Page 18

“You must be tired.” Caleb made no move to step into the bedroom. “I need to be in the office at six tomorrow morning, but I’ll make sure there’s another car here for when you’re ready to leave.”

He turned, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep if he didn’t know how truly grateful I was.

“Caleb.”

Rather than face me, he gave me his profile.

“Thank you,” I said again. “Really.”

His shoulders moved with every weighted breath he took, like he was trying to ground himself, and then he squeezed his eyes closed. Without another word, he shut the door, and left me alone.

The click of the door echoed through the room, and it was the first time in the last thirty minutes that I was able to fill my lungs with a decent amount of air. Physically I was drained, but mentally I was alert, and very much awake. My feet padded across the plush carpet, and I was reminded that I was still barefoot. I hadn’t yet showered, and when I stepped into the capacious bathroom, the first thing my eyes latched into was the claw foot tub in the center of the marble floor. A large white cabinet with a single basin stood to my right, and two glass doors closed off the shower at the opposite end, taking up the entire length of the wall.

It was late, and it would have been smart to go to bed, but I needed a chance to decompress, and process everything that had happened in such a short space of time. I removed my clothes, and wrapped a fluffy white towel around my body before returning to the bedroom with the intention of putting my phone on charge before I took a bath.

Murmuring from the hallway outside made me pause, and with careful steps, I opened the door. I peered out, and saw Caleb talking to a dark-haired woman. She looked young, and quite beautiful, and I tried to quash my curiosity. Caleb’s personal life had nothing to do with me. In fact, every facet of his life was none of my business.

The young woman said something in a hushed voice, too quiet for me to make out what she was saying, and Caleb replied, his voice just as quiet. He escorted her back towards the living room, and I heard the telltale sound of the elevator doors opening and closing. I slunk back like a creeper, ignoring the way my mind started asking questions about the girl, and used a hot bath to switch it all off until there was nothing but silence.

I ROLLED OVER, and checked the time on my phone.

Two a.m.

I covered my face with my arm, and exhaled loudly. I’d only gotten to bed two hours ago, and I thought I’d manage to fall asleep after my bath, but as soon as I crawled between the sheets and laid my head down, every thought came rushing back in unwelcomed, and unbidden. I squeezed my eyes closed, willing my mind to remain quiet for just a few more hours when the strangest sound pierced the noiselessness.

My body stilled, and my breathing slowed as I listened intently for the sound to come again.

When it did, I sat up in bed.

It sounded like…like…a baby?

No. It couldn’t have been. Surely if…

I climbed out of bed, my footsteps muted, and gently opened the bedroom door. Everything was dark, except for the faintest light coming from further down the hallway. I heard murmuring, and then another cry, and couldn’t help it when my body involuntarily moved closer to seek out where it was coming from.

I stopped outside another door that was slightly ajar, holding my breath when I heard Caleb’s voice. I’d never heard it so calm, and so comforting before, and it only heightened my inquisitiveness. I told myself to walk away, that it was rude to invade whatever was going on behind the door, but once my palm rested on the wood, I knew there was no going back. With minimal effort, the door slowly swung open, and I stepped into the doorway.

Nothing could have prepared me for what I found, or what I’d feel when I did.

The pale pink, and green walls were washed in muted light, cast from a lamp on a dresser beside a dark wood crib. The room wasn’t as large as the one I was in, but big enough for…for…a nursery.

I covered my mouth with one hand, and watched as Caleb swayed his body from side-to-side, his back to me. He wasn’t aware that I was there, that I was watching him in complete rapture, but when he turned slightly, I caught a glimpse of the tiny person in his colorfully inked arms. It was the most beautiful paradox I’d ever seen – someone so big, not only in size but in stature and presence too, holding someone so tiny, and so fragile with such benevolence and care.

From the color on the walls, and the letters that spelled out ‘Braelynn’ on the wall above the crib, it wasn’t difficult to figure out that it was a little girl, and looking at how small she was, she couldn’t have been more than four weeks old.

Blue eyes, so much like Caleb’s, stayed glued to his face while he gave her a bottle. Her little head was already covered in dark hair, and from my vantage point I could see that she not only had Caleb’s nose, but his pouty lips too.

Oh.

My.

It was his daughter.

Caleb was a dad.

I gasped, only this time it was audible. Caleb’s head snapped up, and his eyes widened when he caught my open-mouthed stare. I tried to say something, but everything that was fighting to come out of my mouth was either inappropriate or completely nonsensical. My brain was misfiring in every direction, and I was woefully stuck between what the fuck and I must be dreaming. But it was all very much real, and I knew the moment Caleb realized it too.

His warm, loving expression, clearly reserved for his baby girl, became shuttered, and before he could say anything, I fled. Like a complete and utter coward, I ran the length of the hallway, passing my room, and the all the others, until I stopped in the living room. I had no idea why I stopped there, but I felt the overwhelming need to get as far from Caleb as his huge penthouse would allow.