by Sam Crescent
He already felt like an asshole before the stitches.
When it came to Jacob, that son of a bitch had stayed away, but the sheriff had said that he’d offered to pay for all damages.
Much to Caleb’s surprise, all of Lilly’s medical bills had been paid.
Arriving back at the garage, he saw Edward waiting for him.
“Don’t tell me you’ve changed your mind,” Caleb said, climbing out of his truck.
“Changed my mind?”
He’d rarely spoken to the bar owner. Edward was a quiet man who seldom came to town. He owned the bar and that was all people knew about him.
“About Lilly. You better not fucking fire her. I started that fight because you keep assholes like Jacob as a client.”
“I have no choice but to keep Jacob as a customer.” Edward ran fingers through his hair. “What are your … intentions with Lilly?”
Caleb folded his arms across his chest and stared at the man in front of him. “With all due respect, you’re her boss. I don’t owe you shit.”
He went to walk past, and Edward put a hand to his shoulder and stopped him. “I’m not asking as her boss.”
Caleb stared at him and waited. “I don’t owe you shit.” He repeated the words slowly.
Edward licked his lips. “I’m asking you as … Lilly’s father.”
He looked at the older man and then laughed. “Nice try. Lilly’s mother never goes in that bar.”
“I know. She knows not to come near me,” Edward said. “I … look, it’s not something I’m proud of, but I’ve never been good with women, okay? Lilly’s mom, she was … easy. She was there and available and so long as I paid the right price, she was more than willing.”
Caleb stared at the man. “You’re telling me all this time when Lilly could have had a loving father, you stood by and did fuck all to help her?”
“I didn’t stand by.” Edward cursed and looked up to the sky.
“No one’s going to help you here. I don’t like the shit I’m hearing right now. The entire town is against Lilly. You even make her drop the fucking key off because you don’t trust her.”
“It’s not Lilly I don’t trust. It’s her mother. Fuck. Damn it.” Edward growled. “I didn’t want Lilly to ever find out. Especially like this.”
Caleb frowned. “Why didn’t you want her to ever know you’re her father?” This made no sense. Edward didn’t seem to be an asshole. At least not the times he’d seen him at the bar. “You even offered her a job.”
“Look, her mother and I, once she found out she was pregnant, it went to crap. I’m not a good … I’ve never had kids. I didn’t even know how to raise a child or be part of a family.” He shook his head, rubbing the back of it. “I’m not making any sense. I paid for everything.” Edward sighed. “I’m not a good people person. Her mother knew this. She told me I’d be awful. That I would ruin her life. I wanted to.”
Caleb watched the man and shook his head. “That fucking bitch. She played you, Edward. Damn it. I bet you’ve been paying that woman even now. Do you even realize Lilly doesn’t live with her? Hasn’t been living with for at least a year?”
“What?”
“Yeah, she lives with Aunt Betty. Has nothing to do with her mother. I haven’t even seen that woman around town. You paid for Lilly? She’s been working for herself for as long as I’ve known her.”
Edward stared at him, and Caleb was sure the man was having an internal meltdown. “I thought I was doing the right thing.”
“You weren’t.” He wasn’t going to lie to try to make this man feel better. He needed to know the truth. “You know, she doesn’t even care about a dad. Her mother told her he was some loser that didn’t stick around.”
“I … I was always there.” Edward looked down at his hands. He was a frail man. From what he’d learned of Lilly’s mom and what he knew himself, the woman had taken advantage. “I wanted to get to know her. When she was a little girl, I’d drop off some presents. I was always told she didn’t want to see me. As the years passed, I just paid extra money.”
“I doubt Lilly saw a cent of your money.” Caleb sighed. “Look, man, you need to talk to Lilly. This isn’t something she should find out from anyone else.”
“You could tell her.”
“No. Not me. This has to come from you.”
“It’ll hurt her.”
“Will it, or will she realize all this time she had a father who actually gave a shit about her?”
Edward nodded. “I’ll talk to her soon.” He turned as if to leave, then stopped. “What are your intentions with her?”
Caleb smiled. “I love her. She doesn’t know that yet, but one day soon, I’d like to marry her.” He wasn’t about to ask this man for permission.
“I’d like to get to know her.”
“That’s on you. Not on me,” Caleb said. “I’m going to follow whatever Lilly wants to do. It’s all I can do.”
“You’re good to her. Thank you.”
Caleb watched the awkward man leave. That was the longest conversation he’d ever had with him. No wonder the man rarely left the bar or his home. He clearly had a problem with socializing.
He kept his cell phone on him in case Edward decided to go find Lilly. There was no way she was going to get through finding out who her father was alone.
For the next couple of hours, he got stuck changing the oil on two cars, changing the brakes on another, and writing up his assessment on two more.
He always had a lot of work to do. Cars were easy to deal with. They spoke to him. As he was filling in the last payment details for one of the vehicles he repaired, Rome entered his shop, tossing him a bag from the diner.
The scent of food assailed his senses, and he stopped what he was doing to eat.
“I need to talk to you,” Rome said.
