Fated for Love (12 page)

Christine gripped Callie’s knees. “Callie.”

Kathie scooted up against her. “Really?”

“Babe, don’t do anything because of us. We’re idiots.” Bonnie sat beside her on the couch. “You need to do what you feel is right.”

“She’s right, Cal. We’ll all go back to our husbands, and you have to go back to the library, where you’ll see Wes every week.” Kathie finished her drink and then continued. “Unless you guys decide to see each other after you go back home. Is that a possibility?”

“We didn’t talk about that, so I don’t know. I mean, I hope so. I don’t even know if we’ll do anything more than we’ve done, but kissing him was like…” She looked up at the ceiling, remembering the way her body tingled with desire, the way his tongue made her body melt and her brain numb, and she hoped—damn, did she ever hope—that they’d come together again.

“You know that feeling when you’ve been thinking about kissing someone forever, and the anticipation alone is enough to steal your breath? And your heart beats so hard that you’re sure the minute your lips touch, you’ll die, right there on the spot? And when your lips finally do come together, and he breathes air into your lungs, you wonder if you’ll ever want to breathe on your own again?” She sighed just thinking about it.

“Wow,” Kathie whispered.

“I’m sure it was like that with Mark at some point, but I can’t remember it as clearly as you described.” Bonnie patted her hand over her heart. “Wow is right.”

“I know what she means. Billy still takes my breath away,” Christine said. “Of course, maybe that’s because when we’re kissing I sometimes pretend he’s Chris Pine or Josh Holloway.”

Bonnie rolled her eyes. “That doesn’t count.”

“Cal, maybe there’s more here than just, you know, a good time,” Kathie said hopefully. “I mean, you rode off on his horse. If Wes was just looking for a good time, he’d have probably tried to do the deed tonight.” She looked at Bonnie and Christine. “Right?”

“Good point,” Bonnie said. “So?”

“I hope you’re right. I don’t want to think right now. I just want to wallow in the memory of being with him and take a nice warm bath. I’ve got to get up in the morning to do my DVD.” She headed for the stairs, stopping when she came to the bottom step. “Do you guys think I’m brave?”

They exchanged a glance.

“What do you mean?” Kathie asked.

“Never mind.” She headed up the stairs, wondering if Wes saw something in her that even her closest friends didn’t.

WES’S CABIN WAS built up the hill from the guest quarters with views of the mountains, the forest, and the lodge. Tonight he sat out on the covered deck with a fire in the stone fireplace, thinking about Callie. Was she thinking of him the way his every thought was consumed by her? Would she tell her friends what they’d done tonight? He took a sip of his beer and reached down to pet Sweets, who was gnawing on one of her toys.

Wes had no cell service at his cabin, which normally was fine, as he’d never loved the idea of being that accessible twenty-four seven. But on a night like tonight, when he couldn’t take his mind off the woman he was just with—and hadn’t wanted to part from—talking to one of his brothers would have been a nice distraction. There were landlines down at the lodge, but he didn’t trust himself enough to make the effort. If he headed down that hill, he knew his legs would carry him directly toward cabin two.

Sweets lifted her head and barked, a single low
woof
.

The land in front of the cabin was level for about twenty feet before it sloped toward the guest cabins and the lodge. In the moonlight, his visibility was limited to that short distance.

Sweets ran down the steps and into the darkness.

“Hey, girl.” Chip came into view and crouched to pet Sweets. Sweets may not have been able to smell, but her hearing was damn sharp.

“Beer’s in the fridge.” Wes held up his beer bottle.

Chip grabbed a beer and then sat beside him.

“How’d the day trip go?” Wes asked.

“Fine, you know. Normal day on the trails. Did you look at the new applications for Ray’s position yet?” Chip took a pull on his beer and crossed his legs at the ankle.

“No time yet. I’ll check them out tomorrow.”

Sweets went back to chewing her toy.

“Sure you don’t want to reconsider Cutter? He has the skills. He’s willing and able.”

Wes thought about the way Cutter had looked at Callie. “Positive.”

“I think it’s a mistake. You should think about it. Anyway, I heard you took off on Willy with a chick.” Chip shook his head, and his wet hair stuck to his forehead.

Wes took a long drink. “You go to the hot tub?”

