The Marine's Red Hot Homecoming (18 page)

She pressed her hand against her sternum, then closed the distance between them. “You think you can stop him?”

“I’ve got several options on the table,” he said. “I just have to choose the right one for this situation.” Only now he wasn’t sure what to choose. But he sure as hell wasn’t going to articulate that thought because he didn’t want to go into the next boardroom meeting without being 100 percent sure about the ultimate outcome.

The last forays into the board meetings had given him an unexpected adrenaline rush. He’d been surprised by how much he enjoyed working in the business. He’d gotten a huge kick out of wheeling and dealing with the best in his industry, which surprised him. That made him seriously reconsider his options.

Regardless of his final decision, and Hannah’s reaction to it should it not be what she wanted, he already had put plans into motion to guarantee his son’s legacy. He’d also give the mother of his child, the woman he loved, a safe haven no matter what he decided to do.

Chapter Fifteen

Nine days filled with travel, difficult negotiations with Gibson Technologies national defense government contact, and a board meeting that had been ambushed by his father had Caleb wishing for a major change of scene on more than one occasion. Except when he thought about escaping the bullshit, he didn’t imagine hopping on the next plane heading to the battlefield overseas.

Instead he fantasized about returning to Sweetbriar Springs and holding Hannah in his arms, making love to her all night long. In the morning, when his little guy woke up to demand his share of toddler attention, they’d spend their time with him.

For the first time in years, he couldn’t wait to return to Sweetbriar Springs. Yet, in an ironic punch in the gut from the universe, it had taken him forever to get back. First, the flight he’d taken from Raleigh had been delayed. Then his luggage hadn’t made the trip, somehow being rerouted to Baltimore, Maryland instead of landing in Asheville, North Carolina. After clearing up that snafu, and guaranteeing door to door delivery of his lost baggage, he’d texted Hannah about the delay and then broken a few speed limits to make it home.

A little over an hour after exiting Asheville’s airport parking lot, he pulled into the mountain house’s circular driveway. A silver Mercedes Benz, Sweetbriar Springs Resort catering van, and their babysitter’s small compact car greeted his vision. He groaned. As much as he wanted to be alone with Hannah and Jason, the dinner meeting he’d arranged with the company’s most valuable client still had to go on.

To make matters worse, he was late by over an hour.

Quickly, he drove his SUV into the garage, grabbed the airport shopping bag and his briefcase from the passenger’s seat, and exited the vehicle. He bounded up the wooden staircase leading to the door to his expansive kitchen. It opened before he had a chance to turn the handle.

The kitchen’s bright light haloed around Hannah, giving her an ethereal glow. Instead of her usual practical ponytail, she’d tamed her golden blonde hair into a pretty, high bun. Tendrils of curls artfully designed to fall just so next to her high cheekbones added a flirty touch to the elegant style. A style which she had completed with a form fitting, sleeveless crimson dress and mile high sexy stilettos.

His tongue seemed paralyzed and air whooshed though his ears. Man, she looked hot. Sexy, sophisticated, beyond classy.

He wasn’t sure if he’d ever convince her to take another chance on a military guy, namely him. But man, he wanted her. “I heard the garage door open.” She took his briefcase and shopping bag from him without preamble. “Figured you could use a hand after the day from hell you just lived through.”

He unlocked his tongue. “How is everything going?” he asked, stepping inside.

Not only was Hannah the real deal physically, but she offered support and understanding when another woman might have been angry about having to hold down the fort with complete strangers. But she wouldn’t be cool with that scenario over a longer period of time.

“Excellent.” She waved toward the backside of the house. “Barney and his wife are on the deck. I told them your flight was delayed. They completely understood.”

He glanced to where she had pointed. The Nicholsons looked content enough, sitting in the patio chairs while sipping what looked like jumbo margaritas. “Thanks for entertaining them for me.”

God, she smelled so good. Like sunshine and spring and fresh dew on the lawn. Like home.

“No problem. They’re very nice. I’ve enjoyed looking at their pictures of their grandchildren.” She peeked inside the shopping bag, then back at Caleb. Her hazel eyes filled with mischief and laughter. “How many stuffed animals can one little boy own?”

“As many as I want to give him,” he said, foolishly proud of the three baby fur animals he’d purchased at the airport’s kiosk in Atlanta. “He still awake?”

“Watching his favorite cartoon and having a bedtime snack with Lori.”

Hannah walked just ahead of him into the kitchen. Caleb watched the sway of her full hips, wanted to caress her perfect round bottom and drag her all the way to the bedroom where he’d discover all her sexy secrets beneath her dress’s smooth, satin fabric.

But all that would have to wait until after he met with Barney and convinced the man that Gibson Technologies would grow stronger under Caleb’s leadership. After that, he’d take up the matter with his father. Given how adamant Steven had been about returning to the helm in an advisory position, that would take a lot more finagling. But he’d discovered he enjoyed winning in the boardroom. A lot more than he’d expected.

“Caleb’s home, Zoey” she said to a petite dark haired woman in an apron with the Sweetbriar Springs’ logo on it.

Zoey smiled. “Wonderful. We’ll begin our final preparations immediately.” She had a heavy foreign accent, but didn’t miss a beat of skewering beef cubes while she spoke. “Juan, please refill the Nicholson’s margaritas. Talia, pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.”

Hannah took the margarita pitcher from Juan. “I’ll take care of the them,” she said, then fixed her gaze on Caleb, assessing him from top to toe. “Take five to change and get that five o’clock shadow off your face. We’ll be fine for a few more minutes.”

“Thanks.” He rubbed his jaw. “I’d like to pop in and say hi to Jason. You think you can keep them entertained for fifteen extra minutes?”

