A flash of blonde passed in my peripheral vision, drawing my attention from my miserable thoughts. Bad mood aside, my body instantly responded to the sight of her. My blood heated, my chest tightened. Hell, my pants tightened. I felt myself getting hard just watching her walk across the room in the sexy little cocktail dress she was wearing.
I stared in fascination as one moment she was smiling at the people she passed, offering friendly words, and then the next she froze. Her back went straight and her head turned in my direction, as though she could feel my gaze on her.
She turned away just as fast and started in the other direction, and I had a lightbulb moment. Pulling my cell from the pocket of my slacks, I shot off a quick text.
Me: You keep pretending not to notice me and I’ll be forced to make a scene.
I turned my eyes from my phone back to her. She lifted the tiny little purse in her hands and pulled out her phone. Those gorgeous eyes of hers bugged out as she read my message.
Daphne: This coming from Mr. Avoidance himself? What a joke.
Feisty little minx. I smiled down at my screen as I typed.
Me: I need to talk to you. Either you come to me or I’ll come to you. And I won’t be subtle about it.
After the way I’d treated her, it was a risk, pushing her even further like that. But I had to get her attention some way. Her head shot up in my direction, her gaze practically burning me from across the room. Her cheeks, still slightly pale from being sick, pinked with an angry blush that only made my dick harder, but at least she was now moving in my direction.
I pointed discreetly to my left, toward a short hall that led to the coatroom, and headed that way without looking back, my gut telling me she wasn’t too far behind.
I made it to the small alcove at the very end before turning around.
“Well?” she asked agitatedly, her heels clicking furiously on the marble as she stomped the last few feet between us. “What do you want?”
She crossed her arms over her chest and cocked a hip out. Christ, she was cute as hell when she was pissed. It was so much better than the sadness that had filled her beautiful face a few days before when she walked out of my office.
God, I miss her. And I hated myself for being the one who’d upset her. I just wanted to get us back to the way we were before shit got so complicated. I’d never felt so comfortable or had so much fun with a woman in my life. I wanted that back.
“You look beautiful tonight.” It definitely wasn’t what I’d planned to open with, but the words just rolled off my tongue.
“Oh my god. Really?” she snarked.
My head jerked back in surprise at her tone. It was as if I’d offended her somehow. “What?”
“Are you seriously trying to hit on me right now?”
What the hell is happening? “I was just telling you the truth, that you look beautiful. What’s so wrong with that?”
My sincerity must have been evident, because she uncrossed her arms, resting her hands on her lush, curvy hips. But she didn’t thaw completely. “Fine. Thank you. But I know that’s not what you called me back here for, so why don’t you tell me what’s going on?”
I should have prepared better, written a speech or something. I’d never been good at flying by the seat of my pants. Unfortunately, life had gotten in the way. All I knew for sure was that there was no way I was telling her anything about what I’d learned today. From how she’d been with her mother, I knew they more than likely had a worse relationship than I did with my father. And the pallor of her skin indicated she was still on the mend from that nasty stomach bug. She didn’t need the stress, and I’d do whatever I had to in order to shield her from it.
“Look, I….” I exhaled heavily, running a hand through my hair. “I don’t like how we left things before. I got the feeling you were upset. And you’ve been sick, so I guess… well, I guess I was worried.”
Her face went soft, the same way it did just seconds before I sank into her. I knew that look well, and it fueled that fire inside me to have her again. For as long as I possibly could.
“I need to see you tonight.”
Her silky blonde hair cascaded down one shoulder as she tipped her head in confusion. “I’m not following. You see me right now.”
“Not like that,” I said on a growl, stepping close so I could touch her creamy skin. “Later. It’s been too long. If I don’t fuck you soon, I’m going to lose my goddamn mind.
That softness in her expression went hard as granite. “Unbelievable,” she gritted out. “You know what, Caleb? Go fuck yourself.”
