The Very Thought of You Read online

  “Yeah. Well, if things go as planned I’ll be down there for my girl within the next two months.”

  “Are they going to make you fly blind or are you getting to have a say in where they’re going to resettle the two of you?”

  “We’re working on that. Everybody knows that my case won’t follow strict protocol and I’m pushing hard for it to be. I’ll take the change in identity, the new career and the relocation. But I refuse to sacrifice my daughter’s happiness.”

  Miranda stared out the kitchen window to look over the backyard. Instead of the patches of fallen leaves and naked trees, she pictured her mother’s garden in the middle of summer. With that happy thought in her mind, she optimistically declared, “It will all work out, you’ll see.”

  “Your lips to God’s ears. Tell Kelly I love her and I’ll talk to her soon.”

  “Promise.”

  “Take care.”

  The line went silent. Miranda pulled the slender phone from her pocket and made sure to erase all of her incoming calls just as an extra precaution. Deciding to go ahead and finish up her preparation for dinner that night, she had just opened the refrigerator when the doorbell to her parents’ house rang.

  Miranda’s brow wrinkled. She hadn’t expected anyone in the middle of the day. Still cautious from all the stories she’d heard from the field, she peered through the blinds and her confusion doubled at the sight of the luxury SUV in her driveway. Could it be one of her brother’s friends? Wouldn’t they know that he wasn’t scheduled to be discharged from the hospital until tomorrow?

  Miranda glanced into the peephole and her heart skipped a couple of beats before moving into overdrive. After running her fingers through her hair and pinching her cheeks, she opened the door. “Caleb. I wasn’t expecting you.”

  He grinned and held up a shopping bag. “I was just in the neighborhood and decided to stop by. Aren’t you going to invite me in?”

  Miranda eyed him suspiciously. “Of course.”

  Caleb closed the door and slowly strolled to the center of the entry hallway. “The place looks great.”

  “Thank you.”

  “The last time I was here your parents were teasing you about having to work until their sixties to pay for college tuition. I can’t believe they’re retired and teaching in Africa.”

  “Believe it or not, neither can I. Imagine my mother without all the accoutrements of civilization?” Miranda shook her head and chuckled. “It’s a little unbelievable.”

  “Are they doing okay?”

  “They’re great. According to my father, it’s been like a second wind for their marriage.”

  Miranda shook her head and remembered her manners. “Can I offer you something to drink?”

  “Anything with caffeine would be greatly appreciated.”

  “Long night?”

  “It never ended. We had a staff shortage so I pulled another double.”

  “Why aren’t you at home?”

  “Because I needed to talk with you. I don’t like the way we left things yesterday and I wanted to apologize in person.”

  Miranda could barely swallow past the lump in her throat. Of all the things she’d expected this morning, this had surely been the last; that simply hearing Caleb say he was sorry would show her how deeply, how easily he still affected her.

  She came to a stop in the kitchen and turned. “You don’t have to apologize.”

  “Well, let’s just say that I don’t apologize, but I would like to start over and I’ve a peace offering.” He held up the shopping bag. “I hope you haven’t had lunch. I brought food. We could practice the old-school way of making up by breaking bread together.”

  “There’s old school and old testament.” Miranda smiled, crossing her arms over her chest.

  Caleb grinned and began to take items out of the bag. “Hungry?”

  “Well, I did skip breakfast this morning.”

  “Most important meal of the day,” Caleb quipped.

  “Which I am sure you skipped as well.” Miranda aimed a sidelong glance toward the man at her side. She reached into the cabinet and pulled out plates and glasses.

  “Guilty as charged.”

  His grin bloomed wide. In that instance Miranda took in his deep dimple, killer smile and gorgeous brown eyes. Damn, Caleb was good-looking. Her mother had always warned her that looks could be deceptive and she’d discovered the veracity of that advice many a time. But none of that seemed to matter as her pulse rocketed upward. She lowered her eyes and bit the inside of her lip.

