Back to You by Natalie-Nicole Bates Read Free Book Online

exclusively work day shift, I really don’t need a partner, but the buzz is I will be getting one soon enough.”
    A light. cool rain began to drizzle and Lynsey shivered. “I guess we should be getting back inside now,” she suggested. As she stood, her finger ran along the hard wood table and suddenly she felt a burning sting. “Ouch!” she yelped.
    “What’s wrong?”
    “I think have a splinter.”
    He gently took her hand. “It’s too dark to tell. Let’s go inside and have a look.”
    When they got back into Caleb’s house, the crowd of partygoers had begun to thin out, and the music lowered to a more acceptable level. It looked as if a bomb had exploded all over his kitchen. Discarded beer cans, empty wine and rum bottles, cigarette butts, and assorted trash were strewn around the kitchen, with Caleb standing in the middle of it, opening a bottle of beer.
    “Where are your tweezers?” Owen asked.
    “What?” Caleb asked with a blank stare on his face.
    “Tweezers! I need a pair of tweezers! At what point tonight did you stop being able to hear and process questions, you moron? Did the cigarettes finally fry your brain? Lynsey has a splinter from your stupid table outside.”
    “Oh, upstairs in the en suite bathroom.”
    Lynsey followed Owen up the stairs, down a hallway, and turned into Caleb’s bedroom. The bedroom had the biggest bed that she had ever seen in her lifetime. The en suite was also a large affair with a double sink and vanity lighting. There was a stylish corner bathtub and a separate shower enclosure.
    Owen opened the mirrored cabinet above a sink, and out tumbled a box of condoms. “Do you want to have sex?” he asked.
    Her long lashes flew upward. “Excuse me?”
    “Look at this. How many condoms does one man need?”
    She looked in the cabinet. Obviously a lot, was her thought. Multiple boxes of condoms in all colors and textures filled the shelf. “I guess Caleb practices safe sex.”
    “That’s like a lifetime supply for me,” he remarked as he rummaged through the cabinet until he came across the tweezers. “Okay, let’s get that splinter out.”
    As Owen gently extracted the splinter from her finger with a steady hand, she watched him. He was certainly a man who would have no problem finding a date whenever his mood beckoned. Yet, his remark about the condoms being a lifetime supply puzzled her. Perhaps his sex life wasn’t a priority as Caleb’s seemed to be. Oh well, it didn’t really matter. She had a hunch that Owen Mitchell could light the fire of many women.
    “There you go, all better now,” he said with a smile.
    ***
    Lynsey stayed around until the last guest had gone home. Well, almost the last. Owen was asleep, stretched out on the couch. She was perched on the arm, and let her shoes drop from her feet to the floor.
    “Can I help you clean up?” she asked Caleb as he made a pot of coffee in the kitchen.
    “No thanks. I’ll pick up the bulk of it in the morning. I have a housekeeper who comes in two mornings a week. I admit that I’m a lazy pig when it comes to housekeeping. Are you sure you don’t want anything stronger than coffee? I have some killer vodka hidden away in the freezer.”
    “Coffee is great, thanks.” She reached into her handbag and retrieved the gift she had brought for him. “I nearly forgot; this is just a little something from me to celebrate your promotion. Congratulations, Caleb!”
    He took the thin box from her, removed the blue ribbon, and lifted the lid. “Ah, Lynsey, thank you so much! It’s great.” He dropped a quick, friendly kiss on her cheek. “All of my so-called friends came here tonight to drink my booze and eat my food, and no one even said congratulations to me.”
    “Well, I care. I’m very happy to celebrate your success with you,” she said sincerely. “Listen, Caleb, all those years ago…” her voice trailed off when she heard Owen begin to snore just a few feet from her. She didn’t know if he