Page 30 of Make Your Shot
I laugh with her, shaking my head. “I’ll admit, he’s extremely attractive and probably everything I’d look for in a man, except for one thing.”
“What’s that?” she questions me, drifting close enough that our blow-up floats bump into one another.
“He’s emotionally unavailable.”
I haven’t been trying to dissect Caleb because I know he’s so emotionally closed off. I know better than to get involved with someone like that again—but thenagain, this isn’t even a situation where I should be thinking about getting involved with someone else.
“That can always change,” she muses.
Caleb Ford is my boss and nothing more.
Never mind the fact that he’s the literal image of perfection.
Since I started working for him, I’ve been seeing a different side to him. A warm, kind, and caring side. It’s clear he cares about his daughter, she’s at the forefront of every decision he makes, but there’s more than just that. He stocked his entire pantry with gluten free snacks because he knows that’s all I can eat.
I’m not sure what that says, but it feels like it’s a little more than just caring about his daughter.
“Why didn’t I get the invite to the pool party at my own house?”
My heart stutters in my chest as I hear his voice carrying across the gentle fall breeze. I quickly move to sit upright, my raft teeter tottering beneath my weight as I shift quickly. “Oh shit,” I say a little louder than intended as I catch myself before I fall in. I shoot a look at Caleb, my eyes rounding as I press my lips into a straight line.
Caleb’s gaze lands on mine and he arches a brow. “That’s a dollar for the swear jar, pup.”
Pup?
“Pup?” Andi says, whipping her head to the side to look at him.
Caleb looks between the two of us, lifting his shoulders before letting them fall. There’s a tint of redcreeping across his cheeks and his throat bobs. “Sometimes her eyes look like a puppy dog’s.”
“Daddy!” Tella calls his name, splashing her way through the water into the shallow end. “Are you going to get in?”
“Yeah, Uncle Cale! Jump in!”
Caleb bites back a grin, mischief dancing in his expression. “I don’t know...” His voice trails off as he slowly starts to walk around the pool. I don’t miss when he kicks his shoes off, not bothering with his socks. “I don’t have my bathing suit on.”
“Who cares?” Tella yells at him, jumping up and down.
“Get in anyways!” Matteo joins her in the shallow end and they both start jumping up and down, creating waves with their bodies.
“Yeah, Caleb,” Andi says, looking at me as she winks. “Take it off.”
He rolls his eyes at her, turning back to the kids as he slowly starts to walk to the deep end, moving like he’s stalking prey. Like a shark circling, about to attack. He pauses and pulls both of his socks off before tossing them into the grass. “I don’t think either of you want me to get in.”
“I think Mia does,” Andi says in a quiet voice, only loud enough for the two of us to hear.
“Andi!” I scold her under my breath, my eyes flashing to her before glancing back at Caleb again as he walks toward the diving board.
“Shh,” Andi shushes me, waving her hand dismissively. “It’s our little secret, for now.”
Caleb stops at the end of the diving board, his eyes drifting across the pool, stopping when they reach mine. He stares at me from where he’s standing and I let myself drink him in. The white T-shirt is perfectly fitted around his torso, showing the lean muscles in his arms and his trimmed figure. My eyes head downwards to his shorts, where I see a small spot of black poking beneath the bottom hem of one.
I can’t see what it is from here, but I know well enough that it’s a tattoo. Black ink etched into his flesh. His tongue darts out to wet his lips and he runs a hand through his tousled waves.
“Come on, Daddy!” Tella calls out again, her voice almost sounding distant as I find myself locked in a trance. “Jump in!”
“Jump in, Uncle Cale!” Matteo urges again.
The two of them continue to chant as Caleb lifts one foot and then the other until he’s standing on the diving board. His hands move down to the bottom hem of his shirt and my mouth goes dry as he grips it, lifting it up and over his head. He stands shirtless at the end of the pool, his muscles flexing as he tosses it over onto the grass by his socks.
