20. Caleb
Chapter twenty
I’m stuck listening to Gage and Dylan while I watch Lex on the other side of the room talking to Beth and Isabelle.
I need to get her alone. The last hour has been a test of my patience. I’ve been pulled into every conversation, each of which seems to take me further and further away from where she stands.
I can’t take this anymore.
“Be right back,” I mumble to Gage before heading toward Lex, determination leading my strides.
“Oh, Caleb!” Fuuuucckk. I take a deep breath and turn to my grandmother.
“Hey, Grams.” She comes up to me with a smile, patting my arm and leaving it there while she winds her other arm around it, leading us in the other direction to the drink table. Nooooo! I’m never going to fucking get to Lex at this rate.
“I feel like I’ve barely spoken to you all night. Such a lovely little party you put together.”
“Mmhmm,” I mumble, turning my head back to catch sight of Lex. She’s still immersed in conversation, but she glances over to me, making my skin prickle with goose bumps. I can’t get a read on her, what her being here means, what everything we’ve shared before tonight means .
“This was all Beth and Iz.” I wave around the room. “It’s a big moment for Gage.”
She stares off in his direction, a sombre expression on her face. “He’s come a long way.” She wears a soft smile before looking back at me. “We’re so proud of you. All of you.”
My body stills at her words, at the weight of them.
“In case we don’t tell you enough. The way each of you takes such pride in your family, in the Heart name, is admirable.
” I swallow the guilt rising in my throat, my stomach churning as the reminder of my responsibilities slams into me.
The way I almost let down my family the first time I let a woman into my life.
I take a moment to find Lex again, my gaze zeroing in on her, standing on the other side of the room, all grace and beauty. And now, nothing but a reminder of all the things I shouldn’t want.
Heart Assets is where I need to invest my time and energy, not on a woman I spent one night with. Plus a steaming hot finger fuck in the middle of the dancefloor that has made its way into my permanent spank bank rotation. God, the way she comes alive under my touch.
“I hope one day you let yourself find someone to share your life with,” Grams continues, but her gentle words do nothing to soothe me. “Your non-business life, of course.” She chuckles and pats my chest before moving to join Gage, no doubt to impart more words of wisdom.
I’m even more confused about what to do. Dammit, I want Lex. I was starting to have real feelings for her; there was something in our interactions that made me take notice.
When I was with Tiana, I was practically a kid.
I was in my early twenties and had a trust fund worth billions.
I wasn’t looking for a serious girlfriend, we were just having fun.
I’d started working for Grandpa, and she was one of the receptionists.
I liked the way she was so proud to be with me.
She always wanted to spend time together and made an effort with my family.
A few months later, I realised it was all a sham.
She was only trying to tie herself to me for her own benefit.
Since then, I’ve haven’t let a woman have so much free rein with my time and emotions.
I lost confidence in my judgement of women, and I never had it in me to want to try again.
Grams’s earlier words offer some comfort.
She’s proud of me, proud of what I do for our family, but even she wants to see me share a life with someone.
If I could do that, is it really the smartest thing to do with the woman I just signed on as a client?
After what happened the last time I mixed business with pleasure, that seems messy as fuck.
And I don’t want it to turn to shit and affect the Heart name.
Sleeping with a client? That’s just not how I do business. But… it’s Lex.
From the night I met her, I knew she was different. She’s made me feel things way beyond the physical. I can’t put my finger on what it is exactly, but I know it’s because of her. But have I been wrong in reading our interactions?
I don’t think I’ll find any clarity by letting these thoughts fester in my head. I need to talk to her. I look up at my grandmother, leaning her head affectionately on Gage’s bulging biceps. Jesus, I feel sorry for his shirt sleeves sometimes.
Dragging in a breath, I’m more resolute as I make my way over to the three women. Beth pauses mid-sentence once I reach them.
“Hello, big brother,” she says. I smile at her, but my eyes never leave Lex. “I haven’t had a chance to compliment you on your suit tonight. Red velvet. Really, Cale?”
I snap my eyes to Beth’s. The little devil looks far too delighted with the way she leaves a trail of chaos with her words.
“I beg your pardon, this is Gucci.” I tug on the hem of my suit jacket before wiping the snark off my face and returning my focus to Lex.
“Anyway, I was coming over to talk to my client. I thought I should formally introduce myself.” I extend my hand for her to take, which she does with hesitation, pinning her bottom lip with her teeth, and I have to restrain the growl that wants to break free.
“Hi, Lex. I’m Caleb Heart.”
When her palm rests against mine, it’s like an inferno, and I crave the burn. I shake her hand, and when I pull away, I let my fingers brush along the anchor tattoo at her wrist and trail the entire length of her palm.
“Could I steal you away for a moment?” I ask.
I can see Isabelle’s face blanching at my suggestion.
There’s no doubt in my mind she’s figured out that Lex is the same woman I’ve been obsessing over.
The same woman she’s been encouraging me to pursue romantically, exclusively.
In a manner completely out of character for me. And she’s freaking the fuck out.