“You can’t avoid the question. Yes, I was at the hot tub. How do you think I knew about you and the girl? Her very attractive bikini-clad friends were there.”

Wes could still feel Callie’s fingers pressing on the back of his arm, urging him to untie her bikini top. He could still feel the weight of her breasts in his palms, her nipples hardening beneath his thumbs.
Christ
. He was getting hard again. He shifted in his chair.

“Why ask if you already know?”

“They said it was Callie, the girl from the library.”

“Yeah. So?” He met Chip’s gaze. “You got something to say? Go ahead.”

“Cutter said she rode the trail on your horse.” Chip leaned forward, knees on his elbows.

“She’s afraid of heights. I didn’t want to make her sit it out.” Wes knew from the way Chip met his stare that he saw right through the bullshit. “Okay, whatever. Yeah, I’m attracted to her. What do you want me to do? Walk away?”

“Yes,” Chip said in a flat, serious tone.

After those intoxicatingly sweet kisses and the memory of her luscious curves against him? Jesus, after the way she’d opened up to him and the way she’d looked as she came apart from his touch? There was no way in hell he was walking away. He couldn’t wait to learn more about her, to teach her the things he’d promised, so she could enjoy the rest of the trip without fear. Hell, he could barely get from one minute to the next, waiting to hold her in his arms again.

“Why the hell should I?”

“How about you tell me? In eight years, you’ve never ridden the trail with a woman on your horse.” He took another drink of his beer. “Remind me again why you never have.”

“You know damn well why.”

Chip shrugged. “I rest my case. Plus, she’s from Trusty. Dangerous, Wes.”

“You think I don’t know that?” He’d been over it in his head a hundred times. Was he just fucking around with her? Hell if he knew for sure, but it certainly didn’t feel like it.

“Then what gives? First you have her pull books for you that you never read; now you ride off into the sunset like you’re goddamn Clint Eastwood?”

Wes stood and paced with Sweets on his heel. “I read the books she gives me.”

“Right.”

“Most of them, anyway.” He usually made it through at least one each week. “Shit, Chip. Don’t you think I would walk away if I could? You said it yourself. Eight years and I’ve never ridden up the trail with a woman. I have no idea what the hell’s going on, but…”
I don’t want to walk away
.

“You know Clarissa will have a field day with this if she finds out. She’ll have you married off by next week.” Chip laughed.

“Then keep your mouth shut.” Wes sat back down and petted Sweets. “What’s with her, anyway? Why does she want me to get tied down so badly?”

“Aw, come on. You know why.”

“No, dude. Seriously, I have no clue.” Wes finished his beer and set the bottle on the deck. “Enlighten me.”

Chip shook his head. “How often does she tell you it’s a waste for you to keep sleeping around?”

“Right, but why? Chicks say some weird shit.”

“All I know is that she says she sees something in you that tells her you should settle down. That you’d make a great husband or some shit like that. It’s like she’s talking about some other guy.” Chip shrugged. “You know how she is. She believes she knows things about people that they can’t see. Who knows? Maybe she does.”

“So, why haven’t you ever given in when she’s made a play for you?” Wes held his stare.

“First of all, the whole dipping the pen in the company ink thing, and second of all, she doesn’t make plays for me.”

Wes laughed, startling Sweets into a
woof
. Wes stroked her head. “Right, you just keep believing that.”

“Listen, I came up to see if you wanted to swap. Want me to take the fishing and overnight and you can take the day trip?”

“Isn’t that big of you now that you’ve seen three pretty women in bikinis?” Wes shook his head.

Chip held his hands up. “Hey, I’m trying to save you from regrets you might have next week when you’re not on the trail, but back to real life, in the library every Thursday, looking at the assistant librarian instead of a group of girls gone wild.”

Anger brewed in Wes’s gut. “She’s not…They’re not the girls-gone-wild type of chicks.”

“Yeah, I know. At least her friends aren’t. They’re hot, but
very
married. Even with me and Cutter in the hot tub, all they talked about was their husbands and Callie. And you, of course, but they spoke in code, like,
that guy who loves to read
and shit, as if we wouldn’t put two and two together.”

The thought made Wes smile. “Hey, speaking of code. What does it mean when a girl says to another girl,
I brought skinny girls
?”

