“Darcy?” he called. He heard a roaring sound and realized she was drying her hair and hadn’t heard him. Following the sound, he opened the bedroom door to his left—and almost fell flat on his face as his knees threatened to buckle.

Darcy sat on the end of her bed, a white towel wrapped around her. Well, almost wrapped around her. There was a slit at her side that revealed the rounded line of her thigh. His eyes almost popped out of his head when his gaze traveled upwards. The slit narrowed, but it gave him a tantalizing view of the soft side of her stomach—and breast. He stood there gripping the doorknob, lost in the moment. Some sound must have betrayed him, or she, like all prey being stalked, sensed the danger. Her head swung to the door, and she gasped. “Caleb! What are you doing in here?”

On instinct, she tried to clutch her towel with her free hand. All that did was pull the terry cloth tighter around her chest, widening the slit. She slung the hair dryer onto the bed and stood, facing him. His gaze raked over her. Her long hair, darkened by dampness, fell in a cloud around her shoulders. He’d never realized how long it was before today. She usually wore it tucked under her hat or piled up on top of her head. It was sexy as hell. But then, so was she. The white towel showed off the pale skin of her shoulders. He’d never seen her go outside in anything sleeveless and knew she always wore sunscreen.

She had such beautiful skin. Skin he wanted to taste with his mouth and tongue.

His eyes lingered over the rise and fall of her breasts. His hungry gaze took in the expanse of her legs. She wasn’t very tall, just about average in size. But there was nothing average about the curves she was packing. Damn, but they made his mouth water.

It had been a hell of a long time since he’d had a woman in his bed. And he’d never had one that looked as ripe and lush as the one standing before him. He knew some men preferred a woman with a slender frame, but not him. He’d always been drawn to a woman who had a little meat on her bones. He wanted a woman able to work beside him during the day and let him love her at night.

He released the lungful of air that had frozen in his chest. “Phillip’s here.”

Darcy continued to stare at him, her green eyes wide and bewildered. Her breathing was ragged, the heaving of her chest testing the knot of her towel.

Caleb took a step into the room and closed the door softly behind him, stalking forward.

“What…what are you doing?” Her voice was soft, low in the startling silence of the bedroom.

“Something I should have done a long time ago.” He cupped her face and bent down, holding her gaze as he did. He swallowed the low gasp she gave as his lips touched hers. He pressed down on them gently, needing to absorb her every reaction. He eased back, letting their lips pull apart slowly. Their eyes locked. He pressed his mouth to hers again. This time she kissed him back. A slight pressure as if she were unsure of what she was doing. Well, hell, so was he.

The sweet taste of her lips convinced him he was doing the right thing.

He moved his hands, cupping the back of her neck, his fingers tangling in the thick strands of her hair as he held her head still for his next kiss. He no longer hesitated. He wanted—needed—to taste her sweet flavor. His mouth crushed hers and she responded in kind. Soon it wasn’t enough. Suddenly, he didn’t know if it would ever be enough.

“Open for me.” His voice was a deep, husky sound of need. “Open for me, baby.”

Her instant compliance to his command elicited an agonized groaned.

But like all things that had happened in his life, just as he was going to have his first sweet taste of heaven, it was taken away from him. She pulled away, pushing at his chest. “No, no, Caleb. You can’t do this. Not now. It’s not fair.”

The next thing he knew she was standing a foot away from him, his arms empty. His body craving hers. “Darcy—” He reached for her again.

She sidestepped his outstretched hand, her fingers still clutching that damn towel. “No, no. You don’t get to do this Caleb. Not now.” She shook her head, refusing to meet his gaze. “You had your chance. You could have—”

“My chance? What the hell are you talking about Darcy? We’ve never…” he motioned with his hand. “We’ve never been together.”

“And whose fault is that?” She threw back her head, tossing her hair over her shoulder.

Caleb ran his fingers through his hair. “It’s nobody’s fault. We just never… Well, we just never.” Suddenly, Kyle’s words from this morning were coming back to haunt him.

“And you think now is the time to do something about it? You’re a day late—”

“And a dollar short,” Caleb finished the old adage. “Story of my damn life.”

“Is that what you think this is about? Of all the arrogant…”

“Now wait just a minute…”

“No, you wait, Caleb. You can’t just go around kissing engaged women.” She took a deep breath. “I made a commitment.”

“Damn it, Darcy, that’s no reason for you marry some guy you don’t love.”

“Who says I don’t love him?”

Caleb stared at the woman who had, if he was willing to admit it, stolen a little piece of his heart the first time he laid eyes on her. Was it really too late? These feelings he was having were way too new, too raw for him to express. His eyes narrowed, and he closed the distance between them. She stood her ground, refusing to back away. It was just one more damn thing he admired about her.

When he was just inches away, he stopped, bending his knees until they were eye to eye. “I say you don’t love him, Darcy Langley. And I’m going to prove it.” He couldn’t resist leaning forward and placing a long, hard kiss on her parted lips.

He also couldn’t resist the smile on his face as he ran down the stairs calling out a goodbye to John as he left the house.