Chapter One #4
‘I wouldn’t exactly say that,’ he admitted with a wry smile.
‘It’s an inherited family business. My grandfather owned a small restaurant in Melbourne fifty years ago.
My father joined the business at sixteen and when he eventually took over, he expanded across the state.
By the time I was growing up, we had places in every major city across Australia and it was just expected that I would join the business and one day take over.
I was never asked if it was what I wanted to do, and I struggled with that choice of how I wanted to live my life being essentially taken from me.
I felt…’ Caleb searched for the best way to describe it, even though he had never been good at drawing feelings out of himself or putting his emotions into words.
He had figured out at a young age that it was better to bury whatever he felt, rather than be consumed by it.
‘Boxed in,’ Serena supplied knowingly, and it took him aback that she could so easily identify what he had felt. As if she too knew that feeling. As if they were connected.
‘Yes. Exactly,’ he breathed, staring at her with a strange lump forming in his throat, because when had he ever felt such a strong bond of kindship with anyone else, especially a woman?
Was that what had compelled him to share so much in that moment, when expressing his feelings quite so openly about anything wasn’t something he ever did.
He was certainly asked his fair share of probing questions, but Caleb always denied the requests to drill into his life, holding everyone, especially women, at arm’s length.
Life, he’d learned, was safer that way. Tidier.
‘I get it. Having your life mapped out for you before you have the chance to claim it as your own is not easy.’ Something moved in her eyes that told of her own experience with that, and he felt his breath catch again, the same strange feeling hooking in his chest. ‘But you obviously managed to get past it somehow?’
‘Eventually I realised I was lucky to be part of something, to be part of that legacy and that it was time I started contributing to it. And I knew how much it meant to my father too, to have me be part of it.’
‘Both he and your grandfather must be incredibly proud of all you’re achieving.’
‘I think my father would be happier if I slowed down long enough to have a family and provide the next generation of Morgenthaus, but since that’s not going to happen, he’ll have to be content with global expansion.’
Caleb couldn’t fathom where those words had come from either, other than his earlier conversation with his father was still playing on his mind.
It was the same discussion they’d had a dozen times already—his father exerting paternal pressure on him to fulfil the rest of his obligation and provide heirs to continue the family legacy—and it had ended the same as every other time, in a stony stalemate.
His father didn’t want to hear his refusals, and Caleb wasn’t willing to offer the reasoning behind his unyielding stance.
The events, scorched into his brain, were not moments of his life he had any interest in talking about, especially not with his father.
They had never been close like that, not after his father had spent the majority of Caleb’s formative years battling his heartache over his wife’s desertion and finding solace in burying himself in work and never in his son—the son he held responsible for that loss.
‘You’re don’t plan on getting married and having a family?’ Serena queried.
‘No. I like my life as it is. I have no desire to change it,’ he answered, with a frankness that left no room for doubt.
He liked to always have those cards face up on the table so any woman who crossed his path knew what to expect.
And what not to expect. That was key. Not that it was necessary, not when he was so careful to only entertain women on the same page as him.
‘Now, I think it’s your turn again,’ Caleb said, his eyes mapping the striking planes of her face.
‘Tell me what brought you to Singapore?’
‘Work. My boss is looking to expand her overseas business, so we’re here, taking lots of meetings and exploring new opportunities.’
‘Do you like your job?’
She nodded impassively. ‘I’ve been doing it for a few years.’
He smiled, recognising avoidance when he saw it. ‘That isn’t what I asked.’
She sighed, funnelling her fingers through her hair and releasing the sweetest scent into the air between them.
It quickened Caleb’s heart and caused his pulse to thud with even more eagerness.
He wanted to bury his face in that scent, in her neck and her hair.
‘If you’re asking if I dreamed of being an executive assistant as a little girl, then no. ’
‘Why didn’t you pursue your dream?’ She didn’t seem like someone lacking in courage or confidence, so he was curious as to why she had settled for something she didn’t want.
More curiosity, Caleb. Really?
It was unusual for him, he had to admit, but he couldn’t help it.
A sadness, or perhaps a weariness, came into her eyes, and she momentarily turned her gaze away, looking off into the starry sky. ‘I kind of got boxed in too.’ It was then that he saw it flash in her eyes, everything he had once felt. The constraint, the powerlessness, the frustration.
‘By what?’
She shook her head gently. ‘It’s really too long of a story to go into,’ she murmured, drawing her eyes down and away from his, and when she looked back at him, they had shuttered, and he didn’t like that at all. ‘And I think it’s time I should be going anyway.’
The words caught him off guard. She wanted to leave? ‘You should?’
‘Yes. I said one drink and that drink is finished. Thank you. It was nice meeting you, Caleb.’
Caleb stared at her as she got to her feet, a slight frown pinching between his brows.
Women had walked away from him before. Not often, but it had happened.
He’d never been all that bothered. There were always other women.
But he was bothered now, watching her prepare to leave with a rapidly beating heart.
Because she was beautiful and he wanted to take her, yes.
But, also, because he wanted to know more of her.
Because the past while with her was the most connected he’d felt to another person in a long time.
It wasn’t a feeling Caleb had been seeking, or that he had ever sought, nor was it something that he’d particularly felt he was missing because he knew the chaos that emotional connections caused.
