Taken Hard (The Hard Boys Book 2) Read online

  Getting to her feet, she brushed past Caleb. Their hands touched, and she felt this heat of electricity rushing down her arm, tingling her fingers.

  She didn’t stop, but she wanted to.

  They both wanted to have kids and a large family. It didn’t mean anything though.

  ****

  The following morning, Caleb opened his eyes and became aware of the female curled up against his side. He glanced down, and sure enough, Lilly’s head rested on his chest. His hand was on her back as the other lay above his head.

  She was so beautiful. Her head was slightly tilted.

  Last night had gone from being glorious to swapping and changing for Darla to sleep.

  Glancing over toward the crib, he saw Darla was out like a light.

  Sunlight glowed behind the curtains.

  He lifted his wrist and saw it was a little after six. Only three hours of sleep.

  He was going to feel that today. More coffee would be needed.

  Lilly moved. Her body rubbed against his, and damn, he liked the feel of her large tits and curves against him.

  His morning wood got even stiffer for something else.

  Caleb felt the moment she woke. The way her body went from being relaxed and heavy, to slightly tense.

  She lifted her gaze to his. “Morning,” she said.

  They’d collapsed together a few hours ago, and now he didn’t want to wake up.

  “I’m so sorry,” she said, lifting up.

  “What for?”

  “For sleeping on you.”

  He rubbed his chest. “You can sleep on me even more.”

  She covered her face. “You must think this is the worst date in the world.”

  “Actually, I think it’s right up there as the best date ever.” He patted his chest.

  “What time is it?”

  He told her and she groaned. “I’ve got to be at the library in an hour.”

  “Well, how about we take a rain check? Do you want to come over to my place tonight?”

  “I’ve got the bar until eleven.”

  “I don’t mind.”

  “Really?”

  “I just said that. I want to spend time with you, Lilly. Morning, noon, night, early morning. We’ve both got busy lives. Let me.”

  She smiled. “Okay.”

  “How would you like to have a sleepover with me? Nothing naughty or X-rated. That way I don’t have to worry about bringing you back.”

  “Fine. Fine. Aunt Betty’s not back for another couple of days.” She climbed off the sofa, being careful not to hit him in the crotch, which he appreciated. “I better go and get ready. I’ll make you a coffee.”

  “I’d love that.”

  Caleb captured her hand, stopping her from leaving.

  “What’s the matter?” she asked.

  He pulled her close, cupped her cheek, and pressed his lips against hers. “I just wanted to kiss you.”

  She smiled, and he loved the blush against her skin.

  “Morning,” he said.

  “Morning.” She kissed him a second time before pulling away.

  He watched the curves of her ass as she walked away. A kiss. He wanted to do a hell of a lot more than just a kiss.

  Tugging her beneath him, spreading her open, having his wicked way with her.

  He looked toward the crib to see Darla was very much awake. “You’re a little pain, sweetheart.”

  She let out a gurgle and he laughed.

  “Yeah, yeah, I love you.”

  Lilly made him a quick oatmeal breakfast and a coffee. They ate together before he went with her to James and Eliza’s to drop off the baby. His older brother looked refreshed and nodded at him.

  He smiled.

  After Darla was safely back with her parents, he drove Lilly to the library. She left her bag in his truck, and before he allowed her to leave, he kissed her.

  “Have a good day.”

  “I’m going to be spending it thinking about you.”

  “That’s how I want it.” He stroked her cheek. “Enjoy.”

  Lilly climbed out of the truck. Caleb didn’t bother to go home, he went straight to his parents.

  His dad was out in the yard, mowing the lawn.

  It was now just a little after seven thirty. His parents had always been morning people. Even when he’d gotten to the age of a moody teenager, they hadn’t allowed him to hang out in bed. They’d made him get up, work, take responsibility.

  “Your mother’s in the kitchen.”

  She was always in the kitchen.

