“None of your business.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

  “Wow,” Kayla said, waddling into the room with Hannah right on her heels. “Tension’s thick enough to cut with a knife in here, what’s going on? Are we brawling? And why didn’t we get an invite?”

  “I want to be on Sienne’s team,” Hannah said. “She fights the dirtiest.”

  “Hey,” Sienne said and then paused. “And true . . .”

  Perfect. Caleb shook his head. “No one’s fighting. I’m leaving for the night.”

  “Perfect,” Hannah said. “Then we’re going to have a girls’ night disguised as a meeting so we can put it on the company card.”

  “I need to add something to the meeting’s agenda,” Sienne said. “The topic’s Sadie Lane.”

  “No,” Caleb said. “Not happening.”

  Sienne put a hand on his arm. “You know we vet everyone you intend to date as a matter of course. It’s called protection, Caleb, and we have a very good reason for it.”

  She was the only one on the planet who could make him feel like a stupid teenager. “Whatever.”

  “You know you’ve won an argument when the other person says ‘whatever,’” Hannah noted.

  “You used to be the nice one,” he said. “And Sadie isn’t like anyone I’ve dated before. For one thing, we’re not dating.” A fact he intended to fix, but that wasn’t up for discussion either.

  Sienne pulled out the big guns and moved in close, setting her head on his shoulder, looking up at him with deceptively sweet eyes. “We do this because we love you.”

  “I forgot just how dirty you fight,” he murmured, but he slid an arm around her and gave her a squeeze. “Stay out of her personal life. Note that I’m not even going to bother asking you to stay out of mine. See you all tomorrow.”

  He drove to the Pacific Pier Building. It was another dark night but the courtyard was alight with the soft glow of the lampposts and the strings of lights.

  He headed straight to the Canvas Shop, his heart starting to pick up speed at the thought of seeing Sadie.

  Rocco was working on a client’s upper arm. He didn’t even look up as he said, “You the one who paid her gas bill and filled her fridge?” When Caleb didn’t answer, Rocco lifted his gaze, his own hard and unforgiving. “Why?”

  Caleb slid his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels, a little surprised to be having this conversation. Not to mention the fact that his answer was complicated. Something about the tough, impenetrable Sadie made him want to take care of her. It was instinctual, much like it was to take care of his sisters—not that he felt anything close to brotherly for Sadie.

  “I don’t think anyone should be cold or hungry,” he finally said.

  Rocco’s gaze bored into his and then suddenly his eyes softened very slightly and he nodded. “For the record, she didn’t tell me. I overheard her talking to herself, which she does when she sketches.”

  This was more words than Caleb had ever heard Rocco utter in a row. He glanced toward the back. The privacy curtain was pulled across the area where Sadie worked. “Is she here?”

  Just then, from behind the curtain, came a loud, furious male voice yelling “Motherfucking, cock-sucking son of a bitch!”

  Caleb quickly moved toward the curtain, but Rocco stopped him. “She’s not in trouble,” he said. “Mini Moe’s just completing a Prince Albert.”

  Caleb felt his eyes go a little wide. “Those are real?”

  “Yep.”

  Holy shit. He resisted the urge to cup his favorite body part as he pictured what he knew of a Prince Albert piercing. “Why?” he managed. “Why would anyone do that?”

  “It can enhance your sexual experience,” Rocco said.

  “And you’ve . . . ?” Caleb gestured to Rocco’s lower half.

  “Fuck no.”

  “Where’s Sadie?” he asked, hoping like hell that Rocco wasn’t about to answer that she was back there with Mini Moe and his client.

  “She just took Poops A Lot for a walk.”

  Caleb laughed. “Don’t let Sadie hear you call her that. She doesn’t like it.”

  Rocco actually grinned. “Why do you think I do it? She’ll be back any second. If you want to live, I suggest you come up with a better reason for doing what you did, one that doesn’t involve pity.”

  “It wasn’t pity,” Caleb said. “I care about her.”

  “Good,” Rocco said. “But you’re still going to need a better reason than that. I suggest lying out your ass.”

