“Don’t you have to get back to work?” he asks, sounding pained. I love how he doesn’t answer her questions. I love watching him visibly squirm. She makes him so uncomfortable.
“I just clocked out,” she says. “What time are you off?”
“Ah, I close tonight,” he says, like that’s going to scare her away. Plus, it’s a lie. We’re about to clock out ourselves.
“We should get together after you’re off. What do you think? Go for a swim in the lake under the moonlight?” Her brows shoot up, her smile encouraging.
So hopeful.
“Ah, yeah I can’t make it,” he says, stalling.
“Why not, Caleb?”
I love that she won’t back down. Only because it’s bringing me joy, witnessing this.
“Because. I already have a girlfriend.” Caleb’s gaze finds mine and his eyes light up. It’s the craziest thing. Those baby blues of his just magically sparkle and shine, right as he says, “And there she is.”
He points straight at me.
I glance over my shoulder, like there will be another woman standing in the office behind me, but of course there’s not. He actually means me.
What the hell?
Noelle turns to look at me, a frown forming on her face. “Who are you again?”
“Gracie,” I answer, unsure of what else I should say. I certainly can’t call Caleb out for lying, and the fucker knows it.
The smirk on his face right now is annoying—and undeniably adorable.
Noelle continues to watch me, tilting her head to the side. “I didn’t know Caleb had a girlfriend.”
“We don’t like to brag about it,” Caleb says as he moseys his way toward me, putting all the swagger he can muster into his walk.
I watch him with narrowed eyes, ready for what he might do next. He strides right into my office and comes to stand next to me, slinging his arm around my shoulders and pulling me into his side. “Don’t we make a great couple, Noelle?”
She frowns, and I can tell she doesn’t think we make a great couple at all. “This sucks,” she tells Caleb, completely ignoring me. “I
thought for sure you were single.”
“Why did you think that?” Caleb asks, his arm tightening around my shoulders. Damn, he’s strong. I can feel the muscles flexing in his arm, and he’s so hot. All that heat is currently seeping into me, and I wish I could shrug him off.
But I don’t want to blow his cover either. Why, I’m not sure.
“I asked around about you, Caleb. I heard you were the biggest player at this place,” Noelle says, sounding disappointed that he might not be after all.
A smile curls my lips and I rest my hand lightly on the center of Caleb’s chest as I say, “I tamed the beast.”
He laughs, and I can feel the sound vibrating against my palm. I can also feel his heart rate ratchet up.
Interesting.
One of the other guys walks by and Noelle chases after him, not even bothering to say goodbye. Once she’s out of earshot, I duck under Caleb’s arm, relieved when I can’t feel him surrounding me anymore.
“What the hell, Caleb?”
“I had to tell her something to get away from her,” he says, a pleading look on his face. “I’m sorry to put you through all that, but it got her off my back.”
“Right, and now she’s going to go tell everyone we’re together, when we’re not,” I point out, irritated at having to deal with a bunch of gossipy people talking about us behind our backs.