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I am amazing at this no-strings thing, she thought as he carried her toward the bedroom. Why didn’t I try this ages ago?
“Why did you want to be a doctor? Was it because of your dad?”
They were lying on their sides, face-to-face in her bed. Still naked, and far too comfortable to move out of their cocoon of warm blankets.
Tiny furrows sprouted across Caleb’s forehead. “I guess you could say that.”
“Did you want to be like him?” she asked, reaching out to smooth his furrows away with her finger.
“No, not at all.”
She dropped her hand to his arm, skimming her palm over the smooth curve of muscles. “What’s he like?”
Caleb’s face settled into a scowl. “Rigid.”
“I’m sensing you aren’t really close.”
“Keen perception, Mr. Holmes.”
“But you still wanted to be a doctor just like him?”
“It was the only way he’d pay for my college. Also, it seemed like the least I could do.”
“Why?”
He rolled onto his back and stared up at the ceiling. “Because I didn’t go into the army like I was expected to.”
“So?”
“I was trying to make up for disappointing him.”
Penny propped herself up on her elbow so she could see his face. “He was disappointed you didn’t go into the army?”
“More like livid.”
“But it’s your life.”
“The Colonel doesn’t see it that way. He invested his time and money bringing me up. In exchange, it’s my duty to be the kind of son he wants me to be. A carbon copy of my old man.”
“You call your dad The Colonel?”
His mouth twisted into a smirk as he turned his face to hers. “Not to his face.”
“Now I’m picturing Colonel Sanders.” She reached out to ruffle his hair. His attractiveness magnified exponentially when it was tousled. So unfair.
His eyes closed as she ran her fingernails over his scalp, and he sighed with pleasure. “He is definitely nothing like Colonel Sanders. More like Colonel Kurtz from Apocalypse Now.”
“I’ve never seen it.”
He rolled toward her, pulling her closer as he buried his face in her chest. “Don’t. You’re too nice for that movie.”
“I’m not that nice,” she said, feeling defensive.
He looked up from her cleavage. “What’s wrong with being nice?”
“Nice people get treated like doormats.”
His mouth moved up to her neck, leaving a trail of lazy kisses. “Only by dicks. You can stand up for yourself and still be nice.”