  “About what?” Sadie asked.

  At the sound of her voice, Rocco grimaced at Caleb with a you’re on your own look and then bent over his client, mouth zipped up tight.

  Okay then. Manning up, Caleb turned to face Sadie and Lollipop. If he thought his heart had been locked down and the key thrown away, he was wrong. His heart wasn’t locked down, not for the dog and most especially not for the woman. “Hey.”

  “Hey,” Sadie said, quiet. Mistrustful after the partial conversation she’d overheard.

  Not Lollipop. She strained at her leash at the sight of him, whining and crying to get closer after a week without him.

  Sadie let loose of the leash and the dog flew through the air to get at him. He caught her up and hugged her close as she squirmed and cried with sheer joy, licking his face and whatever else she could reach.

  “Traitor,” Sadie said and crossed her arms. “Lie about what?” she asked again.

  Caleb didn’t bother to look back at Rocco for help. He was trying to figure out his best options just as Mini Moe appeared from the back. The big Samoan stood in front of the curtain, beefy arms closed over his chest.

  “He needs a moment,” Mini Moe said.

  “Understandable,” Rocco muttered.

  Something on Caleb’s face must have given him away because Sadie went brows up, slightly amused. “We could get you a Prince Albert if you’re interested. I couldn’t do it for you, I’m not licensed, but I could assist Mini Moe.”

  Could one feel oneself go pale? Because Caleb was pretty sure that’s what he did. “No,” he said as Mini Moe looked at him with renewed interest. “I’m good, thanks.”

  Mini Moe went back to his client. Rocco had just finished with his own client and together they stepped into the courtyard for fresh air, leaving Caleb and Sadie alone.

  “So you’re back,” she said.

  “I am.”

  “And you’re here.”

  “Wanted to see you,” he said.

  She held his gaze, her own deep blue eyes seeming to see straight into his head, hell, also his soul in a way no one else could. It was both thrilling and unsettling. She saw a different side of him than most. She was also one of the few people in his life who went toe-to-toe with him and could call him out on his bullshit.

  They hadn’t yet discussed what he’d done after he’d left her bed. She hadn’t brought it up during the week he’d been gone, not in a text, not on the phone. He’d gotten the impression she’d been saving that conversation for a face-to-face, and he had no idea if she was pissed or not. She didn’t make him wait.

  “Thanks for what you did,” she finally said. “But it wasn’t necessary. I can take care of myself.”

  “I know,” he said.

  “So why did you do it?”

  With Rocco’s advice to lie bouncing around in his head, he went with the utter truth. “Because I care about you.” He bent his knees a little to see directly into her eyes. “Is that so hard to believe? I care about you, and the thought of you being cold while trying to sleep or going to bed hungry drives me insane. It keeps me up at night, which means the why of it is really entirely selfish. I wanted to be able to sleep.”

  Her lips twitched. “And did you?”

  “No, I didn’t. I’m pretty sure it’s because I’m also sexually frustrated.”

  She laughed. “How can that possibly be? We used a whole string of condoms!”

  He smiled at her amusement. “I think it’s you.” He lowered his voice and ran his fingers along her jaw, liking the way her breath caught at his touch. Taking a risk, he pressed into her and murmured, “I’m not finished with you, Sadie. I want more. Go out with me.”

  She froze. “Like on a . . . date?”

  “Yes.” He cupped her face in both hands now. “Is that really so strange?”

  “But . . . I already put out.”

  He smiled. “I want a date,” he repeated stubbornly. “A grown-up date without using our baby as an excuse to see each other. Just you and me. What do you say?”

  Sadie continued to stare at him. “I don’t use Lollipop as an excuse.”

  “We both use her,” he said. “Yes or no, Sadie?”

  She looked over at Rocco, who’d come back inside. He shook his big shaggy head. “Don’t look at me, baby doll. I’d say yes to him in a hot second, but he doesn’t swing that way.”

  “This is nuts,” Sadie said. “No one dates anymore.”

  “So let’s show ’em what they’re missing,” Caleb said. “Go out with me tonight.”

