“Our costumes.” He grinned. Not satisfied with the rolled-down window, he opened the passenger door.
He rummaged in one of the bags, pulling out a red T-shirt with a large picture of a padlock. He snapped the shirt in the air, presenting it to me like a child would: with earnest longing for my reaction.
I had no idea how he wanted me to react. Was it because the shirt was red?
He raised his brows to in
dicate there was more and draped the shirt over his shoulder. Reaching into the bag, he produced another red shirt. “Ta-da!” he crowed with a flourish. This one had a picture of a heart. He whipped the first one off his shoulder, holding both shirts up.
I looked at his handsome, grinning face for a moment. His cheeks were pink, his eyes twinkling. And then I started to laugh. Both shirts were red, and put together, they represented his last name: Lockhart.
“You like it?” he asked.
“Sure, Caleb.” I chuckled.
Satisfied, he closed my door and jogged around the car, settling in the driver’s seat.
“We’ll match. I also got shorts and sneakers,” he said, shaking the second bag.
I shook my head at him, smiling.
“Here’s your shirt.” He handed me the paper bag. “I get the lock. You get the heart. Sound good?”
When I just looked at him, he laughed again. “Red, you look drop-dead gorgeous in that dress, and I could look at you all night. But I figured instead of fancy, we’d try super casual. You game?”
I nodded, dazed by his playful grin. He started undressing, pulling off his suit jacket, removing his tie, and then unbuttoning his dress shirt. I sat there gawking. He pulled on his shirt with the lock picture. And then he started removing his pants…
“Caleb!”
He opened his pants fly, then paused to stare at me with intense eyes, challenging me. “You can stare however long you like, Red. This body belongs to you.”
“Oh God,” I groaned, closing my eyes.
“Anyway…” He chuckled as I heard his clothes rustling. “It’s not like we haven’t seen each other in our underwear. Remember jumping off the bridge?”
God, I remembered. The image of him in his wet briefs was seared into my brain. I couldn’t help it. I peeked.
He wore…boxers with yellow smiley faces.
That made me laugh again.
“Go ahead and put yours on. I won’t look.” His dimples winked at me.
“Yeah, right.” I chortled and rolled my eyes.
His mood was so infectious, so fun and cheerful. He made me feel like it was okay to act my age, to be young and carefree, to do silly things and forget my problems. I realized Caleb liked me for who I was. I could be myself around him, and he would accept all of me.
I removed the straps of my dress, rolling it down my torso. I knew he was staring, but I acted like undressing in a car while Caleb watched was a perfectly normal thing to do.
Inside, I was a nervous wreck. I couldn’t look at him.
It was too quiet inside the car. I swear he wasn’t breathing. When I pulled the dress all the way down my legs and I was only wearing my bra and panties, I heard his sharp intake of breath.
“Red,” he whispered. I finally glanced at him, and he looked like he wanted to… Well, he looked hungry. Again.
I gave him a haughty smile.
Where was I getting this confidence? From Caleb, I realized. He made me feel confident. He made me feel beautiful.