Page 134 of Untouchable

“We need to get going soon,” she said at last, her voice hoarse and tired.

He made a little groan and released his arms, which had been holding her tightly. “Maybe we could cancel.”

She felt a little jump of relief. “Sounds good to me.”

She felt his body release a long breath. “We can’t. Wes is going back to Paris tomorrow.”

Her heart dropped back to the normal position. She should have known it was too much to hope for. But she just had to make it through this one dinner, and then she’d be rid of Wes for good. “Yeah. Then we better get ready, or we’ll be late.”

She didn’t immediately make a move to get going though. She didn’t really care if they were late.

“Is there some reason you don’t like Wes?” Caleb asked forty minutes later as his chauffeured car drove them into the city to the restaurant where they were meeting Wes and his date.

She kept her eyes wide and innocent. “What do you mean?” She had a sinking feeling though, like she’d made a strategic mistake.

“You tell me. Is there some reason you don’t like Wes?” His dark eyes scanned her face closely, in a way that threatened to expose her completely.

“Of course not. I barely know him. I’m just tired this evening—after our round of sex before we left—so I don’t want to stay too late. I didn’t mean we have to cut it short.”

“What did he say to you last weekend at the party?”

She stifled a groan, realizing that she’d messed up with her casual suggestion that they not stay very long at dinner tonight. “I told you before. He didn’t say anything. Just that it was nice to meet me.”

“It looked like he was saying more than that.”

“Well, he wasn’t. Ask him yourself, if you don’t believe me.”

“I did ask him.”

Her breath hitched in her throat. “And what did he say?”

“That he said it was nice to meet you.”

“So why are you all obsessed about it then?”

Caleb sighed and leaned his head back against the seat of the car, looking suddenly tired. “I don’t know. I thought I picked up a vibe. And he’s been asking about you a lot.”

“What do you mean he’s been asking about me?” She let herself sound a little defensive since that was how anyone would have felt.

“About your background. About how we met. It’s… it’s strange.”

Kelly knew exactly why Wes had been asking about her. He was definitely suspicious, and it made her even more nervous about dinner this evening. But she wasn’t sure how to handle it. If she sounded too defensive, then it might make Caleb suspicious too, and that was something she couldn’t allow.

She scooted a little closer to him and lifted a hand to stroke his face. She told herself it was because physical touch might distract him, but it wasn’t really. Mostly she just wanted to touch him. Be close to him. Assure herself that, for the moment, they were safe. “Maybe he has a secret thing for you. Are you sure he’s straight?”

Caleb gave a huff of amusement. “Yes, he’s straight.”

Pleased that his focus has shifted, she smiled up at him teasingly. “Well, he seems to have quite an interest in your love life.”

“I don’t really know what that’s about. But his mom is really sick, you know. I guess maybe he’s using it as a distraction.”

Kelly saw his expression sober at the thought of Wes’s mother, and she didn’t pursue the teasing. It was hard to work through the fact that the man was set against her somehow, and yet it was hard to hate him completely because he was about to lose a parent, something she knew very well. “I’m sorry about his mom.”

Caleb wrapped an arm around her. “Yeah. I’m not sure being older really makes it easier.”

“I can’t imagine that it does.”

They didn’t say much else until they reached the restaurant. When they arrived, they discovered that Wes and his date—a pretty redhead named Micaela—were already at the table.