  He stepped inside and paused. It was like she’d been overrun by a catering service. Without a thought, he grabbed a spare apron and slid it over his head, tying it around his waist.

  “Don’t you have work?” Jane asked.

  “Not until after nine. What is all of this?” he asked.

  “I know how difficult Darla has been, and well, I know when I had you boys, I wished I had someone who cared enough to make me a little gift like this.” Jane ladled soup into a container.

  He moved closer and saw there were labels on everything.

  “I know James has got a decent enough freezer, and when you’ve been busy at work and taking care of a little baby, the last thing you want to do is cook dinner.”

  “Mom, I think you’ve made enough to feed an army.”

  “Good, that was what I was going for. I don’t want them to go without. I need to think of everything. Cake, soup, lasagna. You know how my lasagna always makes people feel good.” She glanced around, checking everything. “Yep, I’ve got it all.” Jane glanced at him. “So what can I do to help you?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Son, you’re at my house the day after a date. Did it go wrong?”

  “Nothing went wrong. We took care of Darla.”

  “Why did you do that?”

  He explained what happened and Jane tutted. “That’s what your father and I are for.”

  “What are we for?” his father asked, coming in. He kissed Jane’s head and grabbed a bottle of chilled water from the fridge.

  “Taking care of babies.”

  His mother then explained everything to his father, who shrugged. “Our time will come.” He kissed her head. “Besides, you wouldn’t get to do all of this, and even though you look and sound frazzled, this is what you want to do.”

  He watched his parents, feeling envious.

  His father gave him a nod and then turned to leave, heading back outside.

  “So, you’re here, Caleb. If your date didn’t go awful, do you want to tell me how it did go?”

  Caleb gave her a rundown of everything that happened while also getting to work. She had him chopping vegetables, sauteing them, checking the cornbread in the oven. An abundant feast was set out before him.

  “So, you both want the same things out of life. That’s a good thing,” she said. “Unless you don’t want the same things.”

  “I do.” Caleb moved toward the kitchen doorway and then checked to see where his father was. “I think I’m in love with her.”

  Jane stared at him. “You only think it?”

  “I … I don’t know what real love is, you know? I see you and Dad all the time.”

  “Do you think about her all the time? Even when you’ve had an argument?”

  “We’ve never had an argument.”

  “If you get married, you will argue. It’s not wanting to be apart, that’s what is really important.” Jane had her hand on her hip. “I know you’ve been a man’s man for a long time and you’re used to playing the field. Thinking and knowing are two different things. You’re either in love with Lilly, or you’re not. With how many women you’ve slept with, I figured you’d know a lot sooner who you’re in love with and not.”

  “Is it really that easy?”

  “Falling in love? For the right person, yeah, it’s easy. Staying in love, that can be trickier. You’ve got to be completely devoted and dedicated to the other person
. You’ve got to want to love them even when you want to kill them.”

  “You ever want to kill Dad?”

  “All the time. Each time I gave birth. Then when he seems to fall asleep without a care in the world. When he snores. The fact he loves horror films and I can’t stand them, and I think he only watches them so I’ll spend the entire time plastered against his arm.” The love and affection in her eyes were clear. His mother’s gaze shone brighter when she spoke of Theodore.

  His father passed the window and looked in, giving his wife a wink and a wave.

  “It’s about accepting the good and the bad. Knowing it’s not always going to be perfect but willing to risk it anyway because that’s what you want to do. Your father and I, we know this and we accept it. We don’t have a perfect life together and yet we do at the same time.”

  Caleb stirred the sauce his mother had pointed at him to do. At eight forty-five, she sent him packing, and he had no choice but to head to the garage to open up. Several cars waited for him.

  He looked at them. None of them were brand new, but they were all cared for.

  Lilly. He thought about her. There was never a moment he couldn’t think about her, and he just knew. The good, the bad, he wanted it all with her. He was in love with her.

