AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What about you?”
“What about me what?” she asked. Playing ignorant wasn’t usually her thing but it would work in this instance.
“Do you have a problem with me wanting to kick the shit out of him?”
Caroline thought about the question. She always considered herself independent and she never asked anyone for help. She wanted to think she could handle anything on her own. But Mark scared her, especially after today. Knowing Josh was feeling protective made her very, very happy. Like down-to- the-core happy.
Should she tell him?
There was no right answer here. The only thing she had guiding her was his honesty. Maybe it was time to be brave.
Caroline looked up, locking her eyes on his. His beautiful sky-blue eyes were unblinking and seeing them focus on her brought a wave of emotion. For a moment she couldn’t speak, but his smile, his touch, encouraged her to go on. “I don’t have a problem with it at all. Thank you.”
Josh reached out and brushed away the tears she didn’t realize had spilled out of her eyes, then pulled her into his warmth. “If I kill him, you’ll have to be my alibi.”
“Deal.” Never had Caroline felt so completely safe. Josh’s arms, his strength, his humor made all of her problems go away. He kissed her temple as she burrowed into him, sealing his promise. Honesty, it seemed, was the best policy. Maybe it was time to go for broke.
Tightening her hold, Caroline kept her cheek against his chest and let the feel of him calm her.. “I used to dream about you.”
“I figured. When?”
“I think I fell for you when I was twelve. It’s been on and off since then.”
Josh leaned back and smiled down at her. “Yeah?”
“You rescued me.”
His hand started to make lazy circles on her back and once again, his touch calmed her. “Tell me.”
“Meg and Jason were in our house. My parents weren’t home, and a storm blew in while I was outside with the dogs. Meg called the dogs, and let them inside, but when I got to the door, she slammed it in my face and left me standing on the porch. I could see her laughing with Jason. They were stupid. She thought it was funny and I guess it would have been, but I hated storms and when the thunder started...”
“Oh, shit. I remember.” He leaned back and gazed at her, cupping her cheek and Caroline’s heart beat a little faster. “They left you outside in a wicked storm. You were curled up on the porch crying.”
“You were running up from the boathouse and you saw me.”
“I couldn’t believe they locked you outside in the first place, but leaving you there was cruel. That’s why you hate storms so much, isn’t it?”
“It was a joke to them, but yeah, I was scared. Until you came. You got me inside and gave Meg and Jason hell. And then you stayed with me and watched a movie.”
“I didn’t trust them to be nice to you.”
Josh smiled and Caroline remembered the moment so long ago when she fell in love with him. He was sitting in the den with her, on the opposite side of the couch, a bowl of popcorn between them while they watched the first “Lord of the Rings” movie. Caroline couldn’t take her eyes off him. He was her hero... older, smarter, so very handsome... and her heart skipped and that was it. She was his.
Standing in his kitchen, Caroline was even more far gone than when she was a girl.
The door buzzer broke the silence and Caroline shook her head, wondering if his female fan club was going to visit him at home. He stepped to the intercom and pressed the button. “Yeah?”
“Hey, man. Let me up.”
“Oh,” Caroline said. Her breath halted. “It’s not...”
Josh nodded. Of course, her brother Kevin was here. He was in town with his baseball team and since he and Josh had stayed friends over the years she should have realized. The timing couldn’t have been worse, but Josh didn’t seem at all fazed. “Calm down. He’s going to be fine that we’re with each other. We’ll tell him we’re friends if that makes you feel better.”
It didn’t. She wanted to tell everyone, including her brother, that she’d loved him more than anything. “Do you think he’s going to believe that?”
Josh laughed. “He might.” He grinned before he pressed the button again. “Come on up,” he said.
Caroline was wondering what her brother was going to say when he saw her there. Kevin was pretty laid-back, but she had no idea how he was going to react to this.
