No Love Allowed(5)

“Has anyone ever told you you’re demanding after being heroic?”

He chuckled. “You’re the first girl I’ve ever saved, so I wouldn’t know.” He paused. He liked doing that. “Promise me you’ll ask for help instead of taking matters into your own hands. You may not think so, but your life is important not only to you but to those you leave behind.”

Having had enough, she moved away from his touch and sat cross-legged beside him. How to put this into words he would understand without giving him backstory? She tilted her head, then said, “Caleb, you were there. I wasn’t having the best day. Spilling on your girlfriend—”

“Ex,” he interrupted.

“Oh, sorry. The waterworks should have tipped me off. Ex,” she emphasized. “Soaking her and having her scream at me just drove me over the edge. I lost it.” She gave herself a mental high five. People lost it all the time. “Maybe working at the club wasn’t the best job for me.” She curled her fingers around her ankles and shrugged.

Caleb rose to his elbows. “You’re saying you got fired.”

“I’d like to think of it as quitting without pay.”

What she had been telling him all along finally dawned in his eyes. “So you really weren’t trying to kill yourself. . . .”

“Ding! Ding! Ding!” She glanced left, then right as if addressing a gathered crowd before she began slow clapping. “By George, I think he’s got it.”

His lips pursed like he was trying his best not to smile. “You were having a bad day.”

“Getting smarter by the minute, ladies and gentlemen.” She crossed her arms over her chest and winked.

“I overreacted.”

“There’s hope for you yet, Caleb Parker.”

He threw his head back and laughed. She shook her head and laughed with him. Her day was certainly looking up. This was the most fun she’d had in a while. Maybe there was something to be said about starting the day badly, but if she didn’t have another one like it in a long time it would be too soon. Once was more than enough.

A different kind of shiver reminded Didi of her current soaked-kitten situation. If she didn’t get home soon, she was sure to catch a summer cold. That would definitely suck.

She pushed up to stand and patted her wet bum as if dusting it off. Caleb watched her in silence, a serious expression on the attractive planes and angles of his face. She definitely needed to paint him. That night. Another reason to go home.

“I can’t say it was nice meeting you, Caleb, considering the silly chain of events that led to this stellar first impression I just made.” She threw a thumb over her shoulder. “But thanks for the assist back there. I appreciate it.”

“So you’re admitting I did save you.” He wiggled his eyebrows in a creepy, suggestive way that caused her to snort-laugh.

“Rich boys and their hero complexes,” she said as she stalked off, not willing to destroy what she considered an already perfect moment.

“Are you seriously going to leave without giving me your number?” he asked. “I say you owe me dinner for saving your life.”

When she looked over her shoulder he was still leaning on his elbows, a cocky grin on his face. She blinked, committing the magazine-worthy sight to memory so she could paint it later. “Good-bye, Caleb.”





Three


RIDING SHOTGUN IN Nathan’s cherry-red roadster, Caleb leaned heavily against the door. With the top down, the afternoon breeze helped ease some of the pounding that had begun between his temples after he’d made the trek back to his car. The pumping beats of “Moves Like Jagger” played in the background. Maroon 5 made his ears bleed, but Nathan was obsessed with Adam Levine, so he tolerated his cousin’s abhorrent taste in music as they sped up the winding road that led to the Parker Family Estate.

Breathing in, he said on a sigh, “Thanks for picking me up. I’m too high to drive.”

A snort was Nathan’s response, in addition to, “And apparently you decided taking a swim fully clothed was a good idea. No more weed for you, buddy.”

Caleb slanted a wry glance at his cousin in his green sweater-vest and khakis. Nathan possessed the dark hair and baby blues that came with being a Parker. A devastating combination wasted on the ladies since he had been batting for the other team since grade school. Nathan never hid his sexuality, but Dodge Cove being what it was, most of its residents chose to ignore it, or maybe they were just downright dense. Cases in point: their fathers. Both men kept setting Nathan up with anything in a skirt. Good thing his mother was all for his choices.

“You know I’m pretty much dry, right?” A grin tugged at his lips. “But if this is your way of trying to get me to pay for your car’s cleaning, then you don’t have to worry. As soon as I get home, I’ll make the call.”

Instead of taking the bait, Nathan said, “What happened at the country club that inspired your afternoon dip? Weren’t you supposed to meet up with Amber today?”

The beginnings of his humor disappeared. So much for some light banter. He had completely forgotten that he’d told Nathan about his lunch plans.

“Amber fell in love with me,” he said simply.

“Considering the meat market we live in, you, my dear, are a porter house steak. How could she not want a taste?”