Restored (11 page)

Caleb froze where he sat, fork in midair. Lexi saw sweat beads forming at his temples.

“Who’s that?” she asked Caleb. When he didn’t answer, she turned to Ashley. “Who’s that woman?” Lexi nodded in the woman’s direction.

Ashley looked up from her plate. “Oh shit! What is she doing here?”

Lexi narrowed her eyes at the raven-haired beauty, but didn’t recognize her. She wouldn’t have forgotten her.

“That’s Corrine,” Ashley said with a hiss.

“Oh,” Lexi said and gulped. The cheeseburger she’d eaten weighted down in her stomach.

Caleb surfaced from the trance he’d been in. “I don’t know why she’s here. I’m so sorry, Lexi.”

“Don’t worry. It’ll be fine. It’s not like she knows about us yet,” Lexi said as she studied Corrine from a distance. She was too perfect. Her body was taught but curvy. Her hair was dark and looked silky. Her skin was pale, but beautifully pale. Lexi had assumed that Corrine would be pretty, but this was too much.

Corrine smiled over at Tony, and both women walked over to him. Corrine twitched her hips as she walked.

The rest of the once pleasant afternoon dragged by. Lexi chatted with Ashley and Caleb and other office staff, watching
that woman
out of the corner of her eye. Corrine made her rounds, and she seemed friendly with Dr. Hale. Corrine finally headed toward Caleb, which left Lexi and Ashley to sit and smile politely.

“I thought that I should say something to you,” Corrine said to Caleb, who remained seated.

“It wasn’t necessary,” Caleb responded dryly. He looked uncomfortable, but his voice remained in control.

“Can’t we be civil, at the very least?” Corrine said as she straightened her posture to push her breasts up.

“I didn’t think you’d be capable of civil,” Caleb said coolly.

Lexi shifted in her chair and tried to act as if she were in a conversation with Ashley.

“I’m more than you ever gave me credit for, Caleb. You should loosen up,” Corrine said. Her lips naturally pouted, even as she smiled at him.

“Don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself,” Caleb said.

“Have it your way then. I just wanted to play nice,” Corrine said as she walked off. Before she’d gotten too far away, she turned toward Ashley. “Tell Mike I was asking for him, won’t you? Bye, Ashley,” Corrine said without waiting for a response or an introduction to Lexi.

“Okay,” Ashley said to Corrine’s back as she left.

The famous lemon cake made its appearance, and Tony took a slice big enough for two, as did Caleb. Sweets didn’t appeal to Lexi just now…she really wanted to scoot on home. She grabbed Ashely by the arm, barely looking at Caleb as she excused herself.

Caleb said a quick good-bye, promising he’d drop by her place after he went home to change.

Lexi marched Ashley to her SUV. Once Ashley was buckled in and ready, she pulled away.

“That was absolutely terrible,” Lexi said to Ashley.

“That pretty much sums up Corrine. She’s the worst,” Ashley said.

“Why does she have to look like she does though? That’s hardly fair,” Lexi said.

“Good question. I’ve found that she gets uglier each time I see her, mainly because of the things that comes out of her mouth,” Ashley said.

“I can only hope that’s the case, but I don’t plan to see her that much, or ever again actually,” Lexi said with a sour expression. She’d kept a brave face in Corrine’s presence, but Corrine was a worthy opponent. That and she seemed dangerous, which was all the more reason to be intimidated by her.

“True story,” Ashley said.

***

An hour after Lexi arrived home, Caleb knocked at her door. When she opened it, he stepped inside and pulled her to him. Her warm embrace was more soothing than she could possibly have guessed. He smiled to himself as he buried his face in her hair. She still smelled like charred meat, but that wasn’t a bad thing.

“Come with me for a ride?” After being around hurricane Corrine, time with Lexi would be a welcome relief.

She grabbed a hoodie and followed him. “Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.”

She raised her eyebrow but didn’t object.

He started the SUV and pulled out of the driveway. He drove past the turnoff to his house and kept going. The darkening sky made landmarks impossible to decipher, but he was a local. Each turn had its own unique quality. He pulled over to the side of the road and grabbed a large blanket from the back.

