Chasing Red Series, Book 1

by Isabelle Ronin

  What did a girl do on a date? I knew there were rules for this, and I had no idea what they were.

  I felt the panic rising.

  Should I pay, or should he, or should we split the bill? What if he brought us to an expensive restaurant? In the movies, a guy sometimes forgot his wallet and then the girl ended up paying. I didn’t think Caleb would stoop that low, but what if he really forgot his wallet? I had no money. Maybe we could volunteer to wash the dishes to pay for the food if that happened…

  Ah. I was thinking too much again. I was just going to be myself. If Caleb had expectations, well, he’d better throw them out the window because—

  Why do you always think the worst about me?

  His words came back to me, and I suddenly felt sad. It wasn’t really Caleb’s fault. It was just how my brain worked. After what my dad had done to my mom, my default was to expect the worst of boys.

  Opening up to a boy meant opening my heart and getting hurt. It meant opening up old wounds that I’d rather not think about. There was so much more that I hadn’t told Caleb.

  I took deep, calming breaths.

  He’s just a boy. You can handle him.

  Handle Caleb? It felt more like he was handling me. Little flutters of panic were creeping in my chest again. I needed to stop thinking. I wanted to enjoy this night.

  I was starting to hope that Caleb was different. Maybe I didn’t trust him yet, but I was starting to.

  I gave myself another once-over in the mirror. The red dress fit my body like a second skin, accentuating all my curves. It wasn’t too short, but it showed a lot of leg, and the high heels gave the illusion that my legs were longer than they really were.

  What if I fall on my face in these high heels? I groaned, disgusted with myself for all the evil thoughts in my head.

  My eyes were shiny, and my cheeks had color in them—something that usually happened when Caleb was near. I looked…excited and nervous. Time to face the music. I sighed and exited my bedroom.

  I held my breath when I spotted Caleb leaning against the wall across from me, waiting. He looked up, and our eyes met.

  He looked dangerous silhouetted in shadow. The only light in the hallway came from the living room, highlighting the angles of his face.

  His green eyes caressed me, sweeping from my hair to my toes, lingering on my eyes, my lips, lingering longer on my chest, my legs, then back up to my face again.

  I felt…hot.

  He wore a dark dinner jacket that fit his wide shoulders and broad back perfectly. He’d paired it with a dark-blue shirt, a skinny tie, and dark pants. His hair was combed back, and he must have used gel because the hair actually stayed in place.

  What is it with Caleb in a suit? It was a huge turn-on for me. My hands tingled, itching to touch him. He looked so unreal.

  “I could look at you all night,” he said, his voice lower than normal.

  I could have said the same to him, but words had temporarily left me.

  “This is our first real date. It feels different.” He stepped toward me until he was touching my face with both his hands. “This feels very real.”

  Butterflies. All over my stomach.

  I could smell his cologne and feel his body heat. He dipped his head to kiss me gently on the side of my mouth, but he didn’t pull back right away. He lingered, inhaling deeply. “God, I love the way you smell. What you do to me…”

  I was shaking.

  What this boy did to me I had never felt with anyone before.

  Being with Caleb was like riding a roller coaster, when it started its slow, tortuous climb up, up, up, and the little jittery fingers of nervousness tickled my stomach. Then that moment when it reached the top, and I closed my eyes and held my breath for one second—knowing I was powerless to stop whatever was coming—and then I was plunging, falling, my stomach dropping to my feet, and I felt like my soul was about to detach from my body. And I laughed and screamed my lungs out until I was hoarse and my throat hurt.

  And then when it was over, I wanted to do it again.

  As Caleb kissed me, time stood still. His lips were soft and moist, slightly parted, teasing. I leaned up on my toes to catch more of his kiss. He smiled and licked my bottom lip and then sucked on it. I gasped, but he didn’t stop. His arms came around me, pressing me against his hard body. And then he lifted his head, staring at me, out of breath.

