Moth to a Flame Read online

  This motherfucker was pissing me off. His obsession with her was unnerving. Considering that, according to the delivery company, he didn’t exist, I really needed to step up my investigations. It wasn’t a good time to tell Lia that he wasn’t who he said he was. She was already scared to death of him and I wasn’t about to freak her out any more.

  I busied myself making my famous cheesy scrambled eggs and toasting some bread. When Lia walked in freshly showered with wet hair and smelling of soap, I walked up to her and leaned over, softly kissing her lips.

  “I made us breakfast because you don’t have much to work with in there,” I teased, handing her a plate. “But lucky for you, I’ve made my specialty.”

  She smiled and sat down at the table with her plate. “Not too bad. Look out, Food Network. There’s a new chef in town,” she winked at me as she chewed.

  I laughed and looked her over as we ate. She was beautiful even with her face clean of makeup. Somehow, she could even make pajama pants and a tank sexy. After struggling not to blatantly stare, I unwillingly pulled my eyes away from her breasts, which, underneath the tight, white tank, proudly boasted no bra. She shyly smiled at me when my eyes finally met her glowing, green ones.

  This woman is killing me.

  LOOKING INTO CALE’S blazing, blue eyes, I knew he was turned on by my clothing choice. I could have chosen something not so revealing, but for some reason, I wanted to look sexy for him. He truly was becoming my safe haven. We played our parts well. Mine, the damsel in distress, and his, my knight in shining armor.

  After we finished our dinner, we cozied up to each other on the couch with another glass of wine. While relaxing, I couldn’t help but let my mind wonder to the fact that he was such a comforting force in my world after only barely knowing him. Conversation flowed easily as we started off talking about our days before my exciting evening. It was interesting to listen to him speak about his upcoming projects. Cale was so passionate about what he did. It was refreshing to hear it in his voice.

  We laughed about Anj and her crazy, romantic notions. Boy, did I have stories to tell on that girl. Cale and I were both hysterically laughing after a while. By the time we finished the bottle of wine, I was feeling a good buzz and finally starting to really relax. I situated myself, turning to face him, and draped my legs across his lap.

  “Tell me about your family,” I said, hoping to learn more about him.

  He cringed at my words but began speaking. “Well, I’m an only child. I grew up with a dad that liked to control every aspect of my life. He ended up running my mom straight into the arms of another man. Once she left us both, he focused his need to control all on me. Every single part of my life was rehearsed by my dad. He had a standard of what he expected me to be and an image to uphold. I lived every day trying to meet his impossible expectations. We’re estranged now,” he said, patting my thigh.

  “I’m so sorry,” I consoled, snuggling closer to him. “My mom and I are really close. I couldn’t imagine how lonely you must have felt growing up. My dad died when I was pretty young, but a few years ago, she married Rich and he’s about as awesome as they come. He really takes care of her and loves me too. I’m sorry you never had that.”

  “Lia, don’t worry about me. I had a really good friend, Madison, in high school who helped me through a lot of that pain. Unfortunately, she had her own pain that was too much for her to deal with. She killed herself my freshman year of college. Even though I was completely devastated, I still feel comforted by her wise words all those years ago. You would have loved her kick-ass attitude,” he smiled at her memory.

  I frowned, tears filling my eyes as I thought of how hard the loss of her must have been for him.

  “What are you so afraid of, Lia?” he asked out of the blue, now gently rubbing my thigh as if to coax it out of me.

  I felt my entire body tense up, not at all ready to answer his question. “Want more wine?” I questioned breezily, avoiding the question altogether.

  When he nodded, I hopped up and quickly escaped into the kitchen. I wanted to tell him about the abduction three years ago. I hadn’t told anyone, and it would probably feel good to share it with someone, especially Cale, but I wasn’t quite ready to go there yet.

  After digging through my cabinet, all I could come up with was an old, half-empty bottle of Crown. I grabbed the bottle and a shot glass before heading back to the living room. Cale watched me as I sat back down beside him.

