have a point and vowed to change her focus. The move to Texas signified a shift toward satisfying her emotional needs.
Right now she needed Caleb. Oh dear.
She could tell him goodbye, go back to her motel room and finish this milestone birthday alone, or she could reach beyond her comfort zone and test her resolve to find herself.
Be spontaneous. She suppressed a shudder. Spontaneity went against every fiber of her being.
She needed her Day Planner and a pen. It was vital to consider all the angles before making a decision as important as this one. But she’d left her planner in her car, and if she took the time to get it and map a strategy this opportunity would pass.
Personal growth is only achieved by stepping beyond one’s boundaries. Never let a day go by without taking a step toward your goal. Book one, chapter two.
“M-my motel is just down the road.”
He blinked those lush lashes, one slow sweep of black against his tanned skin, but not before she saw desire ignite in his eyes. Caleb leaned forward and she caught her breath, but instead of kissing her like she thought he would—like she’d hoped he would—he pulled out his wallet and tossed enough money on the table to cover the bill.
“I’m supposed to pay for dinner,” she protested.
“You can buy the condoms. Lady’s choice. Let’s go.”
When he put it like that she wondered if she might have been precipitous in making her decision.
“I—I—” Her bottom might as well be glued to the chair, and even though she made her living as a public speaker, she couldn’t seem to think of a single thing to say.
He paused, his face carefully neutral. “Or I can walk you to your car and point you in the direction of your motel.”
You run out of chances when you stop taking them. Her own words haunted her. She took a deep breath, wet her lips and tried to summon her courage.
Caleb lifted his hat from the extra chair and set it on his head. His expression tightened. “How about I thank you for your company and say good night right here?”
“No, I—” Her mouth was as dry as the Mojave Desert. She swallowed, but it didn’t help. “Caleb, wait.”
She’d never been tempted to sleep with a total stranger. Of course, she’d never been impregnated by a man she’d never seen before, either, but she would be tomorrow.
Be spontaneous.
Every muscle in her body clenched as she prepared to take the leap. She might as well have been jumping out of an airplane for all the trepidation she felt. “You’ll have to tell me where we can buy the…condoms. I’m not familiar with the stores here.”
Fire, hot enough to incinerate her where she sat, flashed in Caleb’s eyes. “There’s a pharmacy on the corner.”
Her parents would say she was suffering from a psychosis. Such impulsive behaviors were certainly a deviation from her norm. But her parents would be wrong. Before she reached her room she’d regain control of her emotions and the situation. But first, she had to get her shaky legs to support her. She wobbled to her feet. “Lead the way.”
He pressed his palm against her spine and escorted her out of the restaurant and across the street to the pharmacy. The heat of his touch transferred through her silk jacket, warming her skin and weakening her knees with the promise of more intimate contact to come.
The pharmacy was a small mom and pop operation. She spotted her latest book on a rack near the back, but didn’t venture over to sign it because Caleb followed one pace behind. She probably wouldn’t have been able to hold the pen anyway.
Brooke snatched the first box of condoms from the shelf and shoved them across the counter to the cashier, hoping she didn’t look as mortified as she felt. Then she looked at her purchase. Oh dear heavens, she’d picked up the jumbo-size box of extra larges.
Caleb said nothing during the purchase, but he arched a dark brow and rocked back on his boot heels when she found the nerve to meet his amused gaze outside the store. “Ambitious, aren’t you?”
Brooke wanted to crawl through the cracks in the sidewalk. She’d never bought condoms before, and frankly, it was embarrassing, but she refused to give up ground by admitting she might have been…overzealous in her purchase.
Cross those self-imposed boundaries and seize the momentum.
She stiffened her spine and stared right back. “Afraid you won’t live up to my expectations, Caleb?”
A slow and devastatingly sexy smile eased its way across his face. “Sweetheart, I’ll do my best or die trying.”
Every cell in her body quivered like Jell-O. Oh. My. God. She was actually going to do this. “My motel is—” Her throat knotted and she couldn’t finish it.
Caleb had no such problem. “Around the corner.” He winked. “Only one in town. The question is whether or not you want my truck parked outside your room.”
The gesture was unbelievably considerate considering she’d picked the man up in a bar and didn’t intend to see him again once she checked out of the motel.
He tucked her hair behind her ear and tilted up her chin. The gentle scrape of his fingertip along her jawline was unbearably intimate. “Why don’t you tell me your room number? I’ll park across the street at the waffle shop and meet you there.”
She’d reached the point of no return, but the turbulence in her stomach didn’t call for an antacid. The only cure was a dark-haired, dark-eyed cowboy. “Room 118. It’s in the back.”
He walked her to her car, opened the door and bent in the opening after she sat down. His arm brushed her breasts as he fastened her seat belt. It was a slow, deliberate move that nearly caused her to have a meltdown right there on the leather upholstery.
“If you change your mind, don’t answer the door. No hard feelings.” He closed her door and walked off before she could think of a reply.
Whether he wanted to admit it or not, Caleb had a mile-wide gallant streak.
If she had to take a walk outside her comfort zone, at least she was doing so with someone she believed she could trust.
The question was could she trust herself?
Three
Caleb didn’t expect Brooke to answer the door when he knocked. He figured she’d come to her senses once she was out of range of the attraction flaring between them and decide not to waste herself on a lowly cowboy. And he wouldn’t let himself be disappointed.
He rapped once and she eased the door open. She’d kicked off her shoes. Her painted toenails dug into the carpet, and her teeth dug into her lip. “Come in.”
Judging by the way his body saluted her husky voice and bare feet the show would be over quicker than he could hog-tie a steer. He needed to slow things down. So even though he wanted to toss her on that motel mattress, bury himself inside her and
