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His hand settles on my nape and he says, calmly, “Because you needed me.”
I look up at him, reaching out for some tendril of anger to hold on to, only to grasp at emptiness, too drained to even think clearly, my tongue thick in my mouth. “I was calling Tracy!” The protest in my voice sounds weak and dismal w even to me.
Caleb just gives me a look so tender that I want to dissolve into tears.
“You got me instead,” he whispers.
I try to shove him away but he has himself wrapped around me so tightly that I can’t even budge. I also have no strength in me. I tiredly glare at his shirt, the next best thing to his face, saying hollowly, “You shouldn’t have come.”
His fingers comb through my hair now and he looks down at the dress I’m wearing. “This dress is ugly. I disapprove.”
“W-What?” Startled, I look up to meet his lightly amused gaze.
He looks smug as his fingers keep combing through my hair. “I looked it up. Erin is a girl’s name.”
“Oh, shut up.” I shove at his chest, my wor
ds empty. Then, I look around. “I have to get up.”
“But I’m so comfortable.” Caleb looks arrogant, so much like himself, acting as if this situation is so normal to him.
“Miss Hill and Elise are—?”
“They’re gone.” Caleb studies me, carefully. “Lana called me, and I told them to leave. Elise thinks you forgot about a business lunch.”
“And Lana?” I swallow.
“Lana is nothing if not discreet,” Caleb releases me and helps me stand up. He studies my dress. “We’re going somewhere else to get you something for the Ball. This dress is too ugly.”
“I heard you the first time,” I say irritably, and it hits me at the moment that he’s taken away that cloud of fear and panic, ripped them away with his bare hands and his body.
A slight headache forming at my temples, I glance his way. “I need to change back. Can you please give me some privacy?” My hands are heavy as I tug on my clothes and then I put my palms on the cold mirror to stare at myself, my face too pale, my eyes too big, my mouth pressed into a thin, trembling line.
I mistakenly called my boss during a panic attack then he rushed over and held me in his arms, dragging me out of it. And now, I have to go out and face the music.
The dress in my hands, I push open the door, only to see Caleb in his pristine suit with a smudge of my lipstick on his white shirt that he isn’t bothering to hide, casually sitting in the seat which had been occupied by Elise and Lana before.
“You need to eat something. You’re too pale.” He stands up, studying me. “And then we’ll get you a proper dress.”
“I don’t – I’ll get one tomorrow.” I want him to leave. I want him to leave because I’m so vulnerable right now and with all these emotions rising up in me, looking at him, I don’t want to face them. I don’t want to realize that this man has been stealthily carving a place for himself in my heart over the past few months.
“Our flight’s in a week. You don’t have time.”
And just like that, he reaches out and puts his hand on my lower back, his touch grounding me, as he guides me outside, where Duke is waiting with the car,
“Hey, little miss.” Duke touches his hat, grinning.
It’s the way he so carefully opens the door for me, his eyes soft, that makes me realize that he knows something has happened and I need careful handling.
I slump my head against the seat, not looking at Caleb even as I feel his eyes on me. “Stop it.”
“You look after me for the better part of the day and yet, if I try to look after you, once, you find that offensive?” Caleb observes me, casually.
I sigh. “I’m fine now. Let’s just go back to the office and pretend this never happened.”
I feel his fingers in my hair, his nails running along my scalp in a way that just makes me drowsy, and there’s a strange lilt to his voice, as he says softly, “Oh, that’s unlikely.”
“Caleb.”
