Breathless Descent (6 page)

“Good,” she said, slamming her door shut. “What were you thinking, kissing me like that in Mom and Dad’s pantry? What if someone would have seen us?” He was a few inches away, and she shoved at his chest. “Don’t ever do that to me again.”

He gently snatched her hand. “Kiss you or kiss you in the pantry?”

Bypassing a direct answer, she continued her rant—and damn, he’d missed her rants. “You can’t just decide to kiss me when you want to kiss me, after ten years of making me feel like crap for kissing you in the first place.”

“I’d like to think kissing me made you feel something other than ‘like crap.’ And for the record, I only did what you suggested. You said you kept thinking we should kiss again and get rid of temptation. And I decided that all the thinking and not doing was what always got us in trouble.” He tugged her closer, slid an arm around her waist. “And you didn’t kiss me ten years ago. We kissed each other.”

“I started it,” she said, swallowing against the raspy tone he noted in her voice.

“And I wanted it,” he promised her.

“But you never would have kissed me on your own.”

“Never is a long time for two people who want each other the way we want each other. We would have ended up here eventually, Shay, even without that first kiss.” His hand slid up her back, and he pressed her closer. He lowered his head, slowly bringing his mouth near hers. “There was enough electricity jumping off us today at that party to light up Texas. I spent every second after Kent interrupted us thinking about the forbidden kiss that would have happened had he not shown up. If we don’t do something about what’s between us, someone is going to notice—if they haven’t already.”

“We did do something about it,” she said, her breath warm on his lips. “We kissed and it solved nothing.”

“One kiss isn’t a lot of comfort after ten years of anticipation,” he said, his lips close to hers. He could almost taste her now. “Maybe we need to kiss again.”

She leaned into him and then suddenly pulled back. “Stop. No.” Abruptly, she pushed away from him. “We need to
talk.
You said we’d talk, and I’m holding you to it. And not when I have a client about to show up. I have to be focused on my patient…not on kissing you, Caleb.”

“All right then,” he said softly, his fingers curling into his palms as he resisted the urge to reach for her again. Now that he had touched her, he wanted to touch her again. Just as he wanted to kiss her again, to tear away the barriers and her clothes, so there was only the passion. It had to be. It would be. “But it’s time we deal with this, Shay.”

Her eyes went wide. “
Deal with this?
Gee, Caleb. You really know how to steal a girl’s heart.” She paled instantly. “Not that I mean—” She flung her hands in the air. “We need to go upstairs before my patient arrives. You’ll scare the crap out of him, too.” She turned on her heels and stomped away.

Caleb ran a hand over his jaw, the light shadow of a new beard rough against his hand. He considered himself a fairly sensitive guy, the front man for missions that had required diplomacy, but it seemed, with Shay, he had a knack for opening his mouth and inserting his foot. Ah, well. Hell, at least that gave him an excuse to keep his mouth occupied in other ways.

With all the ways he might occupy said mouth on his mind, Caleb followed her, a man stalking his prey. Shay’s every move attracted his attention. Her every word interested him. Caleb had never felt this way for any other woman. He had every intention of showing Shay exactly how he intended to deal with this “thing” between them.

Shay had been right. Temptation and desire were making them crazy. Him crazy. And it had separated him from the family, forced him to distance himself for fear he would destroy his family bond, when that action itself had darn near done exactly that. That was the lightbulb that had set him into action. They had to put the temptation behind them. And no matter how many times he kissed her, it would simply not be enough to do the job.

Memories of their hot and cold moments, as early as today, shuddered through Shay with a deep breath. Caleb could turn off the heat in a snap of his fingers and turn on the silence and withdrawal just as quickly. She knew this. She’d seen this. She even understood it.

True, he’d never before shifted back and forth in this extreme fashion, but he’d shifted plenty. He’d catch himself, check himself. Which meant, no matter how tempting, Shay could not allow anything more to happen between them tonight. Not if she wanted to be sure they could salvage their relationship when this night passed. If she were smart, she’d tell him she was seeing someone else. Tell him she was in love. Set him free. But considering she’d suggested the kiss to end temptation, she doubted she’d be convincing.

The minute the elevator dinged and the doors opened, Shay darted forward, reaching for her purse, which she didn’t have. “Oh, no,” she said, turning and running into Caleb. Her hands flattened on his chest, her breath lodged in her throat.

“Hello to you, too,” he said, his hands on her arms, his thighs—those muscles hugged by denim—touching hers.

Shay shoved out of his arms. “I forgot my keys and purse. Oh, God. And my cell phone, too. They’re in the car.”

He paused and then said, “It’s locked, isn’t it?”

She nodded, frustrated at herself for doing something so irresponsible. “And it’s your fault, Caleb. I was flustered over you. And now my client is going to be here and I can’t get into my off—”

He moving so quickly, she had no warning—just suddenly, his hands were framing her face, his lips brushing hers. A gentle, lingering caress, his warm breath mingling with hers, his tongue just barely slipping past her teeth.

Overwhelmed by the warm awareness spreading across her chest, between her thighs, she couldn’t move, couldn’t react.

Slowly he pulled back and ran a thumb over her cheek, a slight smile on his oh-so-kissable lips that only made her want to press her mouth to his again. “I figured if I was going to take the blame for all of this, I should get a few of the benefits, as well,” he said softly. “And kissing you is definitely a bonus.” He slid his hand over hers. “Let’s go see what we’re dealing with to get your purse.” He headed to the stairs with her in tow, and she was still a bit dazed and confused by how easily he’d melted her resolve.

