“What?”
“You were there. In every single image over the years, you were there. Wearing nothing but a tank top and panties while going over payroll in bed, repairing a leaky water faucet, pregnant with our first child. It was all you and that’s how I knew.”
“That you loved me?” He nodded. “But you don’t want any of that, you were very adamant about that.”
He shrugged. “It turns out when it’s the right woman, even a lifelong bachelor wants it all.”
I sucked in a breath at his words, shocked down to my core that Cal wasn’t just saying the words, but saying them to me. “Cal.”
He shook his head, hands rubbing my arms up and down, a move meant to soothe a scared kitten more than a grown woman. “If you think this is just sex, then all I ask Teddy is that you give me a chance to prove what you mean to me.”
“Like a test?”
“No, like a chance. We’ll date and spend time together, but we won’t get naked. No sex for at least thirty days. That should give you plenty of time to determine my sincerity.”
“Thirty whole days?”
“I know, but not only will I romance the hell out of you, but I’ll show you with every word and every deed, that I love you, Teddy.” He leaned forward and brushed the softest, most gentle kiss I had ever experienced against my lips.
I let out a shuddery breath. “Are you sure, Cal? Why me?”
“Why not you?” He kissed me again, short and hot and quick. “You’re incredible, woman. You’re comfortable in your own skin, looking as beautiful in a toolbelt as you do in a ballgown. You want me, but you don’t bow down to me, you make me earn every laugh, every smile, every moment of affection, and you know what? I want to earn it.”
“I’m no trophy, Cal. I’m just Teddy.”
“Wrong, sweetheart, you’re everything. It’s not about a trophy, it’s about the gift of your affection and I hope, one day, your love.”
This was it, the moment of truth. The moment where I decided if I would admit, to Cal and to myself, how I really felt, or it was the moment I walked away, denying myself the man I wanted for more of my life than I didn’t. This was the moment where I could jump in with both feet, or play it scared.
My heart raced as I sucked in a breath and nodded, knowing what I wanted to say, what I had to say, but terrified of pushing those words past my lips. “Cal.”
“Yes, Teddy?”
Here we go. “I love you too.”
The smile that spread on his face came slowly, and it was magnificent. “Yeah? You love me.” He said the words aloud, like he was trying them on for size. “You love me?”
“Yes,” I sighed and rolled my eyes even as my lips twitched with a growing smile. “Cal, I love you.”
He kissed me hard and fast, pulling back with a wide grin. “One more time. Please?”
“Cal,” I sighed.
“Yes?” His grin was so damn big and smug, that the words tumbled from my lips.
“We should make it sixty days.”
He groaned and dropped his head forward with a laugh. “Fine, don’t say it. Deny me the satisfaction of hearing those three little words from your sweet lips.”
My laughter echoed in the empty parking lot. “I love you, idiot.”
He looked up with a satisfied smile. “I’ll take it.”
“How about you take me home and we test your willpower?”
“As tempting as that sounds, how about you let me hold you close and spin you on the dance floor until our feet hurt? I love you Teddy, and I want the whole damn town to know it.”
How could a girl resist an offer like that? If there was a woman who could, I didn’t know her or she didn’t know Cal, because the man was potent in general, but this vulnerable version of him? Irresistible as hell. I smiled and held my hand out.
“Lead the way, Dr. Rutledge.”
He stopped and growled. “You’re playing with fire, Teddy.”
“Just think of how hot the fire will be in thirty days.” I laughed as he let out another tortured groan while he led me back inside the ballroom and to the middle of the dance floor, where we danced and laughed and kissed for the rest of the night.
Declaring our love for one another for all of Jackson’s Ridge to see.
THE END