Chapter 16
I count to exactly one hundred and two before I spy a very frustrated man walking into the restaurant, heading straight for me. The anticipation of this moment has been excruciating.
“There you are, I was wondering when you’d join me,” I say when Caleb plops down in Chad’s vacant seat.
“Don’t.” Caleb holds up his hand.
“Don’t what?” I bat my eyelashes at him.
“Just. Don’t,” he nearly growls.
I spear a dumpling with my fork, but he snatches the utensil out of my hand and takes the bite himself.
My lips twitch. “Hangry?”
He grunts again.
I slide my plate to him. I was done anyway.
“I wasn’t going to gloat.” I definitely was but he seems a little sensitive right now.
“You’re still wrong. He’s playing you.”
“I think I would know if I was being played.” I guess I didn’t for a whole year with Justin, but I’m not about to admit that in my moment of victory.
Caleb aims a fork at me. “And you’re eating it up. I thought you were practically a spy.”
I run my finger over the edge of my glass. “I’m in spy-adjacent territory.”
“Then tell me this.” He continues on as if he didn’t hear me, taking a much bigger bite of food than I tend to do. “Why is a man like that, a man who has been accused of everything from theft to murder—”
“Murder?” I screech.
Heads whip in our direction. Caleb’s eyes bulge, and so does a creepy vein in his neck.
I cough. “I left my goldfish with you for two hours! Two! How did you kill him in two hou—”
Caleb grabs my hand, putting an end to my display. A shame, I was on a roll.
“Sorry.” I cover my mouth with my hands. “Sometimes I get carried away. Once upon a time, I thought I’d be a great actress. Tonight, I definitely sold it.”
“Amelia.” He groans.
I lower my voice, going back to the issue at hand. The big issue. The whole murderer thing. “You said he hurt people. You never said anything about him killing people! How many people has he…” I glance around, “unalived?”
Caleb takes his time swallowing. “Unknown. One for sure. But there have been others who wind up dead when Liam is around.”
This time my shout is more in the realm of a whisper. “You let me go out with a man who killed an unknown amount of people?”
His eyebrows squish together. “You said he was innocent.”
“And you believed me? What do I know? I’m not a secret agent! I like to see the best in people.” My voice rises again and I have to consciously pull it back down. I take a deep breath and drain the rest of my soda, feeling every painful bubble burst in my chest. I slam the glass down then yank my jacket off, taking big breaths.
Caleb only sits there watching me while devouring the rest of my food.
“Okay. I spiraled a bit there.” I pick up the wine menu and use it to fan my overheating body. “But you have a problem on your hands.”
He gives me a look that says no duh.
“I think I can help,” I say.
He polishes off the last of the gnocchi and sits back. “No. You’ve helped enough, and we are grateful for that. We won’t be putting you in danger anymore.”
As if to prove his point, he picks up my phone and deletes the listening app.
That’s a very considerate notion. But I’m already in this. And he won’t get rid of me. He just doesn’t know that yet.
Thirty minutes later Cruz pulls the van into my apartment complex. She refused to stop for ice cream on the way home. And I’m still upset about it.
A date with a dangerous man deserves two pounds of ice cream as payment.
Everyone knows this.
Caleb hops out of the van and opens the door for me. Good to see he’s finally doing his part to keep chivalry alive.
“Could you, uh, maybe walk me to my apartment? I’m a bit shaken up.” I say, wringing the jacket in my hands.
“Of course.” He nods once and tells Serena he’ll be back in a few minutes.
Now who”s eating up my act? I’m a much better actress than he gives me credit for.
It’s only him and me in the dim hallways. This is the chance I’ve been waiting for all night. To ask the deep questions.
“If your life was made into a movie, who would you want to play you?” I ask, heading for the stairwell.
He grunts. “No one would watch a movie about my life.”
“Just play along, Mr. Scrooge. Pick a celebrity.”
He sighs and starts on the next flight of stairs. I forgot how hard it is to walk up stairs and make conversation.
“I guess Henry Cavill.”
I study his side profile in the terrible light. “I could see that. You both have butt chins.”
He stops walking. “What?”
“That.” I reach up and poke the dimple in his chin.
“That is not what it’s called.” He brushes my hand away and rubs his chin thoughtfully.
“Sure it is. Don’t be embarrassed. It’s adorable.”
He trips over a step but keeps facing forward like it didn’t happen. “What about you? Which actress?”
I grin. He asked me a question that didn’t have anything to do with my date or trying to get rid of me.
“Millie Bobby Brown of course. For the namesake, but also because she’s one of the most beautiful and talented actresses in my opinion.”
“Isn’t she also British?” he asks.
“Simple. I’ll change myself,” I say with an accent. “How’s this?”
“Horrendous.” He chuckles. “You don’t need to change, Amelia.”
My steps slow as a warmth grows in my chest. I heard the opposite so many times from Justin that I’m not sure what to think.
