Mae let out a gasp and quickly backed away.“What are you doing?”she asked.
He closed the distance between them, and he was thankful for the main desk being a square, which meant she was trapped between him and the counter.Putting his hands on the counter either side of her, he looked into her green eyes, and they seemed to go a little wider, as she realized what he was doing.
“Caleb?”
“Natalie was a girl I fucked around with in high school,” Caleb said.“I ...was an asshole, but she means nothing.The other women mean nothing.”
She winced.“They were all me at one point.”
“No, they weren’t.You’re different, Mae.You always have been and you always will be.This is not out of pity.This is ...us, okay?”He wanted to tell her he’d not used a condom with her, because he was hoping they were going to have so much more.He was not used to feeling like a coward.
She took a deep breath.“It’s fine.”
“No, it’s not fine.Ignore Natalie and the shit that comes from her mouth.She has been trying to get me to go with her for years now, and it’s not happening.I don’t want her.It’s you I want.No one else.”
Mae put her hands on his chest.“So, Emily told you what happened, and you came over here to reassure me?”
“Yeah, I did, and I wasn’t going to wait until tonight.I’m cooking dinner for you, and we’re going to my place.”
He loved that smile on her lips.
“That’s kind of sweet.”
“Only kind of?”he asked.
“Okay, that is, like, real sweet.”She tilted her head to the side.“Thank you.You know, I don’t have to do this for you.”
He groaned.“I know.There’s no other guy I need to worry about.”He moved from the counter, to wrapping his arm around her waist, going to her voluptuous ass.“Here’s the thing, Mae, you may not have had any boyfriends, and come to me a virgin, but that doesn’t mean other men don’t want to stake their claim.I’ve seen the way other men look at you, and no, I’m not going to tell you who they are.”He took possession of her lips.“You’re just going to have to deal with me being your only knowing admirer.”
He’d seen a lot of men watching Mae throughout the years.There had been quite a few times he expected to hear the news of her dating someone else.He didn’t know if he would have been able to handle that news.Either way, that didn’t matter now, because Mae was his, and he intended to keep her that way.
Chapter Seven
October was flyingby so quickly, it was buzzing like a whirlwind.Mae slid her hand into Caleb’s as they made their way through the park and Snots decided to go chasing after fallen leaves.
The town was thriving with tourists, and the town mayor had arranged for thrill rides to be set up around the high school.Everything was ready for Halloween.Caleb had gotten busier in the last few weeks, and Mae opened for a few hours on Sundays.She only ever did this through October when tourists were in high demand during recent book launches.