I place a palm against Lex’s lower back when she moves over to me, guiding her to a private hallway off the main floor of the room.
As discreetly as I can manage, my eyes survey our other guests to make sure the attention doesn’t follow us.
The second we’re out of sight, I grab onto her hand, whipping her around to face me and crowding her against the wall.
I give in for just a moment and inhale that coconut scent that bleeds from her pores before stepping back and remembering why I’m here.
“So, you’re the sister.” Confusion blankets her face. “Dylan speaks very highly of you, but he’s never mentioned your name. I must have missed it when I read the contract.”
“I never told you my last name,” she says in her soft voice.
“It doesn’t matter. The amount that you have consumed my thoughts lately, I’m surprised my pathetic brain didn’t latch onto any culmination of L E X it found.” My candid words cause her to gasp, and I desperately wish I were making her gasp for any other reason.
“It would have said Alexis on the contract.” Her whispered words paired with the closeness of her heated body cause my eyes to shudder closed, a defeated groan crawling up my throat. I feel like a man possessed when my hands shoot up, landing on the wall beside her, and caging her in.
“Alexis.” I taste the word on my tongue, then force myself to draw in a deep breath, and then another one. “And did you know that it was my company funding your expansion?”
She looks surprised by the question, disbelieving even, as she shakes her head, and it offers a shred of reassurance.
I need to get my head straight around this woman. I have savoured her skin, drowned in her pleasure, and risen from the ashes of her cries.
I’m no stranger to a one-night stand. Physical connections void of emotion are my speciality.
But the strength it takes me to force myself to unhook my talons from this woman makes my skin crawl.
My body wants to reject the distance, but my head is demanding we hold steady.
It wants to keep business and pleasure in two separate boxes, never letting the two collide.
This is uncharted waters right now. I feel dizzy.
The only thing in life I’ve never questioned is how I run my business.
Everything I’ve worked for at Heart Assets is to make my grandparents proud.
I can’t just dive straight into these feelings I’ve been experiencing over Lex, they’re too unknown.
As tempting as she is, I take a fortifying step back, hardening my features.
Constructing a wall around my heart, until I’m sure of all this.
“I think it’s best we don’t let anyone else know about our previous meetings.” The way her face falls makes me want to snatch the words back.
She nods, disappointment revealing itself for a split second before she lifts her chin and rolls her shoulders back. “I agree. This is my dream, my brother’s dream, and one night doesn’t change that. I’m sure a businessman like yourself would agree.”
Of course I do. It’s exactly the reason I’m convincing myself to throw up these walls. I hate that we’re alike in that way. We’d be so good together. But this is for the best, for now at least. I think .
“Everything okay here, Alexis?” My eyes cut to James Huxley, where he stands at the end of the hall, observing us with a calculated eye. Why the fuck is he calling her Alexis?
“Yes, Mr Huxley.” Lex relaxes her stance and takes a step away from me while James wanders further into the hallway, stopping beside us.
“You’re not making my staff uncomfortable, are you, Heart?” I do a double-take at his words. Staff? I look at Lex, hoping she’ll fill in the blanks.
“Not at all, Mr Huxley. Mr Heart was just congratulating me on the business plan I put together for Jed’s. He’s looking forward to seeing our brand grow together.”
James looks down at Lex with a pleasing smile I wouldn’t normally associate with him.
“Yes, I’ve been speaking with your brother tonight. I had no idea you found a backer so soon after we spoke.” He turns his head to me, the smile turning to a taunt. “Makes me think I may have missed a good opportunity.”
The light-hearted chuckle I try to push out sounds more like a strained cough, which James sees right through. “How is it you two seem to know each other?” I ask through gritted teeth.
“Alexis has worked for me for years. She just recently stepped up as an assistant manager at Gen’s club.”
Ahh, so that’s where she is when she’s not at Gage’s bar. She’s at Hallucinogens.
“I think I’ll go find my brother. Excuse me.” Lex scampers away, leaving James and me to watch as she rejoins the group.
“She’s a rare one,” he says as we both watch her disappear into the crowd.
“How would you know?” I can’t help the territorial tone of my question, and it makes the bastard chuckle.
“Gen always speaks very highly of her. Dedicated. Kind. Eager. Nothing’s too hard or daunting for Alexis to try at least once.
She spoke of her dreams to build the whiskey brand with her brother when I interviewed her for the promotion a few months ago.
It’s rare to see such humble tenacity in a younger person. ”
The bad blood between James and me goes on nearly a decade. I’ve always welcomed our challenges, relishing in the fight, but right now, I hate that it feels like he has the upper hand. He knows Lex in a way I don’t.
“Anyway.” He tips his head, ice cubes clinking as he drains the glass in his hand.
Like a rebel delighting in the carnage of his destruction, he licks his lips, pinning me with menacing eyes.
“I look forward to the success of Smoke and Barrel. And I really look forward to seeing how your new whiskey business goes. I’ll be sure to keep up to date through Alexis. ”
Dick.