A cold draft woke her. “Caleb?”
He wasn’t in her bed.
Evie shivered. Her duvet covered most of her nakedness, but she rubbed her exposed arms.
“Caleb?” she called again, sitting up and craning her neck to look into her cramped hallway. The bathroom door was open, so he wasn’t in there.
Rain pelted in through the open window. The chilly wind billowed her curtains inwards.
Evie leapt off the bed, the duvet falling to the floor. Her head pounded as she ran over to the window, butt naked and goosebumps everywhere.
She glanced upwards to a slate-grey sky heavy with thunderclouds, hoping to see Caleb.
No sign of him.
After closing the window against the elements, she secured the latch. Her curtains hung like wet washing.
Evie scanned her untidy bedroom. Caleb’s clothes were gone too.
She tried to convince herself he could be out getting them coffee, but something heavy weighing on her heart told her otherwise.
What they’d shared last night was a one-off.
Thunder rumbled. Lightning struck only once as if it sought to mock her.
Evie dragged her feet across the carpet and into her bathroom. She started running a bath, climbed in and lay down, waiting for the water to get deep enough to cover her body.
Before long, steam filled the bathroom. She turned the tap off with her toes and wallowed in the too-hot water.
Why had she thought he would still be here in the morning?
She’d asked nothing of him. They’d made no promises to each other. Just two people having sex. No big deal.
Except to her, it had been so much more.
Evie sunk further into the water. What have I done?
She was no stranger to meaningless sex, but it hadn’t been like that for her. Not with Caleb. He was her best friend, and she’d ruined everything for one amazing night of passion.
What would it mean for their friendship now?
Would they carry on like it never happened, or would it be so awkward they couldn’t even be friends?
She expelled a long, slow breath, forcing herself to face the truth.
In her heart, she couldn’t be friends with him, not now.
There was a reason she hadn’t found love with any of the guys on those dates. Granted, they were all a bunch of losers with serious issues, but even if one of them had been Mr. Perfect, it wouldn’t have made any difference. She hadn’t found love because she’d compared them all to Caleb, and no one even came close. Not by a thousand miles.
She was head over heels in love with him. She had been since the day she’d tried to kiss him.
He’d rejected her then, offered his friendship instead, and she’d taken it in the hope that one day he would feel the same about her.
Well done, Evie, you’ve made a complete and utter fool of yourself, yet again.
She’d hoped it would be different in her eternal life, but she was making the same mistakes all over again. Was it her destiny to fall for the wrong guy and pine over him for all eternity?
She had to face it; nothing magical was going to happen between her and Caleb. Not ever.
The magic needed to come from both sides.
For Caleb, it had been pity sex, nothing more. He felt sorry for her because of her pathetic Bridget Jones impression. Or maybe it had been his way of proving his manhood because he’d shown her a part of him that made him vulnerable.
Either way, it didn’t matter. Caleb was gone. He’d snuck out of her flat while she was sleeping as if she was someone he’d picked up for a one-night stand, clearly unable to deal with the repercussions of their lovemaking or whatever it meant for their friendship.
But he covered me with the duvet…
Evie climbed out of the bath and dried herself vigorously with the towel.
Stop trying to defend him.
She got dressed and gave her wings a shake. Right or wrong, and despite what they’d done, she needed to know Caleb was okay.
Ignoring the niggling voice inside her head telling her she would be making an even bigger fool of herself, she searched for her phone and texted Caleb.
Hey, you okay?
Nothing.
She texted again.
Nothing.
He could be busy. She’d try him later.
Evie grabbed her jacket and headed off to the children’s hospital.
She spent hours at the hospital, longer than she usually did. Lucy was doing well, and she kept her mind off things by making up Sidney Spider stories for the other kids.
Throughout the day, she checked her phone. She texted Caleb multiple times, but still no reply from him.
On her way home, she called him. The phone rang, then switched to voicemail. She waited for the beep and went to say something, then switched off her phone.
What could she say to him? He didn’t want to talk to her.
Then she got worried, imagined he’d had an accident.
She scrolled her contacts, found Ophelia’s number and texted her.
Hi, it’s Evie. Have you seen Caleb?
Hello, Evie. No, I haven’t seen Caleb. Why?
She started to type and deleted it several times. In the end, she settled for no details whatsoever.
I’m worried about him.
Did you two have a fight?
No. I can’t get hold of him, that’s all.
Yeah, pretend it’s nothing more than a friend trying to contact another friend.
I’m sure he’ll turn up sooner or later.
Yeah, probably. If you hear from him, would you ask him to call me, please?
Of course. Take care, Evie. It will all work out in the end. Xx
Evie didn’t reply.
* * *
Two days later, she still hadn’t heard from Caleb, but any concern she might have had evaporated long ago.
She checked her phone one last time. Nineteen messages she’d left in total, and he’d not replied to a single one. She’d called him too. Ten times, each attempt going to voicemail.
Talk about desperate.
Well, enough was enough. Not anymore.
Caleb was the most stubborn, infuriating angel she had ever met.
