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She trailed after him down the back hallway, past the restrooms. He halted in front of the office door and turned around to face her. It was quieter back here. The voices of the businessmen had faded to a dull murmur, blending with the white noise hum of the refrigerator case at the end of the hall.
Neither of them spoke. They were standing close enough that she could see the gold in his eyes. As they stared at one another, the memory of the kiss floated in the air between them. Their fevered breaths. The way he’d moaned into her mouth. Penny licked her lips.
“I owe you an apology,” Caleb said.
The words punctured her thin bubble of hope. “I see.”
“I shouldn’t have kissed you like that.”
“Why not?” she heard herself say a little too loudly.
He flinched at the challenge in her tone. “What?”
“Why shouldn’t you have kissed me?”
The bell on the front door jangled, and there was a murmur of voices as more customers came in. Malik was out front. He could handle them.
Caleb shuffled his feet like he was itching to escape. “Um…”
“Do you have a girlfriend?” Penny asked.
He shook his head at the floor. “No, nothing like that.”
She rested her hands on her hips. “Did you not mean to do it? Am I supposed to believe it was some sort of accident? That you tripped and fell onto my face?”
“No, of course not, I—”
“Because I’m trying to understand why you’d do something like that and then run off and leave me standing there. And why you’re apologizing now for kissing me instead of for running off.”
“I’m sorry for that part too,” he said quietly.
“It wasn’t very nice.”
“You’re right, it wasn’t. I’m sorry.” God, he was beautiful when he was being contrite. It made it impossible to think straight.
Penny stared at his collarbone, which was also stupidly attractive, but not quite as distracting as his face. “So why did you do it?”
“Run off? Or kiss you?”
“Both. Either. Why are you being so weird about all of it?”
“Um.” He shifted his weight, lowering his eyes to the floor. If she hadn’t been standing between him and escape, he might have actually bolted like a horse.
She crossed her arms. “Did you not want to kiss me?”
“No, I…” He trailed off, rubbing his palms on his thighs.
Penny waited. She was prepared to wait all day if that was what it took.
He looked up. “I’ve wanted to kiss you for a long time.”
That stopped her in her tracks. “W—what?”
His eyes looked into hers. “You heard me.”
Something burned in her chest, constricting her voice to a whisper. “But you don’t even like me.”
“That’s not true.” He looked pained.
