Safe? Maybe it wasn’t him she should worry about. Maybe it was herself.
Chapter Five
Caitlin pulled her gaze away from the snowy moonlit hills zipping by outside the train window and stared at the woman across the aisle from her. Taylor had fallen asleep several minutes after they’d pulled out of Grand Central and so had Beau, who was snoring loudly, crammed into the space at their feet, spilling under their seats and the ones in front of them. The woman had dozed off as well after over an hour of nonstop chatter about her grandkids, and Caitlin finally had some time to herself to worry. No. She shook her head to ward off the pessimism she’d vowed to leave behind in Georgia. Not worry. Time to think this whole mess through. She’d expected to spend this time talking to Taylor on the way to the cabins his family rented every year. She’d imagined they would work out their fictitious backstory and get their facts straight, but in keeping with the rest of her day, planning had jumped the tracks.
She stared down at the ring on her finger. Taylor had handed it to her when they met outside Animal Attraction. The awkward exchange was followed by an even more uncomfortable moment when she’d slipped it onto her own finger while Jane watched them through the window. Before he’d arrived, she’d filled Jane in on the entire stuck ring debacle and the subsequent barter with Taylor, and to her amazement, her friend thought a weekend in the mountains was a great idea. It wasn’t. This entire thing had fiasco written all over it.
She wiggled her finger. At least the ring fit now. Taylor had managed to have it resized during the day. Even in the dim, fluorescent lights of the train, it was spectacular.
“Next stop, Poughkeepsie,” a tinny voice announced over the speaker, causing every muscle in Caitlin’s body to tense, knowing she’d be meeting his family soon.
“That’s us, Beau.” She leaned down and rubbed the dog’s shoulder. “Taylor said we get off here.” She pulled her coat off her lap and shrugged into it, then put on her gloves and knit cap.
Several passengers around them stood as the train squeaked to a halt, and her heart raced. Not only because she was about to jump off a cliff into a weekend full of unknowns, but because Taylor was still sound asleep.
“Hey,” she said, standing, then reaching overhead to grab her bag from the metal rack. He didn’t budge.
People filed off and on the train around her. Gently, she touched his shoulder and squeezed. “Taylor, we’re here.” No reaction. “Blankenship!” She said louder.
“Ready!” His eyes flew open and he sat bolt upright, shoulders tense, fists clenched. Then, his eyes focused and he relaxed. After a breath, he smiled up at her. “Already here?”
Already? The last couple of hours had seemed like an eternity, but then, sleeping on a train was like time travel, she supposed. “Yeah.”
He stood, put on his coat, pulled down his bag, and relieved her of hers. “Let’s go meet the family…honey.” His grin was full of mischief, and though she knew she should have been pissed, she found it hard to be anything but nervous…and a little turned on. No, a lot turned on. She’d sat next to him for two hours, smelling his yumminess and absorbing his warmth. At first, she tried not to let any part of her body touch him, which was difficult in the narrow train seats, but after a while, she gave up, enjoying the feel of his hard muscles against her from shoulder to knee.
Beau led the way from the platform to the pickup area, tugging on the leash like knew the way. Then, he started barking and pulled her along as if she were holding on to a water ski rope behind a power boat.
“Whoa, Beau!” Caitlin adjusted her purse higher on her shoulder and grabbed the leash loop with both hands, but couldn’t slow bulldozer Beau even a little.
From somewhere behind, Taylor laughed. She’d never heard him laugh before and it did funny things to her stomach. Finally, Beau stopped short, almost causing her to nosedive over him. Instead, she caught a metal light pole at the edge of the walk, saving her from a face plant on the pavement.
“Beauregard!” a high, musical voice said.
Oh, crap. She was definitely writing that how-to manual on making a terrible first impression—at this rate, it could simply be a journal of this one day. Still holding the ego-saving pole, Caitlin met the eyes of the girl from the photo on Taylor’s shelf, only she didn’t have braces anymore.
