Page 46 of Playing Pretend

“I REALLY AM SORRY,” said Macy. “I should have known it was nothing.” I walked her to the curb outside the doors of New York-Presbyterian hospital where Drew had stopped his car. He looked disheveled, but the relief on his face was evident. It was late too, and we were all a little tired after all the drama.

“It’s fine,” I replied, squeezing Macy’s hand. “I’m just glad you and baby are both fine.”

“Talk about embarrassing,” she snorted. “Here I thought the kid was coming, and it turns out it was just a bad case of gas.”

“We won’t tell Jennifer that,” I snickered. “Let her think it’s her fault.”

“Fine by me.” Macy’s smile waned. “I’m sorry about what she said. Are you really going to let her go to the press?”

“I have a feeling she’s going to do it either way,” I sighed. “So it doesn’t really matter what I decide to do.”

Macy pursed her lips, her gaze a little too perceptive. “Talk to Caleb, before you decide to do anything. Act or not, you’re in this together, and he’d want to know that Jennifer is up to something. I fear he’s the only one who can shut the bitch up.”

“Do you plan on talking like that when the kid gets here?” mused Drew. He stopped in front of Macy, and rested his hands on her belly. I looked away, the moment a little too intimate for me to bear witness to.

“Sorry, Honey,” replied Macy. “I can’t help it if that woman gets my curse-filled vocabulary flowing.”

I turned back to them, and cleared my throat. “I’d better get going. Caleb will be wondering where I am.”

Macy’s eyes widened. “You didn’t tell him?”

I shook my head, and she tittered. “I knew there was a reason I liked you two together. You’re not scared to stand up to the brute.”

“Hardly. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Macy nodded, and Drew gave me a tired smile. “Thanks for everything, Kadence. I now know why my wife can never stop singing your praises.”

“It was nothing, really.”

I said goodnight, and waited until Drew and Macy had driven away before I hailed a cab for myself. I checked my phone for the first time since we’d arrived at the hospital, and cringed when I saw Caleb had called a bunch of times.

Great.

Dealing with an angry Caleb was not on my agenda for the rest of the evening.

I took a cab back to his penthouse, and leaned my head against the headrest while the warm summer breeze blew in through the open window. It lulled my vehement thoughts about Jennifer and her threats, and gave me enough time to become resolute about my decision. Caleb and I were doomed from the start, and I was ignorant for believing otherwise. We were foolish if we continued this charade, and me more so for thinking that Caleb’s association with me on a romantic level would possibly be a good thing for his image.

I paid the cab driver once he stopped outside the Puck building, and greeted the night doorman when he opened the door for me. I stepped into the private elevator, and slipped my shoes off just before the doors opened. It was dark, the only light coming from inside the atrium. I looked around, and let out a huge breath when I didn’t see anyone. My relief was short lived though, as soon as I walked past the kitchen, and through the living room, I felt him.

I twisted slightly, my eyes seeking in the dark but not finding anything. Not even his silhouette.

Then his breath hit my bare shoulders, and I startled.

“Where have you been?” he asked. His voice was grim. Hard. Angry.

My exhalation was one of tiredness and defeat. I was in no condition for a verbal smack down, not tonight anyway.

“I was at the hospital with Macy,” I replied, rubbing at my forehead. A dull ache had started to form between my eyes, and all I wanted was to crawl into bed, and pretend the evening had turned out differently. The feel of Caleb’s calloused fingers on my arm dragged me back into the present, and back into darkness of the living room. He spun me around, and I didn’t even need light to see the agitation written all over his face.

“Is she okay?” he asked. His brusque tone niggled at the latent indignation I was starting to feel, not towards Caleb but towards Jennifer, and her stupid, not-so-empty threats.

“She’s fine.” With a hard pull, I took my arm back, and tried to walk away, but if there was one thing no one ever did, it was walk away from Caleb. He stopped me in my tracks by wrapping his fingers around my wrist, and rather than fight him, I allowed my arm to go lax in his grasp.

“That’s it? I’ve been worried sick, and all you’re giving me is she’s fine?”

“I’m sorry I didn’t call, okay? I was a little busy thinking Macy was in labor. I didn’t think it would be a big deal.”

The stubborn edge to my voice rung loudly in my ears.