  “I guess you’re out of wine?” he inquired, cocking a sexy eyebrow.

  “Yep, so this will have to do,” I answered, filling the glass.

  I tossed it down my throat, wincing at the burn as it went down. I’m not much of a heavy drinker but desperate times call for desperate measures. I poured another and handed it to him. His eyes lingered on mine before he drank his shot down in one gulp, handing me the glass back. I filled it again and we repeated the process a couple of times. My body started to heat up as the alcohol began taking effect.

  “Where are you taking me on our date tomorrow?” I somewhat slurred, definitely feeling the alcohol now.

  “It’s a surprise,” he teased back.

  “Ugh, no fair. Please tell me,” I begged, giving him my best puppy-dog face.

  He laughed at me, shaking his head no. Feeling brave from the alcohol, I hiked a leg over and straddled him. His laughter died down as I felt him tense beneath my touch.

  Leaning forward, I brought my lips to his ear and breathily said, “Please.” I could feel his hardness underneath me through my pajama pants, so I ground against him a little to coax out an answer.

  He groaned as he quickly grabbed my hips, urging the movement further. “I’ll tell you if you tell me what you’re so afraid of, Lia,” he murmured, licking his lips.

  The question caught me off guard and I jumped off of him to my feet, wanting to avoid it altogether. The sudden movement coupled with my alcohol-induced fog sent me careening onto the floor. Then a pair of strong arms scooped me up.

  “Time for bed, little lady,” he whispered as he carried me towards the bedroom.

  When we reached my bed, he used one hand to pull back the covers before he set me down. I snuggled into my pillow as he drew the covers over me. His kiss on my cheek was the last thing I remembered before slipping into peaceful oblivion.

  The Saturday morning sun streaming in through the window caused me to wake up and notice my pounding head. When I rolled over to check the time, my eyes landed on a note, some ibuprofen, and a bottle of water on my bedside table. I smiled at Cale’s thoughtfulness. After swallowing the pills down, I eagerly opened his letter.

  Even his handwriting was sexy. Lord, I had it bad for this guy already. I grinned all the way to the shower, thinking about this completely adorable guy I had somehow snagged up all for myself.

  THERE WERE SOME things I had to take care of before our date tonight. Lia hadn’t dated until now, so I had to make it special for her. Hopefully she would go along with what I’d had planned. After a trip to the sporting goods store and the supermarket, I had everything all set.

  As I was loading the rest of my purchases into the truck, my phone rang. Hoping it might be Lia, I answered quickly but was stunned into silence when my dad began speaking.

  “Hello, son. Listen, I know it’s been a while, but I wanted to let you know that your homes have been featured in the Austin Homes magazine. I didn’t even know you were building homes since you stopped calling your dad, but I’m proud of your achievements, Cale. Roger from the country club said that you built one for his sister. They said it was impeccable work.

  “I know you never finished your education—or really started it for that matter—but I think you should move back to Austin and work here at the firm with me. We need another good architect, and with your experience, we could really use you. Of course I’d pay you well and even pay for you to finish your education.

  “Also, Gordon and Becky’s daughter Vanessa just moved back i
n with them. She is going through a divorce, but I always thought you two would—”

  “Dad, that’s enough!” I yelled through the phone, interrupting his long-winded speech. “I’ve made a life for myself. I’m doing just fine without you planning every step of the way. Things are finally going the way that I want them. I even met a girl, Dad. So please just stop trying to run my life. You think that, after this many years, you’d be interested in what’s going on with me. But no, you would rather pick up right back where you left off—with you controlling my life,” I spat. I was seriously close to hanging up on him.

  “Cale, you always were ungrateful like your mother. Don’t forget that, even though we weren’t talking, it was ‘Daddy’s’ money and friends that helped get you out of that mess a few years ago,” he spewed back at me.

  Damn, so it was my dad.

