Long Time Gone (Rough Riders #16.5)(35)
Author: Lorelei James

As she applied another coat of mascara, she wondered if Cal would recognize her. With the longer hair and more angular lines to her face and neck. Hard physical work had melted the baby fat off her.

Two women burst into the bathroom, laughing and drunkenly holding on to one another.

Kimi washed her hands and would’ve tuned out their high-pitched chattering, but one word stopped her cold.

Cal.

“Who’s Cal here with?” the blonde asked with confusion as she puckered her lips in the mirror.

“Oh. I don’t know. Seems like he’s with a different one every weekend.”

She didn’t consider that it might be some other guy named Cal. She knew it was him.

If that jerk was rotating girls every weekend after he’d sent her the edict a month ago…she’d gut him just like she threatened to do to his brother.

After exiting the bathroom, she started her search for him down the farthest side of the bar. Her pulse pounded in her neck and her ears, giving her a slightly buzzed effect that sharpened her senses. Or maybe she was delirious from hunger.

A guy grabbed her elbow and said “Hey, sugar, you lookin’ for someone? ’Cause I can be anyone you want.”

His drunken friends laughed.

Kimi smiled at him. “Yes, actually. I’m lookin’ for Calvin McKay.”

Another guy butted in. “Afraid you’re too late, little bit. He’s already made his choice tonight.”

“Sure wish I could cherry pick ’em like he does,” another man grumbled. “Seems all he’s gotta do is say his name and the ladies spread their legs.”

The first guy elbowed him. “Don’t be crude.”

“I appreciate your help, but is Cal still in here?”

“Yep. In the middle booth.” The guy looked at her suspiciously. “You ain’t from around here. What’d you want with him?”

“I’ve gotta give him something.”

“What?”

“A knuckle sandwich,” she said sweetly.

Kimi threw her shoulders back and weaved around the bar. After she stepped around a group of women, she had a clear shot of him.

Her heart leapt, her stomach flipped and her breath caught. The man was such a stunner. That midnight black hair. Those captivating blue eyes. The slight curve to his lips. That square jawline. That damn dimple in his chin. He wore a black cowboy hat and a white shirt that set him miles above the rest of the guys in this place. When he lifted his beer bottle and drank, she shamelessly watched the muscles in his throat move as he swallowed. She remembered the feel of those muscles beneath her lips. The taste of his skin in that spot. His fingers tapped his beer bottle with agitation—a nervous tic she hadn’t seen before. Her thoughts rolled back to how those thick, rough-skinned fingers felt trailing over her body. Then Cal smiled at something the person across from him said, and Kimi went hot all over.

Mostly under the collar.

Tempting to buy a drink so she could toss it in his face. But she’d handle this the mature way.

Kimi knew the instant Cal noticed her. He squinted as if he might be seeing things. Then he froze. She slowed down her walk, enjoying every moment of his confusion.

The anger that flared in his eyes surprised her. He lowered his beer to the table.

She managed to keep the quiver out of her voice when she said, “You didn’t really mean come home now, did you?”

Without taking his eyes off of Kimi, he said, “Move,” to the woman sitting beside him.

“Are you always this rude?” she complained.

“Get out of the booth, right fuckin’ now,” he snarled at her.

Kimi couldn’t move even if she’d wanted to.

But the woman realized Cal wasn’t kidding and scrambled away from him.

Cal slid across the bench seat as quickly and efficiently as a predator stalking prey. He loomed over her, his gaze locked to hers. He lifted his hand to her face. The instant his fingers touched her skin he growled. “About goddamned time, woman.” Then he captured her mouth in a kiss that started out sweetly exploring, but became desperate.

Everything faded but the heat of Cal’s body, the hunger in his touch and in his kiss. Kimi clung to him, feeding his desire with her own.

Finally when someone yelled, “Take it outside, McKay,” they broke the kiss. But they didn’t move very far apart.

Cal clutched her hand tightly. “Come home with me.”

“What about your date?”

He frowned. “What date?”

“The woman sitting next to you.”

“She’s a friend of my brother Charlie. She just plopped herself down and I don’t even remember her name.”