Page 79 of Untouchable
Caleb stiffened. “About what?”
“All kinds of shit. Did you get married?”
“Of course not.”
“Do you have a beautiful convict on the run from the authorities hidden away in your house?”
Caleb couldn’t suppress a huff of dry amusement. “Uh, no.”
“Oh well. Guess the rumors aren’t all true. You’re seeing someone though?”
After a moment’s hesitation, Caleb admitted, “Yeah.”
“And you’ve got nothing more to say about that?”
“What am I supposed to say? It’s not exactly big news.” He was brushing it off on purpose, but anyone who knew him would understand that it was, in fact, big news.
Caleb Marshall fucked. He’d always only fucked. He didn’t date.
“Well, it’s bigger news than I’ve got going at the moment. Why don’t you ever go out in public with her? All I keep hearing is that she never leaves your house.”
“She does leave my house, but she’s… she’s dealing with some stuff and doesn’t want to do a lot of socializing. Who have you been hearing all this from?” Caleb felt a strange mingling of annoyance, self-consciousness, and pleasure.
The pleasure was the most surprising feeling, as if part of him wanted the rest of the world to know that he was with Kelly. That she was fully his.
It must have been someone on his staff or from the office who’d gotten the word out since he couldn’t imagine who else would know about the woman staying at his house.
“I’m not about to tell you and make some poor soul the target of your wrath. So it’s serious?”
“I never said it was serious.”
“Who do you think you’re kidding? You’ve tried to pretend it doesn’t exist, but you’ve always had this white knight complex going on, ever since Mall?—”
“That’s ridiculous.” Caleb interrupted before Wes could complete the thought.
“No, it isn’t. You make yourself heartless so it won’t hurt if you can’t save someone again. It doesn’t take a psychotherapist to figure that out.”
It felt like the air was thickening around him, dulling his vision, getting caught in his throat. And knowing his friend was right didn’t make him want to hear it any more.
After a moment, Caleb cleared his throat. “If you’re through with the half-assed therapy session, I really need to get back to work.”
“Yeah. Fine. But I want to get together while I’m in town. And you should bring your gorgeous damsel in distress.”
Caleb didn’t dignify that comment with a response, just said goodbye and hung up.
He thought about what Wes had said though, and he decided it wasn’t quite right.
He did want to save Kelly.
But that wasn’t all he wanted.
His phone rang again. It wasn’t Wes calling back, and it wasn’t Kelly. It was Tim, the head of his security team.
Frowning, Caleb answered the call, having absolutely no idea what he was about to hear.
“Mr. Marshall?” Tim said.
“Yes. What’s going on?”
