Caylee's Confessions (Caylee's Confessions Series)

by Candice Burnett

  “Last call!” the bartender shouted from the end of the bar, throwing me out of my trivia trance.

  “Seriously, last call already?” I asked Braxton.

  “Its 1:45.” He laughed.

  “No way.” I chuckled. “Time went by in like two seconds. I don’t think I should get a last call,” I said. “I do have to work in the morning, so I probably should be going now.” And to be honest, my body didn’t need a last call. I was feeling only slightly buzzed, because I had consumed the drinks over the course of seven hours, so I wasn’t even close to being wasted.

  “Yeah, same here. I’m going to finish this drink and go,” Braxton said. “It was fun. Thanks for taking me out.”

  “Definitely,” I replied. “It was a good time. I’m going to go to the register for my tab, so hopefully I’ll see you again in a meeting soon.” I smiled as I got up from my chair.

  “I already paid it. You’re good,” Braxton said.

  “Thank you, Braxton. You didn’t have to do that,” I said.

  “I know, but I wanted to. Have a nice night, Caylee. I’ll see you soon.” He got up to see me out. We were at the street when I turned to say goodbye, not being quite sure of how to end this.

  “It was nice meeting you again,” I said awkwardly, smiling as I stuck out my hand to shake his. This was not how I ended a night out with friends usually, but this had started as a business meeting. It surely wasn’t a date.

  “You too, Caylee.” His strong, smooth hand met mine once more. I felt my body silently moan as he released my hand. I wanted him to pull me to him. I turned to hail a cab. One came about a second after I’d raised my hand. It was always an advantage to live in a less-populated part of town. My hand reached for the handle of the taxi, when I felt a tug at my right hand that spun me around and pulled me into his body. Before I had a second to think, his lips were on mine and I felt my body melt into his. As his sweet taste entered my mouth, his intoxicating scent filled my lungs. He smelled like cedar, mahogany, and sandalwood, wrapped into one, with a small twist of lemon. When released me, it was like my body was being pulled out of a trance. I was breathless, and my body was aching to be back in his arms.

  “I’m sorry,” he said as I was trying to catch my breath. “A handshake was just not adequate enough for ending this wonderful night,” he said, with a smile that rose from ear to ear. “Caylee, would you care to do this again sometime—sometime soon?” he asked.

  “Yes,” was all I could get to leave my lips. He opened the door of my cab and I got in. He shut the door, and waved goodbye, with a winning smile on his face.

  “Where to Ms.?” the cabbie asked.

  As I finally caught my breath, I told him my address and wondered, what the fuck just happened? I kissed a client. Well, he kissed me; but I know my tongue…fuck. Who was I kidding? My whole body responded. The way he tasted and his presence filled my lungs. That scent, whatever cologne it was, melted me like butter. I shivered as I felt my body get excited again, just at the thought. Had I forgotten what a kiss felt like? It had been a while, but I’d never felt like that before, not even with Kevin. Oddly, I couldn’t get my mind to think of anything but how good it felt. And I wondered why he never mentioned anything about my friend not coming? Good thing he didn’t. I probably would have froze up.

  The cab arrived at my apartment building and I practically skipped up the steps. I got in my apartment, let Duke out to take care of his business, and turned on the TV. As I took off my jacket, a lingering scent of Curve hit my nostrils, reminding me of the night I’d had. That was the cologne, I knew I’d recognized the intoxicating scent before. I sat back with a smile and was almost relaxed, when I heard a knock at my sliding glass door. The sound made me jump as I grabbed my stake from my belt to see who was holding Duke, who was currently licking the intruders face in my doorway.

  “Why do you have my dog?” I asked Shad. He practically had scared the shit out of me and he was smiling, making me more agitated, even though his smile made him look sort of playful—cute even.

  “He likes me.” Shad laughed, letting Duke inside as he stepped inside himself.

  “I didn’t invite you in,” I scolded as Duke ran to my feet.

  “I’m not a vampire…I can enter without permission,” he said.

