The Marine's Red Hot Homecoming

by Christine Glover

  Maybe, just maybe, Hannah thought with a tendril of hope unfurling low, that would be how they’d all come through this reunion and temporary homecoming unscathed.

  ###

  Hours later, Hannah picked up the photograph she’d placed on the nightstand beside Jason’s crib and traced her fingers over the image of Caleb in his dress uniform. The picture blurred and she tilted her head back, blinking rapidly to tamp down the overwhelming urge to cry.

  She couldn’t tell if her tears came from a place of happiness, relief, or from somewhere far deeper. When she heard him squealing in the adjacent room and Caleb’s accompanying laughter, Hannah replaced the picture—the one Jason had kissed goodnight for untold countless lonely nights. Now he’d kiss the man himself.

  Her belly fluttered, and yearning bloomed low. She’d never forgotten Caleb’s taste, the sweet sensation of his lips moving across hers, or the incredible hunger he evoked in her with every sweep of his tongue against hers. How often had she thought about doing the same thing during this long day?

  But that fantasy, and the memories that spurred her desire, needed to remain locked down. Period. The end. No way was she exploring a physical reunion with him. She’d focus on helping Caleb build a relationship with their son.

  “How’s it going in there?” she called with a steadier voice than she’d thought possible.

  “Almost done.”

  “Great.” She crossed the room to the white dresser, opened the top drawer to withdraw Jason’s pajamas. “Bring him in here when you’re finished. We’ll get him ready for bed together.”

  Moments later, she heard the water draining and Caleb murmuring to Jason to stay still. In a few minutes, Caleb stepped into the bedroom with Jason in his arms with a hooded super hero towel tucked around their little boy’s freshly scrubbed skin.

  Her heart rate accelerated. While Jason was dried from head to toe, Caleb was another story. His wet black T-shirt molded perfectly across his huge muscles and his jeans? She couldn’t help taking a peek at the outline of Caleb’s impressive male package bulging beneath his waistband.

  She licked her lips, then forced her gaze to leave the tempting sight to focus on Caleb. “You were supposed to give him the bath, not the other way around.” She held out her arms, and Caleb flew Jason into them.

  She buried her head into Jason’s hair and inhaled the scent of baby shampoo while at the same time she did her level best to ignore the heat emanating between them. “Mmm, you smell shiny and all brand new,” she said.

  “Smell Daddy,” he demanded.

  Caleb’s blue eyes crinkled at the corners. “Jason didn’t miss a beat when we told him about me,” he said, smiling.

  “The real thing is better than a picture,” Hannah said. She’d never hidden his identity from Jason. After they’d finished playing at the park, they returned to her apartment where she had shown Jason the photo he said goodnight to every night. Connecting the dots had been relatively easy afterward. He’d accepted the new information without fuss. Though he did ask if that meant he’d get a puppy, too.

  “Smell Daddy,” Jason insisted again, wiggling in her arms.

  “Okay,” she said, then complied and sniffed Caleb’s shoulder. Baby shampoo and minty bubbles mingled with Caleb’s unique masculine aroma—clean, tart, and very tantalizing.

  More butterfly wings fluttered in her belly. Her nipples pebbled against the fabric of her shirt. Not good. Not good at all. Bad. Bad. Bad. Do not think about how delicious he smells. Stop. It. Now. “You want to get Jason ready for bed?” She stepped away from Caleb. “Read him a story while I check in with my brother?”

  Her voice sounded like a squeaky wheel in her ears as Caleb tracked the length of her body and paused long enough to read the desire in its traitorous response.

  A muscle jumped in his jaw. “Sure thing, but could you wait for me to join in? I haven’t talked to Michael in a few years,” he said.

  She couldn’t say no to that request. “Deal.”

  “Thanks.” He took Jason from her. “I’ll meet you in the living room after I tuck him in. We’ll go over the legal details before I leave.”

  “I’ll make a pot of coffee,” she promised, then kissed Jason on his forehead. “Love you. Be good for Daddy.” Then she left before any other naughty thoughts tiptoed into her sex-starved brain.

