Page 22 of Playing Pretend

I forgot all about what happened with Caleb in his office, and even forgot about how hard the past few days had been.

When she was done eating, I burped her, and slowly rocked her to sleep. I was putting her back down in her crib when Caleb burst through the door. He stopped in his tracks when he saw me, his chest heaving with breathlessness.

He opened his mouth, but I put my hand up, signaling for him to give me a minute. I turned the mobile on above Braelynn’s crib, and stepped away. I followed Caleb out as he shut the door, and turned to face him.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he asked angrily. His face was taut, and if I weren’t already so pissed with him, his palpable concern for his daughter would have been enough to give way to sympathy. But he’d been an asshole earlier, and my disposition wasn’t exactly forgiving.

“Is that your version of ‘thank-you’?” I bit out.

Caleb’s scowl was thunderous, his sharp brows drawn down with disapproval. “I’d like to know what you’re doing here, before I thank you for something I know nothing about.”

Crossing my arms over my chest, I fixed him with as hard a look as I could muster. I was smaller, and shorter than Caleb, but that didn’t mean I was going to allow him to bully me.

“Paul called me when he couldn’t reach you. He said Danielle left earlier, and never came back, so I got in a cab and came straight here. Braelynn was screaming when I got here, and as soon as Paul left I changed her diaper, and fed her.”

Caleb blew out a breath from between his pursed lips.

When it became apparent that he wasn’t going to say anything resembling appreciation, or gratitude, I said, “You’re welcome.”

I walked towards the guestroom, and slipped my heels from my feet. Caleb followed me, I could feel his presence at my back, but I remained quiet.

“Why would you come?” The question was unexpected, but what bothered me was how it was delivered. He should have just come right out and asked me how I could have the nerve to answer a call for help concerning his daughter.

“I knew Braelynn was alone.” I didn’t bother turning around. “I wasn’t about to leave a newborn to fend for herself until you got here. Why is it so damn hard for you to thank me and just get it over with?”

I was so fixated on the irritation winding its way through my chest that I didn’t realize what I was doing. I lifted my blouse over my head, and faced Caleb. His eyes widened slightly, and he took a step back. I was standing in my skirt, and my white lacy bra.

Awareness dawned, and I moved to cover my breasts but my inner rebel opposed the idea. I placed my hands on my hips, and watched as Caleb’s eyes traveled the length of me. If he could get away with not apologizing for being an asshole, then I felt it was my responsibility to inflict some kind of punishment, and what better way than to make him uncomfortable.

His stance was rigid, his chest faltering slightly with a hitched breath, and his hands clenched. He suddenly looked furious with me, and that in turn changed my sense of triumph into bewilderment. I never knew where I stood with this man, and constantly trying to determine how he was going to talk to me, how he was going to treat me, was taxing.

“I know what you’re doing.” The bass of his voice traveled deep enough to rattle my bones, and sent blood rushing to my cheeks. That was starting to become a conditioned response around him, and if I had any hope of surviving an entire week in such close proximity to him, I had to change that.

“What am I doing?” I asked softly.

“You’re trying to distract me.” Caleb swallowed, and his noticeable discomfort somehow grounded me, reminding me that the feelings I had, were for the twenty-five-year-old version of him.

“Actually, all I want is an apology, followed by a thank-you.”

“Apology? For what?”

That was like a bucket of ice-cold water.

“For humiliating me in your office this morning.”

Something akin to contempt hardened Caleb’s already sharp features, and he stepped so close I could feel his breath.

“I won’t apologize,” his voice lowered. “I gave you a roof over your head, and the least you could do is dress like you’re no longer homeless.”

If ever I was looking for a sign that the man who’d taken my first kiss was no longer there, no matter how deep he may have been buried, then that was it. The sharp twinge in my chest made it hard to breathe, but I inhaled and didn’t even stop the burning sensation.

“Get out.” My whisper was ragged, but I knew Caleb heard me. The contempt I’d seen on his face only seconds ago was no longer there, and the rate at which his emotions changed was starting to give me whiplash.

His hand reached for me, but I was done, and when I took a step back, he had the decency to look bashful.

“Please,” I begged, trying desperately not to show how easily he affected me, how easily his words could unravel me. “Just go.”

He listened, and the click of the door literally brought me to my knees.