Sheer Bliss by Leigh Ellwood Page A

as though mustering courage to speak.
    “ I never compared the two
of you,” he said finally. Through her peripheral vision, Calla
caught his sad smile. “If anything, I considered you and Teresa my
two greatest loves, each coming at different, crucial stages in my
life.”
    She returned full focus to
the road in time to make the turn onto the road leading to the
Houlihan home. She relaxed a bit, content that Caleb at least
hadn’t spent his marriage stacking Teresa up against her in the
lovemaking department all these years.
    His question, though, sent
her foot to the floor and the car to a grinding halt.
    “ Are you
bisexual?”
    The sedan screeched to a
stop in the middle of the street, and an angry horn blared from
behind them. Calla sat numb and unmoved by the middle fingers
thrust out from all windows of the pickup truck that swerved around
them.
    Slowly she maneuvered the
car over to the curb. “What makes you think that?”
    “ Well…people talk. You
know how it is in a small town. Blind items are easy to
see.”
    “ Yes.” Calla wouldn’t have
doubted Maya contributed a few gems to the local grapevine. She bit
her lip and mulled a way to dance around this sensitive subject,
but saw no reason to close any doors. Caleb might learn the truth
elsewhere, anyway.
    “ No, but I
have…experimented,” she said finally. “I guess it didn’t take.” She
checked his face for a reaction—jealousy, interest, anger—but the
man just nodded and gave a small smile she couldn’t quite
decipher.
    “ Just curious,” he said.
“If you were, and wanted to further your exploration—”
    “ Thanks, I’ve seen
plenty.” Calla shifted back into drive and didn’t say another word
until they pulled onto the Houlihan’s carport. Should she take his
remark to mean he didn’t want an exclusive relationship?
    Or, did he hint at wanting
to participate in Calla’s “exploration”?
    Ugh . Definitely,
she couldn’t jump back into bed with him again, not right now. She
had so much to sort out mentally.
    She turned to him with a
benign grin. “Out you go,” she said. “Tell Sheila and Trisha I said
hi.”
    “ I won’t have to,” he
said, getting out of the car and nodding toward the front of the
house. Calla followed his gaze to where Sheila peered from living
room window with a smile to rival that of Alice’s loony
Cheshire.
    “ Why does she look so damn
happy?” she wondered aloud.
    “ She must like my new
shaven look.” Caleb rubbed his smooth chin. “Speaking of
shaving—”
    “ Close the door,” Calla
said, weary. Caleb complied but didn’t back away.
    “ See you tonight?” he
called through the closed window.
    Calla nodded and put the
car in reverse, still deciding how much of her he would see
tonight.

Chapter Eight
     
     
     
    Caleb entered the house
and appraised his grinning aunt, who was still standing by the
living room window, with an arched brow. “Should I expect any
concerned calls from our neighbors about missing canaries?” he
asked her, with no hint of amusement to his voice.
    Sheila Houlihan mock
pouted and moved closer, taking care to exaggerate sniffing the air
between them. “Why the sullen mood, Caleb? Given your recent, ah,
activities, I’d think you’d go floating up the stairs, not caring
what’s on my mind.”
    “ Right.” Caleb backed
away, though he knew damn well there was no use in lying about what
transpired with Calla. Her scent lingered on him, plain as day for
any shifter to detect—hell, even humans with good olfactory senses
could tell.
    “ I’d like to get in a
shower before tonight,” he told her by way of a graceful departure.
If his younger cousins were still at home, they didn’t need to pick
up on this.
    “ Don’t let me stop you. Is
Calla coming back to pick you up?”
    “ No.” Caleb started up the
stairs.
    Sheila paused at the foot
of the banister. “So you’re going over there.”
    “ We aren’t going together,
Aunt Sheila.” Caleb