Caleb doesn’t think I’m too much.
I know, I shouldn’t read into it, but screw it, I’m reading into it. His words are like a Band-Aid on my bleeding heart. They won’t stitch it back together, but for now, it’s holding it in place until I can get the bleeding to slow.
Caleb stops outside my door. “Well, thank you again for your help. Sorry, we put you through all that for nothing.”
I bite the inside of my cheek. “Would you have preferred he take me hostage?”
“No.” He rakes a hand through his hair. “Sorry, that came out wrong. I’m frustrated by this case and I’m no closer to figuring out why he’s here or how to lock him up.”
I wish I could offer him words of encouragement, but despite all my pretending, I’m not Shawn Spencer. I can’t find clues where there are none and point Caleb in the right direction. I can barely find my phone from hour to hour. I don’t know if he will find the right guy behind all these crimes. And that thought alone makes my skin crawl.
Nerves creep up my spine and I throw myself at his chest, burying my face between his glorious pectoral muscles.
Caleb goes still. I’m hugging a wall.
“Do you not know how to comfort a frightened woman?” I pinch his side. “Hug me back.”
His arms move around my body so stiffly I might believe he was playing the part of a tin man. But it does the trick. I hold onto him for an extra moment before pulling back.
“Would you mind checking my apartment?” I look up at him, biting my bottom lip to sell it. “Just real quick. I know I’m probably being ridiculous, but everything is more real now.”
He simply nods and I unlock the door for him. Instead of waiting outside I follow him in and shut the door quietly behind me.
Both dogs trail him, begging for attention as he walks in and out of my tiny rooms and then meets me by the door. “Do you want the good news or the bad news?”
My heart kicks up a notch. I really am in danger. “Neither?”
He looks around at my place. “Good news, no one broke into your apartment while you were out. Bad news…”
I take a deep breath, preparing myself for the worst.
“If someone had broken into your apartment, they might have left it cleaner than they found it.” His face breaks into a grin, quite possibly the most genuine one I’ve ever witnessed from him, and… I like it. A lot.
“Rude!” I pick up the nearest item on the couch and chuck it at him.
He laughs as the bright pink bra hits his chest and falls lazily into a pile of clothes at his feet.
“You know all this stuff lying around like this is a hazard,” he says.
“Psh.” I slip past him. Opening the jar of dog treats, I toss one to each of the dogs then tuck another one into my pocket. “How so?”
“Well, it’s a fire hazard for one. What if you drop a match in here?” He motions to the pile of laundry and makes a little explosion noise. “Up in flames.”
“Simple solution. I don’t own any matches.” I step closer to him.
“You don’t own matches? What are you going to do if the power goes out and your phone is dead?”
I shrug. “Probably sleep.”
“You worry me.”
“In what ways?”
His eyes skate over my face and, for a brief moment, my lips. “In all the ways.” His voice is barely audible, but his words singe my skin with desire.
I take a breath, ready to move closer but he steps around me.
“Wait.” I turn and grab his arm, stopping him right in front of me. We are so close in my tiny entryway that I smell his cologne. It’s strong and intoxicating. “Can I have your number? In case I think of anything you might need to know.”
His eyes search mine. “Is there something you purposely aren’t telling me?”
“No,” I lie. I want to tell him a lot of things. First and foremost to kiss me again. And then, you know, take me out on a date or something.
He slips his phone out of his pocket and five seconds later my phone buzzes. Presumably from him. “There.”
“Wait.” I’m scrambling now, I don’t want him to leave. “Can I add a picture to my contact info?”
His brows furrow, and in his state of confusion, I manage to snag his phone out of his other hand and slip a dog treat into his pocket at the same time.
“Amelia, you can’t take my—”
His words die off as Gus jumps at him. Followed by Shawn. His phone is still unlocked, waiting for me. I aim the camera at my face, sure to get my good angle. “I’d hate for you to forget me. We are partners after all. For better or worse. The Bonnie to your Clyde.”
“They were criminals,” he says, squatting down to calm Shawn and Gus who only get crazier as the treat gets closer
“Oh, right.” I close out of the application and swipe through his phone. Ugh, his phone is so organized. How do people live like this?
Ah,there’s the app I need. Shawn jumps up, putting his paws on Caleb”s shoulders who very patiently gets him down and tells him to sit, giving me enough time to share his location with myself and close out of the app. “We’re Tom and Jerry then.”
Caleb stands. “Weren’t they predator and prey?”
“Yes.” Now he’s getting it.
He studies me with a curious expression like he can’t figure me out.
I wish him luck in that endeavor.
“Which one am I?” He takes his phone back from me.
I grin up at him. “I think you know, Agent Harris.”
He shakes his head, seeming to come back to himself, then reaches for the door. “Thanks again for your help. I’ll, uh…see you.”
Yes, he will.