  There were some men who took their looks seriously and she would have never known until a few of her girlfriends complained that their boyfriends spent more time in the bathroom and shopping malls than they did. Caleb could have been one of those men.

  Even in college he always looked good. His shirts freshly pressed, suits perfectly tailored. As he stood in her parents’ kitchen in a wool turtleneck and jeans, with the shadow of stubble on his strong jaw, heat began to spiral to all parts of her body. Her eyes locked with his grinning brown ones and Miranda blushed at being caught staring. With a death grip on the plates, she swung around and headed for the table. She was in trouble.

  Big trouble.

  Much later after they’d eaten lunch and cleaned up the dishes, Miranda leaned against the countertop across from Caleb.

  “I know that I’m not your favorite person right now, but I need to ask a favor,” Caleb announced.

  Even after over two hours of friendly conversation and laughter, Miranda tensed at his statement. “Go ahead.”

  “Kiss me, Miranda. Just once. I need to know if I’m alone in feeling this chemistry or if you feel it, too.”

  “I don’t think that would be a good idea.”

  “Thinking. That’s what we’ve always done. We’re adults now and I need to know if it’s just the memories or if this is real.”

  “Why don’t we just assume it’s the memories and leave it alone?”

  Caleb’s brow rose and he crossed his arms over his chest. “Scared?”

  “Of what?”

  “Admitting that you want me just as much as I want you.”

  “Get over yourself.”

  Caleb chuckled. “I’m sorry, but I know you, Miranda. You may have grown beautiful, but I can tell when you’re afraid.”

  “I’m not afraid of you.”

  “Prove it.”

  “Fine.”

  Her heart skipped a couple of beats as she forced herself to look him in his eyes. She blushed and her tongue darted out over her suddenly dry lips. She couldn’t have said no even if she’d wanted to. She rose on tiptoes and lightly brushed his bottom lip with her own. His lips were firm and tender.

  Of their own accord her hands found purchase on his shoulders and her eyes closed and his arms wrapped around her, and her mouth opened underneath his, deepening their kiss. Liquid fire raced up and down her spine while her pulse quickened until it was thunder in her veins. Only Caleb had ever made her feel such passion, to make her forget everything but the touch of his hands on the small of her back, holding her body closer to his as she felt the heat of his kiss.

  He slanted his mouth across hers, his tongue slid deep into her mouth. Miranda moaned deep and low in her throat as the hot, wet sensation sent a jolt through her body.

  Caleb drew away, but Miranda still held on to his shoulders because he’d stolen her breath and knocked her off balance. Lord, it felt good. She reveled in his kiss, his mouth, his scent. He smelled and tasted like steamy fantasies and healthy man. Hot and firm, yet tender, his lips moved over hers with gentle gliding motions.

  He settled his lips on the corner of her mouth and teased her bottom lip with his teeth. “God, you’re sweet, Miranda. It’s been a lifetime since I’ve tasted you.”

  She opened her eyes. He was staring down at her, eyes hooded and dark with arousal. Miranda returned his stare and blinked a few times as she found herself in the one place she’d sworn she’d neve
r be again—Caleb’s arms. A trickle of fear cleared away the remaining haze from her sluggish mind.

  “It’s still there, baby,” he murmured against her mouth. “Sweet Jesus, I have missed you so much.”

  “It doesn’t change anything,” she said in a shaky voice. “It can’t change anything.”

  Before she could move away, Caleb lifted her captive hand to his mouth and slowly ran his lips over her skin, his eyes never leaving hers. She shivered.

  “Baby, this changes everything,” he said. His voice was low and commanding, sending more tremors through her. Dumbstruck, all she could do was watch as he left the house.

  Chapter 6

  Normally at eight o’clock on a Friday night, Caleb would have been sitting at a dinner table in an exclusive Atlanta restaurant dining with a beautiful companion. Today, however, as he sat back in his leather chair and stared out his office window, all he wanted was to be in bed.

  Correction, Miranda’s bed.

