My face flushed with embarrassment, and I shook my head at the two women who were gawking at us. “Sorry, ladies,” I said. “My friend likes to exaggerate. It really wasn’t as crazy as all that—”
“My point is, when it comes to sex, it’s not like the two of you to go at it exactly by the book.”
I rolled my eyes, then stared down at my metallic silver nails. “And what mischief do you think we could possibly get up to into?”
Madison giggled at the image, then shook her head. “I doubt the balcony will be involved, but one of those trapezes over the bed maybe.”
“Madison!”
I snorted and took another sip of my complimentary mimosa. If there were two things Londoners were great at, it was booze and sex, and I was confident that just a little after eight p.m. that night, one would get me through the other.
Madison downed her own mimosa in a hurry, then said, as if reading my mind, “Well, whatever happens, it will be great. When we finish up here, let’s head back to the office. I have a little something there that might steady those nerves.”
Chapter 25
At my office, I worked hard for hours when Madison came and got me.
“I told you I had something to steady your nerves.”
“I’m getting all caught up since Robert reinstated me.”
“Time for a break.”
“Okay.”
As it turned out, Madison wasn’t talking about her office at all. Instead, she escorted me to Caleb’s, and he looked up in surprise as we both burst through the door and settled down on the sofa without the courtesy of a knock.
Caleb was a handsome man, one of those effortlessly good-looking people who managed to look even more adorable when he was stressed. He had a phone glued to each ear while his fingers blurred across his keyboard, but he still managed to mouth, “What’s up?” as we made ourselves comfortable.
Madison pointed to a tall cabinet wedged against the ceiling, and Caleb nodded before tossing a key to her. He then continued typing, chiming in to the phone calls every now and then in what sounded like Italian, but all that came to a halt when Madison climbed up on his desk. He leaned back in his chair and suddenly stilled as she planted her stilettos in the middle of his workspace and reached up toward the cabinet. Her long legs stretched out on either side of him, and the hem of her short dress brushed against his cheek as he stifled a smile.
“Actually, Mr. Moretti, I think I will have to call you back,” Caleb said, then freed himself from both phones at once. He gazed up at her, his handsome face flushing with a reluctant grin. “Did you need help, or did you just come here to give me a free show? I’m fine with it either way,” he added quickly.
I burst out laughing as she stared down at him with a most seductive smile on her face.
“Oh, sorry, Caleb. Did I distract you from your work?” she asked, feigning innocence with a bat of her eyelashes.
He couldn’t help but trace her slender legs with his eyes, and he instinctively bit his lip when they traveled upward. Then, with a shocking display of skill, he tugged hard on her ankles.
I stifled a protective shriek as she fell, but he caught her just an inch before she hit the desk, wrapping his hands tightly around her thighs as he set her down in front of him.
“Why don’t you let me do that for you?” Caleb took the key out of her hand, now wearing a wicked grin of his own, and pulled her closer on the desk. “I’m taller, after all.”
Whoa there!
I’d been told repeatedly that the two of them were over, but it certainly didn’t seem that way at that moment. Madison’s legs were still parted as she sat atop his desk, and Caleb stood right between them. They stared at each other for a second, reveling in the tension, until he finally shot her a little wink and turned around to open the cabinet.
A second later, he turned back around, holding a bottle of vodka and three glasses. “And what, may I ask, is the occasion?” he said.
Madison hopped off the desk as he proceeded to pour a trio of shots.
“Or is everyone just having as stressful a day as I am?”
I took my cup and offered a grateful smile in return, then downed half of it in a single gulp.
“Della is having an existential awakening, and I am here for moral support,” Madison said, then drained her glass and gestured for him to refill it. “Be a little less stingy with the booze, my friend. I know full well that isn’t your only bottle.”
Caleb chuckled. “You know a lot of things full well when it comes to me, love.”