“Let’s go.”

Lexi fell in line behind him. The sky was nearly black but for the sliver of moonlight and vast stars that peppered the sky.

“My God, Caleb. It’s so beautiful here.”

He took her hand and led her past the trees that obstructed the full sky view. “That’s why I wanted to bring you here.” A clearing opened up on a hill. The grass was clipped and soft.

“Where are we?” Lexi kept her eyes upward—mesmerized.

Caleb laid the blanket down on the short grass. “It’s a golf course. At least, this is the perimeter of it. It’s still maintained to match the rest of the course, but it’s too elevated to be used as a standard putting green.” He sat down and helped Lexi down beside him. They lay back—eyes to the sky.

She turned her face toward him. “How did you find this place?”

“By accident.” He laughed to himself. “A few years back I lost my ball, which I never found. It was an afternoon golf game that carried on for too long, and I happened upon this. It never left my memory.”

Lexi looked back up at the stars. “The stars didn’t look like this in Florida. Too many city lights.”

“Sometimes you can see the aurora borealis in the winter. You need a cabin with a view though, or you’d freeze to death.” He watched her. She couldn’t guess the danger she was in…the sounds of nature surrounded them…the illusion of privacy. It wouldn’t take much to seduce her right here and now. He clenched his fists. Her mouth was soft and warm, that was how it’d start. A single kiss… He bit his lip. Her body called to him, and he bit harder as his physical restraint weakened. What was happening to him? Seriously, he had to get a grip. The truth was that it had to be special. She deserved the best of him, not a lapse in judgement. He’d never waited this long into a relationship for sex, but then again, he’d never been with a virgin either. She was pure and deserved to be worshiped, not groped.

“Thank you for being…you.”

“What?” She turned to face him. He held her face between his hands and kissed her. The kiss was tender, like what she deserved.

“You bring out the best in me. You have no idea how freeing it is to be with you.”

She smiled at him. The air was getting brisk. Together they followed the moonlight back to the SUV, hand in hand the whole way.

5

Thorns

L
exi neared her office and blindly felt for the light switch on the wall at its entry. Where there should have been an empty void on the desk sat a vase of roses and a wrapped gift. The roses were pale purple and heavily scented. The color was surreal, and they looked like they belonged in a fairy garden. The weekend had been uneventful, other than Labor Day celebrations. Lexi couldn’t forget the stars though. The view she’d shared with Caleb that night seemed celestial. She viewed Caleb like one of those stars—beautiful, transfixing—still out of her reach. On Monday, Lexi attended Ashley’s office luncheon, since Mike was working. The luncheon was drama free and went off without a problem.

Things with Caleb were progressing, just not physically. Caleb was contained, and he seemed to resist most urges that other men wouldn’t endure. Even without the physical connection that Lexi craved, being near him was still satisfying. Lexi dropped her purse and lunch onto the desk and read the card nestled in the roses.

To Lexi: You’ve stolen all of my attention and my heart. Caleb.

She slid the small card back into its envelope and smelled the roses. She inhaled deeply a few times just to take as much in as she could. The two-dozen roses were anything but generic, and she ran her fingers over one of the buds to make sure that the lilac coloration wouldn’t rub off. It went against all logic that altered flowers could smell so intense, when their natural counterparts didn’t carry nearly as much perfume as these did.

The click of heels clanged down the hall—Missy’s signature sound. Missy wore heels on a daily basis, unlike Lexi, who glanced down at her cute but practical flats.

Missy edged around the corner and popped into Lexi’s doorway. Her highlighted blond hair was perfectly coifed, and she was dressed like she just fell out of a
Cosmopolitan
magazine spread. She was good at her job, but her passion seemed to be fashion.

Missy smiled widely as she focused her gaze on the roses. “Well, I take it you and Miles must really be hitting it off?” Her tone was all knowing. Had she had prompted Miles to come after Lexi that night at the bar?

