CALEB
I've been parked across from the boutique for about forty minutes with a bag from the hardware store sitting on my passenger seat and a cold coffee in the cup holder I'm not going to finish.
The bag's a prop. The coffee's a prop. I'm a prop too, if I'm being honest with myself.
I have made up my mind that this witch hunt Derek has me on is pointless, and I'm only holding this space so that he doesn't make it worse by hiring a crook to paint Olivia in a bad light.
She's near the front display holding up two scarves for a woman who can't make up her mind.
She tilts her head and says something that makes the woman laugh.
She's so natural, I swear she could sell me my own truck if she tried.
And I'm a fool for being hung up on her.
It's clouding my judgment and making me uptight.
I should never have gone to her back patio with her the other night. I knew I was already losing control.
Now look at me, stalking her at work because I’m supposed to get information on her for a client, but the real reason is that she fascinates me. And after more than a decade in the service working in tight quarters with no privacy, that sex was the most incredible thing I've had in my life.
The customer leaves with a bag, and Olivia straightens a rack near the door and then disappears into the back of the store.
A few minutes later, the door opens and she steps outside with her phone and a water bottle, rolling her shoulders and squinting against the sun.
When she sees my truck, her expression softens to a warm smile, and my chest does this stupid thing it's been doing lately where it tightens up and I lose my train of thought.
With her spotting me, it seems obvious that I'm here for her, and sitting in the truck will only make it seem suspicious. So I climb out and cross the street, standing over her in a way that blocks the sun so she doesn't have to squint as she looks up at me.
"Are you following me?" she asks, almost in a flirty tone. It makes my jaw clench and my shoulders stiffen. I'd like to flirt, but I'm stuck in a hard place. She can't find out I'm being paid by Derek—at least not by him. If she learns about it, it has to be by my hand.
"I was at the hardware store."
She grins at me and crosses her arms, and I realize she's been watching my truck the same way I've been watching her store, which is a thought I need to put away immediately.
The thought of her wanting me the way I want her is dangerous.
She must've taken her break out here on purpose, hoping I'd get out to talk to her. She probably thinks I’m this shy man who can't approach her after having incredible sex, but in reality, I have no problem approaching her. I just don’t know if I should.
"For someone who hates being around people, you keep turning up wherever I am. You're like a tattooed guardian angel who scowls at everything."
She snickers at her own joke and it almost makes me smile. She's funny, and it's disarming. I like that about her. God, I like a lot of things about her.
"There it is," she says. "I saw that."
"You didn't see anything," I say, fighting another grin, but it breaks out. When our eyes meet, she looks absolutely awestruck.
"That's a smile, Caleb Ward." Her eyes sparkle as she sips her water, and my God, is that grin on her face gorgeous. What I wouldn’t do to make it stay there every day, all day long.
"It's not a smile." The joy is so infectious, I can't stay brooding and bitter. I don’t want to, anyway. She makes me want to be joyful like her.
"Well, I want you to know that I think you're sexy when you smile." Her eyelashes drop and then rise slowly. She looks at me through them as I lean against the wall next to her.
I’m not even sure what to say. I think again about telling her about Derek, but now probably isn’t a good time.
Besides, she's at work and I'm sure my confession will come as a gut punch.
She'll be hurt and upset, and that'll be that.
She won't want me around her anymore and she'll likely ask me not to speak to Ethan again, and there won't be a thing I can do about it.
This is my fault. I let it get too far because I couldn’t control myself. But in my defense, when I started this, I didn't realize Derek was the loser and Olivia was such a great mom.
"You're allowed to just come see me," she says after a while.
"You don't need the hardware store excuse.
You can just show up and say hi, Caleb." Her cheeks are rosy with emotion, and damn if she's not still batting those eyelashes at me.
If this were any other woman on any other day, I'd be asking for her phone number, asking her to meet me at the bar for a drink.
But she's a mark and I've already crossed the line.
"But… I should get back in," she says. She stands and turns to face me.
The look she gives me is so open and trusting, it makes my stomach turn.
This woman probably has deep-seated trust issues and here I am knowing full well that I've been lying to her.
It's never a good way to start a relationship, but for someone who has been betrayed by someone they trusted most, it could be traumatizing.
"Yeah," I mumble, lost in her eyes.
When she walks closer, rising to press a kiss to my cheek, I feel a pang of wretched guilt gnaw at me. "Thank you for coming to say hello on my break. And thank you for showing me your handsome smile." Her breath dusts my ear, and it takes everything in me not to just blurt out the truth.
She deserves to know and I am a loathsome, disgusting creature. She's perfect. She doesn't deserve this.
"Beer at the fence?" I say gruffly, wondering how I'll ever tell her the truth knowing how much it will hurt her.
"I’d like that."
Olivia walks way, glancing over her shoulder once, and I sink against the brick building and bite back the anger I feel toward myself. Derek is a total jerk and I've aligned myself with him on the basis of destroying someone who is totally innocent.
God, my mother would be ashamed of me.