CHAPTER3
After dinner was cleaned up, everyone slowly gathered at the large dining table and started up a game of poker.
Megan hadn’t played in a long time, but she wasn’t worried about the game. They weren’t playing for actual money, but for chores during their stay at the farmhouse. Megan didn’t care what she won or lost, so the game didn’t matter nearly as much as the man sitting across from her at the table.
Caleb.
She needed to focus on something else, anything else. Anything except the way Caleb licked and bit his lip before he made a decision in the game. Or how his forearms were crossed on the table, the muscles toned and strong.
And she really, definitely should not think about the last time his arms had been around her.
Had it really only been a month since Henry’s bachelor party? It seemed like it had been longer.
Megan hadn’t understood the length of time between the bachelor party and the wedding but there’d been some event Henry wanted to go to – some type of car show.
That one night with Caleb had been intense. It had started innocently enough – he would sleep on the couch, and she’d spend the night in her bed like usual. She hadn’t been able to sleep, and the night had turned into incredible sex and multiple orgasms.
Megan had assumed it was a one-time thing, a repeat of that summer night from years ago. The lack of communication since then had made it pretty clear it wasn’t going to happen again.
It shouldn’t matter. His job and life were in Vermont. Too far away for Megan to even contemplate a long-distance arrangement.
Then Caleb had to go and offer to replicate a scene from one of her romance novels.
The worst part was that she wanted to take him up on it. She wanted his lips on her bare skin, his hands on her body, and his –
Megan had to pull herself together. If for no other reason than her older brother sat at the same table. If Tucker found out about the history between her and Caleb, or what Caleb had offered only a few hours ago, he’d go berserk. Both of her older brothers had scared off more than one potential boyfriend over the years.
Matthew and Theresa laughed at something, and the sound brought Megan back to the present.
Two seats down from Megan, Ainsley, ever the flirt, propped her elbow on the table and put her chin in her hand. “Caleb, are you ever going to move back to Starfire Lake?”
Megan stared at the cards in her hands. She studied the colors and lines and shapes on the Jack of Hearts and Nine of Clubs.
Caleb cleared his throat. “Uh, I moved back over the weekend.”
Megan snapped her eyes up to meet his before he turned his attention back to Ainsley.
“You did? How delightful!” Ainsley leaned forward over the table. “Do you need help finding a job?”
“No, I have one lined up. I start Monday.” Caleb glanced at Megan for a long moment. There was a flash of emotion in his gaze, but Megan couldn’t parse it.
“What are you going to do?” Theresa jumped into the conversation before Ainsley could say anything else.
Caleb adjusted so his body angled to face Megan. He looked down at his cards and then up at Megan through his lashes, his lips pulled up into a grin.
“I’m taking over Starfire Lake Books and More.”
Megan froze.Son of a bitch. “You’rewhat?”
He shrugged. Megan wanted to strangle him. “My uncle is retiring and wants me to take over. The timing worked out with some changes at my old job, so I accepted.”
“That’s great, Caleb. Congratulations,” Theresa said from the other end of the table.
“Thanks.” He gave Theresa a smile and then looked back at Megan. “I’m looking forward to being home.”
Megan’s heart raced. How was she going to live in the same town as Caleb after everything? Him living far away had been perfect – it kept her from getting too attached. She’d slept with him last month, taken that emotional hit, because she knew that nothing would ever come of it. There was no real risk to her heart.
One of the reasons she hadn’t made a larger fool of herself, like declare her love for him, was because he lived so far away. It could never work.
