Some of the tightness in her chest eased as she waited for her dad to come back. Unconditional love was the sweetest gift anyone could offer. And in her family it abounded. Love and support were freely given. Never any strings. Unreserved. Fierce. Giving.
She wanted to wrap herself in her family’s loving arms and never let go.
“Callie, your mom wants to know if you can run by and grab a grocery order. She’s going to call it in so all you’ll have to do is pick it up for her. She was planning to go into town today but this will save her a trip.”
“Of course I will. Tell her I love her and I’ll see her in an hour or so.”
“She loves you too. I love you,” he said gruffly.
“Love you too, Dad,” she said with a catch in her voice. “See you later.”
She handed the phone back to Seth who was back to watching her like she was some undiscovered specimen under a microscope.
“I’ve got to run,” she said. “Mom needs me to go by the store. I’ll see you tomorrow for lunch.”
She slipped past him before he could start in on his interrogation again. The others were still sitting at the table, not that they weren’t done. If she had to guess, Seth had made them stay while he went in to talk to her.
She blew kisses at Michael and Dillon, and then she leaned over and hugged Lily. “Thank you,” she whispered in Lily’s ear.
Lily squeezed her. “You’re welcome.”
Callie straightened, sent her brothers a smile and then headed out to her car.
Chapter Four
Could it be called an actual coincidence if he’d spent the entire morning prowling the small town of Clyde in hopes of running into Callie then to finally spot her when she got out of her car at the local grocery store?Max stared down the street, drinking in the sight of the woman he’d spent so many nights aching for. She was beautiful. Spirited. She haunted his nights—and his days. His fingers tingled from the remembrance of her silky skin beneath his palm.
He’d had her in every conceivable way there was for a man to have a woman. She’d trusted him. Wholly and irrevocably. Callie did nothing in halves. Whatever she did, she threw herself wholeheartedly into it without reserve.
He watched as she strode from her car toward the doors of the store. At least three people stopped her, and she responded with a ready smile and patience he knew she didn’t possess. For Callie to stand still even for a moment was like trying to catch the wind. She simply had too much to do and see to be deterred from her goal.
He stood for a moment and weighed his options. He had plenty of ammunition, but the one variable was always Callie. He never knew quite what to expect. It was what he enjoyed most about her.
Finally he decided to wait by her car until she came out. She’d have her arms full—hopefully, though he’d have to be concerned with whether she threw the bags at him.
He’d never been able to punish her for her impetuousness. To do so would be to quell what made her so beautiful to him. For a little while, she’d been his. She’d submitted to him and given him the gift of her trust. Her love.
He wanted it back. He wanted her back. In his bed. In his arms. His to command. His to cherish. He simply couldn’t fathom his existence without her.
Unlike Callie, he was infinitely patient and he never conceded defeat. There was no option for him but success.
He didn’t have long to wait. He’d barely gotten over to lean against the door of her little SUV before she appeared carrying two bags of groceries.
She didn’t see him, which was just as well. The further she was from him, the more avenues she had of escape. But the fact that she was so oblivious of her surroundings, even in a town as small as Clyde and as loved as she obviously was, angered him. Anyone could target her, and it would be easy to get close enough to rob or harm her. He wanted to shield her and protect her, even when it was himself who’d caused her pain.
As she drew nearer, his breath caught in his throat. There were deep shadows under her eyes, shadows that he knew without arrogance he’d caused. There was a troubled set to her mouth, a mouth he’d tasted over and over. And her beautiful blue eyes were clouded as if she were miles away and unaware of her surroundings. Well, that much was evident because she still hadn’t seen him and it wasn’t as if he were a small man.
“Callie.”
Her name came out more gruffly than he would have liked. There was a hesitancy that irritated him, and he realized that she did that to him. She made him uncertain when he lived his life in control and with complete confidence.
She halted so abruptly one of the bags slipped from her grasp. Having anticipated just such a possibility, he was quick to catch it before it fell to the ground.
She stared unblinkingly at him, hurt crowding the depths of her blue eyes. “Move, please. I’d like to get into my truck.”
He pressed his lips together. She wasn’t going to make it easy. Okay, he knew that, but her refusal to even allow him to explain pissed him off.
“I’m not moving until you agree to hear me out.”
Her eyes flashed and he braced himself for the storm. His body leapt to hungry attention. He was starved for her, an admission that pained him to make, but he was nothing if not honest with himself.
“You talk to me as if I owe you something.” Her voice was husky and strained as if it took everything for her to maintain her composure.
“You owe me nothing, Callie. But I owe you something.”
At that she cocked her head and emotion swamped her eyes. “Yes, Max, you did owe me something. Unfortunately, I’m no longer interested in collecting. Now move or I’ll scream the streets down.”
He straightened and his nostrils flared as he pushed into her space. His legendary patience was wearing thin. “Scream then, Callie. Get us both arrested. Maybe we’ll share a cell. At least then you’d be forced to listen to me. Now me, I’d rather have our talk in private, but if you insist on our personal business being bandied about in public, then so be it.”
Her eyes narrowed. “We don’t have any personal business. Not anymore.”
“The hell we don’t.”
Not caring if she hauled off and slugged him again—a distinct possibility—he wrapped his free hand around her slim nape and slammed his mouth down over hers.
The groceries were crushed between them. Hell, he didn’t care if they were ruined. He’d buy her more. All he knew was that if he didn’t kiss her, he was going to explode.
Her taste filled his senses. Sweet and spicy, the delectable combination that was Callie Colter. He ravaged her mouth. He wanted to devour her whole. He wanted to drag her back to his shitty hotel room and spend the next three days making love to her until they couldn’t move.
