Fight or Flight

Before I could rethink it, I texted him.

You free for lunch?

His reply was gratifyingly speedy.

Caleb: A quick one, aye. Can you meet me at my office? 12:30 p.m.?

I smiled and texted him that I’d be there.

Not long later I walked into the tall granite building in the Financial District that housed a number of different companies, including Koto Tech. Walking over to reception, I told them who I was there to see and they called up to Caleb’s office.

The receptionist handed me a temporary security pass. “Tenth floor.” She gestured to a bank of elevators.

I flashed my pass at security before I got on the busy elevator that let me off on the tenth floor. I was greeted by a large reception area with a huge reception desk in its center. On the curved wall behind the desk hung engraved silver letters that read “Koto Technologies.” There was a half-moon-shaped gray couch situated around a glass coffee table. A woman in a tailored suit was waiting there, her laptop open on her lap, her fingers moving with super speed over the keys.

A young man sitting behind the reception desk wearing an earpiece stared at me, so I moved toward him, my high heels clicking on the shiny black tiled flooring.

“Ava Breevort.” I smiled. “Here to see Caleb Scott.”

The young man nodded. “You’re expected.”

“Miss Breevort?”

I glanced to my left to find a woman of indeterminate age staring at me. She was dressed in a light gray pantsuit with a soft pink blouse underneath. Her ash brown hair was cut short in tight spirals and she was immaculate from top to toe, from her smooth, wrinkle-free umber skin to her pearls and Prada loafers.

“Yes?”

“I’m Elizabeth.” She held out her a manicured hand. “Mr. Scott’s personal assistant.”

I shook it. “Nice to meet you.”

“The meeting he’s in is running a little late, but I have coffee for you while you wait.” She gave me a small smile before turning around to walk down the corridor beyond us.

I followed as we stepped from tiled flooring onto carpet. The whole place still smelled like fresh paint. We wound our way past individual offices until we came out into an open space that housed a desk and a waiting area. Behind the desk was a large office door with a silver plate on it that read “Caleb Scott, CFO.”

I couldn’t help but feel more than a prickle of pride for him and his success.

Elizabeth walked over to a table by the seats in the waiting area where there was a coffee machine. “How do you take it?”

But before I could answer, Caleb’s office door opened and something fluttered in my chest at the sight of him. He had the door braced open with one hand and was looking down at the individual who was currently standing half in, half out of his office.

When that individual’s hand suddenly rested on his chest, I dragged my gaze from Caleb to her. I tensed.

An attractive, very tall platinum blonde was smiling up at him flirtatiously. She was dressed in a suit much like my own, except she was all model-like lines and legs that went on forever. “Well, my offer still stands,” I heard her say in a throaty voice. “If you need someone to show you around Boston, I’m born and bred.”

Caleb nodded, thankfully not breaking a smile. “I’ll keep that in mind. For now, I just need you tae get your team tae where you are. If not, then you’ll need tae clean house, Jen. You have two more weeks and any deadweight still remaining needs tae go.”

She dropped her hand but that smirky little smile of hers didn’t leave her face. “It won’t come to that.”

“Good.” He glanced over at me, apparently having sensed me there already if his lack of surprise was anything to go by, and I more than liked the subtle softening of his expression. “My lunch date is here. This meeting is over.”

I smiled at him and flicked a look at “Jen.” She drew her suspicious gaze over the entire length of me and muttered, “Of course,” before walking away. I didn’t bother to see if she looked back at us. I was too busy forcing myself not to run at Caleb and throw my arms around him.

“Hey.”

He gave me that little half-smile I loved as he closed his office door behind him. “Hey yourself.”

Kiss me.

As if he heard my silent plea, he leaned down when I reached him and brushed the softest kiss across my lips. They tingled as if telling me they wanted more.

“Liz,” he said over my head as he slid an arm around my waist. “I’ll be back within the hour.”

“You have a meeting in forty minutes,” she said, grimacing apologetically. “Your meeting with Miss Granton ran over a little.”

He sighed. “Fine. I’ll be back in forty minutes.”

While he led me back the way I’d come, his hand resting possessively on my lower back, I tried to stifle the urge to ask about Miss Jen Granton and found I couldn’t. I kept my voice light as I asked, “Who is the platinum blonde?”

Caleb hesitated a second before he answered, “The head of marketing.”

“She wants to sleep with you,” I told him, as if he didn’t already know that.

“Aye, well, she can want.” His hand pressed deeper against my back. “I dinnae shit where I eat.”

It took everything within me not to stiffen at his comment, which should have been, I dinnae want tae have sex with anyone but you.

“You aren’t jealous, are you?” he asked, a hum of amusement in his tone as we stepped onto the elevator.

It was thankfully empty, so I could retort, “Kiss my ass.”

“With pleasure,” he murmured in my ear.

Still irritated, both at him and at myself for my jealousy, I stared stonily ahead and attempted to ignore his roaming hand.

Caleb sighed and stepped away from me as the elevator stopped and more people got on. It wasn’t until we hit the ground floor that he returned his hand to my back and gently led me forward.

“You have no need tae be jealous,” he said conversationally, holding the exit door open for me. Our eyes met as I moved to go ahead of him and I was halted by his next words. “You’re all I need.”

And even though it was what I wanted to hear, I couldn’t help the melancholy that swelled over me, because what he didn’t add at the end of the sentence were the words “for now.” Yet those words hung between us anyway, and I scooted out past him, forcing my gaze away so he couldn’t see the turmoil in it.

“How is Harper?” Caleb sought to change the subject as we joined the crowd on the sidewalk. It was a hot day, the sun beaming fiercely against my head, and I felt envious of the businessman in front of me wearing a fedora. I wished hats were more fashionable with female business attire. It would be cute—very 1940s—and serve the purpose of protecting my scalp from burning during the summer.

“Harper?”

I’d wanted to talk about this with him, so why was I stalling? Was it the reminder that he wasn’t going to be my permanent shoulder to lean on?

Sighing, I shrugged. “She won’t talk to me.”

At the hollowness in my voice, he took my hand in his, drawing my eyes up to his face. “She’ll come around. She knows you love her, Ava.”

“I’d do anything for her.”

His grip on my hand tightened and something flashed in his gaze that I didn’t quite understand. “Aye, she knows that too. You’re the only one she’ll talk tae and she needs tae talk about it. I know you dinnae want tae push but you need tae at least try tae feel her out about what happened. She’ll get mad at anyone who tries, but you’re the only one who might actually succeed in getting her tae open up.”

His words of advice settled over me and I decided he was right. As much as the thought of confronting her about her emotions frightened me because I didn’t want to push her away, I knew she needed to do it before she buried what she felt. Burying it would only mean the distinct possibility of it being unearthed sometime in the future. Still, I had to ask, “I did the right thing?”

“You know you did. Stop beating yourself up about this.”

“How would you feel if it happened to one of your sisters? You can’t tell me you wouldn’t blame yourself for not having stepped in sooner. I know you, Caleb.”