  During the half an hour that Caleb spent with Jason, Hannah reveled in the luxury of having free time without feeling utterly exhausted. She took her time brewing coffee and indulged in reading a few pages in her romance novel while she waited for the pot to fill. A girl could seriously get used to this kind of freedom, she thought, when she carried two cups to the living room and placed them on the table in front of the sofa.

  After Caleb joined her, choosing to sit on the opposite end of the same sofa, she sipped her coffee. She pulled out her iPad, then dialed Michael’s number. “Hey big brother,” she said when he answered the FaceTime call. “How’s the tournament going?” Michael had gone to Atlanta to watch a pre-Olympic swimming trial that had many potential stars racing in it.

  “Some stellar kids in this meet,” Michael’s said. “Hey Caleb. Good to see you made it home in one piece. You pop the question yet?”

  A machine did the talking for Michael, but his eyes spoke volumes. “Yes he did, but I said no,” she said, then sipped her coffee. “We’re going over the custody details tonight.”

  Michael’s mouth pinched at one corner and he huffed. “You’re kidding, right? What’d Mom say? Dad?”

  “This is my decision, not yours or Mom and Dad’s,” she said.

  “Man, you must have really botched that one,” Michael said, shooting his astute hazel eyes in Caleb’s direction. “‘Cause Hannah…”

  “It’s for the best.” She cut him off before Michael said anything that revealed how much she cared for Caleb, then plastered a smile on her face. Caring hadn’t been enough to get Brandon the help he’d needed. She didn’t dare risk putting Jason or her through that kind of hell again. “He’s leaving as soon as his dad is back on the job.”

  “Again. Really botched it.”

  Caleb shifted in his seat and crossed his arms. “I asked. She said no. Now we’re doing the adult thing to make this work. For Jason.”

  “He’s got a call to serve,” Hannah replied, then searched for a change of topic before her meddling—albeit well-intentioned—older brother tried to figure out a way to coerce them into a shot gun marriage. “You got any money riding on this meet? Someone you think will make the team?”

  “Got my eye on one kid that looks promising,” Michael said. “You should bet on him.”

  “I’ll take the guy I’ve been following instead.”

  “Your loss.” Michael’s hazel eyes squinted. “You should bet on this guy, Caleb. Might get you out of serious diaper duty.”

  “That would be awesome.”

  Caleb had changed every diaper thus far today. She definitely wanted that trend to continue. “Okay, it’s a bet. But I don’t plan to lose this one.”

  “Deal,” Caleb said, then held out his hand. “Shake on it.”

  She placed her palm in his big one and shook twice. When he didn’t release her right away, she paused to look at him. “What?” she asked, attempting to sound calm despite the gazillion electrical charges pinging through her skin and into her long neglected woman parts.

  “Michael, we’ll talk later,” she said, then quickly ended their call with her free hand before Michael caught onto her current state of discombobulation.

  “I’ve missed this,” Caleb said a few moments later. “Missed joking around with Michael. The town. The easy nights where we hang out. I’ve missed you, too.”

  “I.” She tugged her hand free, desperate to break the emotional connection along with the physical one. She refused to let herself fall into the trap of believing that his confession was anything more than nostalgia for days long gone by. “We’ve always been here. We’ll be here
after you leave. I’ll make sure Jason is ready for you when you return.” But not her. She was through with waiting for dreams and wishes and unspoken desires to come true.

  Chapter Three

  Mid afternoon sun slanted through the stand of oak, maple and crepe myrtle trees that filled Sweetbriar Springs’ town square park. Hannah pushed Jason’s stroller along the center path toward a picnic table where she had agreed to meet Caleb to sign the new paperwork he had drawn up after his first meeting with their son.

  “Down. Momma.” He strained against the belts holding him secure in his seat.

  She looked at Jason, then through the dappled leaves and branches of the trees. Her stomach did a little drop and roll. Oh, she knew exactly why he was in a hurry to run. Across the way, Caleb walked along the same path with long, easy strides, his suit coat open and his dress shirt unbuttoned at the collar. He radiated power and strength, and tamping down her reaction to his appeal grew more difficult with every moment she spent with him.

