Our Chance (Lake Placid Series Book 3)

by Natalie Ann

  “I lived it, okay!” He walked away and stood in the doorway. “We’re twins, Celeste. I lived it, too. I felt it. Not like you did, not to that extent, but enough. Enough to know that I can’t let it go. I don’t get to feel the relief you feel knowing it’s behind you. All I see and feel is the pain and suffering you went through.”

  He walked out the door before she could say another word. He’d never said that before, never even hinted at it.

  Now it was one more thing she was going to have to think about. One more thing she was going to have to figure out how to fix, because if Cole was the protector, she was the nurturer, and it wasn’t just Caleb that was hurting right now.

  I Win

  Caleb pulled into the parking lot of McGuire’s B&B and noticed the absence of cars. Since it was midafternoon, he figured all her guests must be out enjoying their time in Lake Placid.

  He climbed out, shutting the door with a thunk, and no sooner turned around than he heard Sparky’s bark and saw his full charge ahead.

  Since he’d never left Sparky’s side for this long before, he didn’t expect the exuberant welcome and wished he’d braced himself when he was slammed into the rental car by his hundred-plus-pound dog.

  “Damn, boy. I guess you missed me.” He started to rub Sparky’s head furiously back and forth, then under this chin, the dog’s tongue hanging out and slapping everywhere it could in an attempt to lick Caleb.

  “I might have to leave more often if you’re going to greet me like this,” he said, nuzzling his face down into the dog’s fur where he smelled…flowers. What the heck?

  “Thanks for the forewarning,” Celeste said.

  “Sorry, I was going to let you know I was on my way, but I got to bed late last night and my flight left early this morning. I didn’t want to wake you.”

  He’d debated back and forth if he should let Celeste know he was on his way, but in the end decided against it. He didn’t want to have to tell her no if she offered Cole as a means of transportation.

  Sure it would have saved him the two-hour drive and then figuring out how to return the rental he grabbed in Burlington, but he’d worry about that later. It was still better than another flight with a prying brother.

  “Not that,” she said, waving her hand. “That your dog was going to pace all night long.”

  “Really? I didn’t expect that.”

  “If you’ve never left him before, you wouldn’t know. We came to terms, though.”

  “What terms were those?” He could only imagine.

  “He slept with me on the bed.”

  Great, now he was going to have to break that habit. “There was no other choice?”

  “Nope. He even shared my pillow.”

  Caleb’s jaw dropped. “I hope you’re joking.”

  She walked up to him and hugged him tight, gave him a little nuzzle with her nose that had him guessing what Sparky must have felt, and then she kissed him on the lips.

  “Yes, Caleb, I’m joking. He slept in his bed on the floor next to me. I exercised him good both nights before bed, thoroughly tiring him out. I learned my lesson the first night, letting him fetch in the lake, though.”

  “He got you wet?”

  “Sure, but that wasn’t the lesson. I learned that wet dog really is a nasty smell in a small space.”

  Ah, the floral scent. “You gave him a bath then.”

  “I did. Right before bed, he and I had an all-out hose war in the yard. I’m not sure which one of us was wetter or more tired at the end of the night, but we both slept like a baby.”

  He was thrilled to know that his dog was so well cared for, not that he expected any different. She still had her arms around him, and he liked that almost as much as the nuzzling she’d done a minute ago.

  “Where are all your guests?” he asked, dropping his head and kissing her neck.

  “Oh, that feels good,” she said, moving her head to the side. “I believe they’re all out at the moment.”

  “Good,” he said a second before he lifted her in his arms and made his way toward her cabin.

  The barking dog jumping around his legs was going to stay outside for this. He didn’t need an audience.

  He kicked the door shut to her home and made his way past the living room and into her bedroom. He totally didn’t expect it to be pink. It was like a princess threw up glitter and sparkles everywhere.

  She burst out laughing at his expression. “What’s the matter? Don’t you like my room?”

  “It’s a little girlish,” he said, standing still and looking around. Though it was pink, it was really subtle, so it wouldn’t have been so bad…if it were only the pink on the walls. But she had a big canopy bed, artwork of flowers and, unless he was mistaken, there was a tiara in a glass case on her dresser. Oh yeah, and a dresser with glass knobs and glitter in the paint.

  She caught his eyes on the tiara and then smirked. “My father bought it for me for my sixteenth birthday. It has a special meaning to me and I have to cherish it. I guess I just decorated around it when I got my own space.”

  He was equally touched and horrified at the same time. Touched she was treasuring the tiara and horrified that she might be completely high maintenance. Though honestly, she’d never showed any signs of that before. And she did say she liked being a woman, so pink kind of made sense. Still, this was overkill for a grown woman. Maybe now he understood why she was still single.

  “That’s nice,” he said, then lowered her onto the bed and climbed under the canopy with her. He was going to have to do some serious maneuvering here.

  She wiggled out from under him and then pulled him back out. “I’ve got an idea. Let’s get undressed first.”

  “I was thinking the same thing.”

  “I’ll race you,” she said, laughing freely.

  He found it odd, and yet contagious at the same time. He couldn’t help but admire how happy she seemed about life in general.