At first she responded as hungrily as he did. Her mouth moved softly over his and she returned the brush of his tongue with a tentative one of her own. It was as if she was reacquainting herself with his taste. Well, he’d never forgotten hers. There was damn well nothing to reacquaint himself with. How could there be when he’d dreamed of nothing else for the last months?
Then the moment was broken and she yanked away from him, tears crowding her beautiful eyes. “Why, Max? Will you not be happy until you’ve stripped me of everything? Okay, you proved it. Obviously I still want you. We’ve established that I’m an idiot. Are you happy now? You couldn’t leave me with any of my pride intact?”
He swore long and bitter and rubbed a hand over his hair. He wanted to hold her and soothe the hurt and the anger so prevalent in her voice. But now wasn’t the time for gentleness. He’d never get close to her unless he muscled his way in.
She already thought him a bastard. It wasn’t as if he could get any lower in her esteem.
He took a step back, lifting the remaining bag of groceries from her arms. “On your way up to your parents’?”
Her gaze sharpened. “That’s none of your damn business.”
“I’ll show up there, Callie,” he said calmly. “You know I will. I don’t bluff. You have a choice. Come somewhere where we can discuss things in private. Or I’ll come to your parents’ house and we can hash it out in front of everyone. Either way, you will listen to me.”
Helpless fury flashed across her features, and her eyes darkened to a blue-black storm cloud. “You stay away from my family.”
“Then come with me.”
“I have to bring groceries to my mom. She needs them for dinner and I’m expected there. I told her I’d be there. I won’t back out.”
“No, I suppose you won’t. You’re very loyal to your word. You keep your promises, don’t you, Callie?”
“At least one of us does,” she said in a bitter voice.
“I’ll wait. Bring your mother her groceries. You have two hours to return or I come to you. I’m at the hotel. Room 102.”
Her lips stretched into a thin line. She raised a shaking hand to shove her hair behind her ear. He could see how frustrated and helpless she felt. He hated what it did to both of them. The last thing he wanted was to break her. But neither would he allow her to turn her back on him, even if it was what she thought he’d done to her.
It was what he had done to her.
He opened the passenger door of her SUV and put the groceries on the seat. She was still standing where he’d left her when he turned back. She looked tired and shaken. He started to run his hand over her hair, but tightened his fingers into a fist at his side.
“Be warned, Callie. If you don’t show, I’ll come after you. I don’t give a damn who your brother is. I’m not leaving until we talk.”
Knowing that if he didn’t leave now, his rigid control would be shattered, he turned and strode down the street toward his hotel. Every instinct screamed at him to turn back, to hold her, to offer her all the gentleness he so wanted to give her. To tell her he was sorry for being such a bastard.
But she’d have none of that. She was angry and hurt, and she wanted nothing to do with him. If he wanted a chance—any chance—of ever getting her to listen to him, he’d have to strong-arm her into meeting him.
Then and only then could he afford to show all that was in his heart.
Chapter Five
Callie’s pulse raced all the way up the mountain to her parents’ cabin. She alternated from seething with anger to swallowing against the knot growing in her throat.She had to get it together. Her mom would know immediately that something had upset her, and while they’d reluctantly backed off when Callie had first returned home, she knew that wouldn’t last forever.
By the time she pulled into her parents’ drive she had a semblance of her control back. Her hands no longer shook and her jaw had relaxed enough that the ache in her teeth had dissipated.
She checked her watch and realized she had at most an hour at her parents’ before she had to return to town. Max didn’t make idle threats. She knew he was telling the absolute truth. He’d come to her parents’ and then all hell would break loose.
Never had she chafed at being under Max’s dominance. But now his arrogance and confidence that she’d do as he commanded was like acid in her stomach.
Willingly submitting and being blackmailed were two different matters entirely.
She sat a moment in her car as she willed herself to contain her battered emotions. She pulled the visor down and checked her appearance in the mirror, and then, satisfied that she looked the best she could given the circumstances, she opened her car door and got out.
She was halfway up the walkway with the bags of groceries when the front door opened and Ethan Colter stepped onto the porch.
A genuine smile worked over her face when she saw his tall, lanky form that age hadn’t diminished one bit. Aside from the touches of silver at his temples and the smattering layered into the dark brown, time had been very good to him and he’d only grown more handsome with age. Her mom always said that she hadn’t thought it possible for her husbands to get more lethal than they were when she met them but they’d proved her wrong.
“Hi Dad,” she called.
He went to meet her and pulled her into a tight hug around the bags.
“Hi baby girl.” He pressed a kiss to her temple and then drew away, taking the bags with him.
They mounted the steps together and went inside. As she always did whether it had been one day or months since she’d last been home, she inhaled deeply and allowed the scent of home and comfort to surround her in its warm embrace.
Adam was in the kitchen when she and Ethan trekked in, and his face lit up into a smile when he caught sight of Callie. He opened his arms and she walked into his hug.
“Hey baby girl,” he said, echoing Ethan’s endearment. It was what she’d been called for as long as she could remember and it always brought a smile to her face.
“Hi Dad. Where’s Mom and Ryan?”
“Your mother is in her bedroom. I’ll call her. Ryan’s probably with her,” he added dryly.
Callie suppressed a chuckle at the implication. Her parents were still so in love that it made her ache, and they evidently still enjoyed an extremely healthy sex life. Not that she wanted to dwell on that, but it warmed her heart that after so many years her mom still had her husbands solidly wrapped around her little finger.
“So how have you been?” Ethan asked as he started putting away the groceries. “We haven’t seen much of you lately.”
There was gentle reproach in his voice and she sighed. Sadness and relief warred with each other. Relief that she was home where she felt safe and loved. Sadness that she had put such a distance between her and the people who loved her most in the world.