She whipped around so fast her hair smacked me in the face, leaving a lingering scent of lilies and sugar in her wake as she stormed off.
I stood in the empty hallway by myself, watching her walk away, once again pissed off, only this time it wasn’t nearly as cute as it had been a few minutes before.
“What the fuck just happened?”
Dear Lord, I really don’t understand women.
Chapter Twenty-One
Daphne
God, he was such a pig. I couldn’t believe I actually thought he was being sincere. He just wanted to get laid again, that was all.
And I fell for it. Only for a second, but still. I was an idiot.
I heard the sound of his footsteps rushing up behind me. I contemplated making a run for it for a millisecond, but knew I’d eat it if I tried running in five-inch heels. That was added humiliation I just didn’t need.
“Hey, wait. Will you just wait for a fucking second?” Caleb grabbed my arm and pulled me to a stop, spinning me around to face him. “What did I say?”
My skin prickled with the desire to smack some sense into the jackass. “Seriously? How are men so freaking clueless?” I declared to the ceiling before looking back at him. “No wonder your gender dies first. It’s baffling that some of you even make it to old age.”
He gave me a funny look, like he was waiting for me to grow fangs and rip his throat out. “I feel like something important just went down, but I’m not sure what it was.”
I narrowed my eyes in a steely glare. “Why am I not surprised? Well let me spell it out for you. If you’re looking to get your dick wet tonight, you’re going to have to find someone else, because this booty call is officially off the market.” Exasperation enveloped me as I threw my arms out to the sides.
“Leave it to a woman to totally misconstrue the meaning of something a man says.”
I was going to kill him. Like seriously murder his ass dead. “I didn’t misconstrue anything!”
“If you think I was instigating a booty call back there, then you sure as hell did.”
And for the billionth time in just a handful of days, I felt like crying again. Sweet merciful Mary, what the hell is wrong with me? “You’re an asshole!”
“And you’re a neurotic pain in my ass!” he shot back.
I turned and stomped off before I did something like scream bloody murder in the middle of the party before clawing his eyes out.
Screw Caleb McMannus.
No… wait. That was what I was supposed to be avoiding. Caleb McMannus can go screw himself. There, that was better.
I pasted on a fake happy face as I joined Sophia and Lola just as one of the waiters set a whole tray of full champagne glasses on the table beside them and took off.
“Ooh, a whole tray!” I picked up a glass and began sipping as Lola and Sophia chugged theirs down like they were competing with each other. My eyes bugged out. “Wow. I see it’s going to be one of those nights.”
“I love Grayson, I really do,” Lola started. “But what was he thinking, putting everyone we know in the same room together?”
I understood exactly what she meant. The Abbatellis were a different bunch, prone to drama wherever they went. And Grayson’s family had a few nutters too. More specifically his hilarious, slightly scary Nana. But I lied to try and make her feel better. “It’s not that bad.”
Lola gave me a droll lo
ok. “Between Soph and Dominic, Gray’s cane-wielding nana, my mother, and the best man trying to bone every woman in the room under the age of forty, tonight is bound to be a bigger bloodbath than The Red Wedding.”
My stomach clenched and my heart tore a bit at the comment about Caleb, but I somehow managed to hide my reaction. But then I turned in the direction my friends were staring. We watched as the waitress he’d been whispering to reared back and slapped him right across the face.
“Ooh!” All three of us winced on his behalf as the girl stormed off.
Sophia giggled while a little piece of me died on the inside. “That looked like it hurt.”
“Serves him right,” I hissed bitterly. “It’s about time someone shot him down.” I wish the woman would have kneed him in the nuts, or worse.
Caleb
Son of a bitch. That fucking woman was going to drive me into a goddamn loony bin. But for whatever sick, twisted reason, I couldn’t stop going back for more. She was my addiction.
