Caylee's Confessions (Caylee's Confessions Series) (7 page)

“Of
course.  I like Caylee better anyway, Mr. Caloman.” 

“Braxton—just
Braxton.  It would only be fair, since I’ll be calling you by your first name. 
So now, since we’re on a first name basis, Caylee…what do you like to do when
you’re not working?” he asked as I picked up my glass and took a large gulp. 
Hm…I slay vampires, werewolves, and the occasional shape shifter.

“I
like to work-out, read, and occasionally hang out with friends for a drink or
the movies.”  Lies, lies, lies.  He smirked, like he knew.

“Friends…that
must be nice.  I find that my extracurricular activities make it difficult for
friends.”  He paused, rethinking.  “Largely because my only extracurricular
activity is work that I don’t finish at the office.”  He frowned.  “I don’t
know how you find the time.  I’m jealous.”  It was almost as if he was
referring to something else.  “Well, I don’t want to keep you.” He paused.  “This
meeting was meant for work, but I’m just extremely worn-out from talking and
doing any more work.  I’m glad we are working with your company, and I feel we
have truly made the right decision,” he said, shifting in his seat, like he was
getting ready to get up.  “I’ll let you get on now.  I’m sure you have other
plans to attend to tonight.”  I didn’t, because I’d actually thought this was
going to go on a lot longer.  Claire had marked me off for the night, but hey,
I could catch up on some sleep. 

“Yeah,
I told a friend I would meet her later if this ended early.  Thank you so much,
again, for taking a look at our company and giving us this opportunity,” I said
as I stood up, and he did the same, while giving me a firm, parting handshake. 
His hands felt so strong but smooth, like velvet. 

“Let
me walk you out,” he said as we headed for the front door.

“It
was a pleasure meeting you, Caylee,” he said as I began to wave for a taxi.

“You
too, Braxton,” I said, waving him goodbye to his now, almost puppy dog-looking
face.  The poor guy never got to do anything fun.  I, at least, got to do
something that gave me a thrill at night.  But I couldn’t ask him to go out.  That
would be extremely unprofessional, and I had said I was meeting a friend, which
was a lie. 
Braxton looked so much like he needed a night off from work, but
what did I care?
I asked myself. 

“Did
you want to join my friend and me for a couple of drinks?  You seem like you
could use a night off from work,” slipped out of mouth, before I even thought
about it.  That was so unprofessional.  What was I thinking, asking him that? 
Was I even thinking?

“Sure,”
he answered quickly.  “But only if I’m not imposing,” he insisted with a smirk.

“Yes,
I’m sure.  You won’t be imposing at all.”  Mostly because there was no friend
going.  I didn’t have friends.

He
then hailed a taxi, and the deal was sealed when we both got in. 
Was I
really going to have drinks with a client that wasn’t for a formal meeting? 
Was I really lowering to Lori’s standards?
I pondered, but justified that
he’d already signed my contract before I’d invited him out. 

I
told the taxi to take us to this bar that was just down the street from my
house.  I’d been there a couple of times for dinner, and it was usually pretty
occupied with people, so it wouldn’t be like a romantic date.  We arrived at
Chuckie’s and claimed two seats at the bar.  Chuckie’s atmosphere was one that
I thought was appropriate enough.  It wasn’t one of those loud bars where you
had to scream at whoever you were with just so they could hear you, while
staring at the odd, miscellaneous Nascar décor on the walls.  It wasn’t one of
those classy, cigar and martini piano bars either. It fit perfectly in the
middle of the two. Music hit your ears, but not at an extreme level, and they
did have martinis and one Nascar sign. 

“Do
you like to play trivia?” Braxton asked, ending the awkward silence we’d had
since we ordered our drinks. 

“Sometimes.”
 I paused.  “It depends on the game.” 

“Well,
at the end of the bar they have one of those video ones that have all types of
games on them.  I’m sure we’ll be able to find one you’ll like.”  He smiled and
motioned me to follow him.  We sat down in front of it and he began looking
through the different types of trivia games they had.

