Page 36 of Playing Pretend

“Nooo,” I shook my head with vigor, as if he could see me through the door. I poured the wine, and then settled back into the water. The bathroom door opened, and Caleb stuck his head in.

“I see you helped yourself to some of my wine,” he said, his brows arched high and his mouth twisted into an amused grin. “And left half your clothes in the hallway.”

“I see you ignored the fact that I’m naked, and came in anyway.” My words came out a little slurred, and I tittered at my smart reply.

Caleb stepped in, and I looked up at him from beneath my lashes. “Please, Mr. Callahan, do come in.” My drunken attempt at an English accent was awful, which only made me snort at myself. I moved the bubbles around – did I pour the entire bottle in? – And made sure all the important bits were covered. I might have been well on my way to being hammered, but I still had enough sense to make sure Caleb didn’t get an eyeful of my boobs.

Or my in-need-of-a-wax vajayjay.

“I think you’ve had enough.” Caleb reached for the wine glass, and to my own disbelief, I gave it to him. I’d polished an entire bottle of vino on my own so it was safe to say I was done for the night.

I was a complete lightweight.

Caleb put the glass, and empty bottle on the counter, and then turned to face me. He looked so imposing, standing next to the tub, his arms folded across his broad chest. His stubble had grown back, and my fingers started to tingle with the desire to know what it felt like.

“Any particular reason you decided to tuck into a whole bottle of wine on your own?”

“Pfft,” I flicked my hand at him, uncaring that his shirt was getting sprayed, “I have several reasons, and they all start and end with you.”

“Is that so?” Caleb was doing a piss poor job of hiding his smile.

Why did he have to smile? He was so distracting when he did that.

“Yes,” I gave him a look as if to say duh, “But I’d rather not talk to you about it right this second. I want to go back to enjoying my bath. Alone.”

“Too bad.” Caleb crouched next to the tub, bringing us to eye level. “I’m not going anywhere until you talk to me.”

“And if I don’t?” I challenged. “What will you do?”

“I’ll get in this tub with you.”

My eyes widened. “You wouldn’t dare.”

Caleb’s eyes brightened with anticipation. “Try me.”

“Okay,” I huffed. “I dare you.”

I should have thought it through.

Even better, I should have kept my big mouth shut.

Because one minute I was staring into Caleb’s eyes, challenging him, and the next he was slipping his shoes off and climbing into the tub, clothes and all.