Charm School After Dark: Lesson 1 (37 page)

Her voice caught in her throat. “I don’t want to spend another day without you. I want to show you how I feel. Words—After the last few months, I don’t trust words very much.”

Dare still hadn’t moved. He just waited, refusing to make it easy on her.

Caelen fought back the tears. All the firefighters, everyone, faded back out of notice. “I can’t—I want it to be real. I want to earn it!”

A faint blush coated his cheekbones, but he wouldn’t say a word. Was he pulling away?

Caelen grabbed the front of his shirt. “You have to give me a chance. I want new terms, extension of the original four-day commitment. You’re mine and I’m yours, remember?”

When he didn’t respond, she let her hands drop away.

An eternity stretched between them before he finally took a step forward. His strong hands cupped her cheeks. His face was still set in stone, and Caelen’s heart spluttered, then stopped. This was it. He was going to say goodbye. “It was easier to say all that instead of ‘I love you?’”

Her eyes welled and silent tears tracked down her cheeks, plopping on his arms in fat drops. She nodded,
yes.

He rested his forehead against hers. “I’ll take it. I’ll take whatever I can from you.” He took a deep breath and rested his forehead against hers. “I’ve been in love with you since junior high, but I was only smart enough to figure it out in high school, right before you left for college. I didn’t want to hold you back, but… I dreamt of you, yearned for you, and last night, when I finally had you,” he cleared his throat and tugged her closer, “you were everything I dreamed of. You’ve changed my life.” He laughed softly and asked, “Do you want to know what sealed the deal for me?”

Caelen nodded, unable to speak, absolutely floored by the depth of his words.

“When a bombshell Betty came up to me, not once, but
several times
, and said the six most beautiful words in the English language, I want to make a deal.”

Caelen laughed through her tears, so happy, so grateful to have Dare in her life. He was never afraid to tell her how he felt. Never afraid to make her feel special. Never afraid to tell her the cold, honest truth. She cleared her throat, her voice cracking with emotion. “I thought you were going to say your six favorite words were ‘Put your mouth on my dick.’”

Dare tensed, then threw his head back and laughed. The full body laugh shook him as he bent over, throwing out an arm and using her shoulder for support. “You didn’t—”

She clamped her hands on his face and planted another fat kiss, right on his lips, while he was still laughing. Teeth bumped and tongues tangled. Brynn and the rest of the crew were cheering and clapping. Masculine whoops and cries filled the air, making Caelen smile through her tears. “Thank you, thank you, thank you! You’re so lucky you forgave me.”

“You’re
lucky—” Dare half-kissed, half-laughed while plastering his warm wet lips against her own, whispering, “I love you, I love you…”

“Caelen, it’s 7:55 pm!” Brynn looked like a lunatic, racing as fast as her soft leather boots would take her. “We’ve got five
minutes.”

“What? My class! I’ll never make it. I teach at 8:00 pm. The Devil’s going to win. He’s going to get the school.” Caelen started limping back to Brynn’s car.

“Oh hell no. That douchebag isn’t getting anything. I’ll drive.” But instead of heading toward Brynn’s car, he started to jog back toward the firehouse. “Boys, we’ve got a non-emergency, emergency. We’re gonna have to use the engine or else Ms. Belle’s Charm School will be shut down.”

The whole crew launched into action. Ms. Belle was a Sierra Madre staple; there wasn’t one business or shop she hadn’t visited, hadn’t helped, over the years. Everyone loved her. No way they’d let anything happen to her school. To Caelen’s surprise, the Boy Toy was one of the first to jump in the truck.

Maybe there was hope yet.

Dare jogged ahead, and Caelen tried to keep up, tippy-toe running with her broken shoe in hand. “A little help here.”

Dare turned, started laughing again, and finally jogged back to get her, but instead of going all “An Officer and a Gentleman” on her, he tossed her over his shoulder.

“Dare!”
She reached back, holding one hand over her butt. Her ass was big enough. He might as well paint a bulls-eye on it when she was in this position. “Please don’t tell them what my class is about.”

“Never. But I have a feeling it won’t be long before their girlfriends and wives find out about it.” In thirty seconds flat, they were on the engine passing by Janie, who turned in open-mouthed disbelief, eventually waving, hesitantly, as they whizzed by with sirens blaring, racing down the street.