  I had hoped and prayed the judge would go easy on me, but the charges had been stacked a mile high from that accident, so it hadn’t looked promising without facing some sort of jail time. Miraculously, it had all seemed to settle pretty simply. I’d just thought my luck had finally been turning. That fucker hadn’t even let me deal with my problems on my own.

  “Dad, I don’t have time for this. Maybe one day we can talk when you aren’t trying to force me to do things your way. You clearly have my number, so try harder next time,” I growled before ending the call.

  I knocked on Lia’s door, holding one arm behind my back and a backpack slung over my other shoulder. I heard the click of one, two, three locks before she swung the door open with an ear-to-ear grin. The smile on that beautiful girl was enough to erase the shitty conversation with my dad.

  I pulled the flowers from behind my back—well, the plant, actually. “Lia, I got you a plant. Since you seem offended by flowers, I wanted to get it right. You can think of me when you water it,” I winked.

  She took the plant from me and chuckled, “What will I ever do with you Cale Reeves?” before she set the plant on the table by the window. “So, what’s the plan?” she asked. “Are you taking me to a movie? Dinner? I’ve been going crazy wondering about our date!”

  She was dressed in a sparkly, black top, a sexy pair of dark skinny jeans that hugged every curve of her ass, and some impossibly high heels. Her hair was pulled back into a sleek ponytail, accentuating her high cheekbones. My dick was going to hate me for what I was about to say.

  “Lia, I told you to dress comfortably. You’re going to have to change,” I sighed, not really wanting to see her in anything but those badass jeans.

  Her lips formed a sexy, little pout that made me want to throw her across the table right then and do very dirty things to her.

  Holding the backpack up, I smiled reassuringly at her. “Babe, you look hot as hell, but you aren’t dressed appropriately for our date. I bet those heels cost a fortune and they won’t help you where we’re going. I took the liberty of bringing some stuff for you to wear on our date. Throw on some jeans that aren’t so nice. Everything else you’ll need is in here.”

  Lia grabbed the bag and made her way back to her room, swaying her hips as she marched off. Getting out of those jeans was definitely a good idea if we had any plans of actually making it to our date.

  A few minutes later, she came out frowning, holding the bag like it contained venomous snakes.

  “What?” I asked.

  “There is NO way in hell I am wearing those ugly things!” she shrieked, sounding like such a valley girl.

  I started laughing at the look on her face. “What’s wrong with them? They’re hiking boots and you love shoes. I guess I’m missing the issue here.”

  “Pink camo? Really, Cale?” she huffed.

  “Lia, you’ll need them for our date. I promise it’ll be just us two. The fashion police won’t be anywhere near us. You’ll thank me later.”

  She rolled her eyes and sat down to put them on. Her cute lips were still puckered into a pout, but she was complying. She’d changed into some equally sexy jeans, but these looked more comfortable. The hoodie was one I’d given her to wear. It was pink camo too, but for some reason, she wasn’t as offended by the top.

  When she finished, she stood up, walked over to me, and kissed my cheek. “I’m ready for our date, handsome.” And with that, she strutted out the front door, giving me another prime view of her sexy ass.

  CALE WAS UP to something for our date. He had me dressed up like a freaking redneck, but honestly, I really didn’t care. I was just excited to be going on a real date. When I’d thought about if this day would ever come with anyone, I’d been overwhelmed with anxiety. My nightmare dinner with Sam and then his creepy note stressed me out, but going out with Cale had me feeling anticipation I hadn’t felt in a very long time. For once in the past three years, I felt like a normal woman going on a normal date with a man. A very hot man.

  The drive to our unknown-to-me destination was a quiet one except for Big Wreck singing a very appropriate “You Caught My Eye” in the background. Our thoughts were in other places as we drove. Yesterday, Pops had a talk with me about being careful on my date. It seemed that he had quite the protective streak in him. If he’d known about the craziness with Sam or, more terrifying, my abduction three years ago, he’d have probably forbid me to date anyone ever. Family isn’t always blood. Pops was definitely family.

