Letters to Her Soldier (7 page)

Caleb’s father
was a-couple-of-months retired regimental sergeant major.
 
His mother, Lillian, a big society lady, was
head of a charity fund called the Delta Club, and everyone knew her.
 
Lillian had been trying to marry off her sons
for years.
 
Bianca wasn’t sure how
Lillian felt about the situation with her and Caleb.
 
Bianca didn’t even know if she knew.

Bianca didn’t
wait for Caleb.
 
She was too unsure of
her welcome.
 
As she reached the door, Caleb
wrapped his arms around her, and she shivered as he leaned down and kissed her
neck.

“What’s the
rush?”

He nibbled on
her bare shoulder.
 
She cleared her
throat several times as her body heated at his touch.
 
“Ah, I just thought it would be better if you
went in by yourself.
 
It’s your party, after
all. ”

She darted her
gaze around to see if anyone was watching and tried to get out of his arms.
 
“Caleb, we’re in front of your parents’ house.
Please don’t do this.
 
People could see. ”He
bit down where her neck met her shoulder, and she groaned.

“How about we
skip this, go back home, and have some more fun of our own? You look so hot in
this dress, and it rode up on the drive here, reminding me what you have on
underneath. ”

Tingling built in
her body, and she reminded herself where she was.
 
She tried to be embarrassed, but all she could
feel was need.
 
“Please
.
”

She could feel
his grin against her skin as he muttered, “Please what?”

Closing her eyes,
she counted to five, opened them, and took a deep breath before letting it out
and saying, “Please,
stop
.
 
I don’t want your parents to see us like this.
”

He stiffened
against her, and she moved away from him.
 
She felt bad, but she wanted to tell his
parents about them, not be caught and have to explain.

“You need to go
in first.
 
Your Mum put a lot of work
into planning this. ”

She watched as a
pained expression came over his face for a fleeting moment before he cleared it
again and knocked on the door.
 
Lillian
answered with a huge smile on her face.

“I missed you.
 
I’m so happy you’re going to stick around for
a while.
 
Come on in.
 
Your father’s out back getting the barbeque
ready. ”

Caleb was pulled
inside by his excited mother.
 
Bianca
held the door open, waiting for them to get a good distance ahead before she
followed slowly behind.
 
As they reached
the back door to the outside veranda, Greta pulled it open, and a bunch of
people behind her yelled, “Surprise.
 
Happy birthday.
”

Bianca stayed
back as everyone swarmed around Caleb.
 
She studied him as the mob got bigger, and an
uncomfortable look spread across his face, his jaw locked, his eyes narrowed, and
his body seemed stiffen.
 
She’d never
seen Caleb like this, even when he’d become angry with her only moments before.
 
Bianca glanced around for Greta or
Lillian to help him, but they were nowhere to be seen.

“Are you going
to go save him? I told Lillian it would be too much, too soon for him.
 
It’s hard to get back in the flow of being
around so many civilians. ”

Bianca clutched
her chest and turned to Caleb’s father, William.
 
“Don’t sneak up like that.
 
You scared the life out of me.
 
And why would I go save him?”

“I was the
lookout to see when he arrived.
 
Although
I didn’t need to see that display out front to know he’s with you.
 
I knew last time he came home on leave. ”

“I wasn’t with
him the—”

“Yes.
 
I know that.
 
Before he left, he asked me for my mother’s
ring.
 
I see you’re not wearing it.
 
Can I ask why?”

She felt her
cheeks heat, and she turned away from his penetrating stare.
 
“I thought I should give him time to settle in,
get to know me better, not just the person I wrote about in his letters
. ”

William laughed.
 
“You think once he’s settled, he’s going
to regret his choice
. ”
He shook his head.
 
“You are a silly little girl.
 
You’re his anchor. ” He pushed her forward.
 
“Go rescue him.
 
He needs you. ” He gave her another nudge in
Caleb’s direction.
 
Straightening her
shoulders, she maneuvered through the people.

As soon as she
was close enough, Caleb’s hand shot out, and he pulled her to his side.
 
Bianca stumbled, and he steadied her by
wrapping an arm around her waist, as his other hand gripped hers.

Caleb leaned
down and whispered in her ear, “Don’t leave me like that again
. ”

She squeezed his
hand, and heard the sharp edge in his voice when he spoke.
 
“Sorry, won’t happen again
. ”
She meant it.
 
His arm tightened around
her, and she felt his body relax.
 

No one seemed to
notice her at first until a man she vaguely remembered walking out of the gate
with Caleb at the airport came over.

“Wow, it’s
bikini girl
. ”

Her whole body
heated, and she searched her surroundings for an exit.
 

“My bikini girl.
 
Keep your eyes to yourself, Samson. ”

Bianca groaned
and wished the ground would swallow her whole.
 

Samson raised
his hands.
 
“I learnt my lesson
. ”
Samson turned to her.
 
“He didn’t show anyone the pic.
Kept it on him at all times.
 
It even slept with him. ”

Bianca bit her
bottom lip as her heart started to beat so fast it was hard to hear what Samson
was saying.

“We started a
competition to see who was stealthy enough to take the picture off him.
 