“I’ll show her,” I mumbled to myself as I entered the throws of the party. I scanned the crowd looking for an unsuspecting victim and smiled wickedly when my eyes landed on one of the blonde servers. She was exactly the kind of woman I used to go for before Daphne. Now that I’d had her, other women did nothing for me, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t use them to drive Daphne as crazy as she was making me.
“Excuse me.” The server turned. Once she got a good look at me, she gave me one of those suggestive smiles I was so used to seeing. Not a chance in hell.
I leaned into her in a way that would look slightly salacious to those who couldn’t hear what I was saying.
“I need you to do me a favor,” I whispered into her ear. “There’s a woman over there that I’d like to make jealous. Could you feel me up for a second and maybe pretend like you’re going in for a kiss?”
The chick jerked back and slapped me right in the face as hard as she could. “You’re a disgusting pig!” she seethed before taking off.
My cheek burned like fire.
I seriously didn’t fucking understand women.
Daphne
I wanted to rant, but I couldn’t seeing as I stupidly kept our little… tryst or whatever a secret from my friends.
Fortunately, or unfortunately for Sophia, Lola’s brother, Dominic Abbatelli, chose that moment to interrupt my inner rage. “Evening, ladies.”
My eyes darted to Sophia instantly, trying to gauge her reaction to his appearance. He’d been living in Seattle for a while now, and even though she claimed she was totally over their past, I still couldn’t help but worry about her.
“Dominic,” Lola greeted, but he only had eyes for Sophia.
“Hello, Dominic,” she offered in a somewhat stale tone.
“Butterfly. You look beautiful.”
Ugh! Guys and that line!
Mine and Lola’s attention bounced between the two of them like a ping-pong ball. I wasn’t sure about Lo, but I was hesitantly waiting for the impending explosion that was sure to come when those two were within spitting distance of each other. So you could have knocked me over with a feather when she politely replied, “Thanks. You look nice too.”
“What’s happening?” I asked Lola in a none-too-subtle, panicked whisper. Before she could answer, someone announced that dinner was being served, so we all moved to take our seats.
I did my best to keep an eye on the situation with Sophia, but the second I sat down, Caleb pounced, taking the chair next to me. “Mmm. Dinner looks delicious. Almost as delicious as you.”
I snorted in offense into my champagne glass. “You are beyond belief,” I hissed.
He smiled self-assuredly, making my palm tingle with the need to slap him. “Why thank you.”
“That wasn’t a compliment, you jerk.”
I turned back to the table, doing everything I could to ignore the man next to me. My plan was to engage in other conversations around me. However, everyone at our table seemed to already be engrossed in ones of their own. To keep my attention forward, I watched Deacon Lockhart like it was my job, curious as to what had taken place between him and Fiona since I’d last talked to her.
Man, I really hope those two have gotten their shit together.
“You know, this isn’t going to work,” he whispered into my ear.
“What isn’t?” I asked, pointlessly cutting the lettuce in my salad with the precision of a neurosurgeon. Anything to not look into those strange, beautiful eyes of his.
“Pretending you aren’t affected by me sitting right next to you.” He moved impossibly closer, his palm resting softly on my thigh beneath the table. “You’ve got goose bumps again, gorgeous.” I was turned on and disgusted all at the same time. Leaning away from him, I carefully moved my fork toward my lap so as not to draw attention, and jabbed the sharp prongs into the top of his hand. “Ow! Son of a bitch!” He yanked his hand back, shaking out the pain.
“Have you already managed to forget that you were just hitting on a waitress not even ten minutes ago?”
He winked, one corner of his mouth quirking up. “Jealous?”
I was just about to stab him again when the blonde server he’d been getting cozy with walked up, dropping Caleb’s dinner on the table in front of him with a loud clatter. “Be careful with this one,” she told me warningly. “He’s only using you to make a woman here jealous. He tried his shit on me a little while ago. Don’t waste your breath on this asshole.”