  With a sigh, he closed his eyes and pictured her slender arms, long legs and silky smooth skin. It was amazing that only a week had passed since she’d stepped into his life. In the beginning, when he’d made the decision to remain impervious to the attraction, he’d had every intention of remaining in control. It was seeing her day in and day out at the hospital, getting close but not too close. Touching her on the back, her cheek, smelling her perfume, the hungry glances and the subsequent denials. He’d thought that he was attracted to her when they’d been in a relationship years ago, but this was another story. He couldn’t get her out of his head.

  Only in his deepest concentration, while examining his patients, did he find a measure of peace. Yet once he stepped out of a hospital room or away from a hospital bed, Miranda was there. With his eyes closed, Caleb raised his hand and rubbed his neck. If he were a psychologist, he would come damn close to diagnosing his current state of mind as obsessive.

  He lowered his gaze and stared blankly at a stack of patient files. He was falling hard. Again. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, it hadn’t taken much time. A part of him had never gotten over Miranda. If he was completely honest with himself, she was probably the reason that he hadn’t been able to commit to any of the women who’d briefly shared his life and his bed.

  Caleb jumped at the chirp of his cell phone. Reaching over, his brow wrinkled when he glanced at the caller identification. It indicated the call was from Marius. Pressing the send key, he brought the phone to his ear. “I thought you were in Brussels this week.”

  Not only was Marius his older brother, but he was also the CEO of Blackfox Industries. Growing up, Marius had taken to the role of eldest sibling like a duck to water. If anything went wrong, and none of them wanted their parents to know about it, they went to Marius. As much as Caleb had resented the attention Marius had received from both his father and grandfather, he was entirely grateful it wasn’t him. Started over a half century ago, Blackfox Industries, a family-owned trucking company, had been run by his grandfather.

  And as the history went, for the past two generations, it had been the second son who’d run the company. His older brother was the first firstborn Blackfox son to run the company; and if business kept up they were headed toward the best year on record. Being the second child in his family, Caleb had been lucky to escape that fate. The funny thing was that Marius always said that he didn’t know how Caleb could function as a doctor, knowing that he held someone’s life in his hands. Well he could say the same thing back to his older brother. Hundreds of people depended upon his brother’s ability to manage their corporation. Not to mention that Blackfox Industries was also a privately held company that still continued to run as if it were a family-owned business. For Marius, work equated with family, and no matter the personal sacrifice he would place it first.

  Marius’s normally deep voice came through the airwaves raspy. “I’m not feeling so hot. I almost passed out before getting on the plane and threw up in the bed.”

  Caleb sat forward. “Did you call a doctor?”

  “Did I call a doctor?” Marius repeated. “Yeah, I’m on the phone with the wiseass right now.”

  “Hey, hey.” Caleb laughed. “I’m your brother first and doctor second. What are your symptoms?”

  “Chills, sore throat, headache, chest aches, sore muscles, stuffy nose and I have cayenne peppers for eyeballs.”

  Caleb frowned as his mind ran through the list of his symptoms in an attempt to narrow down the possible diagnosis.

  “Are you running a fever?”

  “How the hell should I know?”

  “Pull out a thermometer.”

  “Why don’t you pick one up at the hospital?”

  “I’d be more than happy to grab you a couple of extra. I can get a three-for-one on the rectal kind.”

  “Bro, did a patient throw up on you or something?”

  “It’s not work.”

  “If it’s not work, then what is it? Because I know it can’t be a woman.”

  For a moment Caleb remained silent. Marius was right. He was in a rotten mood because of a female. No, two females. Within the next twenty-four hours, he would find out whether or not he was a father and if the woman that he loved was lying to him.

  “I’ve just got some things on my mind.”

  “It is a woman.” Marius’s announcement ended with a spurt of coughing. “What’s her name?”

  Caleb’s stomach growled, reminding him that he was coasting on the fumes of a sausage, biscuit and coffee breakfast. “I’ll be over in a half hour. Got food at your place? And I’m not talking about beer, milk and cereal.”

