Haunted (17 page)

“Thank you for saying that,” she said softly.
“Some people are happy to be a part of the rise, but they don’t want to be
there to catch you when you fall.”

He knew she’d been hurt by someone she
trusted. It was written all over her face, and while he sensed the wounds may
run even deeper than her childhood, it wasn’t the time or place to ask. “I’ll
always be there to catch you when you fall, princess.” He kissed her forehead.
“Always.”

She seemed trapped in his gaze before she
spoke. “I love you so much. I love who you are and how safe and secure you make
me feel.”

Pulling her closer, simply because he
couldn’t bring himself to let her go yet, he said, “Tell me more.”

“You make me feel strong.” She glided her
hand over his hair as she fastened the other arm around his neck. “Like nothing
and no one can hurt me as long as I have you in my corner.”

He frowned, troubled by her choice of
words. “Why would anyone try to hurt you?”

“What?” She stepped back, appearing
flustered. “I didn’t mean that anyone would. It’s just… I…” With a bright
smile, she said, “Listen to me rambling on like you have nothing better to do.
I have to go. See you tonight, Caleb.”

Before he could stop her, she was gone. He
was left wondering,
What the hell was that about?

***

Elle was making herself at home in Caleb’s
house, thinking about sharing his life, when the phone rang. She debated
answering it but decided she would when Vana’s name flashed across the screen.
She told herself she wasn’t being any more territorial than he would have been
if their situations were reversed.

“Hello.” She waited, stirring her pasta
sauce. “Is anyone there?”

“Who’s this?” a woman with a heavy English
accent asked.

“Elle Morgan.” Elle knew she didn’t have to
say anymore. Still she asked, “And who am I speaking to?”

“This is Vana. Where’s Caleb?” she
demanded, sounding livid. “I need to talk to him.”

“Sorry, I can’t help you.” Elle turned the
sauce down to simmer. “He’s not home from work yet.”

“Then what are you doing there?”

“Making him dinner.” Elle smiled sweetly
even though the caller couldn’t see it. “Not that it’s any of your business.”

“I don’t know what Caleb’s told you—”

“He told me it’s over between you two. He’s
moved on, with me.” Elle was being petty, but she thought it was her right to
let his ex-girlfriend know where she stood. “I assume you already knew that
though, didn’t you?” Unless she lived under a rock, she would have heard the
news that they were a couple.

“I want to hear it from him. For all I
know, this is some stupid publicity stunt.”

Elle thought of their plan to fake a relationship
when they first met. “I can assure you what Caleb and I have is very real.” She
heard the front door open and close. She debated carrying the cordless phone to
the foyer and handing it to Caleb, but she didn’t want him talking to
her
.

“He told me he wasn’t interested in a
serious relationship. He was too busy with his business. What’s changed?”

Elle wasn’t sure anything had. She didn’t
know if Caleb would describe their relationship as serious yet, but she wasn’t
about to admit that. “He met me.” Elle was acting uncharacteristically
arrogant, hoping it would get her message across loud and clear.

Caleb walked up behind her, his eyebrow
raised when he glanced over her shoulder. She saw him look at the phone base
and note the caller. She should hand the receiver to him and give him an
opportunity to speak for himself, but she was afraid Vana would say or do
something to make him question what they had. Elle knew she was being
ridiculous to think she could continue to run interference between Caleb and
Vana, but she was still getting used to the idea of trusting him.

“I’ll tell Caleb you called.” Elle hung up
before Vana could get another word in. She cringed as she set the phone back in
the cradle. “Uh, I guess you know that was Vana.”

Caleb chuckled as he boosted himself up on
the granite countertop by the stove. “Yeah. What’d she want?”

“You.” Elle hated the jealousy in her
voice, but she couldn’t hope to keep up a façade of indifference when she was
fuming. She didn’t even know who she was angry at: Vana for refusing to let go
of the man
she
loved, Caleb for being so hard to resist, or herself for
letting it bother her.

“Hmm.” Caleb broke off a piece of fresh
bread and dipped it into the marinara sauce, taking a bite.

Elle glared at him. “That’s all you can
say? Hmm?”

He chewed, regarding her carefully. “What
do you want me to say? I told her it’s over. It’s not my fault that she doesn’t
want to hear it.”

“Maybe you haven’t tried hard enough,” Elle
said, switching off the gas burner.

Caleb reached for her arm. “Hey, I’m not
leading her on if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“I don’t know what to think.” Elle refused
to cry, but after what had happened at her house last night, she was hovering
dangerously close to her breaking point.

“Come on,” he said, pulling her in between
his legs. “You don’t really believe I still want her, do you?”

“Maybe you just enjoy the attention.” She
shrugged as she refused to meet his eyes. She knew she was being unfair. She
hated this situation, knowing she would soon be halfway around the world while
Vana did everything in her power to get Caleb back.

“Is that what you think?” he asked,
sounding defensive. “Because if it is, we’ve got a problem.”

This evening wasn’t going at all the way
she’d planned, thanks to Vana. The way she saw it, she had two choices: wave
the white flag or let Vana win. She planted her hands on his thighs. “I’m
sorry. I know this isn’t your fault.”

“And I know it isn’t easy.” He tipped her
chin up with his index finger. “If your ex-boyfriend was sniffing around, I’d
be going crazy.”

“Thanks for trying to make me feel better.”
She leaned her head against his solid chest. “I know I’m being irrational. I’ve
just had a lot going on lately, and this relationship is the last thing I
expected.” She realized she sounded ungrateful when, truth be told, Caleb was
making the rest of her life bearable. “I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.”

