Page 12 of Caleb

He was to be avoided at all costs because the man was still dangerous. Very dangerous to her heart and her well-being.

CHAPTER5

Caleb let the hotel room door click shut behind him, the muffled noise doing little to cut through the hum in his head. He tossed his room key onto the desk and ran a hand down his face, exhaling sharply.

Taylor Montgomery.

The way she’d looked tonight—it wasn’t fair. That confident tilt of her chin, the quick wit she wielded like a blade, even the way her smile danced on the edge of reluctance. She had laughed with him. For the first time in years, there was something in her eyes other than the ice he’d earned for his own stupidity.

And that dress clung to her curves, reminding him of how she’d looked that night with the moonlight spilling over her. That one night he thought of often. Remembering the passion between them. There was love and laughter until the phone rang.

The phone call that had changed everything still echoed in Caleb’s mind, a moment frozen in time. His mother’s panicked voice had been shaky, barely coherent, as she tried to explain what was happening. Then came Cody’s voice, strained and taut with fear, relaying details Caleb could hardly process.

It had all been too much to bear—the tension, the urgency, the helplessness pressing down on him like a vise. He hadn’t even thought twice. In the span of an hour, he’d packed up what little he could and left college behind, going full throttle back to the ranch.

Back to the chaos. Back to a life he’d thought he’d escaped.

Only this time, the chaos was short-lived.

He shrugged off his jacket and tossed it over the back of a chair, his movements stiff with tension. He shouldn’t have followed her to the elevator. It had been stupid, impulsive. A younger Caleb move. But then she’d shaken her head and the sound of her laugh had sparked something warm in the hollow corners of his chest.

He didn’t deserve that warmth. He knew it.

Staring out the window at the sprawling cityscape, Caleb’s shoulders slumped. The skyline glittered with promise, but he felt worlds away from it all. Taylor was better off staying polite and distant. Better off with the life she’d built without him.

Marriage. Family. Love. The three things he swore he’d never let touch his life.

His father had taught him well what love could do—how it could twist and sour until it was a weapon wielded against the people you were supposed to cherish. How it could destroy you if you weren’t careful.

How marriage was more like a battlefield with no prisoners.

With a grim shake of his head, Caleb turned away from the window and unbuttoned his shirt. He’d shower, call it a night, and bury this whole mess under a pile of ranch work when he returned to Texas.

But then he felt it.

That faint prickle on the back of his neck, like the air had thickened and shifted just slightly. The smell of lavender, her signature scent.

He froze, fingers still on his cuffs.

“You’re brooding again, Caleb Burnett” came the familiar voice, soft and teasing as the rustle of wind through trees.

“Damn it, Eugenia.” He spun around, half expecting to find her perched on the edge of the desk. Instead, the ghostly matriarch of the Burnett family hovered just in front of the window, her figure framed by the glow of city lights.

Eugenia’s silvery-blue dress shimmered faintly, the same high collar and flowing skirts she always wore. Her smile was as sly as ever, her hands resting on her hips as though she’d caught him sneaking out after curfew.

“Could you at least knock first?” Caleb muttered, throwing his shirt onto the chair.

She chuckled. “Oh, sweetness, where’s the fun in that?” She floated a little closer, her form flickering like candlelight. “Besides, I had a feeling you’d need me tonight.”

“I don’t need anything,” he said flatly, crossing his arms. What did she think he was going to do? Meltdown in a puddle of tears after seeing the woman he’d once loved?

Seeing Taylor again had done nothing but reinforce the reasons Caleb had sworn off marriage.

It wasn’t her fault—far from it. Taylor was beautiful, intelligent, and everything a man could want. But being around her stirred up memories he’d rather forget.

Taylor was a reminder of what could go wrong, no matter how good things seemed in the beginning. And Caleb had no intention of repeating the mistakes of the past. Marriage wasn’t for him—it never had been, and it never would be.

Eugenia tilted her head, her blue eyes twinkling with mischief. “You don’t need anything, yet here you are, pacing your hotel room like a man torn in two. Let me guess—you saw her tonight.”

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