Wicked All The Way by Shayla Black, now you can read online.
Chapter 1
Black Friday 2012 – Tyler, Texas
“If I have to watch you ogle my mother-in-law’s ass for another second, I’m going to gack.”
Caleb Edgington tore his stare from Carlotta Buckley’s gorgeous backside wrapped in a soft black skirt and turned to glare at his oldest son, Hunter. He crossed his arms over his chest. “Like I’ve never had to watch you ogle Kata? You forget, you two visited me not long after you married. Want to know how much sleep I got those few days for listening to you newlyweds through the walls?”
Not at all repentant, Hunter just grinned.
Rolling his eyes, Caleb stole another glance at the object of his lust as she and her daughter, Hunter’s wife, made their way around the garland-wrapped corner of the restaurant, heading up the hall to the ladies’ room.
Damn, Carlotta’s ass made him salivate.
He sighed. “You think you got the market cornered on attraction because you’re married? Or young?”
“Nope. I’m going to gack because you’ve been staring at her ass for over two years, and you still haven’t managed more than…what, two dates?”
A flare of heat passed through Caleb’s system, partly fueled by anger that Hunter was throwing this shit in his face. The other part was a pure jolt of erotic sizzle. Yeah, two dates in two years. And the kiss that had ended that second one…
Caleb picked up his cell phone and bounced it lightly against the checkered tablecloth, gathering his words. “She’s afraid of me.”
Instantly, Hunter’s teasing smile disappeared. “I thought you two had worked that out.”
“As long as we’re just ‘friends.’” Caleb’s lip curled up in annoyance. “Saying I wanted a hell of a lot more was a tactical error on my part that put us back at square one.”
“Having met her ex-douche bag, Gordon, I can’t say I’m surprised that she’s reluctant.”
“I’m not a damn thing like him!” And if Hunter thought so, Caleb wasn’t too old to exert some parental ass-kicking influence.
“Oh, hell no. Not even close.” Hunter scowled. “What I mean is…you’re on the forceful side. Where do you think Logan and I got that trait from, Dad? Granted, you taught us how to respect a woman. Gordon, that damn asswipe, treated her like she didn’t matter. He told her what to do, when to do it, how to do it. After her driver’s license lapsed, he refused to take her to have it renewed. With her ankle injury—which he didn’t allow her to rehab—she couldn’t take herself. He convinced her to quit her job. He cut her off from her friends, her livelihood, and the outside world. Remember, he didn’t even f**king take her to the doctor when she had pneumonia. Instead, he tried to convince her that she had seasonal allergies. If I had to guess, I think she’s just worried about letting another take-charge man near her.”
“I might be a bit overprotective, but I’m not that kind of ass**le,” Caleb insisted.
“You’re not, but smothering?” Hunter’s stare challenged him to own up to the accusation.
Caleb just gritted his teeth.
“Remember when Kata and I went through something like this? My wife was only afraid that she could lose her identity, because apparently I can be a little overbearing. Who knew?” Hunter gave a mock shrug.
“The whole universe?” Caleb suggested with a grin.
“Yeah, just remember, you and I are cut from the same cloth.”
No denying that. Hunter was a dead ringer for him twenty years ago.
“But here’s the difference,” his son reminded him. “Carlotta did lose her identity. Her fear isn’t a maybe/might thing. It’s real and in the not-too-distant past.”
Caleb balled his hand into a fist. Hunter’s words explained why she’d run and stopped nearly all contact between them, family dinners and minor emergencies excepting, after he’d pinned her against the door of her cozy little house and kissed her after their second date. He’d tried so damn hard to coax her gently, but Carlotta didn’t just flip his switch—more like the whole circuit breaker of his central nervous system. With his lips layered over hers, he’d grabbed her screen door to restrain himself from hauling her into his arms and dragging her to bed. Caleb still remembered the horror on her face when she realized that he’d inadvertently ripped the little metal contraption off one of its hinges. She’d quickly slid in the house with a murmured good night and slammed the door in his face. After that, he’d done everything he could think of to reassure her—fixing her door, flowers, phone calls.
No response.
Had he given up? Not really. He’d plotted a tactical retreat…but every time he got around her, he was as subtle as an Assault Amphibious Vehicle. Of course, twenty-four years in the U.S. Army didn’t exactly cultivate a talent for tact.
“I know,” Caleb admitted. “When she stayed with me just after her separation, she nearly jumped out of her skin every time I even came near her.”
“I think she’s filed you in the ‘overwhelming’ category.”
Exactly. But it didn’t do him any good to pretend to be someone else in order to win her over. From everything he understood, her ex had pulled that routine.