Chapter 14
Chapter fourteen
“I’m so glad we could do this,” Tenley says as she looks over the waterfront at the restaurant where we’re having brunch.
“Me too,” Beth says, and holds her phone out, taking a selfie of the three of us.
“It’s hard to expand our circle of girlfriends.” Tenley takes a sip from her mimosa. “Lord knows my brothers won’t be bringing girlfriends home any time soon. Certainly not ones I want to be friends with.”
My phone lights up beside me, showing that Beth has tagged me on Instagram.
This is the second time that Beth has invited me out to spend time with her and Tenley.
The first was last week when we went to The Wayside, and Gage asked me not to dance with a guy who had been talking to us.
I obsessed over his request for the rest of the night.
Could it be that he feels some of the chemistry I have been feeling?
All signs lead to yes, and I can’t wait for the next time we’re around each other to test that theory out, but my mind still snags on what I overheard him say to Caleb the night at Smoke and Barrel.
“Are you saying you two struggle to find friends?” I ask, squeezing some lemon over my salad.
“Ugh, the amount of people in our social circles that are so fake is truly disappointing,” says Tenley. “It gets too hard to know who to trust. Makes you realise it’s about quality, not quantity.”
“Mmhmm,” Beth mumbles through her salmon.
I look over at Tenley, with her strawberry blonde hair styled in a perfect blow-out.
She’s wearing a lilac boucle dress with capped sleeves and gold buttons.
She’s a picture-perfect heiress, and after working with her on a few projects over the last few months, I’ve developed a hardcore girl crush. She is so graceful and intelligent.
“Your brothers are still causing trouble then, Tenley?” Beth asks.
Tenley rolls her eyes. “Dad took Carter to Portugal with him for a board meeting last month, who managed to sleep with another board member’s wife while he was over there.”
“Oh shit.” Beth chuckles.
“Yep. And, in Dad’s absence, Alistair had to fly to Queens Coast for the grand opening of a new racecourse and ended up getting arrested for indecent exposure.
” Tenley smiles and raises her glass to us.
“I’m just hoping all this means Dad hands me the controlling percentage of the Callahan Group when he retires.
God forbid he dies of a heart attack from sheer embarrassment over my brothers.
I do hope his will is up to date. It’s why I’ve been working so hard to build my own business portfolio. ”
“With Caleb and Isabelle at your back, not to mention how clever you are, I have no doubt you’ll succeed,” Beth says with a nod.
“Thank you. So what’s the update with Caleb and his redhead?” asks Tenley.
“Oh my god, Lex?” I ask Beth.
“Ohh, ladies.” Beth gasps, breathless with excitement. “I swear to you, my brother is in love. Otherwise, he’s in deep, deep infatuation.”
“What!” Tenley’s mouth drops, while Beth just nods.
“Yep, we’re all noticing it. He’s distracted at family dinners, constantly texting on his phone, and every time it beeps, he does this little smile.
Plus, he told us after the signing party that she was the girl he met at The Wayside weeks ago.
Not that I needed confirmation. I recognised her from when I saw them together there once. ”
“This is so exciting.” I smile.
“She’s so pretty, too. Like, I know my brother’s good-looking, but Lex just has such a down-to-earth beauty. She’s not stuck up.”
“And she’s very close to her brother,” I add. It’s something I’ve picked up over the last few weeks whenever I speak to them while working on their distillery business. “They both have a lot of family pride. I think that’s important to Caleb.”
“Definitely. It’s a buy one, get seven more deal in our family.” Beth picks up a bread slice from the basket in the centre of the table and dips it into the sauce on her plate.
“Seven?” I ask.
“Three siblings, two parents, two grandparents.”
Speaking of her siblings, my phone buzzes on the table beside me, showing a preview of a text from Caleb.
OG:
Am I being replaced? Where was my brunch invite?
I laugh and show the message to Beth before replying.
ME:
Not replaced, just making room for more *laughing-emoji* I’ll make it up to you this week. Lunch at Chord and Coupe?
OG:
Fine. Maybe you’ll be a better influence on my sister than Mason. She spends far too much time with him.
