think about her deceit, he started to tell her as much, but
Regina put her hand on his arm and smiled back at him.

“If
you wouldn’t mind, once you take Zoey home, I’d like to talk to you.” Regina
whispered, none too quietly.
“In private.”
The
seductive grin she sent him had the hair on the back of his neck standing up in
warning. The woman just didn’t quit.

If
he knew Regina, which, unfortunately, he did, she was doing this just to get a
rise out of Zoey. She would stoop to any level just to prove what a complete
bitch she was. Regina knew as well as he did that he wouldn’t give her the time
of day, much less talk to her alone in private.

“Kaleb,”
Zoey interrupted, smiling up at him. “You might want to let her know that I
don’t plan on going home tonight.
At least not alone.”

Kaleb
bit back a groan. Zoey might’ve just said that to bait Regina, or piss her off,
but his body didn’t know the difference. Smiling down at her, he pulled her
close and pressed his lips to hers. “Don’t worry, baby. I don’t have any
intentions of leaving you alone tonight.”

Zoey
kissed him back before smiling up at Regina. “Sorry.” She smirked, sounding
anything but.

Damn
the woman drove him absolutely wild. But that was Zoey for you.
All spunk.

“Regina, look.”
Kaleb turned back to her. “I’m not sure why you’re here, but I promise, if I
find out you’re going after one of my brothers, you won’t like the
consequences.”

Regina
had already tried it once. Four years ago to be exact. After all but convincing
Kaleb she was pregnant with his child, she had the audacity to try to sneak
into Sawyer’s bed one night after he’d had way too much to drink. As it turns
out, most people, namely women didn’t understand the true depth of their
brotherly bond.

A
Walker man didn’t turn his back on his family, and sleeping with one another’s
women, unless with their explicit consent, would cross a line none of them were
willing to cross. And yes, there were times when they had shared a woman, many
times, in fact, but never unless everyone was in agreement.

Regina
had never been one that any of them shared, and Kaleb had a sneaking suspicion
she resented him for it.
Among other things.

Regina
narrowed her eyes on Kaleb and put her hands on her hips. “I don’t care about
your warnings, Kaleb. I never have. And you can’t stop me from going after what
I want.”

“No,
you’re right. I can’t stop you. But I can assure you, not a one of them is
interested in yesterday’s trash, especially not the likes of you.” With that,
Kaleb turned and would’ve walked away if the one person guaranteed to ensure
Regina Hollingsworth wasn’t allowed to get her claws into another Walker man didn’t
walk up.

“Why’re
you here?” Lorrie
asked,
coming to stand on Zoey’s
other side, glancing from Regina then to Kaleb and down to Zoey.
“Hey there, sweetie.
I’m so glad you could come tonight.”

Kaleb’s
mother leaned in and hugged Zoey before taking a step back and pinning Regina
with that
don’t fuck with my family
glare they’d all seen on her face
only a few times in their lives.

“Congratulations,
Mrs. Walker.” Regina smiled, apparently aiming for sweet.

Kaleb
glanced down at his mother, seeing the tight line of her lips as she obviously
fought back some pretty nasty comments.

“I
admit I wasn’t privy to the guest list, but I’d bet my last dollar you’re not
on it.” Lorrie was fit to be tied, and Kaleb had to fight back a smile. Not
that he wanted his mother’s night to be ruined, but seeing her stand up to the
deceitful bitch made him proud.

“Regina
was just leaving, Ma.” He assured her, looking back at Regina.

“I
most certainly am not.” She argued, cocking her hip and putting her hands down
to her side. Her attempt to get all high and mighty, which she was known to do,
was thwarted when one of those spiked heels got lodged into the moist earth
beneath her feet sending her stumbling.

Zoey,
bless her, didn’t have the decency not to laugh, which only made Lorrie and
Kaleb follow suit, which only pissed Regina off more. The laughter died the
moment Kaleb’s father approached, putting an arm around Kaleb’s mother and
shooting fire from his eyes. “I see my boys didn’t think about security
tonight.”

Kaleb
watched in utter fascination as Curtis took it upon himself to seek out the
nearest person – his cousin Jaxson – to “assist the woman back to her vehicle”,
his gruff tone instructed. Jaxson looked more than happy to escort Regina from
the property. Once they were on their way, Regina sending death glares at the
four of them, the tension eased, and Zoey spoke first.

“Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Walker.”

“Awww, thank you, honey.”
Lorrie smiled, her brilliant blue eyes sparkling. “I’m glad you could join us.”

Kaleb
was still holding Zoey’s hand, and he saw the instant his father noticed, as
well. The look in his dad’s eyes was more of a warning than anything, and Kaleb
nodded his head in silent agreement.

His
parents had nothing to worry about, although he knew they would. They would
worry for both Zoey and Kaleb, but as far as he was concerned, they were
wasting their time. Whatever was going on between them, they were both grown up
enough to handle it.

Thankfully
another group of people stopped by and distracted his parents and Kaleb took
the opportunity to sneak away, leading Zoey away from the throngs of people.
When they were out of ear reach, Zoey turned and looked up at him. “That bitch
definitely hasn’t aged well.”

Kaleb
chuckled. Regina Hollingsworth was just as beautiful as always, at least in the
physical sense, but once they had all realized her agenda, there wasn’t a lick
of makeup that could help her now. Zoey was right, Regina hadn’t aged well.

