Page 189 of Untouchable

“Well,” she said, a teasing note in her tone that warmed his heart, “at least you have some money to tide you over in the meantime.”

He chuckled. “There’s that.”

Her mood shifted abruptly. “I didn’t mean it wasn’t hard for you to do. The decision you made. I know how difficult it must have been. I didn’t mean to imply it was easier for you than?—”

“I know,” he assured her. “Kelly, I know what you meant. It was hard. But this is the first time in a really long time when I’ve been absolutely sure that it was the right thing to do. I feel… I don’t know… almost free.”

She pressed a soft kiss against his jaw. Then she readjusted in a way that made it clear she was ready to go to sleep.

He was too.

And a vague thought came to him then, holding Kelly in the dark, that pretty soon he wouldn’t have to wake up with endless emails waiting for him to answer.

He smiled in the dark. That would be a very good morning.

EPILOGUE

Six months later,Kelly finished up with her client at about four on a Saturday afternoon. She hadn’t wanted to meet with the client on the weekend, but it was the only time the woman could make it work. Kelly had met with her for almost two hours, and now she was ready to get home to Caleb.

Both of them had been busy all week, and it felt like she hadn’t really seen him since last weekend.

A couple of months ago he’d given up his apartment downtown, and she’d moved into his big house outside the city, so she had almost a full hour’s drive to get home. When she got there, she found Breah polishing the railings of the main staircase.

“That looks beautiful,” she said, admiring the way the old wood shone.

Breah smiled, evidently pleased by the compliment. “There’s some life in this old house yet.” Then her expression changed. “He’s in his office.”

Kelly frowned. “What? I thought he wasn’t going to work today.”

Breah appeared as displeased as Kelly was. “He’s been in there since you left.”

With a sigh, Kelly gave Breah an understanding smile and then headed back to the office. She should have known Caleb couldn’t stay away from work for an entire weekend.

Three months ago he’d run into a former business acquaintance who was some kind of technological genius. It hadn’t taken Caleb long to woo the man away from his current employer and partner with him in a new medical technology company.

The project had consumed him since then. Kelly had been very happy that Caleb had found something to pour his intelligence, energy, and ambition into since he’d been kind of aimless and restless since his resignation. But he was a workaholic by nature, and the past few months had reminded her of this fact.

She found him at his desk, typing up something that looked like an email.

“Hey,” she said sharply after poking her head into the room.

He didn’t look away from his computer monitor. “Hi. You back?” He sounded distracted, exactly as she’d expected.

“So much for taking the day off.”

“Just catching up on some stuff while you were gone.”

“Well, I’m back now.”

“Give me a minute to finish up.”

He still hadn’t looked away from the screen.

She sighed, half in frustration and half in resignation. “I’ll be by the pool. I have a new bikini, in case you’re interested.”

He was still typing like crazy. “Nice.”

She turned to walk out, shaking her head, but then she said over her shoulder, “There was a time when the promise of me in a new bikini would have immediately roused the beast in you. What ever happened to him?”