Fated (22 page)

After
we were done eating, I didn’t know whether I wanted him to stay or leave. It
was thrilling to have him around, yet at the same time I needed some time to
myself to think about everything that had happened between us in the past
twenty-four hours.

So
I was only partially disappointed when Caden said he had to leave. He didn’t
offer the reason why, and I almost felt like he was waiting for me to ask, but
I didn’t.

“I’ll
see you tomorrow,” he said as I walked him to the door.

“See
you tomorrow.” I had no idea how we were going to act around each other in the
office now that our level of intimacy had deepened even more, but I didn’t
regret anything we had done.

Caden
hesitated before leaving and then dropped a light kiss on my mouth before walking
out. I closed the door lightly behind me, my disappointment growing as it sunk
in that he was really gone. I shook my head in disgust. It wasn’t as if he was
gone forever. I would see him soon enough tomorrow.

That
didn’t stop me from keeping my work cell phone close by, just in case he
called. He didn’t, and I called myself a million kinds of fool for hoping he
would. The disappointment made me put everything in perspective. Caden had told
me from the start that he was only interested in a physical relationship. Just
because we were getting more comfortable didn’t mean anything. Liking each
other just made the physical part a whole lot more enjoyable, that’s all.

I
was armed with this knowledge on Monday morning, wearing it like a shield.
Caden looked up from his computer when I entered the office, and the glasses he
was wearing made him look so sexy I had to resist the urge to jump his bones.
Instead, I gave him a bright smile.

“Good
morning!”

“Good
morning,” he replied, as he watched me with a slight smile. I tried to act
casual as I made my way to my desk. I gave Caden a mock frown as I sat down and
glanced at the flowers on my desk.

“Caden,
you don’t have to keep buying new flowers to replace the old ones. You’re going
to end up spending a fortune.”

He
shrugged as he walked over and propped himself up on the edge of my desk
closest to me. “It’s not a big deal.”

I
wanted to ask him why he did it, especially since he had made such a point
about not giving flowers to Michelle after my comment about it being a waste if
he didn’t care. But I was too afraid of the answer to ask.

“Well,
it’s your money, I guess,” I said lightly. Not wanting him to think I was
ungrateful, I said, “I
do
appreciate it. Calla lilies are my favorite flower.”

Caden
reached over and toyed with a loose curl. I had taken to wearing my hair down
lately because I knew he preferred it that way. Another chink in my armor, but
I couldn’t resist. I tried to not be distracted by his gesture.

“Why
are they your favorite?”

“Because
they’re pretty,” I said with a small smile. The next words tumbled out of me,
almost as if I couldn’t control the urge to share. “They were my mother’s
favorite, and one of the only memories I have of my parents is my father giving
my mother a bouquet of calla lilies for their tenth anniversary. It was just a
week before they died.”

Caden’s
hand moved from my hair to my cheek, cupping it and stroking it softly with his
thumb. His eyes were warm as he looked down at me. “Thank you for telling me
that.”

I
nodded jerkily, feeling uncomfortable by what I had shared. I was usually
neither weepy nor sentimental, but I was feeling dangerously close to both
emotions at the moment. I pasted a smile on my face. “So, what’s on the agenda
for today?”

Caden’s
hand dropped. “Not much. I just need you to hold down the fort. I’ll be in the
studio for most of the day but let me know if you need me.”

I
nodded, watching him as he strode into the studio. There were times when he
spent most of the day in there, but he no longer had the policy of dire
consequences if he was disturbed, and he often came into the office for short
intervals. I knew he was working on his charcoal drawings, and I desperately
wanted to see them, but I thought it would be overstepping the boundaries to
ask. I still hadn’t seen the pictures he had taken of me, although he had told
me they were ready. I wasn’t sure when, if ever, I would be prepared to see
them.

The
morning went by fairly quickly. Even though Caden was technically taking time
off, he still received plenty of calls and correspondence. It was almost noon
when the phone rang again.

“Hello.
Caden Riley’s office. Lauren speaking.”

“Hi,
Lauren. It’s Michelle.”

My
stomach dipped when I heard her greeting. I had assumed Caden wasn’t seeing her
anymore since he had stopped asking me to make Friday dinner reservations, but
I realized that I didn’t really know what he did in his off time when he wasn’t
busy screwing me.

“Hi,
Michelle. Let me tell Caden you’re on the phone.”

“No!”
Michelle’s protest was shrill. She lowered her voice as she continued. “I
called to talk to you.”

“To
me?” I couldn’t possibly imagine why Michelle would want to talk to me.

“You
seemed really nice and I thought you could help me.” Michelle sounded nervous
and I didn’t like where this was going.

“What
do you need help with?” I asked cautiously.

“Is
Caden seeing someone else? Have you seen him with any other woman?” Her
questions came out in a rush. “He told me that he didn’t want to see me anymore
and now he won’t return my calls.”

I
took a deep breath, trying to ignore the rush of pleasure that went through me
at her revelation. I kept my voice calm when I replied. “I’m sorry, Michelle. I
don’t know anything about Caden’s personal life. I’m just his assistant.”

“But
you must know
something
!
You spend more time with him than anyone else. You arrange his life, for God’s
sake!” Michelle’s voice was becoming frantic and demanding, and I just wanted
to get off the phone with her.

“Michelle,”
I said firmly. “This is an inappropriate topic for me to be discussing with
you. My relationship with Caden is strictly professional.” I felt like a
terrible person for my lie and patronizing tone, but the last thing I wanted
was for people to know I was having sex with my boss.

