Page 36 of Miss Fortune

Chapter Sixteen

Daisy

I was learning something about Caleb. On the surface he came across as a bit of a dick with his blunt responses, but there was something different going on underneath it all. For example, he’d showed so much care over my accident last Saturday, and he’d floored me by remembering Toby’s name and inquiring about him. It was like he wrestled with the social graces but had a big heart. Hadn’t Doris mentioned there was another side to him? Perhaps there was.

So I decided not to take his last unkind remark about my clumsiness seriously. “You know, I can see women throwing themselves on sharp objects in order to get Dr. Lucas to come see them.”

His eyes rolled.

The immature gesture was so unexpected of him, it made me chuckle.

“Sadly, you’re not far from the truth. He had one woman who called him weekly with a new ailment each time. She’d greet him in skimpier and skimpier clothes with each of his visits.”

My brows rose. “Now that’s commitment. What happened?” When Caleb got into the groove of conversation, I found myself completely engrossed.

“I believe after one last awkward house call where she was completely naked, he had to refer her to his colleague. You ready to continue?”

“Yep.” My legs would feel the workout tomorrow, but it felt great to be outside in the fresh air getting some exercise.

Whenever I engaged in physical activity, I needed to monitor my heart rate to ensure I wasn’t overdoing it. Although I rarely pushed myself, today pride had seduced me into a quicker-than-comfortable pace. Stupid. And of course he’d noticed I’d become winded.

Since we were in the friend zone, I should have been able to avoid the pressure to put up a false front if this were actually a first date. But no. While my mind and heart were completely on board with the plan to keep things platonic, my body clearly had an agenda of its own. It wanted to impress the hot guy with great legs and incredible abs, who could hike without putting a hair out of place. Setting my brain firmly in charge, I forced myself to slow down and keep a leisurely pace.

He pointed ahead. “There’s another great photo op of the city over this next ridge.”

“Great.”

“It’s a good thing we got here early; it’s already busy. It’s better on weekdays.”

Of course, now he was chatty, when I was out of breath. As the climb had grown steeper, my conversation had whittled down to one-word answers. “Yeah.”

“Why was this particular hike on your list? There are some prettier hikes up by Malibu.”

“I have a Malibu hike on there too, but this was in a tour guide, and I wanted to check it off my list.”

“We could do the Escondido Falls trail next Saturday.”

He wanted to make plans for next weekend? Trying not to read anything into his suggestion or get too excited at the thought of spending more time with him, I tried for nonchalant. “Sure, sounds fun.”

“Joshua Tree was on your list too. Longer trip, but it’s worth it. Or we could do a ball game?”

“For the following weekend?”

His neck started to turn red. “Unless you have other plans.”

“No, I don’t. It’s nice to have a friend I can plan these things with.”

“We’re friends now?”

He didn’t ask it with sarcasm, more like a general curiosity.

“I would hope we’re on our way to it. Why? You have an aversion to friendships?”

“No. I’m just not very good at them. I’m too busy to invest a lot of time.”

There was a hint of vulnerability there. “A real friend accepts you for who you are and what you bring to the relationship. They don’t put demands on you.” That was the great thing about my friends. We were there for one another, but it was never high maintenance.

“All relationships have demands.”