  “As soon as we reach Daddy,” she promised, gripping the handles and moving faster.

  A flash of light flared at the base of Caleb’s neck. Even now, though he’d assumed his family’s business conglomerate’s top position, he wore his military dog tags. Yet another reminder of the temporary exclamation mark punctuating his short term return.

  He caught sight of them and waved, quickening his pace until they reached a vacant picnic table tucked beneath a towering, aged oak tree. “This place is perfect,” she said. It had ample space for Jason to play in the grass that blanketed the ground and enough shade to protect them from the sun’s rays.

  “I brought lunch.” He put a sturdy paper bag filled with goodies from Sweetbriar Springs Sweet Eats Delicatessen onto the table, then plunked his Italian leather briefcase beside the food.

  Jason strained harder. “Down,” he wailed.

  “He really hates this thing.”

  “He’s like me. Doesn’t like to be stuck in one place.” Caleb knelt in front of the stroller, his indigo eyes full of pride and love for their son. “Hold on, little buddy.” He unsnapped the belt and lifted him out, swinging him high.

  Her heart skipped several beats. Not for fear of Jason falling, but for the way Caleb’s gray pinstriped dress shirt molded to his chest. Not only that, but his charcoal suit coat hugged his broad shoulders to perfection. Sure, he’d always been a female magnet in his leathers, jeans, and bad-boy black T-shirts. But he was devastatingly drop-dead gorgeous in his black tie suit. Beyond drool worthy. And definitely super sexy in all caps.

  She willed her rebellious heartbeat and hormones to quit jigging like a silly school girl with a crush, breathing in through her nose and slowly out of her mouth until every internal dancing woman part slowed to an easy rhythm.

  “Did you get everything squared away with your lawyer?” she asked.

  Caleb tossed Jason up in the air, then caught him. “Sure thing. You?”

  “Yes. Once you sign the contract, we’ll file the agreement and the shared custody will be a done deal.”

  “Wish dealing with Gibson Technology’s employees was this easy. So many endless meetings and everyone’s afraid to make a decision. That would be deadly out in the field.”

  Jason giggled. “More Daddy... more!”

  Caleb complied again and again while she retrieved her lawyer’s custody agreement from the stroller’s under seat storage bin along with a tablecloth. Her heart squeezed a little tighter as she set the table, pulling the contents of their lunch from the bag along with paper plates, napkins, and plastic cutlery. How quickly he had taken to his father, but then she had always wanted them to have this relationship.

  “Gibson Technology isn’t like dealing with the military. Things work different in the civilian world,” she said.

  “Which is why I can’t wait to get back overseas.” Caleb tossed Jason again. “No second guessing the leader’s commands.”

  A tiny shiver traveled into the base of her neck. She couldn’t stand the idea of Caleb risking his life again. If only he’d comprehend that all he fought for and the reward of his service existed here. But no way would she ever ask him to choose her over the military again.

  Saying goodbye would be painful. After all, her family and Caleb’s had grown up side by side in this small town. Plus, Michael made no secret of the fact that he’d always wanted to get them together.

  A fact he almost spilled during their FaceTime chat.

  Heck, Michael had even managed to get her best friend Kennedy to fall in love all over again with Zach. Kennedy’s little girl Chelsea Anne had been born shortly afterward. Now a second miracle was on the way. Seeing Kennedy’s happiness had garnered wishes for the same happily-ever-afters in Hannah. But though she’d encouraged Jason to kiss Caleb’s picture goodnight before tucking him into sleep for the night, she realized her dreams had been delusions born out of loneliness.

  And rejection.

  As the sun warmed her back, she gave herself a minute to watch father and son play. Anyone looking their way would see a young family enjoying the first days of spring. But one glance at the file she’d brought with her, which contained the legal document that outlined their custody agreement painted the stark truth.

  She raised her hand to her brow and rubbed it. “All right boys. Time to eat.” And time to sign the contract that bound Jason to his father. Which was for the best.

