The Soldier's Lady (2 page)

Caleb

Damn I should’ve stayed
a little longer, talked to her some more. What if she doesn’t answer? I could
always get her address from Spanks. I threw my helmet on the chair and went
scrounging around in the kitchen for something to eat. I’d felt like a steak
after eating freeze-dried shit for weeks, but that place didn’t run to Porter-
house. A burger was the best they had on offer and I’m not into mystery meat.

I kept picturing her
face, that sassy hair of hers and that voice; damn she had the whole package.
And you’d left her in a dive surrounded by horny assholes fresh out the desert
you fuck.

I checked my watch to
see how much time had passed since I’d left. Half an hour, shit why had I said
two hours? I stripped on the way to the shower trying to think of ways to kill
time between now and then. Maybe I should just call her now anyway since she’d
just been sitting there alone.

Nah too obvious can’t come
on too strong you might scare her away. I do have a tendency to go hard when I
see something I wanted and little Melissa was the first thing I’d had such a
yen for in a long time.

I looked down at my cock
who looked like he remembered her too, should I? Nah save it. I’m what you
might call a positive thinker. I believe in the power of the mind and right now
my mind is telling me I’m going to be between those sweet thighs come hell or
high water. It might take some doing but that’s okay I could be patient if I
needed to be. But once I’ve set my mind to a task there’s no way of stopping
me.

With the shower over I
puttered around the house, which suddenly seemed too big, too empty. It was a
nice old place out on the lake that I’d got for a song when the market went
bust. With a little fixing up on my downtime it was shaping up to be a beaut. I
had a twelve-foot schooner docked at the end of the little pier out back and a
truck in the garage. A man needs his toys, those two and My Ducati nineteen
ninety-nine were my babies.

I flicked on the TV when
I saw I still had another half an hour to kill, antsy as fuck. When was the
last time I got this hot and bothered over a woman anyway? As a man who’d spent
most of his adult life in the army I approached relationships as temporary
situations. I never asked a woman to wait for me because I never knew what the
fuck was gonna happen out there. So I never got too attached. At thirty-five I
was still looking at at least three more years before I’d put in my full twenty.
And why are you thinking about this shit Mac? Because tonight I think I met the
woman that’s gonna change all that.

Melissa

I looked at the phone
like it was a snake about to strike. On the way home I’d actually let myself
hope that this was on the up and up. Stupid I know but I think us big girls
must spend a lot of time hoping. This was just so…I’ve never faced anything
like this before in my life. Not even when I opened my shop all by myself with
the money my grandma had left me.

Everyone had said it was
not the right time and I should wait and do a million other things except the
one thing I’d always wanted. But gran had known what I wanted, that’s why she’d
left me all her money and the letter that her lawyer had given me at the
reading of the will.

Even now it brings tears
to my eyes. Knowing that someone had really loved me after all. Mom loves me in
her own way but she’s always trying to change me. She’s slender and beautiful.
I guess it’s a bit embarrassing for someone like her to have a daughter that’s
the size of a whale. Maybe that’s why she prefers doing things with my sister
who’s a damn size two.

Don’t think about it
Melissa you know it’s only gonna make you eat more. I was about to head into
the kitchen to find something to nibble on to ease my anxiety when the phone
rang. Oh shit. My hand actually shook when I reached to answer. “Hello.”

“Hello beautiful girl.”
I know he heard the deep sigh that escaped me as I found a chair to drop down
into. This wasn’t really happening was it? “You called.” Was that my voice?
Where did that breathy sex kitten shit come from?

“I said I would didn’t
I?” Well yeah but guys like you don’t call girls like me. I thought it but I
couldn’t bring myself to say it. Besides I think I’d forgotten most of the
English language anyway. His voice sounded even more amazing on the phone. My
heart was doing that run away thing again and I kept picturing his face as he
asked me questions about myself.

I started to relax when
he turned the conversation to my shop and why I chose to be a florist. He
wasn’t crass or rude. Didn’t act like I should be grateful that he was giving
me the time of day. In fact he acted like he was trying to win me over.

