“Mr. Marshall.”
He turned to see the cute blonde who had been temporarily working security for several weeks. She was wearing the coatthat went with the uniform, so she must have been doing something outside. “Yes?”
“I have something to show you, if you have a minute.”
The woman wasn’t smiling, and she was doing security in his building, so he suppressed his impatience as he nodded and followed her into a back room.
“What is it?” he asked, trying not to sound like he wanted to get through with this conversation although he definitely did.
The woman smiled. “Today was my last day here. I’m not working for you anymore.” She opened her coat, revealing that she was completely naked beneath it.
Caleb stared at the woman’s body—small, firm breasts, flat belly, long legs, nicely curved hips.
His body tightened just slightly, the reflexive response to seeing an attractive naked female body, but that was it.
That was it.
Several weeks ago, he would have had her turned over the table and be rutting her hard with no prelude or hesitation. He’d had her in mind for a fuck from the beginning, and she’d obviously picked up on the signals.
But something had changed. Something really important had changed.
Caleb didn’t want her anymore.
He didn’t want anyone but Kelly.
He stood frozen, trying to process this revelation, which was even more disorienting than his reflections on being in a relationship up in his office just now. Somehow it drove the reality home a lot more fully.
It was one thing to admit to being in a relationship. It was something entirely else to admit that he wanted only one woman.
Never in his life had he experienced something like that.
He shook his head, finding his voice at last. “Close your coat and go home,” he said as mildly as he could manage. “I apologize for the misunderstanding.” Without waiting for a response, he turned to leave the room, heading back through the lobby to where his car was waiting.
He’d been using a car service for the past week, instead of driving himself, so he could get work done during the longer commute. He got into the back of the car that was pulled up to the curb.
Without thinking, he pulled out his phone and dialed Kelly. He didn’t have anything particular to say. He just wanted to talk to her.
The phone rang until voicemail picked up, so he ended the call, wondering what she was doing.
Maybe she was still with that client she was seeing this afternoon. It could have run long.
He tried futilely to do some work on the drive home, but he couldn’t focus on anything. He spent twenty minutes trying to compose a response to an email that should have taken him about three.
When his phone rang, he grabbed for it in an embarrassingly eager gesture, but it wasn’t Kelly. It was Wes.
Caleb let out a breath, telling himself not to be a heartless ass. Two years had passed without any conversations with Wes, and now it was three conversations in a month. And not easy conversations.
“Hey. Did you make it to town?” he asked after connecting the call.
“Yeah. I got in yesterday.”
“How’s your mom?”
“She’s hanging in there.” Maybe he was tired, or maybe his mom was worse than he implied, but Wes didn’t sound good at all. “Thanks again for?—”
“Don’t thank me again. It was fine.” Mostly, Caleb didn’t want to be reminded of that afternoon. It left him feeling too vulnerable in every way, including the aftermath when he’d seen Kelly with that other man and been consumed by that fierce, irrational jealousy.
“How’ve you been?” Wes asked, his tone changing, obviously trying to move back into a more natural conversation. “I’ve been hearing rumors.”