  “You may not be a vampire, but anyone who comes over has enough manners to know that you just don’t let yourself into someone’s home. I could call the police,” I threatened.

  “But you won’t.” He smiled, and I felt my body calm as he called me out. I hated that he was good-looking. If he wasn’t, maybe I could have focused more on how I was supposed to be mad at him, instead of wondering if vitans could date. They always said good-looking people got away with more. I could see why.

  “Whatever. What are you doing here?” I asked. Did he really have to come here after I’d just had an awesome night?

  “I have to tell you, you are a very tricky woman to track down, Caylee. It took me about a week to find out where you lived. It usually takes me hours to locate someone,” he said, apparently now knowing my name.

  “Well, I’m happy to have inconvenienced you like that.” I smirked.

  “Yes, it was inconvenient, but I never give up, so I found you eventually. Your dog here actually helped a lot,” he said as I looked down at Duke and mouthed ‘traitor.’ I would have to remember to schedule more play dates with him.

  “It wasn’t his fault. I just picked up that you had a dog, because when we met, you had short, brown hairs on your shirt, and…well…this dog has short, brown hairs too, so I just followed him. It helped that he was friendly, and smelled like you. With a little attention, he brought me right back here.” He chuckled. “But anyways, I came to inform you that I’ve talked to one of my trusted superiors, and they said it would be extremely useful to us if you would come and let us know about the history of this area, like: where you’ve noticed they usually hang out, how many have been killed, and so on. He feels it will help us prepare for what is coming,” Shad said.

  “Why would I do that?” I asked him.

  “Well, then you could be aiding in our effort. We both have the same goals, you know. And this way, you could tell us where they usually are, so you don’t have to go out anymore.” He smiled, probably thinking this would make me happy.

  “But I like to go out,” I said, dumfounding him.

  “But you won’t have to if you tell us what you know,” he said, still not understanding.

  “But I like to,” I repeated.

  “But you wouldn’t have to anymore. Don’t you get what I’m telling you? There will be enough of us here, so you don’t have to risk your life any longer. My superiors were amazed at what you’ve done so far, but they feel you have done enough, and if you aid us in our efforts, you won’t have to do it anymore,” he tried to reason with me.

  “Oh, so I could get like a ‘desk undead hunting’ job?” I mocked.

  “No…what you tell us would directly aid our efforts so it would be like you were fighting them,” he pleaded.

  “Except the whole part of actually fighting,” I said.

  “I don’t understand you…I tell you that you don’t have to fight anymore…I thought you would be happy,” he said.

  “You don’t understand me?” I laughed, mocking him. “You must be thick…seriously, I’ve told you a million times now that I like to fight, yet you continue to tell me I shouldn’t.”

  “Because you shouldn’t,” he said, and I’d had enough.

  “Just leave, before I call the police, and don’t come back. And you can tell your vitan council to suck on it,” I said, apparently offending him, because he left quickly at the ‘vitan sucking it’ thing. Oh well, at least he got the point. I thought I’d heard him mumble something on the way out, but I quickly got back to trying to concentrate on how much fun I’d had that night, instead of Shad’s stupid bullshit.

  Chapter 10

  Round 2

  A bi
g smile had to have been splashed on my face as I arrived at the office the next day. I still hadn’t decided what to call my night with Braxton, because it had started out as a meeting but surely ended like a date would. I knew one thing for sure though: I had had a good time, and it was nice to meet an attractive man who just let me be me. He didn’t ridicule my hobbies or try to tell me what I should or should not be doing. That was probably because he had no idea what my hobbies were, but still… That was all it took for the smile to leave my face as I reflected back at the ‘vampire slayer guy,’ Shad. I really shouldn’t have still been dwelling on it, but after his visit, and my almost recent death, his words were eating away at me. Hopefully, since I’d killed the trackers, his vitans would be leaving soon. I should have told him about that last night, but he was too busy lecturing me, so I hadn’t thought of it. Surely they would leave if they knew I had killed those trackers, but to be safe, I would have to go out hunting more frequently so that his Vitans would get bored of not getting anything in this area and would leave for good. My legs walked into my office and sat in my chair, staring blankly at my computer screen, in an attempt to map out, in my head, where I would go on the hunt tonight. My office resembled my apartment, in the fact that it had just the bare necessities. Something I regretted then, as a nice quote calendar would have been helpful to read to get my mind off things. A throat clearing pulled me away from my black screen. Turning my head towards the noise, my eyes widened as I saw Braxton in the doorway to my office.

