Page 3 of Law Of Love

He was tall—extremely tall—probably around six foot four or five, and his broad shoulders almost reached both sides of the wooden doorframe. He gripped his bags in his spare hand—it looked like he was returning from a trip of some sort.

“Kaleb, I wasn't expecting you for another two weeks! You didn't tell me you were coming back so soon!” exclaimed Jackie, causing him to shrug and step into the house. His combat boots hit the flooring with loud thuds.

“We took Christmas break early.” The overhead light fixated on the wall beamed down onto his veiny and tattooed arms, the spiralling ink detailed and intricately drawn, catching my attention.

“You look exhausted.” Jackie frowned, closing the door quickly to keep the unwanted bitter evening air from entering.

“I've been driving for seven hours,” the non-pizza delivery guy, Kaleb, said, his eyes still on me questionably. He dropped his bags, his eyebrows knitting together as he took in my large suitcase by the front door. It caused his jaw to flex—so sharp it could cut ice.

“Well, you must be hungry. I've got pizza arriving soon.” Jackie gestured for him to sit at the table, his tall form doing so slowly. But even sitting down, Kaleb was almost as tall as me—or at least the intimidation oozing from him made it feel like he was.

“I'm sorry, you are? Staring is impolite.” His attention was on me, his tone blunt as he watched me with a cocked brow, seemingly agitated by my presence.

Surely I hadn’t done anything to offend him in the past thirty seconds?

“This is Sarah and her daughter, Freya. Sarah is a good friend of mine, and they ran into some trouble, so they're going to stay with us for a little while.” Jackie smiled before turning to us. “This is my son, Kaleb.”

“Trouble?” he repeated, narrowing his eyes and daring me to elaborate.

I shrugged, shifting my weight from foot to foot as he looked me over. I didn’t appreciate his passive aggressiveness. “We're sorting it.”

He leaned back in his chair, folding his arms across his chest as he hummed, giving me one last judgmental look before turning away. “Well, that sounds promising.”

The sarcastic bastard.

“Kaleb, I haven't seen you since you were about eighteen.” My mother laughed, trying to change the subject.

I knew Jackie had children, but I’d never met them personally. I was rather glad I hadn't, though—given Kaleb's intimidating and moody aura.

Despite that, I couldn't help but allow my eyes to study his well-structured face. He had naturally carved brows, high cheekbones, and plump lips. His skin was tanned and smooth, and his thick muscles bulged out of his black T-shirt.

I wasn't aware of the scowl that had formed on my face from his bitter comment and my lack of self-control when it came to ogling him until Kaleb cleared his throat.

“Something the matter?” he questioned huskily as he ran his tongue along the front of his teeth, his jaw taut and expression unimpressed.

I cleared my throat, feeling it tighten slightly. People didn’t easily frustrate me, but for some reason, my patience felt like it was collapsing under Kaleb’s blazing gaze. “I don't see see why you're–”

“So, what are you doing now, Kaleb?” my mother interrupted me, shooting me a pointed glare as Jackie made her way to the door at the sound of the doorbell, an excited intake of breath sounding from her lips at the prospect of steaming hot pizza.

“I’m a bodyguard. We work for a private company hired by the government,” Kaleb stated, grabbing a bottle of whiskey from the mantelpiece, pouring himself a hefty glass, and taking a large sip. He clicked his tongue as he looked between my mother and me with indifference.

What had crawled up his asshole?

“Oh, law enforcement. Wow, that must be a lot of hard work.”

Kaleb nodded once at my mom’s comment, his suspicious eyes on me. They trailed down to my messy dark hair that lay over my shoulder—my collarbone slightly on show—and my body suddenly felt hot. Yanking my baggy sweatshirt back up, I dropped my gaze, not enjoying how attractive I found this man despite his ignorant attitude.

I twiddled my thumbs under the table as we all sat down, digging into the pizza. Jackie and my mother had already taken their seats, leaving the only spare chair beside Kaleb, causing my nostrils to flare. The irritation was pouring from him—so strong it was constricting.

I probably looked like an absolute mess, and I cursed at myself for choosing to dress in my old tattered sweatpants and sweatshirt—sporting the mentally exhausted look. Kaleb, however, looked put together in his clean and crease-free dark attire despite the fact that he’d been driving in a stuffy car for hours.

“I'm sorry that we're intruding, Kaleb,” my mom said in between bites, flashing him a small smile. “We’ll be out of your hair soon.”

“Here's hoping.” He held up his glass and jostled it, the corner of his lip curling upwards slightly before he took a sip. The comment was easy to pass off as a joke, but I knew it had an underlying dose of truth to it. It caused me to furrow my brows at him, unhappy with his standoffish behaviour.

I hadn't known Kaleb very long, but I didn't like him already. He was rude and obnoxious, so why the hell was he making my stomach flip? I needed to pull myself together. He was an attractive man—so what?

“Sarah, Freya, I forgot to say, spare blankets are in the cupboard at the top of the stairs if you need them before bed. I know it's supposed to be cold tonight,” Jackie mentioned.

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