A Proposal for the Officer

by Christy Jeffries

  He told himself that after he had one taste, there would be no going back. But when he grazed his lips against hers, she sighed.

  He didn’t tell himself anything after that.

  Chapter Seven

  Kaleb’s mouth was warm and welcoming and so very persuasive. One minute, Molly’d been in the bathroom stall, angry at herself for being weak and eating the wrong foods, feeling overwhelmed and like a failure. The next minute, Kaleb was there letting her know that her body was still very much alive.

  Molly lifted up onto her tiptoes to wrap her arms fully around his neck, pulling his chest against hers. She didn’t know if he’d deepened the kiss or if she did, but their tongues were stroking, exploring and staking claim. He’d been right last night. He definitely could deliver a better kiss.

  Still, Molly wanted more. His arousal pressed against her lower belly and she needed to feel that throbbing hardness somewhere else. She hooked a leg around the back of his thigh, tilting her hips upward. Kaleb groaned before sliding his hands under the legs of her running shorts, cupping her bottom in his palms and lifting her up against the wall. She wrapped her calves around his waist, moaning into his mouth as he pressed himself between her open thighs.

  She heard an automated whirring sound each time his hips rocked inside of hers, but dismissed it as one of his annoying smart devices. If Kaleb was too focused to worry about his electronics or his company, then who was she to distract him from his mission?

  And, oh, what a mission it was. As his lips trailed down her neck, her breathing became labored and she arched her head back, giving him better access while sucking in more air. She slid her fingers through his dark hair, pulling his mouth back to hers right as a cool rush of air came from the doorway.

  The open doorway.

  “I know it’s a small town, but we do have hotels here in Sugar Falls,” Freckles said before letting out a quiet—thankfully—giggle and slapping her thigh. In Molly’s scramble to put her feet down, her knee moved under the sensor of the paper towel machine, and all three sets of eyes followed the trail from the roll inside to the pile folded upon itself on the floor. Freckles giggled again before pulling the door closed behind her.

  Left alone with their embarrassment, Molly’s choices were to face Kaleb or look at her reflection in the mirror above the sink. She chose the less judgmental of the two options and watched him use the hem of his T-shirt to clean the fog off his glasses. A little bubble of satisfaction floated inside her at the realization that she’d been partially responsible for making him get that steamy. But that bubble was soon skewered through by a sharp needle of returning desire when she saw the tight muscles of his abdomen revealed.

  “Here.” She tore off the thirty dangling feet of paper towel and held the upper part out to him. His eyes were even bluer without the thick, trendy black frames and she wished she was in a cockpit with an ejection seat so that she could better escape this situation.

  “Sorry about that,” Kaleb said as he replaced his glasses and bent to retrieve the rest of the towel to stuff into the giant cowboy-boot-shaped garbage can.

  “Sorry that you kissed me or sorry that we got busted like that?” Molly asked.

  “Actually, I was sorry that we accidentally set off that machine and wasted all that paper. I’m not the least bit sorry that I kissed you. And it certainly doesn’t bother me that we got caught.”

  Of course it wouldn’t bother him. It played right into his big dating plan, making everything seem more realistic. Molly tugged on the edges of her running shorts, ensuring they were back in place. But that was a mistake since it drew his gaze to her thighs, causing her muscles underneath to clench as a shudder made its way to her center. If Kaleb kept looking at her like that, they would end up finishing what they started right here in the ladies’ room of the Cowgirl Up.

  “Kylie and Mia are probably wondering what’s taking me so long,” she said, then gasped. “Wait, did they see you come in here?”

  “I hope not, but to be honest, I was worried that you were getting sick and needed me, and wasn’t really paying attention to them.”

  “Well, we can’t very well go back out there together,” Molly said. “One of us should stay here.”

  “You go on ahead. I need a little more time to, uh, get myself under control.”

  As she retrieved her tote bag from where she must’ve dropped it on the floor, a flush of warmth rushed up her neck. As she rushed toward the door, the buzz of the paper towel machine was activated again and the sound mocked her all the way out into the hallway.