Chapter 36

‡

“H
ERE’S TO
C
AELEN
and a job well done!” Dacey raised her glass in a celebratory toast.

Caelen slumped against the couch, her devil horns poking her in the ear. She’d been too tired to take off the costume. All four sisters were holed up in Ms. Belle’s office. Somehow it made them feel a little closer to her, especially in this moment. “Was it a good job? I was so panicked, it’s all a blur.”

“It was awesome!”

Caelen glanced over at Baby A with big eyes. “Thanks, Athena.” Her sister’s praise warmed her like no other.
Nothing’s better than winning over the family skeptic.

“Yeah, seriously. I was taking major notes.”

“Brynn.”
Caelen said on a giggle. Another sister with another surprising comment. “One class down, three more to go.”

“Where’s Dare?”

“I assume at home. I refused to let him attend the class, even though he and the guys at the fire department saved the day. I thought he might come by the Angels and Devils Costume party, but he said he wanted to give us some time together and would start throwing rocks at my window later on tonight.” Caelen sighed. That man.
Her
man.

“So you guys are good?” Brynn asked, hesitantly.

“Really good.” Caelen said with a dreamy smile until she remembered the level in which her sister had meddled. She shot her a narrow-eyed look for good measure.

“You were so thorough, Caelen. My God, Dare’s dick must have been so very, very happy.” Dacey said, wiggling her eyebrows, Groucho Marks style, for effect.

All four sisters laughed together. Caelen took a sip of sweet bubbly, the sparkling liquid tickling her throat as it went down. “You mean Mighty Man? He was ecstatic.”

Athena choked on the champagne. “Please,
please
don’t tell me he named it.”

Caelen launched into a whole new fit of giggles and could only nod in affirmation.

“That’s just… I mean, that’s kind of gross, isn’t it? That would totally have turned me off. I think.” Dacey made a face and moved onto the floor. Apparently, the loveseat shared by all four Quads didn’t give her enough room. The sprawling white wings that had been a part of her angel costume were hanging safely in the closet.

“You would think so, but if you’d seen it…” Caelen’s deep sigh travelled through her whole body. “I can only say, touched by the gods.”

“Really?” Brynn asked, her hair still in a pony and her dark-rimmed glasses still perched on her nose. Otherwise, she was decked out head-to-toe, cherub style, harp and all. “It was that pretty?”

“Lucky, girl.” Athena said as she tossed off her devil horns, her only allowance toward wearing a costume.

“What are you talking about? What was touched by the gods? Oh my gosh, you mean his dick, don’t you? Really? Can dicks be pretty?” Dacey stretched her legs forward on the carpeted floor.

“Oh, yeah,” Caelen, Brynn and Athena shouted, whispered and sighed.

“Huh. My limited experience was lights-off. I’ll have to take your word for it.”

“All right, ladies. I’m going to have to get going soon. Unlike the rest of you, I have responsibilities,” Athena announced as she popped up from the white couch.

Caelen froze, still remembering what The Devil had said about Athena in her big house, all alone. She was dying to pry out every detail from her stoic sis, but now was not the time. They were all emotionally drained from the confrontation with Ms. Belle’s grandson, and physically pooped from the class and party. To cover up the pause, Caelen said quickly, “Why didn’t you just bring Fitzy with you?”

“Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy is too wild right now for visits. He’s still a puppy. The house training is pretty well taken care of, but he would’ve chewed everything in sight.”

“Oh, but he’s just so
ca-yute
with
dose
wong, wittle
ears of his.” Dacey always launched into baby talk when she mentioned Fitzy, aka Fitzwilliam, aka Mr. Darcy. The Bassett Hound’s name changed depending on each sister’s love, or in Brynn’s case
obsession
, with Jane Austin.

“Okay, wait. Before you go, we have one more order of business to take care of.”

“What?” Athena asked suspiciously. She’d become much more accepting of the school, but was still wary of participating too much.

“We have to pick another topic for our class next Friday, and we have to pick a sister to do it,” Dacey announced.

“Brynn said she’d do it,” Caelen chimed in.

“What?”