  “Yeah, Marie dropped off some meals yesterday.”

  This time his stomach let out a howl that would have put any one of his littler brother’s canine patients to shame. Marie was their parents’ live-in cook and housekeeper. Caleb had tried every trick in the book, and then some that he’d made up, to get her to cook for him. Just the thought of her pot roast made him weak in the knees. It was a longstanding family mystery as to how Marius had convinced her to cook extra portions and deliver them to his older brother’s freezer.

  Cradling the phone between his ear and his shoulder, Caleb stood up and began to unbutton his white doctor’s coat. “Throw a couple of them in the oven. I’ll be over in fifteen minutes.”

  It took Caleb longer to make his way through the hospital and out the front doors than it took for him to drive to Marius’s place. As he confidently maneuvered the Lexus around the tight curves of the country roads, he eased back into the leather seat and smiled. The purr of the car’s engine and quick responsiveness justified all the grief his Ford-car-dealership uncle gave him at the family gatherings. If he’d wanted a truck, he would have gone to his uncle. But he’d needed a luxury car that was dependable as well as precise.

  He turned the last corner and passed through the ornate stone entranceway into the executive neighborhood. Like clockwork, he couldn’t help but roll his eyes. Caleb and Marius had overseen the construction of the mansion, and he could still remember the reactions of the neighborhood: half in awe and the other in depression. His oldest brother had more than broken the color barrier—he’d shattered every stereotype.

  After pulling into the driveway, he parked on the pavement outside the three-car garage. A minute later, with his medical bag in hand, Caleb strolled through the two-story foyer and headed toward the back of the house. Just as he expected, Marius was ensconced in his office, staring at the large flat-panel computer screen.

  Standing in the entranceway, he watched as Marius rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Don’t you ever take a break?”

  “Don’t you ever knock?”

  “Why knock when you’ve got a key?”

  “I can remedy that situation.”

  “Whatever.” Caleb grinned. As much as he hated to see his brother sick, he enjoyed the hell out of being the one to come to the rescue instead of being rescued.

  “Say ahh,” Caleb order
ed as he shined a penlight into Marius’s mouth.

  “Do I have the flu?”

  Caleb shook his head after flicking off the light. The lack of a fever was all he needed to know before diagnosing the condition. “No, looks like you have a severe sinus infection.”

  “All right. Give me antibiotics and the telephone. I can re-book my flight and at least attend two days of the conference.”

  “If you get on a plane in your condition, you could blow your eardrums to shreds. You’re damn lucky you didn’t get on the flight this morning. We’ve seen some cases at the hospital where sinus membranes have torn from the air pressure.”

  Marius grimaced before reaching up to rub the bridge of his nose. “How long am I grounded?”

  “You’ll be out of action as long as your sinus passages look like moldy Swiss cheese.”

  “Appreciate the visual, bro.”

  “Anytime.”

  Caleb reached into his medical bag and pulled out two prescription bottles. “Here’s the antibiotic to clear up the infection, and this will help drain your sinus passages. Be careful not to take these close to bedtime or you’ll be memorizing the ceiling at three in the morning.”

  “I thought you were here to cure me, not give me insomnia.”

  “Cause and effect. The sleeplessness is a side effect of the antihistamine.” His stomach growled, reminding him that he hadn’t eaten in a while. “Dinner ready, yet?”

  Marius stood up and they walked toward the rear of the house. “Yeah, I left your plate in the oven. I already ate.”

  Caleb must have had a betrayed look on his face as Marius shrugged. “You took too long.”

  “Thanks for waiting,” he responded sarcastically.

  They made their way down the hallway and passed through the spacious living room before entering the gourmet kitchen. As the CEO of a large company, Marius’s surroundings fit his stature in life. The sprawling modern-style estate housed numerous rooms, a home theater, basketball court, swimming pool and other rewards of success. Caleb knew the layout of the house almost better than he knew his own. They both had used the same architect to design their homes and Caleb had lived there while his own house was being built.