Lexi grimaced as her memory flooded back to that Friday night. So much had happened since then, and that was the night Caleb had first asserted himself as her protector and the man who seemed to love her. “Um, no. They didn’t come from Miles.” Miles wasn’t necessarily a bad guy, just not the guy for her. Would it be too personal to share things with Missy? She
had
showed up at the picnic with Corrine…
Maybe this is an opportunity I can’t pass up.
Caleb had sent the roses to the office rather than to Lexi’s home—he’d had to know Lexi would face questions. Was this his way of coming out publicly?

“Not Miles? Then who are they from?” Missy asked. Her posture had changed, and she seemed more imposing.

Lexi took a breath and tried to sound casual even as she felt prickles of nervous sweat form all over her body. “These are from Caleb.” She sniffed the roses again.

Missy’s eyes widened. “You mean Dr. Avery sent you roses? I don’t get it. Have you done a lot of overtime or something?” Missy asked. She seemed angered by Lexi’s declaration. Her nose crinkled in disdain.

Lexi’s heart pounded in her chest, but she willed down what anger she could. “No, not for just working here or doing anything extra. We’ve hung out together a lot lately,” Lexi said in a voice that she hoped exuded confidence.

“No, that’s not possible. He’s been with his girlfriend, Corrine, for a couple of years. I’m pretty sure they’ll be engaged by Christmas,” Missy said, as if she was trying to spare Lexi’s feelings.

“They’re not together anymore.” What else was there to say? Lexi took in more deep breaths as she tried to disguise the hostile thoughts that flitted through her head. The relationship she shared with Caleb was still so new, and Missy’s negativity was unwelcome.

“I talked to her yesterday. They might be going through a rough patch, but you wait. They’ll get back together,” Missy said in a factual tone. “Besides, you saw how he gawked at her at the Labor Day party, right?”

Lexi’s cheeks burned with anger, but she held her tongue as she composed herself. With her gaze refocused on Missy, she said. “I don’t know Corrine or anything about her. I do know Caleb and I are together.” She held her chin high, staring down Missy.

Missy scoffed and turned as she made her way back down the hall, her heels clicking in double time. Was she on her way to call Corrine?

Lexi sank into her chair, and guilt bubbled to the surface. Even though Caleb and Corrine were history, some of the blame for the death of their relationship rested on Lexi’s shoulders. Talking to Caleb about this guilt wouldn’t help matters, but her self-torturing wouldn’t ebb its grip either. What was it her mom used to say?
The truth always comes out in the wash.

Somehow things usually resolved themselves on their own, and maybe this would happen in this impossible situation as well. It wasn’t really Lexi’s fault Caleb had broken off with Corrine. Lexi was with Caleb now—he’d made that clear. And he wasn’t like Justin at all—Caleb wouldn’t say he cared for her and then cheat on her or get engaged to a former lover. She was almost sure of it. But then again, he’d only recently revealed his knowledge of her father’s death… Her stomach churned.

As a distraction, Lexi unwrapped the gift. Her mouth curled into a smile as she held a sketch pad and an assorted pencil set that contained both charcoal as well as graphite pencils. Tension melted away. He’d remembered. As beautiful as the roses were—this gift revealed how deeply he cared. The pencils were by Derwent, a name brand she’d used before and liked how they blended on paper. She resisted the urge to break into the pencils and paper right now—that would have to wait until after work if she wanted to remain employed at Hale Health. After all, it’d be a waste of precious art supplies to draw pictures of Missy and Corrine with horns and distorted bodies.

Distraction would be the objective of the day, proving she was a valuable employee at Hale Health. The art would have been a better outlet, but it wouldn’t pay the bills.

She’d passed Caleb’s office door multiple times during the workday but hadn’t caught as much as a glimpse of him. He would be behind today, with extra patients to make up for the long Labor Day weekend.

As the day edged closer to its end, Missy stopped back by Lexi’s office. “Lexi, I’m sorry if I came across harsh this morning. I called Corrine, and she did say that things were not good between her and Caleb. I don’t know if maybe she didn’t want to admit how bad it really was to me or what. But I am sorry for how I acted.”