“Thank you, Cal.”
He smiles, and I can’t get over how handsome he looks in the daylight. “Save your thank yous for after I’ve done my job. In the meantime, I don’t like the idea of this guy knowing where you live. We can’t rule out the possibility that he’s after you.”
I try to think of places I could crash and come up empty. I don’t have any friends other than Kenzie, and I have no money for another motel room. In fact, I don’t even have money to pay for this breakfast.
“I’m not exactly swimming in options,” I mumble.
His Adam’s apple shifts in his throat as he swallows.
“You can stay at my place,” he says.
Heat ripples through me. “You want me to stay with you?”
“I think it might be the safest place for you.”
I should probably tell him no thanks and that I’ll find my own accommodations, but he’s right. If bad men are looking for me, the safest place I can hide out is a cop’s house.
And though I have no intentions of admitting it out loud, the feelings I had while sitting on his lap last night haven’t exactly gone away...
“Okay,” I tell him. “I’ll stay with you.”
“Good.” He leans back against the booth, looking relieved.
The check comes and he immediately hands the waitress a twenty-dollar bill. I thank him for breakfast. He smiles, and once again I find myself feeling warm all over.
“I’m pretty sure the driver stole my purse,” I say. “But I promise I’ll pay you back as soon as I can.”
He balks as though I’ve just told him the sun is a government conspiracy. “Absolutely not, little girl.”
I’m not ready for my body’s reaction to those two tiny words. Little girl. My breath catches. The muscles in my pelvis clench. Suddenly all I want is to crawl back onto his lap, to straddle his thighs and press against him.
This is so messed up. Cal’s old enough to be my dad.
I squeeze my thighs together, swallowing hard as a rush of tingles swell inside me.
“I brought you here ‘cause I had a feeling you’d skipped breakfast,” he says, correctly. “You look like you could use looking after.”
My face burns hotter as I lower my gaze. I can’t tell if he means it in a fatherly way, or like I’m a mangy stray cat he picked up off the street. I’m hardly the painted bombshell I was last night, but I’ve made a habit of trying my best not to look like a girl who lives in a seedy motel.
Of course, it figures I’d be soaking my panties over a guy who only sees me as a runaway.
“I’ve been taking care of myself since I was a kid,” I tell him.
“I don’t doubt it,” he says. “I’m merely suggesting it’s time you let someone else take care of you for a change.”
Something in his tone steers my mind’s eye down a forbidden path, visions of Cal taking care of me in the most fucked-up ways. My fantasies careen from him kissing my forehead before I leave for school, to the thought of him rocking me to sleep with one hand up my shirt and the other down my panties.
“We will stop by the motel so you can grab a few things,” he says. “I want to see the room and talk to the manager, leave my card in case McKenzie shows up looking for you.”
I nod, acknowledging this very smart, very good, very non-sexual idea.
I take a sip of ice water to cool down before we slide out of the booth. When Cal grasps my hand, like a father looking to keep track of his little girl, I hold my breath.
God, what if Kenzie’s right? What if I do have daddy issues?
Chapter Ten
Caleb
It’s torture sitting so close to Holly and not being able to pull her into my lap on the drive to the motel. There are parts of her that I can hold, her hand chief among them, but it’s not nearly enough. This girl’s a top-shelf whiskey. One shot, two, three... No matter how many I down, it’ll never be enough. Not for me.
I pat her knee after shifting gears. She sucks in a breath. I’m usually good at reading people, but with Holly, I can’t tell if she’s just anxious or if she’s scared of me. Something’s changed between us. I can’t put my finger on it, but she’s wary of me in ways she wasn’t last night. Maybe it’s the fact that I lied to her, or the revelation that I’m a cop.
Whatever it is, I don’t like it one bit.
It takes a massive amount of self control to clamp both my hands to the steering wheel. But I’m determined not to push my affection on her. The sexual tension at King’s party was so thick you could slice it with a knife, but my truck isn’t a chaise lounge. And now’s not the time to try to rekindle the fire between us, no matter how badly I want to feel her against me.