  “Tonight?”

  “Too soon? Tomorrow then. Whenever you want.”

  She stared at him like he’d lost his mind. But it was the opposite. He was just realizing how much he wanted this.

  “What would we do?” she asked.

  “Date stuff,” he said and smiled because damn, she was cute standing there panicking at the thought of spending more time with him.

  “Like go to a horror flick where I get scared and you get to comfort the little lady?”

  “Are you telling me you’re scared of horror flicks?”

  She blinked as she gave this some thought. “No, just chainsaws.”

  “Well, that’s just common sense,” he said. “Are we going to do this, Sadie?”

  She chewed her lower lip in indecision. On the one hand, she was looking adorably sexy trying to figure out if she trusted him or not. On the other hand, she’d taken a tour of his body with her sexy mouth and yet she couldn’t decide if she wanted to go out on a date with him.

  The odds weren’t exactly in his favor.

  “Can I think about it?” Sadie finally asked.

  Caleb looked over at Rocco, who shrugged like, take it, man, it’s the best you’re going to get.

  Probably true. “Sure, you can think about it,” he said, realizing this was the first time someone had asked him that. He shouldn’t have been surprised. Everything with Sadie Lane so far had felt like a first . . .

  Chapter 17

  #GoingToBeABumpyRide

  A minute later, Sadie watched Caleb and Lollipop walk out of the shop heading for the pub.

  He wanted to date her.

  Before she could obsess over that too much, her client called and canceled on her. She didn’t know if she was bummed or relieved and grabbed her purse.

  “Running away from home?” Rocco asked mildly.

  “I should,” she said pointedly, but he just smiled, unrepentant.

  “He’d be good for you,” he said.

  Rolling her eyes, she left work and stopped at a table set up in the courtyard where a Girl Scout troop was selling cookies. In her opinion, there were five seasons: winter, Girl Scout Cookie season, spring, summer, and fall. So she searched her purse and managed to come up with ten bucks to buy two emergency boxes. Some might call eating two boxes of cookies on her own a cry for help. Sadie called it supporting young female entrepreneurs.

  She opened a box and helped herself as she thought about Caleb. She’d spent a lot of time avoiding dating. That she was possibly considering jumping back in felt a little too much like her old world to her. The world where she’d been nothing to anyone, not tethered nor tied, not fitting in anywhere . . . And that had almost killed her. She picked up her phone and texted her friends: 9–1–1.

  Not five minutes later, Ivy, Willa, and Molly met her at the fountain in the courtyard. Sadie explained the situation, trying not to freak out. “I mean what’s he thinking?” she asked. “A date? With me? Is he insane?”

  “I don’t get the problem,” Molly said. “He asked you out. It’s sweet. You should go. I bet he takes you somewhere really nice and you can get dressed to kill and drive him crazy all night.”

  Willa nodded. “And aren’t you dying to see what he looks like beneath those sexy suits?”

  Sadie bit her lip because she had seen what he looked like beneath those sexy suits.

  Except . . . not really. It’d been pretty dark, and so cold they’d left on a lot layers. It’d been more of a braille situation, though her fingers and tongue knew their way around his body pretty well . . .

  Ivy caught her expression and went brows up. She clearly recognized there was so much more to tell but was kind enough not to ask questions with an audience.

  “I know I’m with Lucas and all,” Molly said. “And I’m crazy in love. But I’ve worked out with Caleb, and you should know, he’s holy-cow hot.”

  This was something Sadie already knew.

  “And best yet,” Molly went on, “for being rich and kind of famous, he’s a good guy, just really . . . normal.”

  Actually, in Sadie’s book, “normal” was not a point in his favor. Wes had been textbook “normal.” But then he’d been cruel and tried to break her down.

  No. Scratch that. She’d done that to herself. And she’d walked away from men for a bit. But a bit had turned into three years and it was entirely possible she was still broken. “I don’t trust my judgment,” she admitted.

  The girls all looked at each other. Then Molly reached out and took Sadie’s hand. “I get that. There was a time when that was true for me too.”