“How
about we make this interesting and the loser of each game does a shot?” he
asked.  Wow, it really must have been a while since he’d been out.  But I loved
to gamble.

“Okay,
but when you’re wasted, don’t go blaming it on me,” I joked.

“Confident,
are we?  Well, then I’ll let you pick the first game,” he said, and it made me
happy as I scanned the games, looking for one I knew I would be good at.  I
found ‘Photo Hunt.’  Photo Hunt was usually a hit for anyone I found, because
all you had to do was look at two pictures that were supposed to be identical,
and pick out what didn’t match.  This seemed simple enough, and hell, it was
part of my nighttime profession to see things that weren’t supposed to be
there.

“Photo
Hunt,” I said confidently as I touched it on the screen.

“Pick
out what shot you want then.”  He laughed.  I started the game by going first,
and found the first things that were out-of-place quickly, with only seconds
going by.  The last object took me a little longer, but I had, overall, found
everything before I was on the red rushing time, so I was happy…until it was
his turn, that is.  He had all the things found in seriously five seconds.  In
this game though, you didn’t lose until you couldn’t find the things in each
new picture, so I could still redeem myself. 

“Ready
to surrender yet?”  He smirked.

“That
was only the first round.  We have many to go,” I said as the second round was
beginning to start.  One hour, six drinks, and thousands of points later, I
finally lost, because he’d had a better time in every single round that we’d
played. 

“Damn
it,” I said aloud.

“Told
you.  Now, pick your shot out.  And I guess, since you lasted so long against
me, I’ll do the shot with you.”  He smiled.

“Yeah,
yeah, yeah,” I fake-complained.  “Let’s do ‘Washington Apples’ then.” 

We
ordered the two shots, threw them back, and continued on to the other trivia
games.  Like Photo Hunt, he beat me in every single game, besides ‘Gender Bender.’ 
I’d begun to wonder if he had lied about not being able to get out, because he
was awesome at all of these games.  But I didn’t really care, because he had me
laughing and having fun the whole time.  I was genuinely enjoying myself, when
the bartender broke the mood.

“Last
call!” the bartender shouted from the end of the bar, throwing me out of my
trivia trance.

“Seriously,
last call already?” I asked Braxton.

“Its
1:45.”  He laughed.

“No
way.”  I chuckled.  “Time went by in like two seconds.  I don’t think I should
get a last call,” I said.  “I do have to work in the morning, so I probably
should be going now.”  And to be honest, my body didn’t need a last call.  I
was feeling only slightly buzzed, because I had consumed the drinks over the
course of seven hours, so I wasn’t even close to being wasted. 

“Yeah,
same here.  I’m going to finish this drink and go,” Braxton said.  “It was fun.
 Thanks for taking me out.” 

“Definitely,”
I replied.  “It was a good time.  I’m going to go to the register for my tab,
so hopefully I’ll see you again in a meeting soon.”  I smiled as I got up from
my chair.

“I
already paid it.  You’re good,” Braxton said.

“Thank
you, Braxton.  You didn’t have to do that,” I said.

“I
know, but I wanted to.  Have a nice night, Caylee.  I’ll see you soon.”  He got
up to see me out.  We were at the street when I turned to say goodbye, not
being quite sure of how to end this.

“It
was nice meeting you again,” I said awkwardly, smiling as I stuck out my hand
to shake his.  This was not how I ended a night out with friends usually, but
this had started as a business meeting.  It surely wasn’t a date. 

“You
too, Caylee.”  His strong, smooth hand met mine once more.  I felt my body
silently moan as he released my hand.  I wanted him to pull me to him.  I
turned to hail a cab.  One came about a second after I’d raised my hand.  It
was always an advantage to live in a less-populated part of town. My hand
reached for the handle of the taxi, when I felt a tug at my right hand that
spun me around and pulled me into his body.  Before I had a second to think,
his lips were on mine and I felt my body melt into his.  As his sweet taste
entered my mouth, his intoxicating scent filled my lungs.  He smelled like
cedar, mahogany, and sandalwood, wrapped into one, with a small twist of
lemon.  When released me, it was like my body was being pulled out of a
trance.  I was breathless, and my body was aching to be back in his arms. 