Yet in spite of how strange it felt pulsing within his chest and how worryingly out of character that was, he wasn’t ready to let it go.
And where was the harm in indulging it for a little while longer? It wouldn’t linger. His interest never did.
‘Are you sure you can’t stay another while?’
Serena swallowed the emotion at the back of her throat. Was she sure? No, she wasn’t.
She knew she couldn’t stay, that she needed to leave.
Not just because of Marcia, but because the more they talked and shared and the longer she lingered in his sphere of dominance, spellbound by his glittering eyes and undeniable charm, the greater was the temptation to throw caution to the wind, let all else drift from her mind and into the starry stratosphere above and give in to what she wanted.
Him.
To let herself, for one night, be and feel without restraint.
Without fear. Her defences had already melted away and she could feel the tendrils of temptation stroking, beckoning.
She was only a single step away from crossing that all-important line and diving head first into reckless abandon, and goodness knew where that would lead her this time.
It wasn’t as though Caleb was offering anything; on the contrary, he’d made it clear he wasn’t looking for anything serious or permanent.
It was a risk that she just couldn’t take. So, leaving was imperative.
Yet the compulsion to stay was just as strong.
Every cell in her body longed to sit back down and bask under his attention, the delight of being seen and considered.
Being visible. And it wasn’t as though Serena wanted a promise of something more, or would even believe it if one was made, not with the memory of Lucas’s flimsy promises still strong in her mind.
But she did want Caleb, and whatever sense and strength she had found to stick to her original promise of leaving after one drink was fading under that beseeching look in his eyes that whispered her agreeing to stay would make his every dream come true.
She’d never felt so torn in two, as if there was no wrong answer, rightness in both choices, staying and leaving.
‘I’m sure,’ she said on a deep breath, feeling the crash of relief and disappointment.
He nodded, something that looked a lot like disappointment flaring in his eyes. Seeing how he felt about her, when he could have any woman he wanted, made her heart sigh. ‘I’ll come down to the lobby with you. Arrange a car to take you back to your hotel.’
Serena waved away the offer, certain than every extra second spent with this man was a moment that threatened to change her mind. ‘You don’t need to do that.’
‘I want to,’ he insisted, placing a hand at the small of her back as he walked her towards the elevator.
He wasn’t actually touching her and yet Serena’s skin burned as if he was.
Imagine how good it would feel if he did actually touch you.
She chased the dangerous thought from her mind.
She’d made her decision, the safe and smart one.
‘You’re alone and don’t know your way around the city, and I’ll spend all night worrying about you otherwise. ’
Serena quite liked the thought of him spending all night dwelling on her.
It would mean she wasn’t alone in brooding over him, because she knew that was what was going to happen.
She would relive her encounter with him over again, fall asleep dreaming of him, dreams that would no doubt leave her hot and achy.
‘If you insist,’ she acquiesced, praying the ride down would be fast because her mind was already starting to swim with the potency of his scent.
But as they stepped inside, it was even worse than she had feared.
Trapped in such a small, enclosed space, with the scent of him infusing every breath she took, her heart went berserk.
Racing. Leaping. Wanting. Serena fixed her eyes to the floor, reminding herself of all the reasons why she couldn’t.
Mustn’t. But the heat bubbling beneath her skin continued to soar because he was so close, close enough that she could reach out and touch him.
Suddenly the lights flickered and the car jolted so violently that Serena lost her balance and tumbled into Caleb.
He caught her, preventing her from falling any further with the solid wall of his chest and by securing his arms around her waist. His hold tightened as they jolted again, and this time Serena couldn’t keep the gasp of alarm from squeaking from her mouth.
Caleb pulled her even more securely against his body.
The lights snapped back on and the car steadied. Still holding her, Caleb looked down at her, concern written across his face. ‘Are you OK?’
She nodded, her heart in her throat. ‘Yes. What was that?’
‘A power surge, most likely. Are you sure you’re OK?’
She could only nod, words deserting her again as those silver eyes glowed down at her and she became aware that the throb of fear that her life was going to end was ebbing away and being replaced by a different, more pleasant and intoxicating throb, emanating from where his fingers were warm and firm against her body.
Her heart rapped out a fast tattoo of warning.
Tell him he can let go of you now. But Serena’s lips wouldn’t move, and the words wouldn’t materialise.
Because she didn’t, in her heart, want him to let her go.
She liked how it felt being held in his arms, liked the heady vibration of her heart and her blood.
All of the feeling that had been jostling in her begged for release even more desperately and before she was even really aware of what she was doing, before she could summon the sense or power to stop herself, Serena was pressing to her tiptoes and reaching for his mouth.
Just one kiss, she promised herself, just so I know how it feels, and then I’ll stop.
One kiss, however, was all it took to ignite an even more ferocious fire in her blood.
The press of Caleb’s mouth vibrated through her whole body, unlocking the bars around those feelings so they flowed free and unchecked for the first time in so, so long—rivulets of pure, potent, sparkling sensation streaming upwards and outwards and in every other direction as he kissed her back with such exquisite tenderness and skill that Serena thought she might die of pleasure.
And wouldn’t that be a perfect way to go, she thought, feeling so replete and yet hungry for so much more that she consented to a second swipe of his lips, and then another, and by that time she was sliding her arms up to loop around his neck, securing herself to him, and any thought of stopping was obliterated from her mind entirely.