  Mia had already left by the time Molly made it back to the table and Kylie was paying the check. “Are you feeling okay?” Kylie looked up from the credit card receipt she’d been signing, concern evident on her face.

  “Fine.” Molly forced a smile, not trusting herself to say more to the sister of the man who’d almost taken her against the wall of a public restroom.

  “Have you seen Kaleb? I hope he didn’t slip out without saying goodbye.” The woman didn’t look suspicious, but Molly wasn’t going to risk further questioning by admitting anything.

  “I heard him talking to his assistant on the phone in the men’s room.”

  “Doesn’t it drive you crazy that he’s always in work mode and can never just relax and let someone else run things for a change? I can’t even imagine what he must be like on dates.”

  “I, uh, we’re not really...” They weren’t really what? Dating? At least, not seriously. What could Molly say without making it sound like she didn’t mind being ignored by a guy who was supposed to be interested in her? “We’re not exactly on a date right now. And his business is pretty important.”

  “His business is successful, not important. The world doesn’t need another video game. If that guy thinks he’s too busy to... There you are, Brainiac,” Kylie said to Kaleb as he approached the table. “Dad thinks we need to rent a couple more Jet Skis and he’s looking for you because they need someone else to drive them over to our house from the rental place.”

  Jet Skis? Seriously? Why did the Chattersons get to do all the fun, high-speed activities?

  “I might take a pass on the lake today, sis.” Kaleb’s hand on the back of Molly’s waist startled her initially, then she realized they were supposed to be together. Or at least making people believe they were together. “I think I’m going to hang out with Molly this afternoon.”

  “That’s sweet,” Kylie said, zeroing in on her brother. Uh-oh, someone wasn’t fooled. “What do you guys plan to do?”

  “Oh, you know. Maybe just relax.” Kaleb’s fingers were drawing soothing circles along Molly’s lower back. “Take things easy.”

  The gears in her brain finally clicked into place and Molly realized what Kaleb was doing. He was playing nurse again. And it was rather insulting. But before Molly could announce to him and everyone else in the restaurant that she didn’t need looking after, Kylie pointed her finger at him.

  “I know what you’re up to, Kaleb,” she said, and Molly’s stomach sank under the deep breath she’d just sucked in. “You’re trying to avoid your family so you can hide out at Molly’s and get a bunch of work done.”

  Oh, was that all? Molly slowly let out the air she’d been holding in. That wasn’t exactly a secret, but she’d probably set him up for that accusation when she’d told his sister he’d been taking work calls in the bathroom. However, he deserved it after following her into the ladies’ room thinking she needed to be rescued. She remembered the video chat that morning at her apartment after he’d fixed her breakfast and how that’d turned into a slew of emails and conference calls. Sure, Kaleb was legitimately overbearing in his self-appointed nursing role. She’d almost leaped up from the booth and lunged after that half-eaten cinnamon roll he’d confiscated from her earlier. But she also knew that taking care of her gave him the opportunity to take care of h
is own agenda.

  When she was a kid, her parents used to make her oldest brother, Tommy, babysit them. He’d use money from his job at the car wash to buy a couple of frozen pizzas for dinner and a huge tub of licorice. Then he’d let all of them watch his prized VHS copy of Top Gun so that he could go out on the back porch with his girlfriend without his younger siblings bugging him.

  “No, I’m not,” Kaleb snorted, pulling her up against his side. “Molly would rather keep things low-key today. That’s all.”

  Oh, no, that was not all. Kaleb was now using her as a pawn in his family avoidance game and she wasn’t about to become a part of it. Especially if it meant sitting around the apartment listening to him make phone calls while she was bored out of her mind.

  “Actually—” she placed a hand on his bicep and smiled sweetly at Kylie “—I would much rather go Jet Skiing with you guys.”