“You only ever turn up when you want something. Why aren’t you seated behind your books and a computer?”
“Very funny. How do you get a woman to … you know?”
Caleb took a bite of his burrito and looked at his younger brother. The kid was the same size as all of them, tall and muscular, but he was shy, almost gentle. Where he, his dad, and James embraced the Hard name, Rome was softer.
“To have sex?”
“No, to want to go out with you. To maybe ask you out.”
“Rome, you’ve got to be the one to do the asking.”
His brother growled.
“What is this about? You’ve been pissy for a long time now. What gives?” He finished off his burrito and took a long gulp of the water. He hadn’t realized how thirsty he was.
“There’s a woman I want to ask out.”
“So ask her.”
Rome licked his lips and glanced past his shoulder. Caleb looked behind him, but no one was there. “What if there were … issues that could stop you from asking?”
“The only issue I see is if she’s underage, and if she is, fucking gross.”
“No. Ew, fuck, man. Look, I want to ask … someone out.”
Caleb rolled his eyes. Being underage wasn’t a thing. “Is this woman older than you?”
Rome’s face went bright red.
“For fuck’s sake, just ask the teacher out already. She’ll either say yes or no. What have you got to lose?”
“What if she thinks I’m a kid?”
“Look in the mirror, Rome. Other than your teenage attitude, you’re all man. Stop behaving like a baby and grow the fuck up. Thanks for the lunch.”
“Is that what you did? Ask?”
“Yeah, it’s what I did. Also, talk to Mom or Dad. They’ll give you some advice as well on how to handle everything.” He wouldn’t have gotten to where he was without them.
Their mother was patient. She wanted to see all her sons settled with a woman and be on the married path once and for all.
Caleb was close to being settled.
He saw a future with Lilly.
He hoped one day, she’d s
ee a future with him.
Chapter Seven
Lilly stood inside the library checking out the latest books. Caleb hadn’t been impressed by her returning to work so soon. Other than a few aches, she didn’t feel any problems. She was more than fine to work. Of course, he knew best and was insistent on bossing her around.
She’d already called Edward and asked if she could start her shift. He wanted her to take more time to recover and didn’t want to see her again for some time. At least she still had a job. That was the main thing.
After scanning the latest batch of books, she loaded up the trolley and made her way over to the abundant bookshelves, humming a tune inside her head as she got to work.
Aunt Betty had called her that morning and asked if she would be returning home anytime soon. She promised her she would that night. There were no more clothes, and Caleb hadn’t asked her to move in, not that they were even at that point. Other than a few kisses and lots of dates and spending time together, nothing else had happened.
Nothing.
They hadn’t even touched.
Pushing those thoughts to the back of her mind, she focused on her work. She was very much aware of his reputation around town, but with her, he was taking things incredibly slow. It probably didn’t help that she had an injury.
Once the books were back on the shelves, she returned to the main reception only to pause when she caught sight of Jacob walking into the library.
There were security cameras around, and she made sure she stayed behind the desk.
He approached the counter slowly, and even as he came to a stop in front of her, she noticed there were a couple of feet between them.
“Can I help you?” she asked after a prolonged silence.
She caught sight of his bruised face.
“I, er, I wanted to make sure you were okay.” He pointed at where he’d cut her.
“I’m fine. Thank you.”
“I didn’t mean to, you know. I just, it was so heated, and he was pissing me off.”
“Caleb and I were just dancing. We weren’t causing trouble with anyone.”
“I know and I’m sorry. It’s no excuse. I … I’ve enrolled in an anger management program. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I don’t … I’m really sorry for what I did and the times before. It was wrong of me.”
Lilly stared at Jacob, a little taken aback. He’d always been mean to her, but the man before her now was remorseful.
“I forgive you.”
He reached into his jacket and pulled out a rectangular piece of paper. “I got a quote for the cost of the medical. I want to pay it.”
“Jacob, you really don’t have to.”
“I do. I’m sorry, and please, let me pay for the damage.”
She picked up the check, not sure what to say or do. “Thank you.”
“I’m really sorry, and thank you for forgiving me. It won’t happen again.”
She stared down at the check as Jacob left the library. This had to be the oddest day of her life.
At lunchtime, Caleb was there to pick her up. They went to the diner, and it was teeming with people. They ordered their food to go and sat on the hood of his truck to eat. People stopped to talk to them.
“Did you threaten Jacob?” she asked.
“Not seen that son of a bitch since kicking his ass. The sheriff advised I don’t go near him, why?”
“He came by the library today.”
“Did that fucker say or do anything? Advice be damned, I’ll fuck him up,” Caleb said.
She put a hand on his chest. “Stop it. No, he wasn’t mean.” She handed him the check. “He was apologetic and wanted to pay for my hospital visit. He seemed different. He was heavily bruised.”
“I haven’t seen him. You think I threatened him or something?”
“I don’t know. I was curious.”
“Nah, that’s not me, babe. Whoever did it, well, I guess someone is looking out for you.”
“I don’t know who. Oh, well, at least it will help to pay for what he did.” Her side ached a little. “Edward has told me I’m not allowed to come back to work yet.”