He’d been an angel way longer than her; she assumed he would have gained some maturity over the years, but no, by refusing to answer her texts, he was behaving like a child.
They’d had sex—fantastic, mind-blowing sex—but now he chose to ignore her because he wasn’t mature enough to talk it over and move on.
She’d looked up to him as her teacher, the person who had always been patient and understanding during her training. He’d even promised she would get her gold wingtips soon, but where was his promise now?
Her phone tinged.
A flicker of hope made Evie’s stomach tingle. More than anything, she missed her best friend.
She checked the message. It was from Love Bites; someone wanted a date with her.
The flicker of hope snuffed out.
Evie cursed. She’d meant to cancel her subscription to the dating agency—she couldn’t afford it anyway. Out of mild interest, she clicked on the profile of the guy who’d asked for a date.
A demon called Malcolm.
Malcolm, really? She laughed. Hardly a demonic-sounding name.
The guy was reasonably good looking, she supposed.
She shrugged. Maybe she shouldn’t write him off based on his name. A demon; could be interesting, if nothing else. What harm would it do?
It was time to move on.
Before she changed her mind, she messaged him.
Caleb accused her of wanting excitement and danger, and maybe she did. Or maybe she’d messaged the demon out of spite.
Either way, she was beyond caring what Caleb bloody Pearce thought of her now.
He would know nothing of her date with the demon, so at least she wouldn’t receive another gift from him before her date.
Chapter Nine
Exhausted from walking the city streets, going nowhere in particular, Caleb sat, propped against a shop wall. His phone tinged for the nineteenth time, not that he was counting.
He ignored it.
It rang this time.
Caleb cursed out loud, prompting a few glances his way from people passing by. Someone threw him some loose change, and he watched a copper coin roll in a circle until it landed by his foot.
His phone was still ringing.
He rummaged in his pocket, brought out his phone and, without looking at the number, he switched it to mute.
The day became night, and he wandered the streets again. He yearned to fly into the night, feel the wind in his feathers, block out the guilt at what he’d done, but he couldn’t. Not since he’d crept out of Evie’s flat like a cowardly weasel.
His wings had carried him for all of a hundred yards in the pouring rain, and then for some reason, they’d grown weak, and he’d dropped several feet. He’d tried, again and again, thrusting his wings downwards, using the air currents to carry him along, but he still kept losing altitude.
Defeated and distraught, he gave up and landed in a quiet back alley amongst stinking dustbins and flattened cardboard boxes.
Two days passed, maybe three. He hadn’t eaten or drunk anything. His wings hung useless behind him.
His head spun every time he stood, so he slumped by the roadside.
Caleb’s thoughts returned to Evie yet again.
I’m surely going to Hell for what I did to her.
He didn’t regret making love to her. How could he when she was the most beautiful woman on Earth and in Heaven? But it was the way it happened that burned inside his soul.
Evie had looked so lost and dejected when he’d climbed in through her window, but she’d infuriated him with her mission of self-destruction, which was totally unjustified as far as he was concerned. Then she kept pushing all the wrong buttons, and he’d lost control. She’d been drunk and vulnerable, and he’d forced himself on her, succumbed to his desires when he should have listened to his head.
Evie had cracked open something inside him that night, something he refused to acknowledge. She’d chipped away at a wall he’d built around himself, and somehow, he’d confessed to a part of his past he’d never shared with anyone, not even Ophelia and Raphael.
He was her teacher. He should never have let it go that far.
They were best friends too.
Were.
He doubted they would be now, not after what he did.
Evie was the kindest soul he’d ever met, but she must hate him now, and it was nothing he didn’t deserve. He would have to learn to live with this pain forever, his punishment for treating her like the losers from her past because it was better than giving her false hope that there could ever be anything special between them.
Caleb breathed in, recalling the way she’d gazed at him, how she’d stroked the underside of his wings, driving him wild with desire. The musky scent of her sex…
Yes, he’d chosen the coward’s way out, but how could he face the look in her eyes when he told her it couldn’t happen again?
She’d lain there on her bed, naked and resplendent, her breathing soft and even as he’d gathered his clothes.
It took everything he had not to lie back next to her, but he’d covered her with the duvet instead and climbed out of her window with the proverbial tail between his legs.
Self-hatred coursed through his veins.
A car horn tooted, bringing him out of his reveries. He looked up, only now recognising his surroundings.
Raphael poked his head out of the car window. “Caleb. Thank goodness.”
Caleb frowned. “What are you doing here?”
“I could ask you the same thing. I’ve been trawling the streets for you. Hop in; you look in no fit state to fly anywhere.”
He hadn’t the strength to argue as he climbed into the passenger seat.
“You look dreadful, my dear fellow, and I have to say you don’t smell too good either.”
Caleb looked down at his creased, dirty clothes. The wine stain on his shirt was now crusty and reddish-brown around the edges, and Raphael was right. He did need a shower. “I don’t know what happened, but my wings aren’t working. I can’t fly.”
Raphael nodded as he drove along the road towards his house. “Do they feel heavy and tender?”