He laughed as his arms closed around her.
“Don’t worry, I know what you meant. You’re under a lot of stress, and
sometimes it’s tough to hold it together, especially when you’re living under a
microscope.”

“You can say that again.”

“It’ll be okay, baby.” He kissed the top of
her head.

“Are you sure about that?” she asked,
feeling slightly defeated. “Vana’s not going to go away quietly, you know.”

“So what?”

She didn’t appreciate his indifference. She
needed his reassurance that he would find a way to get rid of his ex.

“Do you think you’re the only one who
wrestles with jealousy and insecurity, Elle? I can assure you, you’re not.”

“I still can’t believe you’re insecure.”
Caleb was one of the most confident, self-assured men she’d ever met. She
suspected that was one of the reasons she was drawn to him, because he mirrored
the qualities she sometimes feared she lacked.

“Yeah.” He set her hair over her shoulders,
revealing her neck. “I have doubts and fears just the same as you do. I think
about you out on the road with thousands of guys in the crowd every night who’d
give anything to trade places with me.” He sighed. “I’ve never been insecure in
a relationship before, but I have to admit, this situation is testing me in a
big way.”

Elle felt guilty for getting so wrapped up
in her own problems that she’d failed to consider his challenges. “I’m sorry.”
She kissed him slowly and thoroughly. “Would it make you feel better if I
reminded you I’ve never felt this way about anyone?”

He smirked. “It would definitely help me
sleep at night.”

“It’s true, Caleb.” She brushed her hand
over the five o’clock shadow dusting his handsome face. “You make me want to
re-think everything.”

“How so?”

“I want to find a way to be with you and
have my career. Maybe even a family someday, if things work out for us.”

His face lit up. “You mean it? You want
kids?”

“Why do you sound so surprised?”

“I don’t know.” He shrugged, looking
sheepish. “You said you might consider it someday, but I wasn’t sure you meant
it.”

She hadn’t been sure either at the time.
Kids had always seemed like an abstract possibility, but since she’d given her
heart to Caleb, she imagined what life might be like if they committed to being
together for the long haul. “I can’t say I see it happening right away. Maybe a
few years down the line.” She couldn’t believe they were having this
conversation, actually considering the possibility of forever.

“That seems reasonable. I’d want you all to
myself for a while before I had to share you anyhow.”

Elle breathed a sigh of relief. Caleb just
got
her, like sometimes they shared the same thoughts. “How do you always know
exactly what to say?” She smiled, unable to contain her joy or the intense love
and appreciation washing over her. “It’s like someone slipped you the Elle
guidebook. You know what to say or do to diffuse any situation or just to lift
me up when I’m down. It’s amazing.”

“It’s not supposed to be hard, Elle,” he
said. “I really believe that when you find the right person, it stops being
hard. It just clicks because you’re compatible and you’re not trying to fit a
square peg into a round hole anymore.”

She must have frowned at his analogy, because
he kept explaining.

“People have this mental list of everything
they’re looking for in a partner. I was no exception. When I met someone who
checked all of my boxes, I tried to make it work, and if it didn’t, I told
myself it was my fault. My standards were too high. I was being unreasonable. I
had to be willing to compromise.”

Elle knew exactly what he meant. Although
she hadn’t been looking for a life partner, she always recognized those who
fell short.

He smiled. “But when I met you, I finally
got it. I realized it’s supposed to be easy. Even though we’ll face challenges,
I know we’ll get through them because I honestly can’t imagine my life without
you now.”

Elle felt all warm and gushy inside, kind
of like the time their new puppy had cuddled up in her bed the first time.
Safe. Secure. Like she wasn’t alone anymore. “And I don’t want to imagine my
life without you.”

He looked at the dinner on the stove. “I
wish we could put off dinner for a while, but I know how hard you worked on it.
So why don’t we have dinner now, so we can get to dessert.”

“I like the sound of that.”

After retiring to his bedroom for
dessert,
they’d emerged and spent the past hour watching a movie. They were sharing a
big bowl of popcorn as Caleb wrestled with the idea of asking this woman to
spend the rest of her life with him. His ego told him it was way too soon to
think about putting a ring on her finger, but his heart told him that was what
he wanted, and he believed Elle felt the same way.

“What do you think of this house?” he
asked, deciding to test the waters. “Do you think it’s big enough?” It was half
the size of her house, but he thought it would be the perfect place to raise a
family. It was on a country lot just outside of town, with big old oak trees
and a huge yard for kids to run and play. Maybe they could have a dog or two.

She looked around, taking in the open
concept kitchen and family room. “I love it. I think it’s perfect. If I’d been
more involved in choosing my house, I would have opted for something like
this.”

He took a handful of popcorn from the bowl.
“I still can’t believe you let your friend pick a house for you. With your
hectic lifestyle, I’d think it would be important for you to find a sanctuary,
a place to get away from it all.”

“I went along with it because I know I
wouldn’t spend much time there anyways, and the idea of living in a house like
that made Ricky so happy. I figured it was no big deal. It was just a house.”

“Why was making him happy more important
than making yourself happy?” Caleb asked, confused. He knew Elle was a giving
person, but she didn’t strike him as a pushover.

“He was going through a dark period,
fighting depression. I foolishly thought the house would make him feel better.”

Caleb was glad Elle was opening up to him.
He wanted her to feel comfortable sharing everything with him, and since their
time together was so limited, he was determined to make the most of it. If it
meant staying up all night talking, he was game.

“But it didn’t make him feel better?” Caleb
didn’t know exactly what had gone down with Elle and her former
assistant/friend, but judging by her conversation with Donny, things hadn’t
ended well.