  I noticed that we were heading towards a more secluded area that normally would have sent me into a panic. But with Cale, this was exciting, not scary. If only he knew how much he’d saved me from my ugly past these last few days. When my mom called earlier, I was finally able to give her the juicy gossip she’d been waiting on for the past three years. She was beyond thrilled and couldn’t wait to meet the man who had managed to snag her baby girl’s interest. I missed her and Rich so much and desperately anticipated seeing them on Thanksgiving.

  After driving on some old roads through the woods for a good thirty minutes, we eventually arrived at a clearing. “Ready for our date?” Cale asked.

  “I’m really looking forward to it,” I answered honestly.

  He smiled at me before hopping out of the truck. I followed after him to find him already pulling stuff out of the back.

  “What exactly are we doing?”

  “Carry those two bags right there. You’ll find out soon enough, but we need to get going before it gets dark,” he instructed.

  A little while later, after hiking though several nearly impassable trails, we arrived at a small clearing completely surrounded by thick woods. Darkness was falling quickly, but with Cale nearby, my fear stayed at bay.

  With impressive efficiency, Cale assembled a tent in record time. “I was a Boy Scout,” he offered when he saw my jaw hanging. After the tent was up, he gathered what he needed and started a blazing fire that illuminated our camping area.

  “So, is it safe to assume we’re camping, Cale?” I asked him.

  “Complete with ghost stories and all,” he smirked.

  I watched him as he dragged over a huge piece of wood for us to sit on. Once I sat down, he busied himself with the small ice chest he’d brought with us. A few minutes later, he handed me a stick with a hot dog on it.

  “You can’t go camping without cooking hot dogs over the campfire,” he grinned, looking very much like a little boy.

  After we’d filled our bellies with hot dogs sans buns, he brought out the marshmallows. By the time I burned the third one, I was in full-on pout mode. He’d already laughed at me the entire time, but he eventually held up one of his perfectly roasted marshmallows to my lips. I leaned forward and pulled it off his fingers with just my mouth, never losing eye contact, leaving him staring at my lips. When I dipped my head back down to suck off the gooey remnants of the marshmallow on his fingers, he groaned loudly. Who’s laughing now?

  After the tense marshmallow moment, we settled by the fire, getting cozy. Cale had already located a blanket he’d brought and wrapped it around us since the temperature had begun to drop. It w
as quiet except for the crackling of the fire, chirping of crickets, and rustling of leaves blowing in the wind.

  “Thank you, Cale,” I whispered, snuggling into his neck with my arms wrapped around him as much as they could be while sitting side by side.

  “For what?” he asked.

  “For this. All of it. This date is the best one ever. It’s perfect. You have no idea what it means to me,” I said seriously. “I feel like you’re the only one who sees me. To everyone else, I feel like I am just this ugly moth, just a fragment of who I used to be. But with you, I feel like you see me for more than that.”

  He cringed at the first part of my words but squeezed me back. “Lia, Madison once told me to go after what I wanted in life. There’s never been anything that I’ve wanted more than what is in my arms right now. She was right. And, Lia, you are not a moth. I’m the moth,” he declared, looking into my eyes, no hint of humor at all in his face.

  When I shook my head at him, he placed his palms on either side of my face, bringing my face closer to his.

  “Lia, I’m the moth and you are the flame. Your light burns so bright. I never had a chance. From the moment you maced me, I have been fluttering as close as I can get to you. Your fire enchants me, and I’d do anything to be near this fire, even if it meant death. Babe, you have to realize that what we have is so unique,” he said with conviction. “So don’t ever call yourself a moth again, Lia. You’re the damned fire shining to me like a beacon in the night. Wherever you go, I will follow.” He then leaned forward, pressing his lips into mine with such an intensity, grabbing the back of my head like he was holding on for dear life.

  I was lost in his words, his touch, his kiss. My mother had had a whirlwind romance with Rich, so I wasn’t opposed at all to what was happening so quickly between Cale and me. It was like we’d been waiting a really long time for one another.

  A twig snapped, pulling us from our kiss to look around into the dark forest.