“But
I love him. I need him.” Michelle’s voice broke and I could hear her begin to
cry. I was not well equipped to deal with raw emotions, especially love, and I
felt a mixture of pity and annoyance towards her. I had no doubt Caden had been
honest about the nature of their relationship, just as he had been honest with
me. She had been the one foolish enough to think she could be the one to change
him. I fiercely told myself that I would never make the same mistake. This
wasn’t the first frantic call I had received from a woman for Caden. I
remembered Lissa’s desperate call when I first started working for him. I
wondered how many devastated women he had left in his wake.

“I’m
sorry, Michelle,” I said gently. Even though she was irritating me, that was no
reason to deepen the wound. “There’s really nothing I can do. I don’t know
anything. But I’ll tell him you called, if that makes you feel better.”

“Tell
him to call me!” Her voice was thick with tears, but the desperation came
through. “Please, just get him to call me! I know if I can get him to talk to
me, I can change his mind!”

I
sighed heavily. “I’ll try.”

I
hung up the phone and rubbed my forehead. I had just agreed to try and convince
Caden to call a woman who was frantic to get back together with him. I couldn’t
think of a more ludicrous situation if I tried. Still, I had told Michelle I
would attempt to help her. And it proved that my emotions weren’t involved if I
was willing to help her with Caden.

I
was getting antsy, thinking of how to approach Caden, but I wasn’t going to
interrupt him. Every minute he stayed in his studio seemed like an hour. I was
relieved when he emerged around two o’clock.

“I’m
starving,” he said as he stretched and pulled his glasses off. My mouth became
dry as I watched the muscles flexing in his arms. “Have you eaten yet?”

“No.”
I grabbed a few slips of paper and handed it to him when he walked over. “You
had a few calls.”

He
nodded as he flipped through the messages, discarding them as he read them.

“You
had another call but I didn’t write it down.”

Caden
looked up, not looking too interested. “Who was it?”

“Michelle.”
I rushed to continue before I could lose my nerve. “She wants you to call her
back. I think she really needs to talk to you.”

He
raised an eyebrow as he studied me. “Is that what she said to you?”

I
bit my lip, trying to think how to phrase my next words. “Yes, she seemed
really upset. I think it would help her to talk to you.”

“So
you think I should call her?”

I
started shuffling papers on my desk to escape his enigmatic eyes that were
studying me like they could see right through me. “It can’t hurt. Maybe you can
calm her down. She didn’t seem to be in the best state of mind.”

Caden
took the papers out of my hands and laid them back on my desk. He leaned against
my desk next to my chair, close enough that I could feel the heat of his thigh
against my arm. “And what should I tell her?”

I
shrugged as I looked up at him, determined not to be intimidated. “That’s up to
you.”

He
frowned as he continued to watch me. “I told Michelle I didn’t want to see her
anymore. She was becoming far too clingy and had expectations that I wasn’t
willing to fulfill. I was honest with her. Do you think it’s kind to give her
false hope by talking to her again?”

I
swallowed hard. I had been foolish to think that Caden had stopped seeing her
because of me. We had nothing except a physical relationship; certainly nothing
exclusive. It was a reminder that he didn’t want or need anything from me
except mutually beneficial pleasure. I had to remind myself that I wanted the
same thing.

“I
guess not. She just sounded really upset.” I frowned. “I felt bad for her.”

Caden
gazed at me without speaking for a few moments. His expression was inscrutable.
“I have to say I never expected you to urge me to contact a past lover.”

I
tried to smile, although my lips felt stiff. “What can I say? I’m a regular
humanitarian.”

My
joke fell flat as Caden didn’t reply, so I tried to change the topic. “What was
that about lunch? Do you want me to order something for you?”

“Why
don’t we go upstairs and eat? I have plenty of pasta salad.”

I
arched an eyebrow. “We’re supposed to remain professional between the hours of
nine to six, in case you forgot.”

“Pasta
salad wasn’t code for anything. We can bring it down here if you want.”

I
colored a little, feeling foolish that I had immediately assumed that he wanted
to go up to his place for something beyond lunch.

“No,
we can go upstairs. It’s fine.”

Caden
was close behind me as we walked up to the second floor, and I had to resist
the urge to slow down so that he bumped into me. It was ironic that I had
accused him of nefarious designs when that was all I could think about now.

Caden
closed the door behind us and I was taken off guard when he pulled me back
towards him, making me lose my balance and fall against his chest. He quickly
turned us and pushed my back against the door, crushing me against it as he
kissed me fiercely. I immediately opened my mouth and met his intensity, my
desires erupting as his hands slipped under my shirt, pushing my bra
impatiently out of the way. He palmed my nipples that were already hard and
aching and I moaned into his mouth. I was panting when his mouth trailed kisses
down my neck.

“I
thought we were going to have lunch.” I said breathlessly.

“I
lied,” he growled. “Pasta salad is code for ripping your clothes off and
fucking you until you can’t move.”

My
legs almost buckled at his words, and he responded by pushing his erection
harder into me. I was trapped between the door and the hard muscled length of
his body, yet I pushed against him, feeling as if I couldn’t get close enough
to him.

Caden
gripped my outer thighs, lifting me off the ground, and I automatically wrapped
my legs around him, my skirt bunching around my waist. My wet, throbbing center
was even closer to his arousal, and I whimpered in frustration, wanting him
inside of me.

“I
can’t wait,” he rasped against my neck. I heard the sound of a zipper, and in
my haze of desire I was vaguely aware of Caden freeing his erection from his
jeans. He shoved the scrap of fabric between my legs to the side, too frantic
to take time to slide my panties off. In the next instant, he pushed his entire
length into me, making me cry out in raw pleasure. I felt uncomfortably full,
yet the discomfort of the possession made me even wilder.

“Caden,
please,” I whimpered. “Fuck me.”