“That’s right. Don’t you remember? We were talking about Dare and how involved you were in my whole relationship and how your meddling could have broken us up? Remember how you said you would make it up to me, any way you could, and then you volunteered to go next?”

“No.” Brynn looked mortified, her cheeks blushing neon red. “No, I don’t.”

“Hmmm. Well, that’s how I remember it. And if you really think about it, any self-respecting sister would immediately offer to help the sister whose life she almost ruined.”

That’s right, Brynn! Payback’s a bitch.

“I don’t even, really, have anyone I could ask,” Brynn mumbled, her gaze suddenly transfixed on a speck of dust on her costume.

“I’m sure you can figure it out. And, please, keep in mind that I’m being really kind by not making you explain what you meant by: I don’t
really
have anyone to ask. Just like I’m not making you all spill the beans about what The Devil was talking about earlier today.” Caelen perused the room with only Dacey facing her with a clear conscience. “You remember? All the ominous tidbits of gossip he’d collected?”

“Hell to the no. I’m not going into any of that. Just say yes, Brynn.” Athena shouted, rooting around for her backpack.

“Oh, all right. But I’m doing this under duress,” Brynn grouched.

“Cool, it’s settled. Now all we have to do is pull a technique from the tin full of index cards.” Dacey popped off the floor and raced over to Ms. Belle’s desk. “Athena, aren’t you going to wait and see what it is?”

“Nope. I’m sure I’ll be getting a call from one of you before I get home. I’m outey. Fitzwilliam awaits.” Athena breezed through the door without a backwards glance.

“Brynn, you want to do the honors since this will be your gig?” Dacey shook the tin under her nose.

“Well, I sure as hell don’t want Caelen to do it, now that’s she’d decided to arrange my whole life.” Brynn shot daggers with her eyes, the scratch-free shield of her glasses no protection against the glare.

“It doesn’t feel good, does it?” Caelen asked with a sweet smile.

“I was trying to help. You’re just being mean.”

“I am not. Quit stalling and pick.”

Dacey bounced on her bare toes as she held the box out to Brynn. Baby B sighed deeply, plunged her finger and thumb through the small box, sifting through cards until finally settling on one.

All three girls held their breath as Brynn flipped the card over and read, “Sex Toys.”

Note from the Author

I hope you enjoyed Caelen and Dare’s story! If so, there’s more where that came from. The second book in the Charm School Series will be out soon. In that book, Brynn, the shy –
but not as shy as everyone thinks
 – sister, will be tasked with teaching her own class, Sex Toys! Is she up to it? You betcha! And wait ’til you meet her hunky hero! Let’s just say he’s the strong, silent, and super-sexy type. I love this series, and I hope you do, too. Let’s get to know the Calvo Quads together.

My all,

Lynn.

Contact Me

If you have any questions about this book or any of the others—or maybe you just want to drop a line and say hello, please contact me at:

[email protected]
or pay a visit to my website:

Lynncarmer.com
or come find me on:

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Acknowledgements

I want to thank Kelsey Maxwell and Lucy Grace Gorman, two amazing writers and beta readers. They were such a big help with this book. Next, my warmest and deepest thanks goes to Mae South, editor extraordinaire! I am so excited to continue to develop our working relationship! Thanks, Mae! But I really have to give a super-special thank you, thank you, thank you, to the amazing author Ilyana Knight for going the extra mile on this one. She edited, counseled, cheered, scolded—You name it, she did it!—and I am eternally grateful. Thanks,
chica!

I can’t forget to mention the love of my life and the luckiest man in the world, my husband. Thanks, babe! Love ya.

And to my fans, I hope you enjoy my fashion-forward, Pop Tart-obsessed heroine and the rough-around-the-edges firefighter who loves her.

About the Author

Lynn Carmer is a talker, a writer, a reader, a teacher, a procrastinator, an avid fan of all things “reality,” and a devourer of all things “sweet.” She has lived on both coasts and everywhere in between. All the crazy characters that live inside her head have now broken free and are running amok. The result? Six steamy, funny romance novels. She has dabbled in a few different genres. Think sexy gargoyles turned to stone; star-crossed lovers living on the planet of fire and ice; and hilarious contemporaries that reference pop culture and quite a few ’80s and ’90s movies and music.