Zoey
turned and glared behind him, apparently looking to see if Regina was still
around, but then turned her attention back on him. When he met her eyes, he
expected to see something other than the warmth that radiated from the cobalt
blue orbs. “Well, nobody’s perfect.” She teased him. “Maybe now you’ll realize
whose door you should’ve been knocking on all along.”

Kaleb
gripped Zoey’s hand, pulling her around to the side of the house where they had
a small measure of privacy before pressing her against the stone wall. “Are you
teasing me, woman?” He asked, wanting to get lost in the warmth of her gaze.

“Maybe.”
She smiled, tracing his lip with her thumb.

“You
better be careful.” He warned her. “I’ve known for a long time that I don’t
have any control when it comes to you.”

“Well,
I’ve dreamt of a million ways to make you lose control, so we’re even.”

Kaleb
crushed his mouth down on hers, needing her kiss, needing her touch, but trying
to remember where they were. He didn’t let it go nearly as far as he wanted to
when he pulled back and glanced down at his watch. “How long’s this damn thing
going to last anyway?”

Zoey
laughed,
then
slid her small fingers into his once
again. “Come on. I think there’s a dance floor calling your name.”

He
didn’t hear a damn dance floor, but he could hear a bed calling his name. Or
hell, the wall would suffice. Either way, Kaleb knew that they weren’t going to
make it through the night before he had her completely naked and he was using
his tongue to explore a whole lot more than just her mouth.

♀♂

Regina
Hollingsworth was a crazy, delusional bitch and Zoey couldn’t stand the sight
of her any more now than she could back then. It wasn’t her snotty attitude or
the too tight skirt or the too revealing shirt, or even the ugly ass heels she
wore. It was the woman herself and her lack of any type of conscience.

Zoey
remembered what had happened between Kaleb and Regina mainly because of how
giddy she’d been to find out that Kaleb wouldn’t be getting married. She’d been
conflicted at the time because learning that Regina had wronged Kaleb in such a
horrible way had broken her heart for him, but in turn, she was thankful that
he hadn’t gone through with any plans to marry her.

At
the time, their friendship had been on the back burner, mainly because of her
marriage and Kaleb’s relationship with Regina. Rightfully so, they were both
working on their own love lives and their significant others hadn’t appreciated
their close friendship. So, they had abandoned one another temporarily.

As
if it wasn’t unfortunate enough that Regina had lied to Kaleb, and the rest of
the Walker family, convincing them all she was pregnant, but to have tried to
sleep with Sawyer... That was an all-time low. It was evident the woman didn’t
know the Walker family all that well because she would have realized early on
that they didn’t swing that way.

With
Kaleb pressed against her now, holding her close as they two stepped slowly
across the makeshift dance floor, Zoey sent up a silent thank you.

Despite
the fact that Kaleb had been hurt by such awful deceit, Zoey knew she wouldn’t
even have this chance now had Regina finally snagged him for good. She figured
once a Walker man married, he married for always, and that would have been a
long road for Kaleb.

Zoey
remembered the story, knew Regina had gone so far as to try to convince
everyone she actually lost the baby, and for a time, Kaleb and Lorrie had both
been devastated. Only one night, when Regina was in a drunken rage down at
Moonshiner’s, she’d out and out admitted it was all a lie.
Which
was the reason Zoey was so damn surprised the woman actually had the audacity
to show up tonight.

As
it turned out, Regina tried to sneak into Sawyer’s bed in an attempt to get the
two brothers at one time. And that was another rumor that ran rampant through
their small town. The Walker boys were known to be just a little wild, and
there were some exceptionally hot stories by women who claimed to have been
taken by more than one of them at a time.

Zoey
and Kaleb had never talked about that side of him, although she knew, for a
fact, the rumor was true. There were many nights Zoey fantasized about what it
would be like to be the filling in such an intensely sexy Walker sandwich, but
her friendships with the men made those exactly that.
Fantasies.

The
idea of being with one of the Walker boys, namely Kaleb, was so much more than
Zoey could fathom, she couldn’t even imagine being with two of them at one
time. What would it even be like?

Oh
God
.
Clearly her mind was wandering way too far from reality because that was
something she could never imagine doing, although the idea of it, from time to
time, made for some remarkably vivid fantasies.

Shaking
off the thought, she turned to look up at Kaleb as the song ended and he
stopped moving. When their eyes met, she felt the heat from the flame she saw
burning there. It was almost as though he could read her thoughts.

“What
were you thinking about?” He asked, dispelling her assumption and making her
breathe a sigh of relief. Zoey wasn’t the type of woman to engage in wild
sexcapades, and thinking about something as hot as a threesome like that was
only a fantasy.
Nothing more.

“You.”
She said truthfully.
At least a partial truth anyway.

“You’re
making this harder and harder on me, Zoey.” Kaleb said, sounding almost
remorseful.

Taking
a step back, she looked deep into his eyes, trying to understand what he was
telling her. Gone was the flirty, sexy grin and in its place, pure agony.

“Why?
What’s wrong?”

Kaleb
took her hand and led her to one of the empty tables that lined the provisional
wooden dance area. When he sat down on the bench, he pulled her down beside
him, leaving barely enough room between them for air.

“You’re
making it entirely too difficult to keep my hands off of you.”

He
sounded as if that was a bad thing.

“I’ve
waited so long for you, dreamed about you...” When he slid his finger down her
cheek, she instinctively leaned into the touch, never breaking eye contact.

“And
why have you never told me this?” Zoey asked, thinking about how close of a
friendship they had developed over the years. They were inseparable most of the
time, but never once had they talked about anything that could possibly occur
between them, including sex.
Especially
sex.