  Caleb’s eyes were like deep pools of green. I could swim in them all night and not come up for air.

  “My lipstick is all over your mouth now,” I whispered, still breathless, wiping my lipstick off his skin with my thumb.

  “Did you think your lipstick would save you from my kisses?” he teased, biting my bottom lip again. “Stain me all you want, Red.”

  I felt giddy. He said the craziest things, but I really wanted to believe he meant them.

  He stepped back suddenly. “After you,” he said gruffly, his eyes hungry again.

  We would never get out of here if he kept looking at me like that. Feeling a little wobbly, I turned and walked ahead of him. I had almost reached the door when his hand caught mine.

  “Wait, please. Don’t walk away without my hand in yours.”

  I smiled, melting. “Okay, Caleb.”

  When we were inside his car, I asked him where we were going.

  “It’s a surprise. A family friend owns it. The food is spectacular, and it’s private.”

  When he said private, I took that to mean expensive. I started to get nervous. Caleb’s hand tightened around mine in reassurance.

  How did he do that? He always knew what I was feeling.

  Trees and buildings zoomed past us until Caleb parked in front of a sleek, modern building. Its walls were made of dark-red glass so I couldn’t really see inside. It screamed restaurant for the wealthy. I looked at it dubiously. There would be rich people inside, and I did not belong there.

  “Red?”

  I glanced at him, panic and nervousness in my eyes.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “I should have asked where you wanted to eat first.”

  I was about to tell him that it was all right, let’s just go inside, when he shook his head and his face lit up.

  “Wait.” He stopped my hand just as I was about to unfasten my seat belt. “I know just the perfect date.” He chuckled excitedly as he started the car.

  “What? Where are we going?” I asked. He was already driving away.

  “To one of my favorite places. I promise, you’re going to love it. You’ll see…but first, we have to make a stop.”

  Parking in front of a strip mall, he turned off the ignition. He gazed through the windshield for a moment, biting his lip before he turned to face me.

  “Hey, Red?”

  “Yes?”

  “Could you give me your shoe?”

  Suspicious, I narrowed my eyes at him. In response, he just grinned mischievously.

  “What? Why?”

  “No questions,” he answered. “Please?”

  The please got me. I pulled off a shoe and gave it to him. He looked inside before handing it back to me.

  “Wait here. I’ll be right back.”

  A few minutes later, he was back. Instead of going to the driver’s side, he tapped the window on my side, raising his arms and shaking two paper bags. I rolled the window down.

  “What’s that?” I asked.

  “Our costumes.” He grinned. Not satisfied with the rolled-down window, he opened the passenger door.

  He rummaged in one of the bags, pulling out a red T-shirt with a large picture of a padlock. He snapped the shirt in the air, presenting it to me like a child would: with earnest longing for my reaction.

  I had no idea how he wanted me to react. Was it because the shirt was red?

  He raised his brows to in
dicate there was more and draped the shirt over his shoulder. Reaching into the bag, he produced another red shirt. “Ta-da!” he crowed with a flourish. This one had a picture of a heart. He whipped the first one off his shoulder, holding both shirts up.

  I looked at his handsome, grinning face for a moment. His cheeks were pink, his eyes twinkling. And then I started to laugh. Both shirts were red, and put together, they represented his last name: Lockhart.

  “You like it?” he asked.

  “Sure, Caleb.” I chuckled.

  Satisfied, he closed my door and jogged around the car, settling in the driver’s seat.

  “We’ll match. I also got shorts and sneakers,” he said, shaking the second bag.

  I shook my head at him, smiling.

  “Here’s your shirt.” He handed me the paper bag. “I get the lock. You get the heart. Sound good?”

  When I just looked at him, he laughed again. “Red, you look drop-dead gorgeous in that dress, and I could look at you all night. But I figured instead of fancy, we’d try super casual. You game?”