ME:
I’ll do my best *salute-emoji*
“Has Caleb truly never dated before?” I ask, trying to lead into a way I can bring Gage up as well.
His confession from the party has turned over and over in my head.
I’m unsettled, clawing for the answer to why he doesn’t do relationships.
“He confided in me a little, but I’m struggling with the idea that he actually has no clue what he’s doing. The guy usually knows everything.”
“Yeah, none of my brothers date. Caleb always took a date to social events, but they were a single-user ride.” Tenley snorts from across the table as Beth continues. “Mason sleeps with any woman that looks in his direction, and Gage… I haven’t seen him pay anyone attention in, like, ten years.”
Oh, wow. So, I really have no chance then. That’s fantastic where my crush is concerned.
“Oh, I think he just does it discreetly,” Tenley says into her glass.
“What do you mean?” Beth asks.
Tenley rolls her lips together, fighting a smile. “I heard from Alistair once—uh, actually, maybe you don’t want to know this.”
“Bitch, don’t you start something you can’t finish.”
Tenley laughs. “Okay, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.” She leans into the middle of the table, and Beth and I follow, bringing our heads in low. “Alistair saw him once at Nella Notte.”
“What’s Nella Notte?” I whisper.
“A sex club,” Tenley says.
“Oh my god!” Beth shrieks. “I am scarred!”
I try to keep my expression unaffected.
“I tried to back out.” Tenley shakes her head and folds her arms over her chest with a smug smile.
“But I’m like a dog with a bone for getting in people’s business. You know this.”
“Sucks to be you then. Don’t feel bad. I’m sure I know a lot more about my brothers than any person should.”
A warm flush washes over my body at the thought of Gage at a sex club. I wonder how often he goes. Does he see the same person when he goes there? And just what does he do when he’s there?
I drag in a breath, then pick up my mimosa, swallowing a few gulps. Gage doesn’t give many clues as to the person he is inside, but there’s certainly a lot more to him than meets the eye.
“I’ve completely lost my appetite now.” Beth grimaces at her food. “Let’s talk about something else.”
“What are you wearing for your grandparents’ charity ball next month?” Tenley asks.
Beth picks up her drink with a shake of her head. “Not sure yet, probably something one-off from Dakota Raine.”
“What about you, Iz?” Tenley asks.
I shake my head. “I’m not going.”
“What?” Beth gasps. “Why not?”
I shrug. “I wasn’t invited. Isn’t this a super fancy, black tie kinda thing? Besides, it’s for your grandparents, not Heart Assets.”
“Nonsense.” Beth shakes her head. “I’m calling Grams and getting you on the list.”
My whole body clams up. I hate anyone making a fuss over me, and I don’t want them to think I expect to be invited. I don’t.
“Beth, seriously, I’m not offended or anything. I don’t want anyone being put out.”
She rests a hand over mine. “I’ll be put out if you’re not there with us.” Beth gasps and looks over at Tenley. “We can have a shopping day together.”
I earn good money from my job, and I still live in the modest one-bedroom apartment that I rented before I got my fancy job with Caleb, so I have decent savings. I guess I’m just not really used to splurging on things. “How much would I need to pay for a dress?” I grimace.
“Girl, if you come as my plus one, you don’t gotta worry about that.” Beth winks.
“Oh, I couldn’t accept that.” My cheeks heat. I love doing things for others, but I struggle to accept gestures back. I always worry they won’t feel my gratitude, and then I’ll seem ungrateful.
Beth pouts, then flutters her eyelashes, making her green eyes look sad. “You would deny me the chance to play fairy godmother?”
I look to Tenley for help, but she just smiles. “Just say yes, that’s what I do.”
“I don’t know. I’ll feel awkward not really knowing anyone.”
“You know us. Plus Caleb will be there, my parents and grandparents. And Gage.”
My pulse quickens, and my skin prickles at the thought of seeing Gage. I wonder if he’ll be dressed up like he was a few weeks ago when he came into the office.
“Okay, I’ll go,” I hear myself saying. Anything for another moment of forced proximity to a man I can’t stop thinking about.