We’d shown him our photos, but he wouldn’t
show his.
 
We wanted to see what the fuss
was over.
 
Eventually, with the help of
two other men, we got the photo. ” Samson grinned.
 
“We all became very jealous, and may I say, ma’am,
you have a fan for life
. ”

She moaned in
embarrassment and tried to get out of Caleb’s hold.
 

“Oh, don’t worry.
We didn’t get to keep it long.
 
Mr.
 
He-man behind you
showed us why he’s leader.
 
Kicked all
our arses and we never did it again. ”

Caleb leaned
down and kissed her shoulder before looking at his friend.
 
“Yes, well, I told you all she was mine.
 
The picture was for my eyes only. ”

Despite wanting
to kill Greta again for sending the photo, she melted into Caleb, and her heart
leapt with how he treated her picture.
 

“If you ever get
sick of the big guy behind you, you have several men eager and waiting in line
to replace him
. ”

She couldn’t
help the giggle that escaped at Samson’s words.
 
Caleb gave a mock growl and hugged her tighter.

“Dream on, Samson.
 
She’s mine. ”

Caleb relaxed
and eased his hold on her.
 
The next hour
or so went well until Greta came over and asked if she could borrow Bianca.
 
Caleb was relaxed so he let her go with his
sister.
 
Greta pulled her inside and
around a corner.
 

“We have a
problem.
 
Mum was trying to play Cupid
for you and had no idea about you and Caleb. ”

“What do you
mean ‘Cupid’?”

“Well, you know
my mother thinks of you like a daughter, and I might have mentioned that you’d
been on a coffee date with a handsome doctor.
 
She invited him, but I never thought he’d turn
up. ”

“I can’t believe
you, Greta.
 
Where is he?”

“Talking to Mum in the kitchen.
 
She sent me to get you.
 
Mum hasn’t seen you with Caleb.
 
She’s been in the kitchen getting food
organized.
 
She asked me to come get you
so you can help her.
 
I can say you’re
busy with my brother. ”

“No.
 
It’s fine.
 
I’ll tell your mum and talk to Mathew… um, I
mean Dr.
 
Ross.
 
There are a bunch of beauties here I’ll
introduce him to. ”

Greta grinned.
 
“Mathew, hey?”
Greta
wiggled her eyebrows at her.
 
“Well, good
luck.
 
Mum’s in the kitchen running
around like a headless chook. ”

Bianca walked
into the large kitchen to see a frazzled Lillian.
 
“Oh, thank God you’re here, Bianca.
 
I put poor Dr.
 
Ross here to work, but he doesn’t have your
skills.
 
Sorry, Dr.
 
Ross. ”

“No offence
taken.
 
I’ll let the master work her
magic on the food. ” Mathew smiled over at her, his brown hair sat just above
his eyes, as always making her want to brush it to the side.
 
His green eyes and dark olive skin along with
his tall well-built body would make any woman sigh and fawn all over him, and
she was sure that if she wasn’t head over heels in love with Caleb, she could
be one of those women.

Bianca watched
as a bright light entered Lillian’s eyes.
 
Oh, crap.
 
This was going to be harder than she thought.
 
After walking over to the sink, she scrubbed
her hands and went to help Mathew.
 
She
laughed as she saw the mangled pastries.
 
“What did you do?” She nudged him out of the
way with her hip.
 
“You’ve killed them.
 
I don’t know if I’ll be able to save them. You’re
supposed to be a doctor.
 
Don’t they save
things, not kill them?”

He chuckled.
 
“I’m sure if you taught me, I would become a
master
. ”

She giggled.
 
“Yeah, yeah.
 
Why don’t you go out and chat with some
people?”

“I don’t really
know anyone here.
 
I’m happy to stay here.
 
So how about one of you lovely ladies
find me something safe to do that I can’t ruin?”

Bianca rolled
her eyes, as Lillian gushed, “Such a charmer.
 
I have just the job for you.
 
Can you chop and do the salads?”

“They sound easy
enough.
 
Surely I can’t stuff a salad up.
” Mathew winked at her, and she prayed some help would come her way because she
wasn’t doing a good job telling Lillian she was in a relationship with her son
or telling Mathew she was off the market.

Caleb wondered
where Bianca had disappeared to. His sister was flirting with some of the men
from his unit, and his dad had just told everyone dinner would be in ten
minutes.
 
After excusing himself from his
mates, he went in search of Bianca only to be stopped by his sister.

“Where are you
going? This is your party. ”

He frowned down
at his sister as he noticed the edge to her voice.
 
“Nowhere.
 
I’m just going to find Bianca. ”

“No need.
 
She’s in helping Mum.
 
You don’t want to disturb them.
 
You know what Mum’s like with her kitchen. ”
He eyed his sister, and he knew something was up.
 
Knowing he wouldn’t get around her this way, he
sighed and made a defeated noise.
 
“Fine.
Let’s go. ”

He watched her
as she let out her breath in a big whoosh and smiled before walking back to his
friends.
 
He motioned Samson over.
 
“I need you to distract my sister.
 
Whatever you do, don’t let her come after me.
 
Be careful.
 
She’s shifty. ”