  I nodded, dazed by his playful grin. He started undressing, pulling off his suit jacket, removing his tie, and then unbuttoning his dress shirt. I sat there gawking. He pulled on his shirt with the lock picture. And then he started removing his pants…

  “Caleb!”

  He opened his pants fly, then paused to stare at me with intense eyes, challenging me. “You can stare however long you like, Red. This body belongs to you.”

  “Oh God,” I groaned, closing my eyes.

  “Anyway…” He chuckled as I heard his clothes rustling. “It’s not like we haven’t seen each other in our underwear. Remember jumping off the bridge?”

  God, I remembered. The image of him in his wet briefs was seared into my brain. I couldn’t help it. I peeked.

  He wore…boxers with yellow smiley faces.

  That made me laugh again.

  “Go ahead and put yours on. I won’t look.” His dimples winked at me.

  “Yeah, right.” I chortled and rolled my eyes.

  His mood was so infectious, so fun and cheerful. He made me feel like it was okay to act my age, to be young and carefree, to do silly things and forget my problems. I realized Caleb liked me for who I was. I could be myself around him, and he would accept all of me.

  I removed the straps of my dress, rolling it down my torso. I knew he was staring, but I acted like undressing in a car while Caleb watched was a perfectly normal thing to do.

  Inside, I was a nervous wreck. I couldn’t look at him.

  It was too quiet inside the car. I swear he wasn’t breathing. When I pulled the dress all the way down my legs and I was only wearing my bra and panties, I heard his sharp intake of breath.

  “Red,” he whispered. I finally glanced at him, and he looked like he wanted to… Well, he looked hungry. Again.

  I gave him a haughty smile.

  Where was I getting this confidence? From Caleb, I realized. He made me feel confident. He made me feel beautiful.

  I put on the heart shirt and then the shorts. He let out a loud breath as I finished putting on the sneakers. I looked at him, and we both burst out laughing. We matched. As I caught my breath, I felt strangely free.

  Once we were both dressed, Caleb drove us outside the city limits, passing trees and fields. He turned up the radio, singing at the top of his lungs. I laughed when he couldn’t reach the high notes but kept singing anyway. Singing was obviously not one of his talents, but I gave him points for his enthusiasm.

  The windows were down, the warm wind whipping our hair. When he finished belting out one last song, he simply held my hand. I didn’t ask him where we were going because I felt peaceful. I felt…safe. It was a feeling that I didn’t often experience. But with Caleb, I did. He took care of me, even when I wasn’t exactly friendly.

  I didn’t realize I was staring at him until he said, “Like what you see?” There was a small smile playing on his lips.

  He’d asked me this before—the first time we kissed—and I knew where that had led.

  “Want me to look for a place to park and make out?” he asked, clearly remembering it too.

  Yes, I do.

  I couldn’t believe how fast I was admitting my feelings about him to myself. I was so screwed. I shook my head and laughed. I was laughing a lot today.

  A few minutes later, we entered a small town outside the city. I hadn’t been here before. The area looked like a tourist spot, with small quaint shops, local restaurants, and Victorian houses that reminded me of gingerbread and storybook gardens.

  I rolled down the window, letting fresh air inside the car. It was late, but locals and tourists still milled about, shopping, eating, laughing, enjoying a lively evening with family and friends.

  “I figured we’d be silly tonight,” Caleb said. “Maybe pretend to be someone else.”

  I glanced at him, and his brows rose mischievously.

  I chuckled. “All right. Who should we be?”

  “Anyone,” he replied, pausing. “You can be mine. If you want.”

  I want.

  He slowed down, maneuvering among the tightly parked cars and pedestrians. It looked like a parade, with people abandoning the sidewalks and walking in groups on the road. Caleb parked as soon as he saw a spot. I couldn’t wait to start our night.

  When we got out of the car, people stared at us, smiling and some of them even whistling as they spotted our couple shirts. Feeling self-conscious, I glanced at Caleb.

  “Couple shirts are all the rage now, Red. Let’s own it, shall we?” He winked, twining his fingers with mine.