  Lifting his shirt over his head, he tossed it to the floor. “What does the winner get?”

  “To be in control,” she said, lifting her dress over her head, then slipping out of her bra and underwear before he could even lower his jeans. “I win.”

  When she started to rub her hands together, he wasn’t sure if he should be excited or afraid. Maybe a bit of both.

  “Hurry up, slow poke,” she said prancing around the room buck-ass naked in front of him. Now he knew she was doing it on purpose.

  “Climb back in there, buddy, and get on your back.”

  He did as he was instructed and decided that maybe he needed to brace himself like when Sparky attacked him, because at the moment, she looked to be on a mission much more serious than his dog’s excitement over his return.

  Celeste climbed on the bed and over the top of him, straddling his waist and sitting back on his hips. Her head was almost touching the top of the canopy, but she didn’t seem to mind.

  “Oops, forgot something,” she said, leaning over him, a nipple brushing across his face, then his lips. She reached into a drawer on the bedside table and went to move back, but he caught her shoulders and held her there.

  “Not so fast,” he said, his tongue coming out and tasting her. Licking her the way he’d been dreaming of for the last few days, then drawing her in and sucking greedily.

  She moaned low in her throat. “I won, I’m supposed to be in control,” she whispered hoarsely.

  “I’d say we’re both winning right now.”

  “Yeah, you might be right, but I still want to run this show.”

  She pushed her hands against his chest and settled back on his hips. “We aren’t dragging it out this time.”

  He heard the wrapper open and felt her hands on him, stroking, then covering him. She said she wasn’t dragging it out, but she was doing exactly that, taking her time rolling the condom down his length.

  Lifting up, she settled herself over him and sat back down. “Wow, that feels so good,” she said.

>   He couldn’t agree more. “So are you going to tell me what I can do, or do I have to just lie here and take it like a man? Because, you know, I’m okay with that.”

  She rose up and then came back down. Oh yeah, he was more than okay with it.

  “You’re funny, Caleb, but I get my turn first, then you get yours. Hang on, buddy, you’re going for a ride.”

  He wanted to laugh, but didn’t dare. He was in this light pink room with a princess tiara screaming teen girl, yet this woman was on top of him riding him like a vixen.

  Not the sex kitten he’d thought before, but a lioness, and he was her prey.

  She placed her hands on his chest and spread her fingers wide, feeling all of him, massaging his chest, then scratching him lightly, almost a caress, but with a hint of heat to it.

  No doubt about it, she knew exactly what she was doing.

  Continuing to move up and down, she never slowed and never changed her direction, but she was bringing him along faster than he cared to go.

  Sensing he didn’t have much left in him, she reached her own hand down, his eyes went wide and then he proceeded to watch her bring herself right to the very edge. “You like that, don’t you, Caleb? Do you like to watch?”

  Who was this woman? This couldn’t be the same person he knew outside of the bedroom, but it was, and he couldn’t be more thrilled. There were more secrets to her than he could have imagined, but this was one hell of an excellent discovery.

  “I think you know the answer to that,” he said, his head arching back, and his hips lifting higher.

  “Don’t you dare close your eyes,” she all but purred. “Watch me ride you.”

  That was it, her words, her actions, and well, he was done. The shout that left his mouth was nothing compared to the one ripped from her throat.

  After a few labored breaths, she finally lifted herself off of him, then lay next to him, her head on his chest, her hand moving around lightly.

  He was content in a way he never thought he’d feel again.

  “Let me guess, you were horny again?” he asked, his lips twitching.

  “But of course. Though that wasn’t why I did that.”

  “Why did you?”

  “You looked like you needed it.” She leaned up on her elbow. “Everyone needs a release now and again, even emotionally.”

  She knew him better than he felt comfortable with. “That was physical,” he said, smiling.

  “You keep trying to convince yourself of that,” she said, leaning up and giving him one more kiss on the lips. Then she lay back down and snuggled into his side.

  Dare You

  After another week, Corrine was off full bed rest and talking about starting back when school was in session.

  On top of that, work was going well. Caleb couldn’t remember the last time he felt so fulfilled with a project. Who would have figured it would come in the form of working for someone else? Definitely not him.

  Maybe it was because he knew he had nothing to lose. He could walk away at any point.

  Not needing to work, not needing to be controlled by “the man” took the stress and pressure off of everything, it seemed.

  Things with Celeste were sailing at a smooth pace, too. Not progressing really, but staying steady.

  Caleb should be thrilled with his life right now, but part of him wasn’t. And he knew it was because of his relationship with Celeste.

  That he was even considering this a relationship was enough to make him break out in a cold sweat. He hadn’t had a relationship or anything close to one in ten years. Well, six years, but he never really considered that a relationship…not like what he had with Celeste.

  Still, should he be putting more of an effort into things? Should he go see her more?

  It occurred to him he never saw her unless it had to do with his dog. Either apprehending the little jailbreaker, or dropping him off and picking him up from daycare.

