Final Offer: Chapter 26

“I was wondering how long it would take you to come to the right decision.” Cal holds open the door with a grin.

My eyes turn into slits. “I have one condition.”

“Name it.”

“No drinking in front of Cami.”

His smile slips. “Of course not.”

I release a breath. “Thank you.”

“Hi!” Cami pops out from behind me.

“What’s up, kiddo?” He kneels to Cami’s eye level. His eyes widen when she throws her arms around his neck and squeezes until his skin turns red.

Damn my heart straight to hell for betraying me with the way it throbs at their embrace.

He stands to his full height. “What happened to staying with Delilah and Wyatt?”

“Her grandmother is visiting from out of town for the month,” I grumble.

“And Violet?”

“She lives in a small apartment with two roommates.”

“There’s nothing I love more than being last choice.” He reaches for my luggage and rolls it inside. I follow behind him, taking in the large stacks of books scattered around the living room.

“Since when are you into reading?”

A flush spreads up his neck as he tucks his thumbs into the front pockets of his jeans. “I like to keep my mind busy.”

“You read all those in the last few weeks?” There must be at least fifty books spread around the space.

He nods.

“Wow.”

His gaze flicks over me. “Do you need any help grabbing the rest of the stuff?”

“Be careful what you volunteer for.”

“It’s not like I have anything else to do.”

Cal spends the next hour helping me carry over boxes and bags full of stuff. By the time we’re done, the guesthouse’s entire living room floor is covered with toys. The kitchen cabinets spill with groceries and cooking tools, and the bedrooms are crammed with our personal items that we didn’t want to risk leaving behind, including my vibrator that I hid in my nightstand. No way was I leaving that around for some random guy to find.

Cal disappears while I do my best to make Cami’s new room look homey with her princess comforter, butterfly lamp, and LED lights.

By the time I’m done, I need to pee. I open the bathroom door closest to Cami’s room only to get yelled at by my kid, who sits on the toilet claiming she has a tummy ache. Taking her off the toilet after that warning is no longer an option.

Light spills out from underneath the crack of the second bathroom located at the end of the hall. I turn the knob, but the door doesn’t open.

“Give me a second.” The door muffles Cal’s deep voice.

The door opens, and a cloud of steam billows around Cal, who stands in the doorway wearing nothing but a white towel. He is so focused on wrapping it around his waist that he doesn’t notice my tongue falling out of my mouth.

I don’t know where to look. Although his bulging traps are tempting, I quickly become distracted by his glistening abs that lead straight toward the muscles pointing like an arrow toward his cock. He isn’t even hard, but I can make out the shape of him from beneath the terrycloth material.

The man was created by God to fulfill every woman’s fantasy.

More like yours.

The faraway sound of Cami’s tablet pushes me into action.

“Get in there.” I push him back into the bathroom and shut the door behind us.

“What’s wrong?” He trips over his feet before catching himself on the counter.

I rip a second towel off the shelf before slapping him in the face with it. “Cover all that up before you go outside again.”

“Cover this? What for?” His lips twitch as he runs his hand along the curves and divots of his abdominal muscles.

“There is a child here!” I whisper-shout.

“Relax. I’m just joking with you.” He reaches for the towel and covers his upper body until he resembles a mummy. “All better?” He looks ridiculous with the way his wet hair flops in front of his face.

“Not even remotely.” I throw a damp hand towel over his face. “There. All better.”

He pulls it off with a laugh. “Sorry about that. I forgot about Cami staying here.”

“Oh, so if it’s just me, then it’s okay to walk around in only a towel?”

“If it were just you, I’d lose the towel altogether.” He winks.

My mouth waters at the image of him doing just that.

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” His husky voice makes my belly heat.

“No.” I notice my nose twitching too late.

He runs his finger down the slope, eliciting a pleasant shiver. “Are you sure?” His hands reach for the edge of the towel.

My heart thumps harder against my chest, making it impossible to hear as he begins to undo the towel.

“No!” I slap my hands against his waist to stop him, only to brush against his cock in the process.

I blink. He grins.

My pinkie reaches out to tease his length just to confirm what I felt. He shivers, the tiny exhale he releases making me press my legs together.

“Unless you plan on finishing what you started, I wouldn’t do that again.” He pushes my hand away.

All five of my fingers itch to wrap themselves around his length. It hurts me to deny the instinct, especially with how he looks at me.

“Keep staring at me like that and I might get the wrong idea.” He squeezes his cock through the towel with a smirk.

That fucker…

The pulsing between my legs has nothing to do with needing to use the bathroom. “For the record, you’re a terrible friend. No wonder Declan doesn’t like you hanging around his wife.” I shove him out of the bathroom and lock the door before I do something stupid like kiss the smile off his face.