“Depends. Are they at an orgy?”

Wes belted out a laugh. “No, man. They’re talking here at the ranch.”

“There’s an orgy at the ranch and I missed the memo?”

“You’re an idiot.”

Chip rose and stretched. He tugged at the collar of his hoodie. “You sure you don’t want me to take the overnight? I know Cutter’s dying to come along.”

“That’s reason enough for me to say no.” Wes had never been a jealous man, and he trusted Cutter to respect his boundaries, but he couldn’t deny the claws of the green-eyed monster scratching at his spine with the thought of Cutter going on an overnight trip with Callie.

“All right. If you change your mind, I’ll be at my cabin tomorrow night.” Chip patted Sweets’s head. “Just tell me this. What is it about her, and where’d you take her tonight?”

“Everything, and none of your business.”

“Oh yeah,” Chip said as he stepped off the deck. “Clarissa will love this.”

Wes knew Clarissa would love it because, when he hadn’t been able to reach Emily when he’d called earlier, he’d called Clarissa and asked the favor of her instead. It was a big favor, and she’d practically salivated at his request, but he wasn’t about to tell Chip that. He’d have enough teasing to deal with once Chip talked to Clarissa. Until then he’d try to make it through the night without crawling through Callie’s window.

CALLIE DREAMED ABOUT Wes all night. Sweet, erotic, naughty dreams that she’d awoken from, panting and hot, several times throughout the night. She woke early Saturday morning and climbed silently from the bed, trying not to wake Bonnie, who was fast asleep, sprawled out on top of her covers, wearing her Single Slayer T-shirt and boy-shorts underwear. Callie changed into her exercise clothes and went into the bathroom. She stared at herself in the mirror as she brushed her hair, thinking about Wes. She loved kissing him more than anything else she could think of. Even reading. That was a first, she realized as she set her brush on the marble countertop.

“What is it about him?” she whispered to her reflection. Her pulse kicked up just thinking about him. Today he was going to give her a private riding lesson so she would feel more comfortable when they rode out to the backcountry, where they would be camping. Wes was rugged, which was different from the guys she usually dated. Callie was usually drawn to academic types, men who pondered, not men who lifted her from moving horses to rescue her. Then again, no one had ever done that before. Wes was smart, and that was evident in all that he’d accomplished and the way he spoke, but it was also present in his eyes every time she looked into them. And then there were his kisses.
Boy, can he kiss
.
And touch
. Her cheeks flushed and turned away from the mirror. Her stomach fluttered nervously, and she drew in a deep breath.
Okay, Callie. Get it together
.

Callie went through her morning routine with renewed energy. After finishing her Jillian Michaels workout, she made coffee and took it out on the front porch to sit in the sun—and stumbled over a gift-wrapped box.

“What the…?” She was surprised to see her name written in pencil on a small rectangular gift card envelope. Hoping it was from Wes, and knowing that was a stupid thing to hope for after one evening together, she sat down on the porch steps and read the card.

Cal, petite four. Hope they’re okay and glad you’re staying. Wes.

Callie stared at the card. “No way.” She wondered if her friends had orchestrated a gag, but one look around told her she was all alone. If they had done this, Bonnie would be taking pictures. She tore open the box. Inside were two pairs of petite, size four, boot-cut jeans and a pair of cutoff jeans shorts. She pressed them to her chest and closed her eyes for a beat.

Wes Braden took thoughtful to a whole new level.

TWO HOURS LATER, Callie and the others headed down to the lodge for breakfast.

“Let me get a picture of all of you guys on the bridge.” Bonnie lifted her camera.

“You’re like the paparazzi. We’re going to have to start dodging you.” Christine fluffed her stick-straight hair, as if it might actually fluff instead of falling flat beneath her visor. “Farrah Fawcett I am not.”

Callie looped her arm into Christine’s, feeling confident on the wings of her budding romance and in her new jeans. “You’re gorgeous.”

“Agreed.” Kathie held Christine’s other arm. “I still can’t believe he bought you jeans, Callie. I mean, come on. Really? How did he even manage that? Wasn’t he here the whole time?”

“Can you guys smile instead of talking?” Bonnie directed.

“Sorry,” they said in unison and plastered smiles on their faces.

Bonnie took a few pictures. “Those were great.”