“What do I call you? The others called you Mac
or Captain but...”

“Caleb, to you I’m Caleb unless we’re in bed
then I’m captain.” He laughed but I liked that. He has a cocky sense of humor,
which helped to put me at ease.

“Who says we’re going to
go to bed together?” I bit my lip and waited for his answer. I can’t believe
he’s actually flirting with me like this.

“Oh sweet Melissa it’s
almost a foregone conclusion. Don’t be too put off by my attitude babe I
believe in saying it like it is. I don’t like games so I don’t play them. Now
we’ve gotten to know each other a little better I’ll call you for the next few
days when I’m not on base. But come next weekend I’m taking you out to dinner.”

“I’d like that. Caleb?”

“What
is it sweetie?”

“Don’t
play me okay. If this is just some kind of joke please…just don’t.” I felt like
crying, somehow I knew that if Caleb McNamara was playing me it would hurt
worst than anything ever had before.

“I’ll let that one slide because we just met but
in the future Melissa I’ll ask you not to lump me in with the obvious assholes
that you’ve dealt with before. I’m a grown man and like I said I don’t play
games. Maybe I should be asking your gorgeous ass not to be playing me.”

He thinks I’m gorgeous,
I felt my face heat up and my pulse race. This was really happening. I’ve never
been so happy scared at the same time in my life. I wanted this so much, more
than I’d wanted anything in a long time. After Jonathan’s sick joke six months
ago I’d shut myself off, promised never to put myself out there like that
again. But I wanted to take that risk so bad. Please
please
please
be for real.

We stayed on the phone
for two hours. It was as though he was trying to learn everything about me in
that one call. And the questions he asked were so unexpected. He wanted to know
all about my childhood and my family life. My likes and dislikes, my favorite
color, foods. Things I don’t think anyone else had ever taken the time to learn
and the thing about it was he seemed really interested in my answers.

By the time we hung up I felt relaxed and more
hopeful than I probably should. I know he said that he didn’t play games but it
was going to take me a while to let down my guard. I’d been burned by that fire
too often not to be careful. But boy did I want to go for it.

CALEB

I called every night as promised;
it was only by the third night that she started to relax. Her laugh when she
finally relaxed enough to share it with me was almost as beautiful as she was.
I’m starting to forget every feature of her face though and I don’t like that.
I still see her face in my head but I can’t quite call to mind the light in her
eyes. Not the way I could for the first two days or so.

By Saturday morning I
was chomping at the bit to get to her. Instead of easing off the yen I had for
her had only intensified with time. Like some sort of cosmic pull. I didn’t
call her to give her a heads up just jumped out of bed with a mission. I was
about to do something I never thought I ever would in my life. I’m not the
gallant type. I can do nice things for the woman in my life yes, but with
Melissa I felt almost compelled to go that extra mile.

I’ve learned a lot from
our phone conversations and I know I have my work cut out for me. Nothing I
can’t handle though and if she was half as good as I remembered she was more
than worth it. I was beginning to think that I’d built her up in my mind as the
days went by. There was no way she could be as gorgeous as I remembered, or
that her skin could be as soft. And her eyes
;
my
bright-eyed girl.
 

Our first date is
tonight, she didn’t want me to pick her up, wanted to meet me there, which was
cool for now. I understood her caution. She’d told me about the asshole that’d
fucked her over a few months ago on top of all the other shit that she’d had to
deal with in her young life. Now usually if a female tried taking me through it
because of some other assholes fuck ups I’d most likely tell her see ya later.
I had no intentions on doing that here. Something told me if I took some of
that baggage she was carrying around off her shoulders it would be the best
thing I’ve ever done. It could be that or it could be that my dick was doing
the thinking and he wasn’t willing to stop until he got what the fuck he
wanted. Horny fuck.

I left the house a
little after noon, it was hours before date night but I needed to see her. I
pulled up in front of the quaint little flower shop that looked like a little
garden cottage. She was helping customers at the counter while her helper was
restocking flowers in the glass case. The place was cute as hell, looked like
one of those places little old ladies in hats liked to hang out and have tea or
some shit.

