Kaleb (14 page)

“I’ve
been thinking about this offer. You know,” Carl said, swinging his arm as
though encompassing everything around him, “the one you boys made.”

“Yes, sir.”
Kaleb replied, knowing exactly which offer he was referring to.

“If
you’ve done any research, I’m sure you found out more than you should have.”
Carl continued, not looking directly at him.

On
the short drive over, and for the better part of the afternoon, Kaleb wondered
whether Carl was going to bring it up. He’d been struggling with how he was
going to approach the man with his new offer. One that would likely have his
brothers going ape shit, but not something Kaleb had given a second thought to.

“I’m
aware of your situation, Carl. 
Which is why I came
without Travis.
My brothers aren’t yet aware, and I didn’t want to bring
them into it until I spoke with you.”

“Son,
this house has been in my family for generations. My great, great grandfather
built it with his bare hands, and knowing I’m going to lose it after all this
time has been almost as heartbreaking as losing my sweet Isabelle.”

“Sir,
about that...” Kaleb interjected, but Carl quickly cut him off.

“When
you boys first started talking about buying the land, I was furious. Completely
out of my mind with grief knowing that I was being backed into a corner, and
didn’t have any way out. It’s a good offer,” Carl said, looking at Kaleb for
the first time. “Not the best,” he chuckled, “but a good offer.”

For
a few minutes, both men sat in silence while Kaleb tried to come up with an
easy way to say it. When he finally realized there wasn’t an easy way, he
blurted out what had been hanging on the tip of his tongue just a few minutes
before.

“Mr.
Stranford,” Kaleb clasped his hands between his knees, looking down, then back
up at Carl, “I’d like to buy all of the land.” When Carl would have interrupted
yet again, Kaleb held his hand up. “Now wait, hear me out.”

There
was a glassy sheen in the old man’s eyes, and Kaleb swallowed hard before he
managed to force the words out. “As you may know, Travis, Sawyer and I are
looking to build this resort, which is why we approached you in the first
place. My younger brothers will take over Walker Demolition completely while
the three of us focus on this. We’ve secured the approvals and have submitted
the permits, but without the land, we can’t move any further.

“I’d
be happy to show you the plans, which consist of the one hundred acres we
approached you about originally.”

Carl
stared back at him, speechless, but giving Kaleb his full attention.

“I
talked to the bank this morning, Carl.” Kaleb admitted reluctantly. “I’m
prepared to offer you the original amount we discussed for the one hundred
acres adjacent to the Walker land. That’s where we’d like to build the resort.”

Carl
nodded his head, and Kaleb didn’t know if it was an agreement to their offer,
or just an acceptance that it was being made. Either way, he continued.

“You’re
going to lose your house, Mr. Stranford. You’re on the brink of foreclosure.”

Carl
turned away, his eyes glassy yet again.

“From
where I sit, you’ve got three options. First, you take that money, and you
refinance to save your house. Or, you let me buy the entire property,” Kaleb
didn’t have a chance to continue because the gasp from behind him told him that
Zoey was standing there, obviously listening to the conversation.

“Daddy!”
Zoey exclaimed, not looking at Kaleb.

Fuck.

Kaleb
turned, saw her standing in the doorway, looking just as radiant in a pair of
leggings and an oversized t-shirt with her hair pulled back in a ponytail as
she had on Saturday night dressed up in that sexy, frilly dress.

“Zoey.”
Her name was on his lips, but he couldn’t seem to move from where he was. The
glare she shot him was filled with confusion and...
Anger.

“Honey,”
Carl said firmly, “this doesn’t concern you.”

“That’s
where you’re wrong.” She insisted. “I’ve heard about the Walker’s plan to buy
out the land, and if you want to know the truth, I wondered why you were being
so damn stubborn, holding onto it, but Daddy, you can’t sell them everything.
You just can’t.”

“Zoey,
that’s not –” Kaleb tried again, his legs once again working, so he pushed to
his full height. When she turned and stormed out of the room without speaking
another word, Kaleb turned back to Carl, then back to the empty doorway where
she stood only seconds before. “Damn it.”

“What
the hell are you waiting for?” Carl groaned, looking defeated. “Go after her.”

For
a second, Kaleb was torn. Did he run after Zoey, try to explain? Or did he stay
and try to explain to her father? Both had to be done, but he knew which was
more important.

Kaleb
turned and walked out, going straight for the kitchen where he heard the screen
door slam. By the time he caught up to her, Zoey was walking through the front
door of her small guest house, another screen door slamming hard enough to
rattle the windows.

Without
knocking, Kaleb let himself in, his eyes adjusting to the dim light as he tried
to find Zoey. He fully expected her to be waiting for him, ready to lay into
him with all of the fury he’d seen radiating from her only moments before.
“Zoey!”

She
didn’t answer, so he wandered into the small kitchen, but when he didn’t see
her, he headed for the bedroom. The house wasn’t unusually large, which meant
there was only one other place she could have gone.

“Talk
to me, Zoey.” Kaleb stated firmly when he found her standing in the middle of
her bedroom, hands on her hips, head hanging low.

“About what?”

Really?
Kaleb felt his own ire growing steadily. He hadn’t even had a chance to tell
Carl the third option, which in his opinion was the best of the three. It
consisted of Zoey buying out the remaining acreage, either from the bank, or
from Kaleb. Either way, he wasn’t about to let the Stranford’s lose their home.

“Look
honey,” Kaleb began, but Zoey looked up at him then, and he was pretty sure she
was trying to shoot daggers from her eyes.

“Don’t
call me that.”

What?
Kaleb was dumbfounded for a moment.

“You
haven’t called me; you haven’t come to see me... I should have known. I
should’ve known you were out to get what you wanted...”