“Hey! I’m Bethany, Taylor’s sister. You must be Caitlin.” The girl didn’t extend a hand as she had them both buried deep in the fur on Beauregard’s ruff. “You need to dial it back, Beauregard. You almost made her go splat on the sidewalk, and that would’ve put her out of play for the weekend. Grams would be pissed at you for that.” The girl’s grin was gorgeous and reminded Caitlin of her brother’s.
Out of play?
“Hey, loser,” Bethany said, giving Taylor a hug.
“Loser?” he said, spinning her around in a bear hold.
She laughed as he set her down. “Uh-huh. It’s gonna be a mistletoe massacre this year. I’m totally gonna win. I have a new coat and a secret weapon.”
“Yeah, well. I have a secret weapon, too.” He gave Caitlin a wink that made her flush hot despite the frigid air.
“Yep. Secret all right. Better get ready to dish, bro. Mom’s been compiling a list of questions for the interrogation.” She shot a look at Caitlin and her grin widened. “Grams didn’t even make it out of your building this morning before she called with the news, so you have zero element of surprise. Congrats, by the way.”
He ruffled her hair as if she were a little kid and not a teen. “Thanks, squirt. Mom and Dad in the car waiting?”
She pulled a set of keys out of her pocket and jingled them in front of his nose. “Nope. They sent me solo.”
He made a horrified face. “Noooo. You can’t possibly be driving yet. Aren’t you only twelve?”
She punched his shoulder. “I’m sixteen, butthead. I’m a full-grown woman.” She struck an exaggerated sexy pose with her chest out and an arm behind her head.
He laughed. “Excuse me while I throw up.”
“C’mon on, Caitlin.” She took the leash. “We can put the two dogs in the back seat so we don’t get fleas.” Striking out across the parking lot, she shouted out in a mocking, childlike voice, “Caitlin calls shotgun!” She fired a look over her shoulder at her brother, who stuck out his tongue.
Caitlin marveled at the easy, fun banter and clearly loving relationship between the siblings, wishing she’d had a brother or sister. At least she’d had her besties Jane and Fiona growing up. Her two lifelong friends had greeted her at the airport when she returned from her disaster in Georgia, and it had almost felt like coming home to family. Almost.
Bethany opened the back door of a silver sedan and Beau immediately jumped into the back seat. Taylor placed the suitcases in the trunk while Caitlin shuffled foot-to-foot, feeling out of place. She didn’t belong here. This was a terrible idea.
As she reached for the car door handle, Taylor stepped in and opened it for her, which made her insides warm. After she slid in the seat, he leaned in and brushed a kiss against her cheek, which took her insides from warm to scorching.
“Ew!” Bethany said.
“I can’t keep my hands off of her.” Taylor chuckled and got in the back seat with Beau.
“Double ew!” Bethany started the car and pulled out of the parking space. “Glad I separated you, then. I just ate dinner.”
Caitlin knew this affection toward her was all part of the show for Taylor’s little sister and cursed her body for buying into his act so easily. Hopefully, he wouldn’t amp it up for his parents.
“Tell me you’re not one of those couples who grope each other on the train. That totally grosses me out,” Caitlin said as she pulled out on the highway after signaling, checking her mirrors, and looking both ways several times in a classic new driver fashion.
“No, Taylor slept the whole time on the train,” Caitlin said, hoping she didn’t sound as bitter as she felt.
Bethany ro
lled her eyes. “Yeah. He does that every time. He’ll be out in five seconds in a car, too. You awake back there, Big T?”
“Not for long. You know I catch sleep whenever I can. Never know when I’m going to be called in to work.”
“I thought you had the weekend off.”
“Old habits.”
“Nah. You’re just lazy like your dog.”
“That, too.”
With a mischievous grin, she handed Caitlin her phone from a cubby in the dash. “Hit the playlist named ‘Drive Taylor Nuts’ for me, please.”
Loud techno-pop blasted from the speakers and Taylor groaned.
“Old habits,” Bethany shouted over the music with a grin.