“He has?”
“Yeah. I’ve got to wait until I’m completely healed. Don’t you think that’s a little overkill?”
“Him taking care of you?” Caleb asked. “No, I think he cares.”
“Why? He’s not my dad.”
Caleb started to choke on his drink, and she quickly rubbed at his back. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just swallowed something the wrong way. Does the guy have to be your dad to care?”
“I guess not. I don’t know. I don’t like the thought of him taking care of me. He’s my boss.”
Caleb nodded. “Right.”
“Sorry, let’s talk about something else. Tell me about your day.”
Caleb proceeded to tell her about Rome and how he’d shown up again at the garage asking for more dating advice.
She was aware of the youngest Hard boy’s crush on a certain teacher. Caleb kept telling his brother the same advice, just go for it, ask her out. Rome was allowing their student-teacher connection to hinder him.
Rome was a sweet guy. A little nerdish and completely the opposite of his brothers. She thought about Andy Evergreen. The woman kept to herself. Was a hard worker. Had always been kind to her. Rarely a bad word spoken from her mouth.
“I hope he figures it out,” Lilly said, seeing it was nearly the end of her lunch break.
Caleb drove her back to the library, then stopped her from leaving by slamming his lips down on hers, and like so many times before, she melted.
The kisses were incredible, and much to her shame, they didn’t seem to be enough.
“I’ll see you later.”
She’d already told him she needed to go home, and he hadn’t argued with her.
After kissing him again, she climbed out of the truck and headed into the library. She left her bag in a locker in the staffroom and returned to the main desk.
It was a quiet day.
She tapped her fingers on the counter, watching the time pass, trying not to get distracted by her fantasies. It was so easy to do.
Caleb didn’t help her imagination. He set it on fire, and it was harder than ever to just ignore the need pulsing through her all the time.
Glancing out the window, she spotted the teacher, Andy Evergreen, rushing up to the entrance.
She entered the library and Lilly saw why Rome liked her.
Andy was beautiful. It was the girl-next-door kind of beautiful. Brown hair, brown eyes, full-figured. She also wore glasses that often fell down her nose.
“Hello, Lilly,” Andy said with a smile.
“Hello, Miss Evergreen.”
“Please, call me Andy. I’m not your teacher anymore. I’m looking for some research on a paper I’m writing. Could you tell me where I can find the occult section?”
“The occult, sure. I can do that. Are you planning on putting a spell on anyone?”
“No, of course not. It’s more a fascination to me, really. I’m forever a student, and I like to always be one step ahead of my students.”
Lilly left the main desk and took Andy to the occult section.
She stepped back and watched the other woman as she ran her fingers across the spine of the books, smiling when she caught sight of what she looked for.
“Andy, can you date a student?” Lilly asked.
“Absolutely not. It’s completely unethical.”
“What about a past student? I don’t know, say there’s been like a ten-year gap between student and teacher?”
“I’m sure that is fine. Plenty of distance and growth. I don’t see why it would be a problem. I believe I know of a couple in another town who are together.”
Lilly licked her lips. “It’s none of my business, but you know Rome Hard?”
“Yes, he does my accounts for me.”
“He does?”
“Yes. He’s tur
ned into an amazing man.”
This is really none of my business.
“Well, he wants to ask you out on a date, and he thinks it’s inappropriate and you would say no, and I need to breathe.” She took a deep breath.
“He does?”
“Don’t you get even a hint that he likes you?”
“Er, no, I can’t say. Are you sure?”
“Yes, very sure. He likes you. Thinks about you all the time.” She hoped Rome wouldn’t hate her after this.
“I’m older than him.”
“I know.” Lilly smiled. “And he wants to be with you.”
Andy opened and closed her mouth.
“I’m going to leave you to research.”
Guilt flooded Lilly as she left her old teacher to deal with that piece of information. Either Andy reacted and did something, or she ignored it. Either way, she hoped her good intentions would be seen.
****
A couple of weeks later
Lilly pressed against his side. Caleb cupped her cheek as he explored her mouth. From the moment he’d kissed her, he hadn’t been able to stop. Trailing his lips down her neck, he flicked his tongue across her pulse, then moved back up, taking possession of her lips.
“Caleb, please.” She broke the kiss.
“What’s the matter?”
“Do you … I mean, do you find me attractive?”
“You know I do.” He frowned, not sure what she was getting at.
“We’ve been dating for a few months, and you’ve been the perfect gentleman, which I love. I really do. But—” She stopped and shook her head. “Forget it.”
“Lilly,” he said, capturing her hands. “What’s the matter?”
She stared into his eyes, and he smiled at her.
“You won’t touch me. We kiss and we even fall asleep together. Not in a bed. I … I get that you want to move slowly. Aren’t you used to more?” She covered her face and groaned. “Ignore me.”
After pulling her hands away from her face, he cupped her cheek. “Lilly, I don’t want to rush you.”
“You’re not rushing. Every time you touch me, I feel like I’m going to explode. I love your hands on me. I love everything that you do. I never want you to stop, but…”