Kaleb
cut her off immediately, closing the distance between them in three short
steps, pulling her flush against him and lifting her chin forcefully until she
had no choice but to look at him. “Don’t.
Don’t
fucking do it.”

He
wasn’t sure where the anger was coming from, but he was not going to let her
belittle what they had shared because when it came down to it, Kaleb didn’t
give a fuck about the land, or anything else for that matter. Not at Zoey’s
expense anyway.

Her
eyes were wide as she stared up at him, and Kaleb realized how harsh he’d been
with her.

“Why
haven’t you called?” She asked, and when she pulled away, he let her go.

Why
hadn’t
he called? Kaleb wasn’t able to answer that question. At least
not out loud. He hadn’t called for a myriad of reasons. The first being she
scared the shit out of him. Both by what he wanted from her and by what he felt
for her.

“I’ve
been busy,” he lied

“Ah.”
Turning away from him, Zoey wrapped her arms around herself as though she were
cold. That or she was trying to hold
herself
together.

“Zoey,
I’m sorry.”
For so many things.
Taking her like a
crazed man being the first on the list.

“I’m
sorry, too.” She said quietly.

That
didn’t sound good at all.
“For what?”

“For scaring you off.
For ruining our friendship.
For
wanting too much from you.”
She admitted but didn’t look at him.

Kaleb
couldn’t go another second without touching her. He moved quickly to her side,
pulling her into his arms and he was once again flooded by the emotions this
one woman evoked in him. So many emotions, he didn’t know how to deal with
them, and he couldn’t name each of them either.

“God,
I’ve missed you.” Kaleb whispered in her ear, rubbing his hand down her back,
soaking up the feel of her against his palms. Being close to her was exactly
where he wanted to be, and touching her caused his frustration and anger to
subside, replaced with a much stronger emotion.
“So much.”
It was the first truth he’d said to her since he got there.

And
now that he had his hands on her, he would be hard pressed to stop.

Without
thinking, he lifted her shirt, pulling it over her head, tossing it to the
ground as he backed her against the wall. His emotions - all of them swirling
into one - took over.

His
brain was at least paying attention because he hesitated long enough to see
whether she would push him away. When she didn’t, he pressed her firmly against
the wall, grinding his erection into her lower belly, his mouth seeking hers
and finding exactly what he’d been searching for.

Zoey
wasn’t holding back, and the anger from moments before exploded into passion,
the air thick with it as they went at one another with barely restrained fury.
In the blink of an eye, they were both naked, and Kaleb was once again pressing
her into the wall, but he wasn’t wasting time. Lifting her, he used the wall to
his advantage as he let her slide down on him, one hand guiding his cock into
the hot, fiery depths of her pussy while the other strained to hold her.

Once
he was buried inside of her, he gripped her ass, holding her easily as he
slammed into her, their eyes locked, everything they felt, portrayed in their
gaze. No words were needed, not a single sound penetrated the air, with the
exception of their harsh, choppy breaths and Zoey’s sexy moans.

Kaleb
had never lost control like this. Never let emotion lead him, but the hunger
was there and for the life of him, there wasn’t any other way to sate it than
to be buried inside her luscious body.

“Kaleb,”
Zoey moaned his name, her fingernails digging into his shoulders as she pushed
against him, keeping her back flat against the wall while he tried to thrust
harder, paying no mind to anything but fucking her.

“Come
for me.” Kaleb breathed. “Fucking come for me.”

Zoey’s
eyes widened briefly before her head went back into the wall, and she was screaming
her release, her body clamping around his cock until he couldn’t breathe.
Letting go, Kaleb stilled, his cock pulsing and exploding inside her while he
watched her writhe in his arms.

He
wasn’t sure what it was about her, and why since that first time he was
overcome with the need to take her with crazed lust. Whatever it was, Kaleb
knew he couldn’t control it. He just prayed Zoey could live with that.

♀♂

The
instant her feet were back on solid ground, Zoey felt the urge to flee.

“Where
are you going?” Kaleb called from behind her, but Zoey didn’t stop. She needed
a minute.

Once
in the bathroom, she shut the door and locked it, before turning on the shower.
What the hell had they just done? One minute her anger was bright and hot, and
the next she was filled to overflowing with the sexiest man she’d ever known.
It was amazing and shocking all at the same time.

Ignoring
Kaleb’s insistent pounding on the door, Zoey stepped into the shower, letting
the warmth wash the fog from her brain. What they had done was by far the most
erotic thing she’d ever done and yet she knew that it wasn’t in the same
hemisphere as Kaleb’s most aggressive sexual adventure. Just the way she felt
his power flowing just under his skin had lit her up, made her so wild, she had
thought of nothing else but having him buried inside of her. But when he
insisted she come for him, Zoey’s world had exploded in brilliant fluorescent
colors as her orgasm tore through her.

Turning her face into the spray, she let
the water pelt over her as she fought to stop her entire body from trembling.
It was the aftermath, and she was shaken to her very core in the most exquisite
way imaginable. Worse than that, she wanted him again.

So
why was she freaking out?

The
shower door opened, startling a scream from her chest as she turned to face
Kaleb stepping into the shower, looking none too happy with her.

“What
the hell?” Kaleb spoke the same words that were on the tip of her tongue. She
glanced at the bathroom door only to see the doorknob was missing.

“Don’t
shut me out, Zoey.” The words were laced with a warning, and a shiver ran down
her spine. “Do you understand me?”

His
aggravation was palpable, but Zoey sensed he wasn’t so much upset at her as he
was with her reaction to him. What was she supposed to say?
Please, Kaleb,
take me harder next time because although you rocked my world, I still want
more.
 
Ummm...
Probably wouldn’t go over well
with him. Not right now anyway.