By the time they’d reached the cabins, Taylor looked like he was down to his very last nerve. Caitlin was glad for the music, though, because it provided perfect cover. His sister couldn’t ask a bunch of questions with the bass booming, and she and Taylor still might get a chance to be alone when they got to the cabins so they could get their story straight before his mother’s “interrogation.”
Bethany turned off the music as they pulled to a stop in front of the biggest cabin in the cluster of five. Brightly colored lights strung randomly over the porch railing pulsed rapidly, like her heartbeat.
“C’mon on, Beau,” Bethany said, getting out and opening the back door. “Let’s go!” Beau bounded toward the largest cabin as if it were his home, and Bethany ran after him.
“Taylor, we need to talk,” Caitlin blurted out, twisting in the seat to face him. Her voice sounded strained. “We need to get our story straight and…” A group of people stepped out onto the porch. Shit.
He opened his door. “Leave it to me. It’ll all be fine. I have a plan.”
She started to reply, but he closed his door, then opened hers right away. He dropped to a crouch, putting his eyes even with hers. “This isn’t life and death. It’s just a ruse to make a lonely old woman happy. Low stakes. High reward.”
The dome light of the car reflected in his dark eyes and her heartbeat slowed. She supposed it was fairly low stakes, especially for someone like him who’d been in situations she couldn’t even imagine. But she wasn’t used to misleading people—even if it was for a good cause. She was a terrible liar and got caught every time.
Her apprehension must have shown on her face because he laid a reassuring hand on her thigh, causing all kinds of bells and whistles and party horns to go off in her body, which was not reassuring.
“It’s gonna be okay,” he said in a low voice. “Trust me?”
“Not even a little bit.”
He patted her leg, grinned, and stood. “It’s going to be a long three days for you, then.”
No doubt.
After he retrieved his backpack and her suitcase from the trunk, he took her hand as she got out of the car and entwined his fingers with hers. Even through her glove, she could feel his warmth.
“Showtime,” he whispered as he led her toward his waiting family.
Chapter Six
Taylor adjusted the backpack on his shoulder and gave Caitlin’s tense fingers a squeeze as they climbed the steps to the main cabin where his family waited. He was surprised she was this nervous, considering how feisty she’d been at his apartment. Maybe she was irritated he’d crashed out on the train ride. He didn’t blame her, really. It was kind of a dick move. He’d gotten into the habit of sleeping whenever he could, and his body did it automatically now. Moving vehicle. Boom. Out like a light. It was a useful habit considering he had to be fresh and ready for his next flight. There were rules about the number of consecutive hours he could fly and the amount of time between them, but it was still taxing to not have a regular schedule. It had been a bitch of a week, too. He was really looking forward to his move to Boston where he would only have to be at the beck and call of one of the Anderson brothers, rather than three.
Mom and Dad were all grins as they got closer. This was the first time he’d introduced a date to his family since returning from duty. Damn. His shoulders tensed. He hadn’t really thought of that before. No wonder everyone was freaking out over his single status. It’s not that he didn’t date anymore. He just didn’t have time for relationships, and introducing a woman to the family sent the wrong message to both his family and the woman.
Well, that thought kind of made him feel like an asshole. Then his grandmother came out of the cabin, and the radiant look on her face reaffirmed his initial instinct; this was a good plan. She’d had so much grief in the last years that joy, even if brought about by a brief fake engagement, was worth the ruse.
Caitlin’s fingers tightened again.
At least, he hoped it was worth it. “Hey, everyone. This is Caitlin Ramos. I’m sure Grams spilled the beans about our surprise.” His grandmother’s eyes opened wide in mock offense. “So, I’ll skip right over it and simply say…” He scanned their expectant faces. “We’ll tell you all about it as soon as we get settled in. Which cabin is ours, Grams?”
“Awww’s” and “Booo’s” and even a snowball were fired his way—he was sure the snowball was courtesy of Uncle Rock, his grandmother’s brother.
“Follow me!” Grams said, striking out toward the cabin farthest from the main house. When the rest of the family started to tag along, she spun and held up her hand like a traffic cop. “The lovebirds might be stealing my show, but it’s still my show. All of you go back inside, heat up the pie, and finish that round of Cards Against Humanity. Bethy, you take over my hand, but don’t play the two naughty cards. Leave those for when I get back.”
