Sweet as Candy - Karla Doyle Page 0,27
to hear from her. Then he’d had to cut it crazy-short to respond to a domestic. That’d eaten the next forty-five minutes of his shift. He’d been on his way to taking a break so he could call her back when an SUV had drifted into his lane, a hair’s width away from sideswiping his cruiser. Idiot driver had sped away, tried losing Jake in the flow of traffic. Tried and failed.
The driver turned out to be an asshole with an expired license and no insurance. Jake had been correct about the idiot part too. The guy had had his cell phone face up on his lap, turned on and chiming away as texts rolled in while the moron lowered his window. Hadn’t even tried to hide it. That’d been one ticket Jake had enjoyed the fuck out of issuing.
A solid hour and a half had passed by the time he called Candace back. Way too damn long. When she didn’t answer, he’d chalked it up to being busy making dinner or doing something with her daughter. So he’d shot her a text.
Finally got a break. Called but got your voicemail. Nowhere near as good as talking to you but at least I got to hear your pretty voice. Will call you again when I get home.
She hadn’t replied. No answer when he’d tried calling an hour later, or an hour after that. Something had come up or she was avoiding him. Nothing he could do about either thing at the moment. Time to concede—temporarily—and haul his tired ass to bed.
“Come on, boy,” he said, rousing his equally tired dog. The evening run they’d taken had done them both in.
He shut off the sports highlights he hadn’t been paying attention to. The living room lights next. Was in the process of shucking his clothes in the bathroom when his phone’s screen lit as it vibrated against the vanity.
Candace Caine calling.
Boom, fatigue gone. “Hey.”
“Hi, am I calling too late?”
“Never,” he said, heading for the bedroom. If he couldn’t have her there in the flesh, he’d make do with her voice in his ear while he wrapped his fist around his cock.
“I got your messages. Sorry I didn’t answer sooner. My daughter had a rough day at school and it took a long time to get her settled at bedtime.” A short, sour laugh preceded a sigh. “I’m sure that’s not the kind of conversation you were hoping to have with me.”
Caught with his hand in the cookie jar, figuratively speaking. Good thing this wasn’t a video call. He released his cock and tucked his hand behind his head. “I want to hear whatever you want to talk about.”
“Uh-huh.”
“True story, sweets. Lay it on me.” Seconds ticked by without a peep from the other end of the call. “I mean it, Candace. I want to get to know you. The real you, the whole story.”
“Even if it’s boring?”
“It won’t be. Not to me.”
Another soft sigh slid into his ear. “I don’t want to talk about me tonight. I really don’t want to talk at all.”
“You want me to do the talking?” he asked.
“Right now, I’d rather curl up on the couch and get lost in a movie. With you, if you want to come over.”
Oh hell yeah, he wanted. He definitely wanted. “I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
“Do you know where I live?”
“I will when you give me your address.”
“Then how do you know it’ll only take you ten minutes to get here?”
“Sweet, blonde motivation,” he said, grinning for nobody to see as he scooped up his keys and made tracks for the door. “Address?” He jotted the info she provided on a sticky note and ripped the paper from the pad.
“Still think you can make it in ten minutes?”
Clear across the city, fifteen minutes on a good day, if he hit all the lights green. Damn. “Start the timer, I’m on my way.”
Candace
Candace’s stomach inched higher as a pair of headlights bounced off her front window. The car didn’t stop, meaning she could breathe again. Until the next one, anyway.
Hopefully she hadn’t made a mistake inviting Jake over. She hadn’t made the offer impulsively, it’d been on her mind all day, even more so after getting his voicemails and text. She wanted to spend time with him, get to know him better, out here in the real world. The hours after Macy’s bedtime were the only time she could do that. She really should have explained that during the invitation.
Another set