“Not a problem.” She crossed the scant distance between them, then kissed his cheek. “Just don’t get him too riled up, or he’ll never fall asleep for Lori.”

He touched his face where her lips had briefly brushed against his skin. Her kiss, while chaste and without any sexual promise, hinted of something more profound. He knew in that moment that this was what he had wished for more than anything.

The simplicity of her welcome home had been the answer to many of the questions swirling through his brain during the nine days that he had been fighting a never-ending personal battle. A battle that he planned to win on his terms. But would Hannah want to keep the home fires burning for him no matter what he decided?

###

“Salvaged the contract and got Barney Nicholson to commit to two years of funding for the project we’re developing.” Caleb walked into the kitchen, then wrapped his arms around Hannah, lifting her off her feet and twirling her. “Couldn’t have done it without your help.”

Warmth filled her chest and her heart seemed to float inside her. Other than his late arrival, everything she had planned had gone splendidly. “The food was amazing,” she said, loving the passion and pride dancing in his indigo eyes. And loving the exuberance and spontaneity of his embrace. The freedom of his expression, the companionship and shared joy of succeeding together, sent a thrill though her.

Here was the man she could commit her entire life to if he truly wanted her. “Did your successful trip make you reconsider signing up for another tour? I think you like running Gibson Technologies more than you’re willing to admit,” she said, hoping to reach through his thick skull and get him to talk to her about his feelings.

“Sweetbriar Springs will have to double Zoey’s salary if they don’t want to lose her,” he said. “She should open her own restaurant.”

So avoidance of the topic was on the agenda. Hannah stifled the desire to fight it out with Caleb. After all, she’d learned the hard way that pushing too hard for answers could end up in an emotional scarring battle. “She just arrived here a month ago,” she said. “From what I’ve heard she can’t afford to make that kind of financial investment. Plus, she has to have a steady income to support her son.”

“Where’s the dad?”

“Definitely not in the picture.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t know about Jason sooner,” he said. “I would have found a way to get home earlier.”

Her heart filled, lifted even higher with hope. While he hadn’t said he’d have come back for her, hearing him call Sweetbriar Springs home touched her soul. “You’re here now,” she said. For how long, she didn’t know. But the effort that Caleb had put into saving his family’s conglomerate of technology companies more than proved that he wouldn’t easily be able to return to the Marines. She’d press him to discuss the matter… later… after tonight.

Caleb lowered her down the length of his body. She felt every sinew and tendon of his muscles against her skin. “But I promise that no matter what happens, you’ll never be in the position Zoey is in.”

In all the years that she had known Caleb, once he dug his heels in for a fight, he stuck it out until he came out the winner. “I believe you,” she said, bending her legs to pull off her mile high shoes and liberate her toes. “Let’s check on him before we call it a night.”

“Sounds good.”

Caleb draped his arm across her shoulders and they walked in silence to Jason’s bedroom.

Peeking in, she said, “He looks so innocent when he’s asleep.”

“Yep.” He moved aside to let her into the room ahead of him. “But he’s no angel.”

She crossed the floor to his toddler bed, heard Caleb’s soft footfalls behind her and felt the heat shimmering between them when they knelt side-by-side next to it.

“He must have had some busy dreams,” she said.

He’d tossed the covers to the floor and had curled into a ball with his favorite stuffed animal tucked into his belly. She moved to pick up his blanket and touched Caleb. A charge tingled and zipped into her skin.

She paused a beat, waiting for Caleb to withdraw, but he only deepened his connection, curling his fingers around hers. Together, they covered him. Then Caleb tucked the edges around their son, his movements tender and loving.

“That should do it,” he whispered, then stood and held out his hand.

Hannah nodded, then placed her palm in his. He pulled her up and they stood side by side in the soft glow of the light filtering in from the hallway. She rested her head against Caleb’s broad shoulder, and he tightened his grip, each of them quietly gazing at their son.

She heard him swallow hard, and slanted her eyes toward his face. A sheen glimmered in his returning gaze. “Sometimes it still floors me that we made this little guy—that he’s ours,” Caleb said, swiping the back of his hand across his face.

Her throat tightened and she blinked back her own tears. “Me, too.”

“But I’m so glad he’s here,” he said. “I want to make him proud. Not because I want him to follow in my footsteps, but because I want to help him find his own path. I can’t do that without your support.”

Right then, in that moment of sharing the simple nighttime ritual of making sure their child would sleep in comfort, surrounded by security and safety of the love his parents had for him, she knew her heart could handle whatever Caleb chose to do in the future.

Because he loved their child. If she read all the signs correctly, he had grown to love her, too. The words hadn’t been spoken yet, but every gesture and promise he had made showed her that his heart belonged to her.

“I’ll always be here for you,” Hannah said.

He caressed her cheek and tunneled his fingers through her hair, loosening the pins that had bound it into the chignon. Slowly, he lowered his mouth to hers and sealed their lips. She parted hers on a soft sigh and welcomed his gentle probing tongue into her mouth.

The sweet taste of him intoxicated her, making her want so much more. Knowing that in the giving and taking of this kiss that she’d be able to wave goodbye to Caleb if he answered another call to duty. She’d let him go though the leaving would cause her great fear. But that fear would never be as great as the power of the love sustaining her while he was gone.

Because if he wanted to come home to her, to this life they had built together with their son, then she’d survive a thousand goodbyes and a million uncertain tomorrows.

Now, more than ever, she wanted to show Caleb that his heart would always be safe with her if he trusted her completely. And, when he lifted her into his arms, still moving his mouth against hers, Hannah felt as if they had crossed an invisible barrier into a realm where they’d become united by more than duty to child and family.

They could become one in all the ways that mattered between a man and a woman.