  “How did you get over it?” Sadie asked.

  “Went with my heart,” Molly said. “And trust me, I didn’t go quietly. Actually, I went kicking and screaming. But I went. And it’s been great, even if late last night we had to both get out of bed and measure it to make sure we were sleeping on equal sides of the mattress.”

  “I had huge trust issues,” Willa told Sadie. “Keane was a huge risk for me, but now look at us . . .” She pulled out her phone. “He sends me pics of him doing household chores because he knows it turns me on.”

  Everyone looked at a picture of Keane feather dusting the furniture with a come-hither sex kitten pose. The next shot was him in only a pair of jeans, riding the carpet cleaner like it was a bucking bronco.

  “Wow,” Ivy said and they all murmured their agreement because it was true. The man looked good getting his clean on.

  “I was pretty screwed up too,” Molly told Sadie. “But now I’m with Lucas, who turned out to be my best friend and soul mate. And trust me, if it worked out for us, then anyone can fall in love—” She broke off to read an incoming text. “Oh hell no. Eat my molten lava cake leftovers and die,” she muttered as she typed. “Sorry.” She set her phone aside. “That was Lucas. What was I saying?”

  “That you’re with your best friend and soul mate,” Sadie said dryly. “You said that right before you threatened him with death.”

  Willa smiled. “See? Marriage is great.”

  Ivy turned to Sadie. “How about you go out with Caleb just for fun and see what happens?”

  Spoken like a person who was as single as Sadie. But could it be that easy? Could she go out with Caleb for the simple attraction and not worry about anything else? She looked into Ivy’s sincere face, and then the others’, who all nodded encouragingly. She blew out a breath and picked up her phone. She typed two words: Tomorrow night. And then a minute later got a response: You’re on.

  “Oh shit,” she whispered.

  “Brownie points to him for not playing coy and pretending he didn’t know what you were saying yes to,” Ivy said. “And nice label you gave him. Is it working?”

  No. “Yes.”

  “See?” Molly said. “He really is a good guy, Sadie.”

  Sadie drew in a shaky breath and told herself to lock it down. She had twenty-four hours before she had to panic. She looked over at her friends, each of whom agreed that Caleb was a good guy.

  All signs pointed to that being the truth. But whether it was bad experiences or maybe just her sheer stubbornness, she wasn’t quite ready to jump into the water yet. Which was dumb. She’d already slept with him. What did she have to feel worried about?

  Her phone buzzed once more and everyone’s gaze went to her phone.

  Do Not Even Think About Falling For This Guy: Bring gym clothes.

  “Gym clothes?”

  Molly grimaced. “Okay, so even good guys can be stupid.”

  “We need to withhold judgment,” Ivy said calmly. “He might be doing a misdirect for Ms. Anxiety City over here.”

  They all looked at Sadie.

  “I’m not anxious!” she said. A big fat lie of course. She couldn’t get enough air into her lungs, her face was overheated, and she was squirming. She never squirmed. “Oh my God, this is ridiculous. I should cancel—” She reached for her phone but Ivy snatched it first.

  “You can do this,” she said very kindly and very gently. “You’re a big girl.”

  “A big girl wouldn’t be flop sweating in some very uncomfortable places,” Sadie said.

  Ivy laughed and turned to the others. “A show of hands on whether or not she should go out with Caleb.”

  Everyone raised their hands.

  Sadie felt like an idiot. But a cared-for idiot. “Fine. I’ll do it.”

  Everyone scattered after that to get back to work. Alone, Sadie eyed the fountain. She didn’t have any extra change to toss in and make a wish—which didn’t matter because even if she did, she wouldn’t wish on love.

  Or would she . . . ?

  “Fine,” she admitted to the water. “I’d be tempted if I thought you were real.”

  A coin flew over her shoulder and hit the water with a plop.

  “There you go, sugar.”

  Sadie whipped around and stared in horror at Old Man Eddie standing there in his tie-dyed Summer Love sweatshirt, hood up over hair that stood straight up, hands in his pockets, looking quite pleased with himself.