Beau lumbered off the porch and bounded through the snow to meet up with Grams on the cleared path.
“Okay, Beauregard, you can come along because you’re not nosey like the rest of these people.” She shot a “get lost” look at his family, and they reluctantly trudged back into the house.
Caitlin’s fingers finally relaxed as they followed Grams along the path. Even wearing thick gloves, her hand felt tiny in his. He hated that she seemed so uptight. At least he’d bought them some time to work out the kinks before she faced his family… Well, that thought hadn’t helped at all. There were lots of things he’d like to work out, including kinks, but Caitlin didn’t seem like a one-date kind of woman—not even a three-day-date-in-a-cozy-cabin kind of woman. He glanced over at her determined face that was even prettier in the moonlight, hoping to hell he was wrong and her approach to dating was like his: no strings, no promises, no regrets…
She pulled her hand from his as they neared the cabin and rubbed it on her thigh. Nope. She wasn’t like him at all. No way in Hell.
…
There was zero possibility Caitlin could stay in this tiny cabin with Hot Guy. She couldn’t even hold his freaking hand without becoming a human firework ready to launch and light up the place.
Thank goodness he’d brokered some time for them to talk strategy, because this was not going to work unless they set some strict limits. She rubbed the warm, tingly hand he’d been holding on her thigh, which only made the firework effect worse. Terrible, terrible, terrible plan, she chanted in her head as she climbed the four steps to the tiny porch of the proportionately tiny cabin—the romantic, post-card perfect cabin, draped in a blanket of snow like a freaking Hallmark movie set. Yes. Limits. Lots of them.
“My husband, Emery, and I used to rent here every year, Caitlin, honey,” Grams explained as she opened the door. “We stayed in this very cabin on our honeymoon.”
Perfect. Maybe if she pictured Taylor’s grandparents in this cabin, it would snuff out her lit fuse.
She stepped inside after Beau, and Taylor followed, closing the door behind them. The inside of the cabin was as charming and romantic as the outside. A fire blazed in the stone hearth. The warm wood paneling glowed in the flickering light from the fireplace and thick, braided rugs decorated the floor. There was a patchwork quilt on the bed—a bed that seemed too small for two people, especially if one of them was the si
ze of of a football player. Surely there was a way to stay in separate cabins. They weren’t pretending to be married, after all.
Taylor set Caitlin’s suitcase and his backpack on the bed as his grandmother did a three-sixty.
“Every single year, Emery and I came here on our anniversary—to this exact cabin. This would have been sixty-two years together.” Gram’s eyes glistened. “It’s a magic space, you know. I’ve hated that it sat empty the years since…” She took a deep breath. “I just couldn’t bring myself to be in here alone, so I switched to the big cabin. I’m so happy you two are staying in this one. Maybe you’ll come back here for sixty-two years, too.”
Oh boy. So much for asking for a separate room.
Grams straightened her shoulders and smiled, then glanced at her watch. “It’s quarter past ten. Come back up to the main cabin no later than quarter ’til.” She winked. “That should give you plenty of time for fun and games before the fun and games.” She scanned the entire room and took a deep breath. “Magic.”
Holy crap. She’d just encouraged them to… Her eyes shot to Taylor after Grams shut the door. Might as well get this straight right now. “We need to set some ground rules.”
The corner of his mouth hitched up in amusement and he scratched behind Beau’s ear. “What kind of rules?”
She was certain he knew exactly what she meant, but she’d say it just to make it crystal clear. “No fun and games.”
His eyes widened with innocence. “Well, Grams really likes games of all kinds. Board games, Twister—”
“You know what I mean. No fooling around.” His eyebrow quirked up, so she added, “No physical fooling around. No…” She gestured in a wild, awkward movement indicating the interior of the cottage. “No magic.”
“Okay. Fair enough.”
She nodded.
Tilting his head, he studied her. “May I ask why?”
Three Day Fiancee (Animal Attraction) Page 4