Megan looked over her shoulder for the third time as she walked home. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, and she told herself she was imagining things. It didn’t help that she was alone and already on edge. Walking faster, she urged her pounding heart to calm itself. Why would somebody be following you in a place like Fair Haven? she asked herself. This town was safety incarnate. Crime rarely happened, and Megan walked home by herself all the time.Then again, robberies were once uncommon, until recently.She walked faster. When she heard a rustle in a nearby shrub, she almost jumped out of her skin before seeing a skinny cat dart across the street. She inhaled a deep breath.But the feeling that someone was following her only continued as she walked home. When she heard footsteps behind her, she whirled around, but nobody was there. She peered into a nearby yard, but she could only see the usual types of things in anybody’s front yard: pots for gardening, children’s to
Caleb heard the water turn on in Megan’s bathroom, and he almost groaned aloud. Was she taking a bath? A shower? Either way, she’d be naked, and only a room away. He gritted his teeth as the inevitable images of her wet, naked, and flushed from the heat of her bath filled his mind.“Don’t do this right now,” he muttered to himself. Gary swiveled his ears at the sound, especially when Caleb stopped petting him. He continued the petting, mostly because he wasn’t sure the cat wouldn’t get its revenge on his balls if he did something it didn’t like.He hadn’t told Megan he was staying here just so he could be a creep. This was what he told himself, but he knew that deep down, he’d wanted to be the one to stay here. To protect her from the threat outside, and, yes, to just be in the same place as her. It was like a sickness. He’d already kissed her this week, and now he was going to be on her couch all night while she lay in her own bed. What did she wear to bed? Pajamas? Lingerie? Nothin
The morning following their night together, Megan struggled to stay focused in the bakery. She was infinitely thankful that Jubilee had the day off, otherwise she knew the girl would interrogate her mercilessly about her brother staying the night. Not that Megan would’ve volunteered that information, but nothing in Fair Haven stayed a secret longer than maybe one day, if not two, if you were lucky.Megan glanced outside to where Caleb stood on patrol. Her body heated—only from looking at his back!—and memories assailed her with such thoroughness that she didn’t hear the customer clearing his throat the first time. Or the second time.“Ma’am,” the man said. “You okay?”She almost dropped the pastry in her hand, and a bright blush bloomed on her cheeks. Flustered, she muttered, “I’m fine. Sorry. Here’s your Danish.”The man nodded slowly. “Great. How about that coffee, too?”Megan restrained herself from hitting her forehead against the counter. Get it together!Although she contin
“I hope you like sushi,” Caleb said after he and Megan were seated at a booth in the corner, “because otherwise tonight won’t be much fun for you.”Megan wrinkled her nose. “Lucky for you that I do like sushi. Although what would’ve happened if I’d said I hated it? Would you go somewhere else with me?”He heaved a deep sigh. “I guess. Although I would’ve judged you for it for the entire evening.”Laughing, Megan felt her nerves calm for the first time that evening. Ever since Caleb had come into The Rise and Shine and insisted that she go to dinner with him, she’d been a mess. Actually, she’d been a mess over him for what felt like an eternity. Now that she was sitting across from him, his dark hair tousled and his face showing the shadow of his beard already, she had to stop herself from practically crawling into his lap and eating him up. It didn’t help that he was wearing a button-up that brought out the green in his eyes, or that he looked at her like he could eat her up, too, i
Caleb couldn't help but feel like this moment was sacred, like he'd been waiting his whole life for it. As he gazed down at Megan's upturned face, he wanted to pour out his heart to her. Expose the inside of his soul, black and blue as it was, and beg her for absolution.Of course, it wasn't that simple, and he didn't deserve something like that. While she'd been honest and apologetic, he hadn't said a word about his own secrets. A voice whispered in his ear—fraud, coward—but he pushed it aside.This wasn't the time. He'd tell her at some point. Just not right now, when he had more important things to worry about.He laid her on the bed, almost reverently. He flipped on a lamp, and she looked like she had been dipped in sunshine. She almost glowed, like some kind of fairy creature. But when she sat up, a mischievous smile on her face, she was all human—and all Megan.She crooked a finger at him. "Come to bed, Officer," she purred.His cock hardened to the point that it was p
When Caleb dropped her off at her house later that morning, he said once again, "I'll just be at the station. Call me if you need anything, okay?"Megan was torn between complete happiness that she and Caleb were together and worry about what people would say when they would find out. Would people think Caleb was slumming it, like Harrison had done with Sara, according to more narrow-minded people? Megan shuddered inwardly.She'd almost told Caleb that she would drive herself home this morning, but he'd insisted. She couldn't stop herself from glancing out the window at the street outside, wondering if anyone was watching them.Caleb sensed her unease, but not for the correct reasons. "Do you want me to stay with you? I can call off work, or I can tell Gonzalez that this took precedence today—""No, no, I'll be fine." She smiled. Although she had a feeling Caleb didn't really believe her. "Really. You need to get to work, and so do I." Feeling guilty, she kissed him. Then she
Megan tried not to notice how quiet Caleb seemed that night. She chalked it up to a long day at work, although when she'd tried to ask him about it, he'd brushed her off and then kissed her until she'd almost forgotten what she'd wanted to ask him.What is he hiding? She didn't want to think that he was hiding anything, but it niggled at her brain all evening as she cooked them dinner.Megan had never been the girlfriend who cooked and cleaned—well, she would if she had to, but she had gotten irritated with any guy who assumed she had to be the one to do those tasks. But tonight, she wanted to cook for Caleb. Probably because he's a terrible cook, she thought wryly, remembering the burnt batch of scrambled eggs he'd made her at his house that morning.“What are you making?" he asked her as he wrapped his arms around her from behind."It's a surprise." She slapped his hand away when he tried to pilfer a piece of cheese. "No stealing anything!"He laughed softly, the exhalation warm
Jubilee sighed and leaned against the counter. "I need a break. Or a cup of coffee. Maybe both."Megan looked at the clock. "You can go on break, but I'll need you back when the afternoon rush hits.""Aye aye, captain." Jubilee waved hello to the officer stationed outside before beginning her typical walk around the block.Now it was Megan's turn to sigh. Caleb hadn't been stationed at The Rise and Shine in the last five days, and she’d barely heard from him. When she texted, he was vague, saying he was busy with work. She had seen a cop car outside her house more than once, though, and she knew that Caleb was keeping an eye on her. He just wasn'twithher.Her heart sank into her toes. She'd said too much that night, hadn't she? Now Caleb thought the worst of her, and it was her own fault. Except that realization only made her angry. She wiped down the counter with furious strokes. If he really thought the worst of her now, that was his problem, not hers. She didn'