  * * *

  Kaleb watched Molly peel off her cotton sundress and squeeze the top half of her bikini-clad body into a life vest. After their kiss in the ladies’ room an hour ago, he hadn’t trusted himself to ride in the same car with her to the lake. Instead, he stayed behind to finish his biscuits and gravy and listen to Freckles making jokes about his breakfast not being the only thing that was cooling down.

  And now that he was here signing for the Jet Ski rentals, he certainly didn’t intend to ride on the same watercraft with Molly. Unfortunately, since Kylie had dropped her off, it was either ride with her or ride with Bobby Junior and his six-year-old son, Bobby Three. So Kaleb sat on the Sea-Doo listening to the dock manager explain how to use the throttle while a group of college-age boys gassing up a pontoon boat ogled Molly’s tan legs.

  She reached up to secure her ponytail, flashing him a glimpse of her taut belly button, and Kaleb missed whatever it was the manager said about the lack of brakes. Gripping the handlebars too tightly, he accidentally revved the engine when she put her hands on his shoulders to climb on behind him.

  “You ready?” he asked. She gave him a thumbs-up and they were shoved away from the dock. He tried not to notice her knees straddling his hips as he motored along slowly, following his older brother to the white buoys marking the end of the no-wake zone. This was supposed to be a family day, but after the way he’d kissed her up against the bathroom wall this morning, all he could think about was the different possible ways for her legs to end up wrapped around him.

  When they hit the open part of the lake, Kaleb’s thumb gunned the throttle and the sudden launch forward made Molly grab onto his waist. She shrieked and laughed and begged him to go faster. He tried to oblige, keeping a safe distance away from other boats and skiers, but after only a few minutes, she called out over his shoulder asking him to stop.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked after shutting down the engine.

  “Nothing,” she replied as she stood up, rocking the watercraft. “I want a turn to drive.”

  “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  “Kaleb, I fly million-dollar planes at mach speeds up in the air. I think I can steer a little Jet Ski at sixty miles per hour.”

  “I wasn’t doubting that you could do it. Only whether you should do it. Did you check your blood sugar back at the dock?”

  “No, but I did when I went home to change. I don’t have to check it every five minutes, Dr. Chatterson.” She reached over his head and grabbed onto the steering bars.

  “What are you doing?” he asked from his forced crouching position.

  “Switching spots with you.”

  “Shouldn’t we pull over first?” he asked, looking at the shoreline.

  “Kaleb, we’re in the middle of a lake. This is as pulled over as we’re going to get. Hold us steady.” They rocked to the left briefly before she swung her right leg around in front of him. She brought it down on the other side and stood there straddling the seat, her rear end only a few inches from his face. “You’re going to need to scoot back so I have room to sit down.”

  “I don’t want you to sit down. I’m kind of enjoying the view from here.”

  She made a squeaking sound before wedging her butt against the front of his board shorts and wiggling herself backward.

  “Are you trying to kill me?” he asked, finally relinquishing control of the handlebars so that he could grab onto her hips and hold her still.

  “Did you guys break down?” Bobby Junior called out as he lapped back toward them. The last thing Kaleb needed was for his brother to see him in this aroused state and then go back and tell the others. He’d never hear the end of it.

  “No, we’re good now,” Molly yelled back before the engine roared to life. Kaleb barely had time to grab onto the seat strap in front of her before the Jet Ski lurched out of the water.

  Water spray was hitting his prescription sunglasses and her hair was whipping against his face by the time she reached the top speed. God, he hoped this was the top speed because if she went any faster he’d fly off the back. She dove behind boats and jumped their wakes, spun in doughnuts and leaned into fast turns. Normally, he’d be recording notes so that he could recreate this experience in some sort of immersive video game. But for once in his life, he didn’t want to miss out on the actual experience.

  Kaleb decided that no virtual-reality screen or headset could mimic this very real fear of imminent death. Nor could it replicate the rush of adrenaline racing through his heart. And the slippery feel of their bodies as they slid back and forth on the wet seat, their most intimate parts colliding against each other? Forget it. Nothing would ever beat the real thing.

