Mom and Caroline are huddled around three large pots at the stove, tasting the contents. Caroline looks relaxed. She’s also sexy as hell, wearing some shorts I’ve never seen on her and a washed-out tank top. Her hair is up on top of her head, messy strands hanging out.

Catching sight of me, she lets out a little shriek, then covers her mouth.

“What are you doing here already?” she asks through her fingers.

I look at my mother in defeat. “You told her.” I should have seen this coming. Keeping secrets isn’t her forte.

She shrugs.

“Told her you’d be here in four hours. Kept an element of surprise.”

Oh, how helpful.

“With that said, I’m out of here,” she continues. “Martin, Richard, and I are going out for dinner.”

“It’s early afternoon,” Caroline points out.

Mom winks. “Early dinner. The house is all yours.”

The second she leaves the kitchen, Caroline goes into a frenzy. “I need to shower. And change clothes. I was going to before you came. I’m wearing Summer’s old clothes, and I’m sweaty. Stinky too, I think.” She sniffs the air a bit, then drops her face into her hands. “I can’t believe I sniffed myself in front of you.”

Adorable as it is to see her this flustered, I have to put a stop to this before she works herself into even more of a frenzy. I roll my suitcase against a wall, then head to her.

“Stop driving yourself crazy.”

If I thought my words would calm her, I was dead wrong. She’s shaking like a leaf, and a strand of her hair is clinging to her cheek. After several attempts to push it away, I realize there is marmalade in it. I clean her up with tap water and can’t help myself. I kiss her. I wanted to say a million things first, but I need this more. I need it desperately. I tease my tongue over her lower lip until she parts her mouth, granting me access. She tastes like apricots and sugar, and I wrap my arms around her, pull her flush against me, greedy for her warm body, her soft skin. Even lost in her as I am, I can still feel her shuddering, and not in a good way.

“Why are you so nervous?” I ask, pulling back. I’m nervous too, but she seems downright scared.

She takes a deep breath and stares at a point on my chin, clearly avoiding my eyes. “You didn’t fly over from Australia to break up with me, right? For my own good or something?”

Ah, I understand her worry perfectly now, given our past. “No. Absolutely not.”

“Okay.” Tension bleeds away from her limbs. She nods, smiles up at me. “Okay. But if you had flown in for that, I wasn’t going to let you do it. Not without putting up a fight first.”

“Will you look at that? My little tigress.”

“I’m sorry about how I handled things on the phone. I was scared and the stupid came out.”

“You had all the reasons to be scared, don’t apologize.” I take her hands in mine, steeling myself. Here goes nothing. “I can’t promise something like this won’t happen again. I’m going to do my best, but I can’t guarantee it. I’ll make whatever changes are necessary in my business to minimize the risk, cut out all the celebrity outings, but I can’t guarantee it won’t happen again. Can you live with that? Can you love me despite that?”

***

Caroline

The strain in his voice cuts through me.

“I don’t need you to promise me anything, Dan. And you will not change your business for me. I’ll learn to deal with it. You can teach me. Coach me, as you put it. I can learn. I want to. Anything you need, I’ll be there. And I love you no matter what.”

He presses his forehead to mine. “God, it feels good to hear that. I love you too. So much. It’s always been you. Always will be you.”

No, no, no. Calm down, silly heart. I need my wits about me, and my ears free of the relentless thumping that makes discerning his words rather difficult. He seems to have more to say, and I don’t want to miss one word.

“I want us to build a life together. I want a family with you. Tell me you want the same,” he whispers.

“You know I do.”

“I need to hear it.”

Tags: Layla Hagen The Bennett Family Romance
Source: readsnovelonline.net