  Chapter Six

  Three weeks later

  Lilly had never been to the bar on a date, but seeing as she’d been with Caleb when he got a call out to help start a car, she’d gone with him. She went with him during most calls out at night. Especially if she was still with him.

  The car had started, and Caleb had offered to buy her a soda and have a dance with her.

  The soda had been lukewarm, but Caleb’s arms around her as they stood in the center of the dance floor in the bar, that felt perfect.

  Three weeks they’d been officially dating, and they were the best of her life. She rested her hands on his chest and smiled up at him.

  “Do I even want to know what you’re thinking about right now?” he asked.

  “Probably not.”

  “Is it as dirty as chapter ten?”

  Her cheeks heated and she quickly glanced around. “Caleb, people can hear.”

  “I don’t care if they can. They don’t have a clue what I’m talking about.”

  “But I know.”

  He leaned down, his lips brushing across her ear. “Do you think about having my mouth on your pussy?”

  She’d given him another book. This one even more erotic than the last.

  Looking up at him, she quickly averted her gaze and sank her teeth into her lip.

  “I’m going to take that as a yes.”

  Caleb didn’t move an inch even as the tips of his fingers grazed the curve of her ass. She didn’t want to keep on being shy with him. Caleb made her feel everything. Tilting her head back, she stared into his eyes. “Do you think about me…” She hesitated. “Sucking your cock?”

  He groaned and rested his head against hers. He pulled her closer, and she felt the hard ridge of his cock against her stomach. “I think about doing a lot more than that. I know you’re a virgin, but I want you, Lilly, so damn much.”

  “Well, well, well, the town slut is with the whore himself.”

  Lilly tensed as she became aware of Jacob’s voice. The man often tried to get her alone. He’d tried to proposition her multiple times over the years. She despised him, but Edward often told her he was a loyal customer and refused to ban him.

  Caleb held her close to him. She didn’t dare look.

  “Get lost, Jacob.”

  “Why should I? That little prissy bitch has been leading me on for years.”

  She tensed up.

  “Prissy and a slut. I think it’s time you got a dictionary and learned that you’re contradicting yourself. Now get lost before I take real offense to you abusing my girl.” Caleb growled each word.

  The music had softened.

  “Let’s just go,” she whispered. They shouldn’t have lingered at the bar. It was wrong. She’d spotted Jacob in the corner the moment she entered and made sure to not risk being on her own. It was when she was alone that he struck.

  In the first few months of working at the bar, she’d sucked at it. Over the years, she’d gotten better.

  “No, we’re not going, Lilly.” Caleb took her hand. “Apologize to her now.”

  Jacob scoffed. “You think I’m going to say sorry to that whore?” He spat at the floor right near her feet.

  She hated this. Jacob always made her feel small. She believed at one point her mother used to sleep with him, but she stopped after just a couple of times.

  “I shouldn’t be surprised she’d go with you, Caleb. You don’t have any standards. I bet your dick is as rotten as her pussy is filthy.”

  She let out a scream as Caleb let her go and attacked Jacob. It all happened so fast.

  “Caleb, stop it,” she said.

  He shoved Jacob hard, throwing him against the counter. Bar stools and tables were knocked over.

  No one interfered as Caleb and Jacob continued to fight.

  She couldn’t handle it, trying to get between them. Shoved away for her troubles, she hit the floor hard, knocking the wind right out of her.

  Lilly got to her feet in time to watch Jacob grab a beer bottle, smash it, and aim for Caleb.

  She couldn’t see him get hurt. Without thinking, she charged in front of him, and the bottle slashed against her waist. Cries escaped her as pain rushed through her.

  She fell to the floor, cupping her side.

  In the moment of actually wounding her, Jacob took a step back.

  The door to the bar opened. In walked the sheriff with Theodore, James, and Rome.

  “Baby, shit. Fuck, are you okay?” Caleb wrapped his arms around her.

  She looked up at him. “I think so.” She groaned.

