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Caleb sighed. “No, I don’t.”
“You’re sure?”
“Things are moving exactly how they’re supposed to. We’re not rushing into anything. Annie is not Melissa.”
Ryan held up his hands. “Right, right, of course. I guess I’ll see you around.”
“We’ll do lunch tomorrow. You can keep interrogating me then, if you need to.”
Ryan moved toward him and shook his hand. “I do everything I do because I care about you.”
He tightened his hold on Ryan’s hand. “I’ve still got it.”
Ryan left a few minutes later, and Caleb got to work. He didn’t want to stay too long as he looked forward to taking Annie and Tara out to dinner. There were a few issues from a couple of the nannies, and he quickly worked through them, contacting the necessary families. Once he was done, he left the office. He’d parked his car in the underground lot. He pulled out of the space and made his way across town.
He didn’t expect to find a parking spot so close to the park, but he slid his car into one. He climbed out of his car and headed into the park. He scanned the area and found Annie sitting on one of the benches, with Tara in her arms. This was a huge improvement. She had a toy in her hand, and gave it a shake.
Annie was not Melissa. Caleb was no longer in love or had any kind of feelings for the viperous woman. Moving across the park, he took a seat beside Annie.
“Hello, beautiful.”
She looked up at him and smiled. “Look, Tara, Caleb has come to play.” She gave him a wave. “How was work?”
“Ryan came along. He wanted to check up on me.”
“Ah, best friends, being giant pains in the butt. Is that right?” Annie asked.
“Yeah, pretty much.”
“He’s worried about you, and after everything you told me, he kind of has a right to be.”
“No, he doesn’t. You’re not like that.”
“True,” Annie said. “But he doesn’t know that.” She shrugged. “Be grateful to your friend. He cares enough to keep an eye on you.”
Caleb looked at her and realized Annie didn’t have anyone. There was no friend to comfort her. No friend to hold her hand and tell her it was going to be okay. The only friend she had once had taken her fiancé, and now had left her a baby to take care of.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
Annie looked up. “For what?”
“For complaining about my friend.”
“Caleb, stop it, okay? You’ve got great friends. Ryan and Katherine care about you. They want to make sure you’re okay.”
“But who do you have, Annie?” he asked.
The smile on her lips slipped a little. “I’ve got you, right? And I’ve got Tara.”
Yeah, but he hated that there was no one else in her life.
She reached out and put a hand on his arm. “Stop it. I’ve been fine for this long and I can be fine for a lot longer.” She offered him a smile. “It’s all good.”
He cupped her cheeks and tilted her head back. Her lips looked so damn inviting. All he wanted to do was kiss them. In fact, he wanted to do a whole lot more than that, but kissing them seemed like a good idea.
“Caleb, we’re in the park.”
“I don’t give a fuck.”
She gasped and he swallowed it down, deepening the kiss. Sinking his fingers into her hair, he tasted her. He was very much aware of Tara in her arms, and even though all he wanted to do was deepen the kiss, to make love to her mouth, he stopped himself. There would come a time for that.
“Are you hungry?” he asked.
“Starving.”
“Good.”
Letting go of her face, he reached for Tara, held her close, and then took Annie’s hand in his.
“You two are just an adorable couple,” a much older woman said as she passed by them. “Don’t ever let that spark die.”
Caleb chuckled and Annie bowed her head, resting it against his chest. “Oh God, do you think we’re going to be the topic of conversation?”
“Oh, yeah.”
He glanced around the park and saw they’d gained quite a bit of attention.
“I think it’s time for us to go,” he said.
“Yeah, I do, too.”
****
Halloween
“I don’t think I should be doing this,” Annie said, glancing at her reflection in the mirror. She had never dressed up for Halloween.
“Come on, let me see.”
They had been—she didn’t exactly know what they’d been doing—was it dating, friends with benefits, what? They didn’t go out on dates because of Tara, but tonight was different. Totally different. Katherine and Ryan had offered to take care of Tara so they could go out on their first official date.
Caleb knew of a party and of course the whole theme was dress-up. He’d come home from work with this costume. A sexy witches costume that molded to her body like a second skin, until it got to her hips, at which point it flared out. The main corset had mini hooks at the front to fasten, and she’d done all of them. She could still breathe.