The fact that his hand was big and warm didn’t help matters. Nor did the fact that she couldn’t help but notice his nice tight backside in those faded jeans. The view was good and she was human. And weak, she chided herself.

Shay snapped her attention upward, refusing to look at his nice tight backside one second longer. Instead, she opened her mouth to chide him as she had herself, to say a few precise words that would disconnect her from the wildfire he’d set off inside her. But she couldn’t find even one witty word to keep him away. It had to be the jeans. There was no other explanation. At least, not one she wanted to consider.

Of course, it wasn’t long until she had more to consider than the way Caleb’s jeans fit. They stood by her car, and Caleb inspected the door. “Nice car,” he commented. “I didn’t take you for a silver kind of girl, though. Maybe blue.”

Shay hugged herself. Caleb knew her so well, it was frightening. “Blue was on back order. It was a splurge, and I was afraid I’d talk myself out of it if I waited. Can you open it?”

“Not a chance,” he said without a dash of hesitation. “Not without damage. You got a spare key at home?”

“Spare is at the bottom of Lake Travis,” she said. “It’s not a good story, but Kent and his boat are involved.”

“Ah, yes,” Caleb said. “One of Kent’s boat parties. Always…interesting. I’m surprised he got you out there.”

“I went to pick him up,” she said, telling the story despite her intention not to. “He didn’t want to drive. Said he’d had too many beers. Of course, that ride wasn’t possible since he decided to play football with my keys right by the water.”

“Ouch,” Caleb said. “I can only imagine the hurting you put on him the next morning.”

“I can’t blame him this time, though, can I?”

“Just me,” Caleb reminded her.

“Well, that’s true,” she agreed readily. “But we’ll talk about that later. Right now, I’m worried about my patient arriving and the fact that I can’t get into my office.” She frowned and eyed the dainty diamond watch her parents had given her for her twenty-fifth birthday, one of the only pieces of jewelry she owned. “He should have been here by now. George isn’t the kind of person who shows up late. Not by a minute.” Worry knotted in her chest. “Can I use your phone to call my service?”

He relaxed against the side of his truck, snatched his phone off his belt and handed her a BlackBerry. Shay hesitated before making her call, feeling stuck between a rock and a hard place. “I have to have a phone number where my service can reach me. Can I give them your number until I can swing by a store and pick up a temporary phone?”

“Just keep my phone until tomorrow,” he said. “You can give it back when we meet up at the house to see your parents off. By then, we’ll have your keys, and phone, in hand.”

“What if you need your phone?”

“I’m not a doctor,” he said. “And I don’t mind.”

Reluctantly, she agreed, and a few minutes later, Shay hung up with her answering service and dialed the number they’d given her for George, then updated Caleb. “He didn’t call to cancel. I’m really worried now. He hasn’t shown up, yet he was desperate to reach me. This isn’t like him.”

“Maybe the service screwed up,” Caleb offered. “Lost a call.”

“Maybe,” she said, hoping he was right. George’s phone rang three times before his answering machine picked up. Shay covered the phone. Using Caleb’s phone number for her service and handing out his number to patients were two different things. “Can I leave this number for the patient directly?”

“Anything to help,” he said, and Shay felt a flutter in her stomach. He meant it. Anything. He was that kind of person. Always had been. It wasn’t that he had kissed her or wanted to kiss her again. It was just Caleb.

Shay left a message on George’s phone. “I have a really bad feeling about my patient.” She fisted her hand at her belly. “Right here. A knot. I have his address on my laptop at home. I need to go get that and stop by and check on him.” Then she eyed her car. “Of course, I can’t drive anywhere, and I don’t have keys to get into my house. And the dealership is going to be closed.” She pressed her hand to her forehead. “Great.”

Caleb reached for her and gently pulled her against him. “But you have me.”

“Caleb,” she said, her hands settling on his arms, fully intending to chide him for the intimacy he was creating, but knowing it wouldn’t be convincing even to her own ears. The truth was, this wasn’t the first time Caleb’s quiet strength and cool sensibilities had calmed her frazzled nerves. He had a way of bringing her down a notch, while Kent—bless her brother’s loving heart—had a way of taking her up a notch.

“Your house, I can get into,” Caleb assured her. “And I can take you to pick up a key at the dealership tomorrow, either before or after we go see your parents off. As for going by your patient’s house, it seems smarter to have the police check in.”

She shook her head in rejection. “I can’t do that,” she said. “If nothing is wrong, he’ll feel I’ve betrayed his confidence, invaded his privacy. I’ll lose the ability to help him.”

“Does he live in an apartment?” he asked. “The leasing office could check on him.”

Her brows dipped. “I don’t know, but that’s a great idea. We could…I mean I…” It was so easy to use that word—
we.
They’d been
we
many times growing up. Another kiss and suddenly she was questioning if it was okay to use that word.

She stepped away from his arms. “We should go.” We. She’d said
we
again.

“Yes,” he said softly, holding on to her hand despite her step backward, bringing her hand to his lips. “We should go.” He dropped her hand and held open the door.

Soon they were in the truck together, and Shay felt the crackling awareness that had lived between them for so many years shift and change to a relaxed intimacy. She wasn’t going to kid herself. She wanted him. If he pushed her hard enough—heck, if he pushed her at all—she’d be naked with him in two seconds flat. So she set her resolve on one small goal. Don’t get naked with him tonight. Give him until tomorrow, when she was sure his cold feet would kick in.