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“Oh my God!” I’m half giggling, half fighting the urge to cover my face with embarrassment. “I don’t even remember saying that to you. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s fine. I heard all that and worse. I never took it seriously.”
“But still. I was terrible to you.”
“I think I was the target because I was always there. I didn’t take it personally even though sometimes it kind of seemed like it was personal.” He’s still almost teasing. He doesn’t look hurt or offended or even guarded.
“I’m sure I thought it was personal, but you never did anything to deserve it. I was a mess. I can’t ever apologize enough.”
“You’ve already apologized. And, what’s more, you’ve turned your whole life around, and you’ve treated me with nothing but kindness and respect since I started working for you again. This is who you really are. I knew it back then too.”
My cheeks flush with pleasure at the mild words and at the look in his eyes. It’s not hot or passionate or intense in any way. It’s gentle.
Almost sweet.
I’ve never seen that look on Caleb’s face before.
It makes me nervous and excited at the same time, and I don’t know what to do with it.
So I do the only logical thing for a woman in my situation.
I turn my head and focus on the movie again.
5
My father assignedCaleb to me full time after I dropped out of college halfway through my sophomore year. I got into a car wreck with my then boyfriend, and my dad insisted that the least I could do was let him make sure I didn’t put myself in physical danger. I could say no, but then he could refuse to fund my lifestyle.
Those were his exact words.
I didn’t really want the bodyguard, but I also didn’t want to lose the financial support, so I begrudgingly agreed.
After that, Caleb went everywhere I did.
At first he was basically my driver. My days revolved around my boyfriend, so we spent most of our time at his place or at clubs or parties. Caleb would drive us, stand in the background glowering, and generally not get in the way.
But after I broke up with that boyfriend, my days changed. They were wilder. Less predictable. And I was usually on my own or with a group of girlfriends who would drop me in an instant if a man showed them interest.
That was when Caleb’s job got much harder and when I started to resent him a lot more.
One night I was supposed to meet a friend at a new club, but she never showed up. That kind of thing didn’t bother me back then. I went inside anyway, easily finding guys to buy me drinks or offer me the hottest designer pills.
I’m not sure what I took that night, but it’s one of the few nights when I got high that aren’t blurred or blank. I can remember details. After a few hours, I was on the dance floor being pawed by a couple of guys I just met. Caleb was standing against the wall, near enough to keep his eye on me, but as usual I was ignoring his existence.
One of the guys suggested we go into a back room, and I was so out of it I saw absolutely no reason not to agree. He and the other guy started escorting me through the crowd. Another guy joined us, so there were three of them.
I was startled by the extra guy but in no shape to disagree.
We’d reached the door when our way was blocked by a big, unsmiling man.
Caleb.
“What’s your problem, asshole?” That question was from one of the three guys, the tallest one with overblown muscles and a smarmy kind of attractiveness.
Caleb didn’t say anything. He also didn’t move.
“Get out of the fucking way.” The guy reached out to shove Caleb out of the way, but he simply would not be moved.
“Caleb, stop blocking the way,” I said, dizzy and flustered and rattled and also really annoyed with him. I was trying to have a good time, and he was disturbing things.