I released the breath I
hadn’t been aware of holding at the sight of her, drinking it all in. She was
even better than I remembered. The fucked up lighting in that pit we’d met in
hadn’t done her justice. Her body was spectacular, all curves and softness. I
felt my body react and confirmed that it hadn’t been a fluke. If my dick had
his way she’d be fucked in the next ten minutes. He wasn’t interested in
niceties so it was up to me to play the gentleman. But the time I kept
promising to give her was getting shorter and shorter.

When she was finished wrapping the flowers I
walked up to the counter. “Hello beautiful girl.” I thought she would have a
heart attack on my ass.

“Caleb…what?” She clutched her chest and smiled
at me. I reached over and pushed her hair behind her ear. Even her fucking ears
were cute. Yeah and you’re tuned up, you need to calm the fuck down and take it
nice and slow. You can’t treat this one like par for the course, nice and easy
does it.

“I told you I missed
your face, first things first stand up.” She gave me a look of confusion but
did as I asked. “Now move back…more, right there.” She was back far enough that
I could see all of her. She had on another skirt only this one was more
straight than flowing and her top was a button down job with the top button
undone so I could just get a glimpse of her girls.

I snapped a picture with
my phone. “Good thanks.” She blushed and walked back to her stool behind the
counter. “What are you doing here?” I saw the minute she started thinking
fucked up shit again. The light actually goes out of her eyes according to what
she was thinking or feeling. This was good to know, that way I will always know
if some shit I’ve done has hurt her.

“Did you need to break the date? It’s okay if
you do…”

“No Melissa I need to buy some flowers for my
woman that’s why I’m here.” She reacted as though I’d slapped her. Her face
fell and she looked close to tears. I let the hurt last for as long as I needed
to do what I’d come here to do. But that was the last time I ever wanted to put
that look on her face.

“Okay what would you like?”

“What’s
the rarest flower you have?”

“Um, I have hydrangea, and orchids from Hawaii…”
Her voice was so sad I almost didn’t go through with it.

“I’ll take a bunch of
each.” She came around and went to get them herself. Good girl, spit in my eye
if I’m going to be such a dick. Damn her ass looked hot in that skirt. I know
mostly men come into these places to buy flowers for their women or at least
that’s what I think. I’m not sure about anyone else seeing her ass like that.

She came back five
minutes later and I could see the remnants of tears on her cheeks. Hopefully
she won’t hold this shit against me for too long. I didn’t even look at the
flowers when she showed them to me, just kept my eyes on her. “Are those the
best you have in stock?”

“Yes sir, do you want a
vase or should I just wrap them?” She kept her head down as she spoke but I
could feel the heat behind her words. I almost wished she’d throw the shits in
my face.

“I think those would
look best in a Monique
Lhuillier
Atelier, do you have
one of those?” Her eyes flew to mine and I’m sure she was wondering how I knew
about that shit. I’d done my research and knew that was supposed to be top of
the line.
Only the best for my girl.

“As a matter of fact we
have one in stock.” She left again and came back a few minutes later and got
busy arranging them in the vase. “Did you need a card?”

“Of course. “ I signed
the card she gave me and put it in the little envelope before giving it back to
her to place with the flowers.

“Do you want them delivered sir?” That sir was a
little snippier than the first one and I had to bite back my smile.

“No
that will be okay.”

“Fine, that’s five seventy five.”

I passed her my card and
she rang it up and gave me the slip to sign. She passed me the flowers over the
counter with her head down again. I wanted to kiss her but not here. When I do get
my hands on her it’s going to take more than one kiss to satisfy me. I turned
and headed for the door.

“You’re forgetting your flowers.” She didn’t say
it but I heard the asshole loud and clear. I turned back to her when I reached
the door.

“I told you they were for my girl. I’ll see you
at seven baby.” I didn’t wait around to watch her read her card.