Town of Chance 5:Sweet Caroline(37)

“How does that feel?” he asked her.

“Good,” she said softly and realized that she was losing focus and not remaining guarded. She stood up and turned toward him.

“Thanks, is there anything else you need?” she asked.

He pressed closer and placed his hands on her hips. “I wish you would let me in. Just let down that guard of yours and just feel what’s happening here.”

“Nothing is happening here,” she replied.

“Don’t lie to me, Shelby, it’s not becoming.”

“I don’t lie.”

“Prove it.”

“How?”

He stared at her lips. She felt her pussy clench and her nipples harden.

“Tell me you feel nothing.”

“I feel nothing,” she said.

“How about now?” He pressed his lips to hers and pulled her close. She was shocked by his move, his tactics but more shocked by the feel of being in his arms and feeling his tongue explore her mouth. She couldn’t resist kissing him back, giving in to the desire of being held by a man, a big, capable, sexy man like Kenneth.

The kiss grew hotter, deeper, wilder quickly. She was moaning into his mouth and rubbing her hands along his chest and then over his arms. He was so muscular beneath the dress shirt. She knew he worked out, just like his brothers did. The fact that she thought of them right now was unacceptable. Soon her mind went to the feel of Kenneth’s hands massaging up her skirt against her thighs. Then a hand was over her ass, squeezing, kneading her flesh.

In an instant she thought about the scars. The thin one against her mound and the two on her breasts. They were ugly, though slightly faded but still visible, always visible to her and what Skip did to her. Just as his fingers grazed her panties and mound, she pulled away.

“Stop. We need to stop,” she said and used the back of her hand to wipe her mouth. She had tears in her eyes.

“Shelby, wait.”

“No. Please, don’t do that to me ever again. Please. I can’t be with you or your brothers. Not ever. You don’t understand. I can’t. It can never happen.” She ran from his office, hearing him call after her but she ignored him, grabbing her bag.

“Shelby, you felt the attraction, too. You were kissing me back, baby. Why are you so resistant to this, to us?” he asked as she stood by the front door, unlocking it. She kept her face straight ahead.

“I’m not capable of giving you what you want. I can’t be intimate with you, with any man ever again… I’m sorry.” She opened the door and slammed it closed then hurried to her car. She wasn’t halfway down the street when the tears began to flow and she slammed her hand down on the steering wheel. “I hate you, Skip. I hate you. You’ve ruined my life forever. Forever.” She cried all the way home, feeling as if happiness and freedom was something she would never, ever have.



* * * *



Hunter went to meet Caroline by the gazebo in the park. He was a bit annoyed because Sheehan, one of the guys that worked in the hardware store, asked him if he and his brothers were staking a claim on Caroline. It seemed Sheehan and his four brothers were interested, and by his attitude seemed adamant about moving on when Hunter told Sheehan that he and his brothers were staking claim to Caroline. So when he headed down the path and saw two of Sheehan’s brothers, Tomas and Merk, talking to her, he flipped out. Tomas reached out to touch her hair, and Caroline lowered her head and stepped back. He felt his chest tighten and anger filled his gut.

“Hey, what’s going on?” he asked and both men seemed surprised to see him.

Merk gave him a nod. “Hey. Hunter.” He stood there looking confident and smug, but Tomas stepped back.

“My brother and I were just talking to Caroline and seeing how she liked living in Chance. We were telling her about the beach and trying to convince her to come along with us this weekend.”

“We have a boat, a pretty big one,” Merk added.

“She isn’t interested,” Hunter told them and stepped closer to Caroline.

Merk and Tomas stared at him. “She didn’t say no. I think she’s just shy,” Merk said and Tomas gave his brother a gentle tap to his arm as his cell phone went off.

“We need to get going,” he told him.

“We’ll see you around, Caroline. I’ll stop into the store and see you. I need a few things,” he said then winked and the two of them walked away.

Hunter was fuming. He had his fists by his side and felt completely jealous.

“Hunter,” she said his name, and when she touched his shoulder he turned around quickly, still feeling angry, but Caroline covered her face and ducked. It was worse than a sucker punch to his stomach.