Town of Chance: Sweet Caroline (The Dare 5)

He stared at the reflection in the mirror but then his eyes went to Caroline. Her head barely reached his neck. The sight made him feel protective, like she needed a strong capable man to watch over her.

“Look, it brings out the blue in your eyes. It’s a great color for you.”

“You think so?” he asked, feeling a bit awkward. He hated shopping for anything. He disliked staring at himself in a mirror. Yet here he was conversing about clothes with this woman he just met, and he didn’t lose interest or get angry and end the conversation abruptly. In fact he wanted to know more about her.

“I’m going to Spencer’s tomorrow night to listen to a friend’s band play.”

“Oh, Cowboy Corruption?” she asked, surprising him as she turned back toward the rack. She pulled another two shirts out, one in black and one in burgundy.

“If you prefer these colors, they would look nice, too,” she said.

“You know the band?” he asked.

“No, my sister’s friends are going and they were talking about it. They’re excited.”

“Well they’re a good band and the guys are talented. Are you going, too?” he asked her and felt nervous. Holy fucking shit, why the hell was he so damn nervous? He was fucking thirty years old. He faced death head-on in the service, and this petite little angel was making his palms sweat and his heart race. His dick felt so fucking hard he prayed she didn’t look down at his crotch. He pulled the shirt in front of him to hide his obvious desire.

“I don’t know. It’s not really my thing.”

“To hang out and listen to a cool band?”

“To go to bars and stuff. I’m not really into hanging out,” she said.

Before he could ask her anything else, she interrupted. “Did you need anything else? I need to finish cleaning up the mess I made,” she said, and now he was even more intrigued by the woman.

“I’m good, doll. Maybe think about going to Spencer’s. You’re new in town and it’s a nice way to meet people,” he said to her and he couldn’t believe it. This was so not him. He wasn’t the social guru of Chance. He didn’t get people to socialize and have fun. Hell, he was a man that kept to himself and he was being forced to go out to this thing. What the fuck?

But then his mom returned and smiled.

“How about some pants to go with those?”

He followed his mother but looked back at Caroline as she cleaned up the last couple of boxes on the floor. When she glanced back at him, he knew she felt the attraction, too. Maybe going to Spencer’s wouldn’t be so terrible after all if Caroline showed up.

* * * *

Caroline couldn’t help but to watch Hunter leave the store with a few bags. He complained about traveling with them on his Harley. The man was already intimidating enough, but throw in the Harley and his no-nonsense attitude and he was scary to her. She felt her chest tighten and her palms get all sweaty. She could hardly speak when Martha called her up to the register so Hunter could make sure her head was okay. He was so upset that she had gotten hurt. That thought made her wonder what game he was playing. He flirted with her, yet he was straightforward with his words and comments, and they had an edge of something to them. It was almost forced. His niceness that was. Her gut clenched as she thought about how she met Cameron. He seemed so nice and sincere. Like a good civil servant who came to her aid after a not-so-friendly citizen knocked over her coffee and her bags.

Cameron was very attractive and tall too. Not as tall as Hunter or as big, but she could sense Hunter was hiding something. She felt sick to her stomach. This was going to be a new way of thinking and processing meeting other people. First she would analyze their behavior and their words and body language. Then she would try to figure out what they were hiding and what their agenda was.

Considering that her mother asked him if he had another date tomorrow night, she would lean toward believing Hunter, like most men she came across, was looking for an easy lay. She had to give Cameron credit in that department. As soon as she broke down and admitted to him that she was a virgin and inexperienced, he put on the breaks and stopped pushing her to stay over his place. Instead, the news seemed to make him cater to her even more. Well she thought it was catering and care, but soon realized she had become an obsession.

She continued to fold clothes and think about all the mistakes she made with Cameron. All the signs she missed and the things she should have questioned, protested, or even said no to. Like him dropping her off to work and picking her up every day. That turned to meeting her for lunch, which made her lose friends because she had no one to socialize with but Cameron and his friends.

She had been so stupid. She had to be more careful now. She had to question her judgment of character because obviously she was bad at it.

“Caroline?”

She heard her name and looked up to see Martha watching her.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, ma’am. Did you need something?”

Martha stepped closer and gave a soft smile.

“I hope that Hunter didn’t frighten you. He can tend to be a bit rough around the edges.”

“No, not at all.”