Caleb chuckled and took a step closer. “Have you missed me?”
“Horribly,” she admitted before she could help herself. Pulling off her gloves and hat, she set them on the nearby entryway table and turned to him. “No,” she corrected. “Haven’t thought about you. Busy, busy, busy with life and Krew and running and work and …”
Her voice trailed off as he kept advancing. She backed into the door. He came up close and rested one hand on the door next to her. Emily’s breath caught, and it was all she could do to not ogle his perfect shoulders. Good heavens, it wasn’t as if he was shirtless. Plus, she’d been married to a professional athlete. This shouldn’t be so hard. Yet Caleb’s lean body was a million times more appealing than Jeff’s brute strength had been.
Forcing herself to meet his gaze, she asked as casually as she could, “So, how’ve you been?”
He chuckled. “Miserable, missing you.”
No! She hated that this happy man was miserable. She wondered if it was all because of her ditching him, but she didn’t want to assume too much.
He didn’t touch her, but he leaned in, and she was suddenly short of breath. “How about you?” he asked.
“I’m okay.” She wanted to tell him how miserable she’d been without him but she still had to stay strong until March.
He studied her but didn’t make her expound. “And Krew?”
“Krew’s great. I mean, he misses you. We went through a pretty bad phase after we stopped … practicing. But Christmas helped. We went home to Alabama.”
“I wondered. I kept going past your house.”
“How do you know which house is mine? How long have you lived here?”
For the first time, he looked a little chagrined. “I followed you that last night.”
She nodded shortly, not minding that he had.
“I had my realtor stalk the neighborhood for the perfect house and moved in the first of December.”
“Then why haven’t you come to see me?” The words ripped from her throat, and she hurried to cover her mouth, but in the process, her hand grazed his firm arm. She gasped and planted both hands on the door behind her, praying that she could be strong enough to keep from touching him again. That skin had felt incredible. He smelled and looked incredible. Why, oh why couldn’t it be March already?
“I didn’t get the impression you wanted me to,” he said quietly, his smile dropping away.
Emily swallowed and admitted, “Walking away from you was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but you know why I did it.”
“Krew.” He studied her solemnly, then said, “I don’t blame you, Em. Krew is more important than how I ache for you.”
“You … ache for me?” Her voice squeaked as her heart thudded quicker and quicker.
He nodded solemnly.
She couldn’t continue with that vein of conversation without forgetting her promise to Jeff and kissing Caleb with all of her pent-up desire. Instead, she asked, “Did Mylee set this up?”
He smiled again. “Yeah. She saw me yesterday and planned it all out. Even threatened me with Vance beating me up if I didn’t ‘wear minimal clothing.’ She requested me shirtless in jeans, but I thought this would work.” He glanced down. “Sorry, it’s a little cheesy to still be in workout gear at one in the afternoon.”
“I like it,” she admitted. Shirtless in jeans would definitely have given her a heart attack. Even imagining it made her short of breath. “But I’m going to be the one beating her.” She laughed uneasily. “Like you were afraid of Vance beating you up.”
“Mylee said he’s shredded, an ultimate fighter, that he used to be in the Marines.” He smiled as if he knew the truth.
“She’s such a liar. He’s a mortgage broker who plays golf for exercise.”
Caleb chuckled. “At least she followed through on the cookies.”
“There is that.”
“Hey.” He eased back and folded his arms across his chest. If he thought he was covering something up, he was crazy, because now she was keenly aware of just how well-built his shoulders and arms were. My, oh my. “I know we can’t … date,” he said.
She blew out a breath and nodded in acquiescence.