Independence by Shelly Crane Page A

"But thank you. I'm sorry you couldn't make your call."
    " There are things more important." He k issed my temple. "Besides, I'd have to call the manager because the center is closed. It's kinda late anyway. I'll call her tomorrow. It'll be fine."
    I saw the woman in his mind. She was an older, very pretty, but slightly heavyset black woman about Gran's age who ran Caleb's main office when he was away. I winced. He'd been away since he met me. I was wreaking havoc on his life, wasn't I?
    I looked up to see his scowl as he listened to my inner monologue. I smiled and touched his cheek. "There's no one else I'd rather be wreaking havoc on."
    He laughed in a rumble and growled, "You're daggum right." Then he sobered as he looked down at me. He rubbed my nose with his and stayed close. "Better?"
    "As better as I can be."
    He nodded. I leaned forward, pulling him to me with my hand on his face, and kissed him, solid and good. We stayed like that until the water turned cold.
     

 

Chapter 8
    Caleb

     
    I woke to the tune of Maggie's heartbeat going nuts.
    I jerked up and pulled the covers back a bit to inspect her. I turned her to face me and finally saw what she was dreaming about. I sighed.
    She was dreaming abou t walking down the aisle and seeing my bare feet . And she had a gorgeous grin on her face.
    It didn't matter that there wasn't going to be an aisle to walk down, I grinned back at my sleeping girl and scooted out gently so as not to wake her. The sun was barely peeking through the curtains, but I wanted to get up and get ready. I h ad big plans for us , and Maggie, though she didn't know it yet, had a big night with Gran and Mom.
    Wedding stuff.
    I was worried that Maggie would feel overwhelmed and not ready for it all, but from the look on her face just now, I guess that worry was unfounded. So I went to shave. I wanted to last night, but after we lazed in the tub forever, I just wanted to go to bed, hold my girl, and forget everything else.
    Of course Kyle and Lynne in the next room were having none of that. Maggie slept peacefully in my arms, but I was worried about her and couldn't fall asleep. Therefore, I was forced to listen to those two and their freaky-deakyness for what seemed like forever. Lynne was a giggler, I'll tell you that. And Kyle, well…
    Just g ross.
    "I see you had an interesting night."
    I turned to look at her as I pulled my shirt over my head. She was all sprawled on the bed like she belonged there. God, did she ever belong there. She smiled. "You're dressed already?"
    "Yep. Get up, gorgeous. I've got plans for us."
    "Oh, yeah?"
    "Mmhmm." I swooped in, hovering over her on my arms, and kissed her easily. She combed out my hair with her fingers.
    "You need a haircut ."
    "I thought you liked the shag?"
    "I love it, but it's going a little overboard, surfer boy." Her mouth grinned. "Besides, don’t you want to look amazing for our wedding photos?" I stilled and waited. She just continued to smile up at me like she had no secrets at all. Finally she laughed. "I know you're planning to hand me over to your mom and Gran tonight. You did manage to fall asleep for a few minutes last night and I felt like being nosy."
    I felt my smirk. "You little sneak."
    "Mmhmm," she agreed and ran her hand through my hair again. "I'll get dressed."
    "Did you see everything?" I asked her softly. "Did you see where we're going?"
    Her brow scrunched in confusion. "No. Where else are we going?"
    "Get dressed. I'm glad we washed your clothes last night before bed. We should, uh," I started and waited a breath, "bring some of your stuff here."
    She tried not to think about the house I was supposed to buy for her, but she couldn't help herself. I saw the struggle in her and glanced her way to see her with her knees drawn up as she chewed on her thumb nail. There was a little smile sitting on her lips. Her hair was tussled and it hadn't escaped my notice that she hadn't even tried to fix it at all when she woke. She was