I sighed. “I have to. I won’t be out of here until past midnight.”
She sucked in her breath. “That late?”
“Yeah.”
“What about dinner? Don’t you have to stop for dinner?”
“I’ll order something in,” I replied.
“What do you usually get?” she asked.
I tried to imagine her. The only place I could think of her being was at the flower shop. I imagined her at the table where she made her arrangements. Had she stopped working to take this call, or was she working as she talked to me. I imagined the expression on her face. That soft smile.
“Caleb?” she called.
“Uh, sorry. It usually changes. Anne, my secretary, usually asks me what I feel like having, and then orders it before she leaves for the day.” I lifted my arm to check my watch. “That should be in about thirty minutes.”
“What do you feel like eating today?”
“I have no idea. Most of the time I just let her choose. Food’s not that important to me,” I replied.
“Do you like Chinese food?”
“Yeah, I like Chinese food.”
“There’s a place close to my flower shop that makes the best Lo Mein and dumplings I have ever tasted.”
“I’ve never had Lo Mein,” I said softly.
“Should I order some for you then?” she asked.
I had a better idea. Fuck work. I could always get back to it after dinner. “When do you get off work? Why don’t we head there together for dinner?”
Silence.
The seconds ticked away, and I began to sweat. Was she going to turn me down?
“No, I don’t want to distract you from work. Here’s what we’ll do instead. I’ll get a take out after I close the shop, and come over to your office. We can have dinner there. What do you think of that idea?”
A massive grin broke out across my face.
“That, Willow Rayne, is a brilliant idea.”
She laughed and her laughter was like music to my ears.
22
Willow
The security guard was expecting me and he waved me towards the elevator. I thanked him and rode the elevator to Caleb’s offices. When the doors swished open, I stepped out into the reception area.
It was a very different scene from the bustling, busy place I had come to earlier. Everyone had gone home, and the network of cubicles beyond was eerily deserted with the lights dimmed. I walked down the corridor, past the glass demarcated meeting rooms on either side, until I reached his office. My shoes had made no sound on the dark gray carpet.
I was nervous and there was a slight tremble to my hand as I lifted it to knock on the door that led to his secretary’s office. As I expected I got no response, but I pushed it open and walked in. Her room was empty, and on her table sat the flowers I’d delivered earlier.
I frowned slightly. After all my hard work, he hadn’t taken them into his office.
I walked up to them, curled my free arm around the glass vase, and headed towards his door. As my other hand was occupied with holding our dinner I wasn’t able to knock. I had just thrust my head forward to lightly bang on his door, when it was pulled open, and I nearly fell through.
Water splashed out of the vase and drenched both of us as he caught me in his strong arms. His eyes moving to the things I had clutched to my chest. His eyebrows flew upwards when he realized what my plan had been. I flushed red with embarrassment.
“Sorry,” I mumbled, lowering my eyes.
Laughter flowed from his lips. I lifted my gaze towards his face. He was unbearably beautiful when he laughed. It didn’t even seem like he realized the front of his shirt was soaked.
“Were you just about to knock with your head?” he asked, shaking his head.
My cheeks burned even further as he stared at me like he couldn’t believe my logic.
“My hands were occupied,” I tried to defend myself.
His gaze suddenly softened. It was of course, bizarre and impossible considering we’d just met and hardly knew each other, but that look made me feel as though he adored me to an almost unreal proportion.
“Let’s eat before the food gets cold,” I muttered.
He took the vase from me and put it down on the coffee table that was in the seating area.
I placed the food on the table next to it, and couldn’t help but ask. “Why didn’t you bring the flowers into your office?”
He glanced at the bouquet. “Honestly?”
“Of course.”
He took his seat and shrugged. “I’m not a huge fan of flowers.”
I took my seat next to him. “Really?”
He nodded.
“So why did your lawyer send them to you? It’s a strange thing to send to a man if you don’t know for sure he loves flowers?”
He smiled at me, my brain began to glitch once again. I wished that I could tell him not to do that too often, or at least without warning because every time he did, my self-control slipped a bit more. Naturally his eyes were cold and hard, but when he smiled like that, he was suddenly transformed into some sort of God, that I wanted to touch, stroke, and just … just … lick. Oh God, what was I turning into?