  By the time they pulled up to the shoreline near Kylie’s house, Kaleb’s biceps were sore from holding on for dear life. And surprisingly, his cheeks were aching from grinning so much.

  “Are you still back there?” she said, casting a saucy smile over her shoulder.

  “Were you trying to make me fall off?” he asked as she turned off the engine and they coasted the rest of the way in. He took off his sunglasses and let them hang from the strap around his neck.

  “Trust me. If I wanted to throw you, you wouldn’t have lasted five seconds.”

  “Is that a fact?” he asked, gripping the plastic handle attached to the seat behind him and stretching his back. He waited for her to turn around and smile at him again, and when she did, he braced his foot on the right edge, grabbed her by the waist and tipped them over.

  She was laughing when they came up from the cool water. He dove toward her and she splashed a spray of water toward his face and kicked away from him. His brothers might be world-class baseball players, but swimming was the sport he excelled at. It only took him a couple of strokes to catch her by the foot and pull her toward him.

  “No fair,” she said between giggles. “You’re taller than me and can reach the bottom.”

  “So you forfeit?” he asked, drawing her closer.

  “Never!”

  She squirmed and wiggled against him until he had his arms locked around her. She stilled and her hands reached up to settle on either side of his face. A drop of water traveled from her temple to the corner of her lip, and as Kaleb leaned down to catch it with his own mouth, a little voice from the shore called out, “Are you gonna kiss her again, Uncle Kaleb?”

  “You bet I am,” Kaleb yelled back before planting a not-so-platonic kiss on her. It wasn’t as long or as intense as the one they’d shared earlier today—not by a long shot—but there were children watching. And apparently everyone else in his family, he realized as one of his brothers let out a whistle.

  “Hey, loverboy,” Kane called out. “The Sea-Doo is floating away.”

  Both of them had to swim after the wayward watercraft, and by the time they pushed the thing back to shore, Molly’s face was no longer as pink as her bikini bottoms. He didn’t want to acknowledge that the sweetness of the latest kiss hinted at something real starting to for
m between them, but that didn’t stop Kaleb from holding her hand as they walked up to the outdoor chairs and collapsed side by side.

  * * *

  Molly had never enjoyed being around another family as much as she enjoyed spending time on the lake with the Chattersons. She’d been lucky enough to be assigned to the same squadron since her graduation from the Air Force Academy, and while she had a bond with those guys, this was smaller. More intimate. Kaleb’s family was fun and down to earth and didn’t take themselves too seriously. And boy, could they put away the food and drinks.

  She’d been careful to stay away from all the chips and snacks that Mrs. Chatterson was constantly fetching from the house. And every time Mr. Chatterson—who insisted on being called Coach—whipped up another blender full of frozen cocktails, Molly would politely refuse and grab another bottle of water.

  As the sun began dipping below the mountains, Molly realized that playing on those Jet Skis all day had really tired her out. She yawned as they hauled towels and water toys to the deck upstairs. Actually, she was beyond exhausted. Her arms felt weak and her legs were sluggish.

  When did she check her levels last? As the women crowded into the kitchen to give Drew tips on how to grill the carne asada for tacos, Molly excused herself to go to the restroom. She had to ask Kylie where her purse was since Kaleb’s sister had brought their belongings back to the house after dropping them off at the dock earlier.

  By the time she got the bathroom door closed, her forehead was damp with sweat. She sat on the closed lid of the toilet, her hands slightly shaky as she pricked her finger. Molly knew the number was going to be low before the digital screen came to life. Sixty-eight. She twisted the cap off one of the glucose gel tubes her doctor told her to carry in her black case. The heavily sweetened lemon flavor made her lips pucker as she sucked it down quickly.

  Looking at the tube, Molly decided that the advertised “pleasant taste” was a load of bull. Fortunately, the rapid absorption promise was legitimate because she was already feeling better. She used the facilities, then washed her hands, holding her mouth under the faucet afterward so she could greedily gulp down more water.