Free Kaleb by Nicole Edwards Page B

one
time. What would it even be like?
    Oh
God .
Clearly her mind was wandering way too far from reality because that was
something she could never imagine doing, although the idea of it, from time to
time, made for some remarkably vivid fantasies.
    Shaking
off the thought, she turned to look up at Kaleb as the song ended and he
stopped moving. When their eyes met, she felt the heat from the flame she saw
burning there. It was almost as though he could read her thoughts.
    “What
were you thinking about?” He asked, dispelling her assumption and making her
breathe a sigh of relief. Zoey wasn’t the type of woman to engage in wild
sexcapades, and thinking about something as hot as a threesome like that was
only a fantasy. Nothing more.
    “You.” She said truthfully. At least a partial truth anyway.
    “You’re
making this harder and harder on me, Zoey.” Kaleb said, sounding almost
remorseful.
    Taking
a step back, she looked deep into his eyes, trying to understand what he was
telling her. Gone was the flirty, sexy grin and in its place, pure agony.
    “Why?
What’s wrong?”
    Kaleb
took her hand and led her to one of the empty tables that lined the provisional
wooden dance area. When he sat down on the bench, he pulled her down beside
him, leaving barely enough room between them for air.
    “You’re
making it entirely too difficult to keep my hands off of you.”
    He
sounded as if that was a bad thing.
    “I’ve
waited so long for you, dreamed about you...” When he slid his finger down her
cheek, she instinctively leaned into the touch, never breaking eye contact.
    “And
why have you never told me this?” Zoey asked, thinking about how close of a
friendship they had developed over the years. They were inseparable most of the
time, but never once had they talked about anything that could possibly occur
between them, including sex. Especially sex.
    “What
was I going to tell you?” Kaleb asked, sounding dumbfounded. “I would’ve never
thought to share some of the things I dreamt about doing to you. I know you,
Zoey. You would’ve run for the hills.”
    True.
Zoey wasn’t one to have engaged in any sort of intimate relationship over the
last few years. Not since Jason. Her heart had been broken, and she had no
intentions of letting it get broken again. Not by any man. But this... this was
different. Kaleb was her best friend, and if they were smart about it, there
was no reason they couldn’t incorporate a little sex into it. Neither of them
were having it, and she knew that for a fact, so they wouldn’t be hurting
anyone else either.
    “Ok,
maybe you’re right.” She admitted. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t do the whole
friends with benefits thing, right?”
    “Friends with benefits?” Kaleb smiled, but Zoey realized immediately that it didn’t quite reach his
eyes. Did he not want to do this?
    “Yes.
You know, we get naked every now and again?”
    “Hmmm. I like the idea of seeing you naked.”
    That
was the Kaleb she knew. The man who flirted the panties right
off of women everywhere.
    When
he leaned closer, Zoey smiled and then kissed him. For some reason, it felt
natural to kiss Kaleb. Maybe that’s because she’d dreamt about it for so long.
    “This
night has been a long time coming.” Zoey whispered against his lips.
    At least for her that was true.
    When
he pulled back, locking those smoky eyes with hers, one of those lingering
embers deep in her core burst into flame. She suddenly wished they were alone,
someplace where they could explore the firestorm that was brewing out of
control between them.
    He
didn’t say anything, but Zoey knew he was beginning to reconsider. The
gentleman in him couldn’t allow him to throw caution to the wind, likely from
fear of hurting her. Zoey wasn’t fragile, neither in heart or spirit, and she
wanted to assure him that she could deal with the aftermath. She wasn’t looking
for strings, or attachments, or promises.
    “I
want to be with you