  “Good morning,” Braxton said as he flashed me a smile.

  “Hi,” was all that came out.

  “Don’t worry, I’m not stalking you…yet.” He laughed, and I did the same. Why was he here? “What time does your boss come in? There’s some paperwork I forgot to sign. I guess someone from billing left me a message.” Ah, that made sense.

  “Any minute he should be in.” Actually more like a half-hour, but like usual, I’d cover for the guy.

  “You can take a seat if you want,” I said as I pointed to the small, blue, cushioned chair in my office. It was the only spark of color in my office, and I couldn’t have been more grateful for it at the time.

  “Thank you.”

  “Thank you,” I replied like an idiot, and his brow rose.

  Luckily, my intern just happened to stroll in, in a panic.

  “Sorry I’m late…my car…and then I had to take the bus…I’m sorry…I can’t lose my job…I need it for credits and…”

  “You’re fine,” I said with a smile as I motioned towards Braxton. “All forgiven if you can get our guest here something to drink.” She turned towards Braxton.

  “Mr. Caloman, how rude of me. Can I get you something to drink?” she offered.

  “Thank you for the offer, but surely I’m fine. Caylee, did I mention last night what an amazing job your intern here did during the presentation? Way beyond her years, this one. I’d keep her around for sure.”

  “Duly noted,” I said as I gave her a smile.

  “Well, if you need anything, I’ll be in my cubie,” she said as she left, pulling the door closed behind her.

  As soon as the door clicked, signaling it was closed, the room’s temperature shot up about twenty degrees. Why did she have to close the door? She probably thought we were about to have a meeting. I was about to get up to open it, but before my legs could move, Braxton was walking towards my desk. He leaned over it, taking my face in his hands as he put his lips on mine. “I’ve been wanting to do that since I said good morning.” He went in for another, and I closed my eyes as his mouth gently caressed mine. I heard the door open, and when I opened my eyes, Gene was coming in. Braxton was somehow back in the chair across from my desk. Gene gave me an odd look, probably due to my face being bright-red. The heat of the kiss was still stinging my cheeks.

  “Feels hot in here, doesn’t it? I’ll have to look into that, Braxton. In fact, I’ll go do that now. Gene, Braxton is here to sign some more forms. He missed some on accident,” I said as I left my own office like an idiot. Not knowing where to go, I figured outside would be the best option—get some air back in my lungs. I sat down in the chair outside my office and took a deep breath. What had just happened in there?

  “I’m sorry,” Braxton said, causing me to jump. He moved way too quickly sometimes. How was he already outside?

  “For what? You didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “For kissing you in there. It was unprofessional. I’m sorry. Sometimes I have an issue with keeping my emotions in check. It’s been a while since…I’ve had this crush feeling, Caylee.”

  “You have a crush on me?”

  “I thought the kiss made that obvious.”

  “It…yeah, I guess so.”

  “Ready to leave for lunch then?”

  “It’s 9:30,” I told him.

  “I know. I didn’t say eat lunch. Just, are you ready to leave for lunch?”

  “I don’t think my boss will let me go to lunch yet. We’re on a pretty strict ‘leave at 12, come back at 12:30’ sort of deal.”

  “He already said ‘yes.’ When your efforts just gave your company more money than they’ve earned in the past six years…well, we’ll just say you can…it lets you get away with certain things. I told him that we needed time to discuss your next proposal. The word ‘proposal’ didn’t even have to leave my lips and he was saying ‘yes.’ Didn’t even give me a time limit. He said I could have you all day if I needed. Now, it’s just up to you. Would you like to go play hooky with me, Caylee?” he asked as he put his hand out to help me up.

