Along Came Trouble(128)

“Uh, sure.” She couldn’t really focus on anything but Caleb and the heat in his eyes.

“You’ve already seen the dining room and the living room. Kitchen’s over there,” he said, with a quick jerk of his head. “Bedrooms are this way.”

“Where’s the bathroom?”

He pointed with his elbow. “There.”

“Let me see.”

His brow furrowed, but he spun her around and walked her in that direction. When she took his good hand and led him inside, he said, “None of my fantasies about what we were going to do when Katie left included the bathroom.”

“Sit down.”

Caleb obediently lowered the lid and took a seat on the toilet. Ellen rifled through his vanity cabinet until she found a box of Band-Aids and some antibiotic ointment. She set them on the countertop and washed and dried her hands, then filled the sink with warm water and wet a washcloth she found on the towel rack.

“Give me your hand.”

He raised it, a near-smile playing over his lips as she rested his palm against hers. Her index finger brushed over the tender skin of the inside of his wrist, and she felt the beat of his pulse. It matched the pounding of her own heart.

Ellen reached for the washcloth, squeezed hard to wring it out, and brought it to his knuckles. She cleaned them off as gently as she could, but they wept all over again. Caleb didn’t flinch. He watched her work, accepting this fussy bit of tenderness with more solemnity than she would have expected. She hoped he knew what this meant to her, what she was trying to say to him. I want to take care of you. I want you to take care of me.

She patted his hand dry and smoothed ointment over his cuts before wrapping three of his knuckles in Band-Aids. An awkward job. Fingers were so easy to hurt and so hard to fix.

When she’d finished, she clasped his hand in hers and laid it over her heart as she leaned down to kiss him. Their eyes met and held, the soft, dry brush of their lips more significant than any kiss she’d ever offered him.

Caleb cradled the back of her head in his free hand and pulled her closer to deepen the kiss, transforming it from her apology into his own affirmation with the sweep of his tongue into her mouth. She sank into his lap, and he kissed her forever, deep and long. They apologized and confessed, forgave and made promises, all without saying a word.

When he let her go at last, she felt so much better that she wanted to cry, but she smiled instead.

Caleb lifted her off his lap and stood. “We haven’t finished the tour yet.”

“Shouldn’t we talk?”

He grinned. “You came to my house. You couldn’t shut up about how great I am to my mom. You babied me with Band-Aids. I think I’ve got your number, honey.” His hands moved up inside her shirt to her waist.

“How’s that?”

“I think you still have the hots for me.”

“Pretty flimsy evidence.”

He slid his hands up over her breasts, and she gasped when his thumbs found her nipples. “You’re letting me touch you,” he murmured. “You like it.”

Leaning over, he kissed her throat. “You look beautiful,” he said. “And ever since Henry spilled water on your lap, I’ve been trying to guess what you’re wearing under that skirt.”

She smiled as his mouth blazed a warm trail up her neck. “I came here to meet your family. I’m wearing the most boring white cotton underwear you can possibly imagine.”

He groaned and brought her hand to his crotch. “Doesn’t sound boring to me.”

At the feel of the hardening length behind his zipper, desire swept through her, familiar and strong, and she made a helpless noise as her hand tightened around him. “Caleb, I—”

“I was going to come over to your house,” he said, and he began backing her out of the bathroom into a wide, bright hallway. “As soon as the party ended. And I was going to insist that you give me another chance. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about that photographer, and I’m sorry I stuck my nose into your business with Richard. I know you can handle yourself, honey, and I promise I’ll let you. I know you probably don’t want me to love you yet, and that freaked you out. But give me some time. Don’t push me away.”

Her back bumped into a door, and Caleb lowered his head and kissed her, slow and sweet at first, then gradually harder, more aggressive. The low flame of desire between her thighs built to a bonfire. Ellen wrapped her arms around his neck and plastered her body against him, all her doubts burned up in the need to be as close to him as she could get.