  Theodore lowered himself to the ground beside her. She was shocked as Jacob held his hands up for the sheriff to arrest him.

  “Make sure she’s okay,” Jacob said.

  “I’ve got to have a quick look, Lilly,” Theodore said.

  Lowering her hand, she didn’t dare look.

  Caleb cupped her face and she smiled at him. “I’m so sorry.”

  “I hate blood,” she said.

  He pressed a kiss to her lips.

  “It doesn’t appear to be too deep. We need to get her to the hospital.”

  With Caleb and Theodore’s help, they escorted her outside and the sheriff was there waiting. “I’m going to need you to make a statement,” he said.

  Caleb continued to walk her to his truck as his father took care of everything. Rome climbed in alongside them as they took off, heading toward the hospital.

  “What the fuck were you thinking?” Rome asked.

  “Shut up. You didn’t hear the shit that prick was spewing. If he was saying stuff about your little teacher, you’d be just as pissed as me. Don’t fucking start.”

  Lilly frowned. “Teacher?”

  “It’s not important,” Rome said.

  “He’s got a crush on a teacher. Has for the past ten years, isn’t it now?”

  Lilly looked at Rome, seeing his cheeks redden. “Which one?”

  She and Rome were close in age. He was two years older than her. Twenty-five at his last birthday, which was a few weeks before her own.

  “Miss Evergreen,” Caleb said.

  Rome looked out of the window.

  “She’s really pretty,” she said. “And nice. I like her.”

  Miss Evergreen was one of the nicest people Lilly had ever known during her high school years. She hadn’t been qualified for long when she joined the high school. Quite a few of the guys had been smitten with her, but Miss Evergreen wouldn’t give them the time of day.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Rome said.

  “Why not?”

  “Let’s not talk about this, okay? You got sliced with a bottle.”

  “It doesn’t stop me from talking w
ith you.”

  “She was my teacher. Nothing else.”

  “Was being past tense,” Lilly said. “I don’t think she’s dating anyone. She never married.”

  “How do you know so much about her?” Caleb asked.

  “She was the nicest person in school. She saw how difficult it was for me to study at home and would often stay behind after classes so I had some company and help. She always believed with hard work came rewards.”

  Andy Evergreen was the sweetest woman around.

  Looking at Rome, she wondered if he deserved her.

  Lilly didn’t judge. “Have you ever thought of asking her on a date?”

  “She’ll only see me as a kid.”

  “You’re not a kid anymore, Rome. You won’t know unless you ask.”

  “We’re here,” Caleb said.

  She didn’t get an answer to her question. Caleb tossed the keys to Rome as he helped her out of the truck. Tucked against his side, Lilly never wanted to leave him.

  They were shown to a room where a nurse checked over her cuts. There were a few shards of glass in her cut, and they worked to remove them.

  She was given a few stitches, another appointment to come back to check them over, and some instructions to rest.

  On the way out, Caleb refused to take her home, insisting on taking care of her. He dropped her off at his home and then went to grab some of her clothes from Aunt Betty’s. Sitting in his home, pain filling her body, she settled on the sofa and was a little shocked and confused by the night’s events. It was crazy to think about what had gone down. Even crazier to know Edward hadn’t called to tell her she was fired. The bar had to have been a mess.

  Feeling a little sick, she closed her eyes. Then she couldn’t remember anything else that had happened.

  ****

  “Caleb, I’m not injured. You don’t have to help me everywhere,” Lilly said as he walked her toward her next class.

  The library had given her some paid sick leave, and Edward had also told her to take some time off, but he was also paying her.

  Caleb was a little surprised, but not by the library. Lilly had built a good solid reputation as a hard worker there. Edward did surprise him. After escorting her to class, he promised to be waiting to pick her up.

  Aunt Betty had already screamed and cursed him for being a royal pain in her ass and a bad seed. She couldn’t believe he’d gotten into a fight, and worse, he’d put Lilly’s life at risk as well.