  “Hooky? It’s been a while, but I used to be a pro at it. Hope you’re prepared,” I said as I gripped his hand.

  “So where are you taking me?” I asked.

  “Wherever one plays hooky. I’ve actually never done it,” he said as we got into the cab.

  “Where to?” came out with a smoker’s cough.

  “A casino,” I replied. I’d been wanting to go for some time now, and I hadn’t been to all three of them yet.

  “Sure. Which one?”

  “MGM,” I told the cabbie. I turned to Braxton. “I heard they have this really nice lounge. If we’re going to play hooky, we might as well do it up big.” Gene never lets anyone take a long lunch, so I was taking full advantage.

  “What do you want to play first?” Braxton asked me.

  “Craps is my game. Do you play?”

  “Actually, I never have.”

  “Wow, the trivia master doesn’t know how to play craps? That’s surprising.”

  “Never really gambled, except the occasional poker game, but I’d love to learn. If you’re willing to be the teacher, I’ll play the student,” he said with a seductive smile. I almost let out ‘well, hell, if we’re playing pretend, how about we play doctor? But luckily, I held it in. Braxton let out a laugh, reminding me that I didn’t answer him.

  “Sounds good to me. Hopefully you’ll get some beginners luck.” We entered the casino and, like I’d expected, it wasn’t too busy. Most people didn’t come here until after their 9-5 shift. I walked up to the first ATM I saw.

  “Oh no, this is my hooky plan—I get to pay,” he said as he stepped in front of me and started to pull out his wallet.

  “No way. This isn’t dinner, Braxton,” I said as I bumped him out of the way with my hips.

  “I insist.”

  “No way. Listen—how about we make a deal? We each pull out a hundred of our own, and if either of us wins, we’ll split it. Would that make you feel better?”

  “How did I find you?” he said as he pulled me into his grasp and kissed me on the cheek. I stood frozen, as being this close to him was making my heart race, as the spot he kissed tingled. Finally able to get my bearings and move my feet, I turned back to the ATM, which was flashing red.

  “Oh dang. Looks like it’s broken,” he said from behind me. “Good thing I always carry cash on me. Come on, I’m ready for my lesson.”

  “They have to
have more.”

  “Oh, just come on…you can get it next time. Let’s hurry. I’m feeling lucky,” he said with a playful wink.

  “Fine.” I rolled my eyes in protest, not believing for a second that he’d let me.

  We played for an hour, and much to my surprise, Braxton was a terrible dice thrower.

  “I’ve never seen anyone crap out that much.” I laughed.

  “Yeah, well, gambling has never been something I’ve been good at.” He laughed. “Well, should we continue on, or are we on to our next adventure?” he asked.

  “I don’t want you to go broke. Let’s go somewhere else.”

  “It’s too bad you didn’t get lucky,” I said later, at the door to my apartment building.

  “Now, that’s not entirely true,” he said with a light grasp of my butt. I playfully slapped his hand away, even though I’d really wanted to lean back into him.

  “Today was fun. Thank you,” he said. It took every ounce of strength I had to not let him in, but I had to meet Claire in an hour, and if I let him in, the ideas I had spinning in my head to do to this man would need way more than an hour.

  “Till next time,” he said as he wrapped his arm around my waist and lifted me up so our lips touched once again. I would never get used to the rush this man gave with a simple touch. He released me and I, again, was silent, then I took the steps to my apartment and shut the door.

  I’d never been this clueless with a guy before. He’d made me speechless at least three times today. I really needed to get that under control, or else I’d let on that he already had me falling for him. Who did that? I’d only hung out with him three times…and yet…ugh. My cheeks flushed as my center warmed, thinking of the kiss he’d planted on me in my office earlier. This man was going to get me in trouble.

  “Hello, mam. Is your name Caylee?” said a man who worked for some kind of delivery service as he came into my office the next day at work.