Page 73 of Let Me Be the One
“Okay. Just…give me one minute.” Now in a rush, she opened drawer after drawer, pulling out a shirt, shorts, socks…and panties. Tiny panties, made of silky material and lace in a frosted peach color.
Tanner wanted to look away, but he hadn’t yet talked himself into it. Callie was pale and still shaken, her wet clothes clinging to her body, her brown hair hanging in heavy hanks down her back and over her chest. And even now, so disheveled and unsettled, she had the ability to twist him into knots.
When she dropped everything on the foot of her bed, he got himself together and faced away. Unblinking, he stared through the bedroom doorway to the hall. “Kam will be here shortly.”
“I’m hurrying,” she said.
“I didn’t mean that.” He’d just been speaking to keep from thinking so much. Envisioning her as she changed. Imagining those wet clothes peeling away from her naked body. He ran a hand over his face. “I only meant we’d both be dry soon. Then I’d like to talk to you.”
Sounding grim and defeated, she said, “All right.”
Outside, the storm continued to rage. Loud rumbles of thunder reverberated throughout the house. Strobes ofimpressive lightning danced through the blinds. Steady sheets of rain lashed the windows.
Heavy storms weren’t uncommon in Kentucky this time of year, but tonight felt different. Maybe because he was in Callie’s bedroom. Every crack of lightning lifted the hairs on the back of his neck. Never in his adult life had he been so attuned to a woman, hearing her every breath, feeling her every movement.
Sensing her continued upset.
It madehimwant to rage as violently as the storm—not against her, but for her.
“Kam shouldn’t come back out in this,” she whispered.
The muscles of his arms contracted, tightening in his shoulders and neck. Already she wanted to send him away when they both knew she’d prefer not to be alone.
Then she suggested, “You could just wrap up in a blanket or towel, and we could put your clothes in the dryer.”
His tension eased, just not enough. With Callie so near, he was bound to stay rigid and on alert.
“No way am I doing that.” It’d be far too tempting to pull her close and lose the insubstantial barrier. She wasn’t herself right now, so he’d stay in his wet jeans before he added to her uneasiness.
Then it no longer mattered because Kam texted him to say:Driving stuff over. Be there in 2.
“He’s already on his way.” Tanner returned the thumbs-up emoji to his brother, then cleared his throat. “Need any help?”
“No, I’m done.”
Slowly, he turned to see her sit on the end of the bed. Her T-shirt was big, her shorts tiny, and over both she wore a man’s flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up.
He wondered where she’d gotten it, but it didn’t exactly look like Sutter’s style. More like something she’d picked up at a discount department store.
As he watched her, she pulled on thick white socks.
It was far from a stylish outfit, not at all what a rich princess would wear, but it looked comfortably cute.
On her, it also looked sexy.
Callie gathered up her wet clothes and held them away from her body. “I could put these in the bathroom.”
She could, but he guessed she wanted him to go with her. His heart squeezed, seeing her like this, with big solemn eyes and a stoic attitude. “Good plan.” He took them from her and, together, they went into the bathroom and arranged them to dry over the shower rod, tub, and even over a towel bar. Her panties she dropped into a hamper.
Back in the living room, he lifted away the blinds to see her driveway. “Kam should be pulling up any second.”
Silence stretched out, then she whispered, “You could just ride back with him. Who knows how long this storm will last.”
Glancing over his shoulder, Tanner saw that she’d averted her face again. “I’d rather stay with you.”
For the longest time she didn’t move. Tanner didn’t either.
Then, as headlights flashed in her driveway, she looked up and said, “I’d rather that too, but I’ve been enough of a nuisance.”
