Read Croc's Return for Free Online Page A

him.
    It hit him in the chest, but he clasped it before it could fall. The cottony material still held the warmth of her body. Was it him or the beast that lifted it for a sniff?
    Vanilla. Delicious. And tempting, just like the buds of her nipples clinging to the material of her shirt that drew his gaze.
    I am in so much trouble.
    A trouble he couldn’t seem to stop from snowballing.
    “What are you doing with my bra?” she asked as he stuffed it in his pocket.
    “Keeping it.”
    “For what?”
    Nothing could have stopped his slow, lazy smile. “Inspiration.”
    It took her only a moment to grasp his meaning, and then she blushed. “Give it back right now. I will not have you—um. You know.” Renny stumbled instead of saying the words.
    “You gave it to me. It’s rude to ask for a present back,” Caleb chided.
    But Renny didn’t seem to care about bad manners. “I hate you.” She stomped past him, the skin of her arm lightly brushing him, enough for an electric sizzle. Perhaps she felt it, too, because she stopped and whirled. Her brown eyes sparked. Her lips parted. “Actually, you know what, I do owe you something.”
    She leaned toward him, and he found himself angling toward her, too, already forgetting his promise to stay away. To—
    “Ooomph!” Breath burst from him as she slugged him in the gut.
    “That was for being an asshat and leaving.” She kicked him in the shin. “That’s for ignoring me after. And this is because I hate you!” She kneed him in the groin.
    It did not feel good at all, but that wasn’t the reason he was breathless and in pain. His agony came not from her blows, but because she’d unleashed the full fury of her devastation.
    A wave of emotions assailed him, crushing him with their rawness.
    He dropped to his knees, burdened by the weight.
    Is this how she truly feels?
    So betrayed. Forgotten. Unloved. So lonely…
    Still breathless, he couldn’t say a word, only reach out to her, but she stepped back from his hand.
    “Stay away from me, Caleb. Please.” Keeping her gaze away from his, but unable to hide the tears glistening in her eyes or mask the roughness of her voice, she whirled once again and stomped away. She slammed through the swinging door.
    And the world lost all hint of life and color.
    For a moment, Caleb kneeled, staring at the door that had swung shut. Talk about blown away, and stunned, not just by her revelation of her feelings but her actions.
    She hit me.
    Sweet, gentle Renny had hit him. She’d even raised her voice and used the A word. She called me an asshat. Renny never cussed. He should know. Once upon a time he’d made her speak aloud the dirtiest words. How he loved the way she blushed and stammered saying just the word “damn.”
    But she wasn’t just using stronger language, she hadn’t been afraid to get physical and confrontational.
    A forceful Renny. He didn’t know what to think of it. She’d changed an awful lot. Because of him? Or was it because of this baby she had, the one she was raising on her own?
    For some reason, knowing she had no one to help bothered him, and it wasn’t just because he’d grown up without a dad.
    Something of his trouble must have shown as he slid back into his seat across from Daryl.
    “Nice mug. By the look of you, I take it things didn’t go well.”
    “No. They didn’t.” And, yes, he might have said it rather sulkily. Despite all his protestations that he should stay away from Renny and she was better off without him, apparently a tiny part of him, that had remained hidden until this very moment, had hoped for a different outcome. Optimism fantasized she would fling herself into his arms and sob how much she’d missed him and still loved him.
    I hoped that she loved me still.
    However, it wasn’t just their showdown in the bathroom that shattered that dream, but the fact that she’d birthed a child. A child she created with another man.
    It bothered him. Someone else had touched her. Yet