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Chapter 1

Black Friday 2012 – Tyler, Texas

“If I have to watch you ogle ack ”

Caleb Edgington tore his stare froeous backside wrapped in a soft black skirt and turned to glare at his oldest son, Hunter He crossed his arle Kata? You forget, you two visited ot those few days for listening to you needs through the walls?”

Not at all repentant, Hunter just grinned

Rolling his eyes, Caleb stole another glance at the object of his lust as she and her daughter, Hunter’s wife, arland-wrapped corner of the restaurant, heading up the hall to the ladies’ room

Damn, Carlotta’s ass made him salivate

He sighed “You think you got the ?”

“Nope I’ at her ass for over two years, and you still haven’t ed more than…what, two dates?”

A flare of heat passed through Caleb’s syste this shit in his face The other part was a pure jolt of erotic sizzle Yeah, two dates in two years And the kiss that had ended that second one…

Caleb picked up his cell phone and bounced it lightly against the checkered tablecloth, gathering his words “She’s afraid of me ”

Instantly, Hunter’s teasing sht you two had worked that out ”

“As long as we’re just ‘friends ’” Caleb’s lip curled up in annoyance “Saying I wanted a hell of a lot more was a tactical error on my part that put us back at square one ”

“Having , Gordon, I can’t say I’m surprised that she’s reluctant ”

“I’ht so, Caleb wasn’t too old to exert so influence

“Oh, hell no Not even close ” Hunter scowled “What I an and I got that trait froht us how to respect a woman Gordon, that damn asswipe, treated her like she didn’t matter He told her what to do, when to do it, how to do it After her driver’s license lapsed, he refused to take her to have it renewed With her ankle injury—which he didn’t allow her to rehab—she couldn’t take herself He convinced her to quit her job He cut her off from her friends, her livelihood, and the outside world Re take her to the doctor when she had pneumonia Instead, he tried to convince her that she had seasonal allergies If I had to guess, I think she’s just worried about letting another take-charge man near her ”

“I ht be a bit overprotective, but I’m not that kind of asshole,” Caleb insisted

“You’re not, but sed him to own up to the accusation

Caleb just gritted his teeth

“Re like this? My as only afraid that she could lose her identity, because apparently I can be a little overbearing Who knew?” Hunter gave a

“The whole universe?” Caleb suggested with a grin

“Yeah, just remember, you and I are cut from the same cloth ”

No denying that Hunter was a dead ringer for hio

“But here’s the difference,” his son reminded hiht thing It’s real and in the not-too-distant past ”

Caleb balled his hand into a fist Hunter’s words explained why she’d run and stopped nearly all contact between the, after he’d pinned her against the door of her cozy little house and kissed her after their second date He’d tried so daently, but Carlotta didn’t just flip his switch—more like the whole circuit breaker of his central nervous systerabbed her screen door to restrain hi her to bed Caleb still remembered the horror on her face when she realized that he’d inadvertently ripped the little es She’d quickly slid in the house with a ht and sla he could think of to reassure her—fixing her door, flowers, phone calls

No response

Had he given up? Not really He’d plotted a tactical retreat…but every tiot around her, he was as subtle as an Assault Amphibious Vehicle Of course, twenty-four years in the U S Army didn’t exactly cultivate a talent for tact

“I know,” Caleb admitted “When she stayed with me just after her separation, she nearly jumped out of her skin every time I even came near her ”

“I think she’s filed you in the ‘overwhelory ”

Exactly But it didn’t do hiood to pretend to be so he understood, her ex had pulled that routine

“She’s not leavingup I’ve dated the alternative ” Caleb grimaced “The last one was forty, just divorced, and ready to skip dinner to tango between the sheets ”

“Don’t say another word, Dad That is a textbook case of TMI ” Hunter looked a little green

Caleb wasn’t a lot otten to the age where he appreciated a woman for qualities other than her sex drive Not that he didn’t want that, too Being over fifty hadn’t been a death sentence on his libido—at all But Carlotta was just…more

The waitress, wearing black slacks and a Santa hat, dropped off the check He picked it up, waving away Hunter’s hts of the beautiful woman assaulted him without mercy

Her tender heart drew him Over the past two years, he’d noticed that she went out of her way to please just about everyone She’d helped Kata decorate her first apart it into a cozy little nest for needs Coers at the hospital where she worked felt her compassion daily when she shared a s Hunter with an affection he hadn’t had since Caleb’s oife had walked out on hiht not admit that he liked it, but when Carlotta cooked his favorite ht She’d even opened her heart to his younger son, gently teasing or scolding Logan whenever he was hoan’s little wife, Tara, and his youngest daughter, Kirown up mostly without a mother

Carlotta spared hi Yeah, he made her nervous