Oh. My. Gah! My eyes went as big as saucers, and I spun in my chair, letting out a giggle of disbelief as I faced an embarrassed-looking Caleb. “Oh, that’s great!” My giggle turned into a full-blown laugh as the waitress wandered off. “Are you using me to make another woman jealous?” I teased.
He faced forward, lifting a glass of scotch to his pouty lips. “Shut up.”
I worried that I wouldn’t be able to get control of my laughter, but just then I was hit with the smell of Caleb’s dinner, and the Veal Piccata, a meal I typically loved made my stomach lurch so violently I had to clamp my hand over my mouth to keep from throwing up right then.
“Excuse me,” I mumbled, stumbling from my chair. Luckily Lola and Grayson were too consumed with each other, and Sophia looked to be quietly arguing with Dominic, to notice me as I hurried from the table.
I’d only made it as far as the hall outside the banquet room when it happened. Thankfully, there was a potted ficus not too far from the door. That was going to have to do.
How humiliating.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Caleb
The way her entire body went white as a ghost and a sweat broke out across her forehead just one moment before she took off worried the hell out of me. I quickly got to my feet and followed her. The instant I cleared the room I found her, leaning over a potted plant just outside the door, hurling her guts up.
“Fuck, sweetheart.” I went to her, gathering her hair at the back of her head with one hand while I rubbed soothing circles on her back with the other.
The sound of her retching made me gag once or twice, but I was somehow miraculously able to hold it back. I had a nasty habit of puking when I saw or heard others puke. Daphne certainly didn’t need that.
Blessedly, it didn’t last long, and she eventually stood. I released her hair and handed her the handkerchief I had stashed in my pocket so she could wipe her mouth. “Thank you,” she breathed, closing her eyes and resting against the wall while pulling in a few deep breaths.
“Are you all right?”
Her eyes remained closed as she answered, “I’m fine. I just… the smell of the food got to me. I guess I’m not over this stupid stomach bug.”
I moved closer, concern for her overriding every single instinct to back away from the puke breath. I guess you could say I was worried sick. “Maybe you should go to a doctor. This can’t be good for you.”
Her eyelids finally lifted, but it was like there’d been a weight tied to them and she was struggl
ing to keep them open. “Yeah, maybe you’re right.”
Just then, Fiona came rushing from the room, her head turning one way and the other before she finally spotted us. “Daph, are you okay? I saw you run out like you were on fire.”
“The smell of the food made her sick,” I answered, looping my arm around her waist to take most of her weight. “I think it’s best I take her home.”
“What? No!” Daphne argued. “I’m fine. I feel totally fine now. Let’s just go back in—”
“Poor thing. You’re still sick?” Fiona asked with an intense frown as she studied the way I held on to Daphne, and how Daph let me, leaning farther into me for support.
“It comes and goes. It’s weird. The strangest things set it off. But I’m fine now, seriously.”
“I don’t want to risk it,” I told her. “What if something else sets you off, huh? I’m taking you home. And tomorrow I’m getting you in with a doctor.”
Coming to her senses, she started to struggle against me, but I tightened my arm, keeping her in place. “That’s a complete overreaction. I don’t need you to do any of that.”
“I think he’s right,” Fiona chimed in. I could have kissed her right then for taking my side. “Just let him take you home.” She turned to me then. “But I’ll swing by her place tomorrow to check on her.
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I don’t mind.”
“Works for me,” Daphne chirped, causing me to frown down at her. “What if… it’s lady problems or something? I’d just feel more comfortable with Fee.”
I wasn’t going to lie, hearing that last bit stung like a motherfucker, but what the hell did I know about periods or uteruses and shit? “Fine,” I relented with an unhappy grunt. “But we’re leaving now. Fee, would you mind grabbing Daphne’s stuff and letting Lola know she wasn’t feeling well?”
“On it.” She disappeared back into the room, leaving Daph and me alone once more.
Enticing Daphne Page 13