“Yeah.” He circled his aching shoulders. “Have you heard of this before?”
“Yes, I’ve heard of it. Have you seen Evie by any chance?”
Caleb stared out of the window, his heart as heavy as his wings. “Not for days. What’s she got to do with anything?”
His friend pulled into the driveway. “Come inside, Caleb.”
Ophelia came to the front door. She took one look at him and offered a soft smile. “Oh, Caleb, you poor thing. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. My wings aren’t working, that’s all.”
“You’re not fine.” She looped her arm in his and led him inside. “Tell your Auntie Ophelia what happened.”
“There’s nothing to tell,” he insisted. “Is there any chance you could put the kettle on? I’m sure it’s nothing a strong coffee won’t cure.”
Yeah, tell yourself that, and you might believe it, Caleb. As if coffee had the power to erase his guilt. Was it too early for brandy?
They walked into the kitchen, and he sat at the table with Raphael. Ophelia flicked the switch on the kettle.
“I thought you two wouldn’t want to see me again after my behaviour the other day,” he confessed. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s forgotten,” said Ophelia as she spooned coffee into a cafetière and poured steaming water over the granules.
The aroma of freshly-brewed coffee made his stomach growl.
“Have you eaten?” asked Raphael.
“No, not for a while.”
Raphael went to the fridge and peered inside. “We were going to have bacon and scrambled eggs for lunch. There’s plenty here if you’d like to stay?”
The knots in his shoulders eased a fraction. “I’d like that, thanks.”
Caleb sipped his coffee while his friends prepared and served the meal.
Nothing ever tasted so good, and he wolfed down his food in no time.
“Are you feeling any better now?” Ophelia asked.
He nodded. “I will be once I’ve had a shower and figured out why I can’t fly. Raphael said he’s heard of this before.”
Ophelia reached across the table and held his hand. Her soft brown gaze held nothing but kindness. “You were trying to fly away from the truth, Caleb.”
“What do you mean?”
“Why did you disappear for days? Evie texted me and said she couldn’t get hold of you. She’s worried about you, and so are we.”
Evie. He’d tried to block it out, but guilt returned full force, tearing at his heart like it was made of tissue paper. He slid his hand away from Ophelia’s and scrubbed his unshaven jaw. “I’ve done something unforgivable,” he told them.
“There isn’t a bone in your body that is capable of any wrong-doing,” said Raphael. “Your heart is pure.”
“You’re wrong. Evie and I…” He swallowed the lump in his throat. He drank more coffee and took a moment to compose himself. “I lost control. I’m her teacher, and I abused my position.”
“Tell us what happened, Caleb.”
“We made love.”
Instead of the shock he’d expected, his friends’ beaming faces shone back at him.
“Finally!” Ophelia remarked. “I’m so happy for you.”
He frowned. “What? No. It’s a bad thing. I only went around there to comfort her because she’d had this awful date with an adulterous warlock. She was so sad… she’d been drinking, and I took advantage of her.”
“Are you sure? She did try to kiss you once.”
The image of Evie as he threw her on the bed came to mind. Naked, she’d opened
her legs for him… She’d asked him if he felt the chemistry between them, too. “No, I’m not sure now,” he answered truthfully.
Maybe he had it wrong. Maybe he hadn’t forced himself on her after all. Maybe she’d wanted it too. And she had tried to contact him multiple times… Surely she wouldn’t have done that if she felt he’d taken advantage of her? Or maybe she’d wanted to give him a piece of her mind; tell him what a lowlife he was.
Caleb pinched the bridge of his nose. “It doesn’t matter. She’s my student, I shouldn’t have—”
“We all know Evie is much more than your student, Caleb,” Ophelia interrupted. “The first time she came for dinner, we knew she was in love with you.”
The air escaped from his lungs. “She’s in love with me?” For some reason, his pulse rate accelerated.
Raphael chuckled, much to his annoyance.
He took several moments to process, but it still didn’t make any sense. “No, she can’t be.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Because she wouldn’t have joined the dating agency if she felt that way.”
“The dating agency you suggested to her,” Ophelia pointed out. “Talk about giving the girl mixed signals.”
“What mixed signals?”
Now Ophelia laughed. “Wake up, Caleb. You’ve fallen for her too. It’s written all over your face.”
“I’ve never heard anything so ridiculous in my life.” His tone lacked the certitude he’d intended. Something tugged inside, like an invisible thread reeling him towards something magical.
“Look inside your heart,” said Raphael. “Be honest with yourself. Angels deserve to be happy too.”
As if on cue, his heart skipped a beat. He’d told the same thing to Evie, so why did he find it so hard to listen to his own advice? “No, it’s impossible,” he said, still trying to deny it, as though admitting it might somehow snap that delicate thread of hope. “We’re good friends. Or at least we were. I’ll lose my job over this.”
“I can’t believe you’re worried about your job.” Ophelia harrumphed. “You are quite possibly the most stubborn, exasperating angel I have ever met.”
Dating an Angel Page 6