  Jason scrambled to climb onto the table’s bench seat, his stocky legs unable to bridge the distance. “Here,” she said, lifting him up onto her lap and passing him a sippy cup filled with apple juice. She loved the feel of his warm body snuggled against hers, and the scent of baby shampoo mingling with earth and sun and fresh spring air.

  She’d expected Caleb to sit opposite them. And had half counted on the barrier the table would provide. Instead he shrugged off his suit coat, draped it on the stroller’s handles, then slipped onto the bench beside her and Jason.

  “You want Italian with the works or turkey on rye?” he asked, whipping his tie over his shoulder and rolling up his shirt sleeves to his elbows.

  The fine blond hairs on his muscular forearms shimmered in the sunlight. A zip of awareness skimmed beneath the surface of her skin. Oh, how she remembered the power, the sheer strength of them as he framed her body with his and made love to her two years ago. Stop thinking about that night. It’s not happening again. Ever. Focus on establishing ground rules for our so-called family.

  “Neither.” She opened the plastic container she’d filled with grapes, strawberries, and blueberries. “I’m a vegetarian.”

  His blue eyes widened. “How can you live without meat?”

  “I’ve managed to survive so far.” She added a cheese sandwich, cut into four pieces, onto Jason’s plate. “So has our son.”

  “Not for long. A kid needs meat.” Caleb grabbed his sandwich, opened the crusty bread, then pulled a pepper shaker out of his pant pocket and liberally sprinkled the meat.

  “You do realize how disgusting that is, don’t you?” Her stomach roiled. “Processed food is filled with preservatives and additives. There’s no way I’d let him eat that crap.”

  “Hey, compared to an MRE, this stuff is ambrosia.” He took a big bite, then chewed. “Mmmm. Best Italian special I’ve ever had.”

  She didn’t like thinking about him in a desert eating a Meal Ready to Eat while all kinds of danger surrounded him. Nor did she enjoy the ongoing tingles of attraction that refused to go away no matter how hard she tried to push them out.

  “I don’t know how you can tell with all the pepper you put on it.” She picked at her fruit and ate a corner of Jason’s sandwich. “Regardless, when it comes to what he can or can’t eat, you need to check with me first. I have him on a special organic and meat free diet.”

  “So my beliefs don’t count?” he asked. “I get that you’re the one who has raised him alone, but now that I’m here we need to work together regarding what’s best for our son
.”

  “Look, Jason’s not the only one who has to get used to another parent,” Hannah said. “I’m in the same boat. Changing everything I’ve established can’t happen overnight. Please understand.”

  He paused, then nodded. “You’re right. We’ll take it slow until we’re all more comfortable.”

  Jason squirmed in her lap. “Down.”

  Noting that he’d finished half his sandwich and had devoured his favorite fruit—strawberries—she quickly wiped his hands and face with a wet wipe, then let him down. “Get your toys from the stroller basket. You play while Momma and Daddy talk.”

  With one eye on Jason and the other on the file sitting on top of the picnic table, Hannah realized she had to make Caleb understand how important following her lead meant in both situations. “You’re not planning on staying. I don’t need the added stress of reinforcing my rules after you leave. So I won’t let you change our son’s diet,” she said. “If we have to redraw the agreement to enforce that fact, then let’s call it a day. You can bring by a new contract later this week.” She controlled the outcome of this session, not Caleb. Would he compromise?

  He raised his hands in mock surrender. “I’ll follow your rules. For now. But we’ll revisit them in the near future.”

  “Would that be before you leave us again? Or after you come back from yet another two year absence?”

  A muscle jumped in his jaw. “Shared custody means making decisions together regardless of my absences.”

  Oh, she read the frustration in the tight lines bracketing his mouth. But she held her ground. “We’ve got this settled for the time being. Now let’s get this done so I can get back to the boutique.” And back to her life. Because the only thing they had in common was their son. Though her hormones screamed to differ.

  ###

  One hour later, Hannah signed the contract. “Here’s the stuff about Jason’s diet,” she said, pointing to the spot in the paperwork where she’d inserted her codicil. She gave him her pen. “Sign it and date it.” Though it was a small victory, she’d come a long way from the woman who had let her ex-boyfriend in Los Angeles walk all over her.