  He shouldn’t feel guilty right now that he didn’t spend much more time with her, but he did. Probably because she wasn’t pressuring him about it. He wondered if that was some mysterious little trick she had up her sleeve. Make him question and sweat it out on his own.

  Deciding he’d had enough self-doubt, he pushed back from his computer, woke Sparky up from his nap, and headed for his truck. Celeste had run him to Cole’s to pick it up after he grabbed Sparky, then brought him back to the B&B once his truck was home so he could get the rental.

  Pulling into her parking lot with a few cars had him wishing he’d looked at the time. It was almost six. He’d never paid much attention to the formalities of schedules, not even when he owned his own company. He worked when he wanted, went where he needed to be, and did what had to be done regardless of what the clock said.

  Only now he was remembering the rest of the world didn’t function that way.

  He was about to put the truck in reverse and pull back out when Sparky started barking. Since the windows were down, it was hard for him not to be heard.

  The only saving grace was that Celeste didn’t seem to be anywhere around, probably inside getting dinner ready.

  But as luck would have it, just as he was ready to leave, the front door opened and there she stood on the front porch, in a long flowing skirt and flowery top. He shouldn’t get turned on by her attire, but he was, remembering how easy it was to get his hands under it all.

  She lifted her hand and waved with a bright welcoming smile on her face and there was no way he could escape.

  “This is a surprise,” she said, walking toward him.

  With no choice now, he put the truck in park and turned the engine off, then leaned out his window to talk to her. Of course, Sparky had the same idea and jumped on Caleb’s lap jockeying for a closer position to Celeste, too. He’d never thought he’d be in competition with his dog over the affections of a woman.

  “I didn’t realize the time,” he said. “I just decided to take a break from work.”

  “And you came to see me on your break?” she asked, tilting her head, humoring him, he could see.

  “Yeah,” he mumbled. Good thing he wasn’t standing right now or he’d be looking at the ground and shuffling his feet.

  “Come on in for dinner then.”

  He knew she was going to say that. “I don’t want to put you out,” he said, trying to find any polite way he could to get out of it.

  “Nonsense. I always cook family-style. Besides, not everyone is coming back for dinner, so there is plenty.”

  That was at least a plus. “How many?”

  “How many, what?” she asked, one hand on Sparky’s head, the other trailing down his arm. “How many here, or not coming back?” Now she was playing with him, he knew for a fact.

  “Both.”

  “There are three not here, and five that are. You and I will make seven. Come on, I dare you to interact with strangers.”

  Damn her. “What’s in it for me?”

  Her eyes started to glow and right then, he knew. Not what was in it for her, but how far he’d come up from the rabbit hole.

  ***

  Celeste watched Caleb during dinner. He was uncomfortable, it was obvious, but he was trying and she’d give him credit for that.

  You’d think he was being tortured, sitting around the table with her five guests, but little did he know this was a mild group. Two young couples on an extended getaway together who were more interested in talking among themselves, and a businessman here for the week.

  “I have to say,” Marcus, the young professional, said, “I had my doubts about staying at a B&B and was slightly disappointed I couldn’t get a hotel, but this is so much better. I’m going to have to let everyone in my office know to book a room here instead.”

  “Thank you, Marcus. I’d be happy to give a business discount for extended stays or multiple rooms. I’ll give you some information to bring back to your employer.”

  “That’d be great,” he said, picking up his fork and dig
ging into his stuffed chicken. “This is just like being at home with my mother’s cooking. Do you mind if I have more?”

  “Of course not. I aim to please.” Celeste picked up the plate with the chicken and passed it to Caleb to hand to Marcus and didn’t miss his frown.

  Hmm…was Caleb jealous? Did he actually possess that human emotion? She wasn’t trying to be harsh by any means, but she didn’t picture him the type to be jealous of anything or anyone. He did what he wanted, when he wanted. Some would say he had life made; only she knew better than that.

  “So how long have you been friends with Celeste?” Marcus asked Caleb, eying him longer than might be smart on the young man’s part.

  “A few months,” Caleb said, then went back to eating.

  He hadn’t said much during dinner, but he wasn’t being completely rude either, just shy.

  “How did you meet?” Marcus asked again, then turned his head to her and smiled.

  Marcus was fishing, she could see. It wasn’t the first time she’d been hit on by her guests and she wondered how this situation would play out.

  After all, she had no clue if what she and Caleb had was truly a relationship. In her eyes, a relationship was more than a few text messages a week. She hadn’t seen Caleb since he picked Sparky up from his trip almost six days ago.

  Sure, she’d sent a few messages to him and he’d returned them rather fast, but that was it, nothing more. Him showing up today was a shock, but a good one. Now she was curious how the night would go.

  “My dog got loose and I had to retrieve him.”

  “The big shepherd outside?” Marcus asked, shuddering a little.

  Celeste refrained from snorting or calling Marcus a wuss. There was no reason to fear the dog; he was harmless. Didn’t people know dogs smelled fear?

  “That would be him,” Caleb said, reaching in front of him for some more potatoes.

  Grandma was right: the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach. She’d never had to put that to the test before, but there was Caleb enjoying dinner like it was his last meal. She’d have to work with that information too.