I give up on trying to blindly plug in my cellphone charger into the outlet behind my bed. It’s impossible to reach without getting on my hands and knees, so I kneel and use the flashlight on my cellphone to light up the dark space underneath.

A loud hiss makes me fall back on my ass and release a blood-curdling scream straight out of a movie. Quick, heavy footsteps running down the hall match the erratic beat of my heart. My door swings open before the knob slams into the wall.

“What’s wrong?” Cal looks around the room with wild eyes while clutching onto a lamp.

I press a hand against my chest, willing my heart to calm down. “What kind of weapon is that?”

His cheeks turn a light shade of pink. “It was the first thing within grabbing distance.”

He thought you were in danger, so he didn’t want to waste any time.

My throat swells, stealing my ability to speak.

Cami barrels into the room, her small hands raised in a fighting stance she learned in karate. “I’ll save you!” She slices her hands through the air and spin kicks. Her feet slide across the carpet, her arms flailing as she loses her balance.

Cal ditches the lamp to catch her right before she crashes against the floor. He lifts her into the air, making her giggle.

My heart thuds against my chest in betrayal. It’s impossible not to have some sort of reaction as Cal throws her in the air again, earning another loud laugh before placing her back on her feet.

Cal looks up at me, catching me staring at him and Cami’s interaction. “What happened?”

I point a shaky finger at the dark space under the bed. “There is something underneath the bed.”

“What?”

“I don’t know. It’s not like I got a good look before it hissed at me.”

“Oh, that’s Merlin.” Cal’s eyes sparkle as he offers me his hand. I’m a little wobbly on my feet, mainly due to the way Cal scans my body for any injuries.

I look away first. “That thing is your cat?”

Cami gasps. “You have a cat?”

He nods, and Cami instantly abandons us for the bed.

“Cami, no! He’s not nice.” I swoop and pull her back.

Cal shakes his head. “That’s not true. Merlin might sound scary, but he’s harmless. I swear. He doesn’t even have claws because his last owner was an abusive jerk, so you don’t have to worry about him hurting anyone. The worst thing he does is shed, but I have a robot vacuum for that.”

My heart aches. “He was declawed?”

“Yes, and that isn’t even the worst of it.”

Good God. My weakness for strays is starting to show itself at the worst time.

“Can I pet him? Please?” Cami looks up at me while batting her lashes.

I look to Cal for approval.

“It’s fine with me.”

I sigh with resignation. “All right.” I can just tell with the way Cami’s eyes light up, she is going to be attached to Merlin by the end of the night.

Cami army crawls toward the bed while cooing and calling Merlin’s name. He doesn’t come out, which makes her frown.

“He doesn’t like me.”

Cal shakes his head with a smile and kneels beside her.

For the second time tonight, I bear witness to Cal being sweet to my kid for no other reason than he is just that kind of guy.

“He is a little shy.” He holds out his hand beneath the bed.

Cami waits, her body trembling from her growing excitement.

It takes a minute, but thanks to Cal’s persistence and Cami’s patience, a skinny black cat comes crawling out from underneath the bed. He rubs against Cal’s thigh, his tail swishing back and forth as Cal runs his hand down the cat’s spine.

“Slowly pet him.” Cal shows Cami one more time before letting her try.

Cami reaches out her hand with the intention to brush her fingers across Merlin’s fur, but the cat darts outside of the room before she has a chance.

Her smile falls. “He hates me.”

“He’s just grumpy, but I have a trick.” Cal stands before lifting Cami up and on to her feet.

He shows her his secret stash of catnip and Merlin’s favorite toy. Cami watches with fascination as he fills the toy full of the stuff before handing her the pole it is attached to with a string.

With Cal’s instruction, Cami dangles the fish in front of the couch where Merlin is hiding underneath. When Merlin’s paw darts out to catch the feathered fish, Cami squeals. Cal ends up laughing at her reaction, and I find myself doing the same.

I stick back, both enamored and terrified by their interaction. The more the two of them spend time together, the more I worry that Cami might grow attached to Cal. I know what it feels like to have your heart crushed by none other than Callahan Kane. It leaves a void that can’t be filled, no matter how hard one tries.

I’ve made plenty of mistakes, but I wonder if I made the biggest one yet by allowing my daughter to get caught up in Cal’s spell. If she is anything like me, then there is no way she won’t end up loving him. But then he will leave, and I’ll be stuck picking up the pieces yet again.

Except this time, it won’t be my heart he breaks.

It will be my daughter’s.