“I’m
sorry,” he said as I was trying to catch my breath.  “A handshake was just not
adequate enough for ending this wonderful night,” he said, with a smile that
rose from ear to ear.  “Caylee, would you care to do this again sometime—sometime
soon?” he asked.

“Yes,”
was all I could get to leave my lips.  He opened the door of my cab and I got
in.  He shut the door, and waved goodbye, with a winning smile on his face.

“Where
to Ms.?” the cabbie asked.

As
I finally caught my breath, I told him my address and wondered,
what the
fuck just happened?  I kissed a client.  Well, he kissed me; but I know my
tongue…fuck.  Who was I kidding?  My whole body responded.  The way he tasted
and his presence filled my lungs.  That scent, whatever cologne it was, melted
me like butter.
  I shivered as I felt my body get excited again, just at
the thought.  Had I forgotten what a kiss felt like?  It had been a while, but
I’d never felt like that before, not even with Kevin.  Oddly, I couldn’t get my
mind to think of anything but how good it felt.  And I wondered why he never
mentioned anything about my friend not coming?  Good thing he didn’t.  I
probably would have froze up.

The
cab arrived at my apartment building and I practically skipped up the steps.  I
got in my apartment, let Duke out to take care of his business, and turned on
the TV.  As I took off my jacket, a lingering scent of Curve hit my nostrils,
reminding me of the night I’d had.  That was the cologne, I knew I’d recognized
the intoxicating scent before.  I sat back with a smile and was almost relaxed,
when I heard a knock at my sliding glass door.  The sound made me jump as I
grabbed my stake from my belt to see who was holding Duke, who was currently
licking the intruders face in my doorway. 

“Why
do you have my dog?” I asked Shad.  He practically had scared the shit out of
me and he was smiling, making me more agitated, even though his smile made him
look sort of playful—cute even.

“He
likes me.”  Shad laughed, letting Duke inside as he stepped inside himself.

“I
didn’t invite you in,” I scolded as Duke ran to my feet.

“I’m
not a vampire…I can enter without permission,” he said.

“You
may not be a vampire, but anyone who comes over has enough manners to know that
you just don’t let yourself into someone’s home.  I could call the police,” I
threatened.

“But
you won’t.”  He smiled, and I felt my body calm as he called me out.  I hated
that he was good-looking.  If he wasn’t, maybe I could have focused more on how
I was supposed to be mad at him, instead of wondering if vitans could date.  They
always said good-looking people got away with more.  I could see why. 

“Whatever.
 What are you doing here?” I asked. Did he really have to come here after I’d
just had an awesome night?

“I
have to tell you, you are a very tricky woman to track down, Caylee.  It took
me about a week to find out where you lived.  It usually takes me hours to
locate someone,” he said, apparently now knowing my name.

“Well,
I’m happy to have inconvenienced you like that.”  I smirked.

“Yes,
it was inconvenient, but I never give up, so I found you eventually.  Your dog
here actually helped a lot,” he said as I looked down at Duke and mouthed ‘traitor.’ 
I would have to remember to schedule more play dates with him. 

“It
wasn’t his fault.  I just picked up that you had a dog, because when we met, you
had short, brown hairs on your shirt, and…well…this dog has short, brown hairs
too, so I just followed him.  It helped that he was friendly, and smelled like
you.  With a little attention, he brought me right back here.”  He chuckled.  “But
anyways, I came to inform you that I’ve talked to one of my trusted superiors,
and they said it would be extremely useful to us if you would come and let us
know about the history of this area, like: where you’ve noticed they usually
hang out, how many have been killed, and so on.  He feels it will help us
prepare for what is coming,” Shad said.

“Why
would I do that?” I asked him.

“Well,
then you could be aiding in our effort.  We both have the same goals, you
know.  And this way, you could tell us where they usually are, so you don’t
have to go out anymore.”  He smiled, probably thinking this would make me
happy.