  He looked so adorable, so happy that it was impossible not to share his mood.

  “So, where would you like to eat first?” he asked.

  Taking in our surroundings, I felt like a kid in a candy store. “Hmm. It’s so hard to choose.”

  There was a family-owned pizzeria where I was sure they grew their own spices, an ice-cream shop where they possibly had their own cows and produced their own milk, and local restaurants boasting seafood, burgers, soups, and all kinds of delicious goodness.

  “There are so many restaurants to choose from,” I uttered excitedly.

  He pointed at a yellow box of a place with a sign that simply said Soup, its paint peeling. “How about we go for soup in that restaurant over there?” he suggested. Then he pointed at the white building beside it where people sat at tables under colorful umbrellas. “And then have some pizza there. Then—will you look at that—an old-fashioned ice-cream parlor. We can walk and eat our ice cream in the park. If you’re good…” His voice trailed off until I looked up at him. “I could even let you kiss me.”

  I smiled, willing myself not to blush. “You wish.”

  Soup’s interior didn’t look any better than its exterior. Old tables covered in red-checkered tablecloths, ancient brown seats wrapped in plastic, a beige linoleum floor, and pictures of Elvis and Madonna completed the decor. The menus on the table were sticky.

  The waitress approached us. She was in her fifties, possibly sixties…I couldn’t really tell. Her frizzy hair was dyed white-blond and held back by a neon-pink headband. Her name tag said Daisy. She gave us a big smile and asked what we were having as she snapped her gum noisily.

  “We’ll take the clam chowder, please and thank you, ma’am. My wife here is pregnant with triplets,” Caleb started.

  My eyes widened with shock as Caleb rubbed my tummy, leaned down, and kissed it.

  “You see, she wanted to have this vacation,” he continued, winking at me and giving Daisy his megawatt smile.

  Daisy didn’t stand a chance. She was hypnotized by the gorgeous professional pretender that was Caleb.

  “And I had to work hard to save money so she could have a taste of your wonderful clam chowder,” he finis
hed, batting his eyelashes at the older woman.

  Daisy beamed. “And what do you do for a living, young man?”

  “I’m a stripper, ma’am.”

  I choked. Daisy looked at Caleb as if she thought he was out of his mind.

  I suppressed my laugh and added, “We have six kids—”

  “God help you!” she interrupted.

  “—already. All of them twins and all boys, and now I’m pregnant with triplets. He’s having a vasectomy done next week, so I wanted to enjoy all of his…manhood one last time before he gets cut,” I exaggerated.

  Caleb snorted.

  Daisy’s eyes narrowed, wondering if we were serious. “All right, you lovebirds.” She grinned. “I’ll get you your clam chowder before your husband gets his balls cut off,” she joked, winking. She was clearly on to us.

  Caleb and I burst out laughing when we were sure she was gone.

  “So, Red…you want to enjoy my manhood, yeah?” Caleb wiggled his eyebrows.

  I slapped his arm, laughing.

  “And you want to have nine kids, is that right?” he added.

  “I haven’t thought about it.”

  He frowned.

  I bit my lip. I was lying. I had dreamed of having kids once, but I was a different person then. How was I supposed to feed them? My mom and I barely had anything to eat. What if we went bankrupt and got kicked out of our house and then they got sick? The world was a dangerous, unforgiving place.

  Caleb tilted his head and studied me for a moment.

  “You have me. We’ll raise them together,” he declared. “I want to have our own basketball team.”

  I was saved from replying when Daisy placed our orders on the table, winked again, and left.

  “I hope we don’t get E. coli here,” I commented. I sampled the soup and was pleasantly surprised by how delicious it was.

  “I’ve been here before, when I was”—his voice trailed off while he thought—“eight? I’ve been back a few times. I don’t think anything has changed. It may not look like much, but I promise you the food here is very good.”

  “You’ve been here before?” I asked, surprised.