Fighting the Inevitable (11 page)

He stood up. “I’d better
get home then, and change,” he said, his amber eyes glowing with
pleasure. “Dinner? I can pick you up about seven?”

Rhianna walked him to the
door. “Seven’s fine,” she answered feeling a little bubble of
excitement deep inside her. “Will it be a dress up
dinner?”

He smiled down at her,
lightly brushing her curls back from her face. “Wear something
totally stunning,” he sighed softly. “I may be forced to behave
like a gentleman tonight, however I can at least get to admire you
as I behave myself.” His tone was light, teasing, and ever so
slightly husky.

Rhianna couldn’t help but
laugh at his words. “I’ll make sure I knock you dead then,” she
quipped lightly and then sucked in a deep breath when he leaned
down and brushed his lips across her cheek.

“
See you at
seven,” he said huskily before he let himself out.

CHAPTER five

Rhianna actually found
herself humming under her breath, as she got ready for her date
with Caleb. It was the first time in weeks she’d felt even slightly
happy, and it surprised her. She didn’t know why she reacted so
strongly to the gorgeous golden-haired man. They had barely talked
the first time they met. Today, he had been so understanding, so
comforting, and it had felt good to have someone strong to hold
onto.

She supposed he must
remind her a little of Rafe. He was big and intimidating in
appearance, but was quite kind and generous underneath the buff
exterior. Okay, maybe the first time they met she’d been
intimidated by him. He had been so self-assured, so determined in
getting what he wanted, which had been her at the time. Today
though, he’d been completely different, almost tender as he’d
comforted her as she’d cried all over his silk shirt, probably
ruining the expensive item.

She heard Millie coming
home as she finished the last touches to her make-up. She smiled as
she admired her appearance in the mirror. She’d chosen a strapless
deep purple dress in chiffon and lace. The bodice was tight around
her breasts and waist before the skirt flared out around her hips
in yards of wispy material. The skirt ended at mid-thigh and she
pulled on a pair of black lace thigh high stockings that didn’t
require a garter belt. She topped off her ensemble with the same
four inch purple heels she’d worn the first night she met
Caleb.

She opted for leaving her
hair loose. Caleb seemed to like it loose and she was trying to
knock him dead as promised. A light touch of make-up and she was
ready for him, and looking as good as she’d ever managed to look
before. She wondered if he’d approve, as she slowly smoothed her
hands over her dress before she stepped out into the great
room.

“
Oh. My.
Fucking. God!” Millie practically yelled, her blue eyes going wide
as she looked up from the breakfast table at her friend.

Rhianna blinked in
surprise and looked down at herself with a frown. “Do you think
it’s too much, Mills?” she asked worriedly.

“
Too much?”
her friend spluttered. “You look positively stunning, Annie! What’s
the reason for this? Are you actually going out
tonight?”

Millie had been truly
worried about her friend and the level of depression she kept
sinking into. She understood Rhianna’s grief and did her best to
counter it, but she’d been unsuccessful most of the time. She’d
been expecting another quiet night in with her friend, watching
crap movies and stuffing their faces with too much ice
cream.

Rhianna smiled, her face
flushing slightly. “Remember that guy Caleb I met a few weeks ago?
He managed to track me down, showed up today, and invited me out
for dinner. He must have seen my picture in the newspaper article
about Rafe. He seemed to think it would be a good idea for me to
get out and about again, so I said I’d go to dinner with
him.”

She watched Millie’s face
carefully as she spoke. Her friend had been quite guarded around
her lately, and she really wanted to hear Millie’s honest opinion
about going out with Caleb.

Millie pursed her lips,
surprise clearly showing on her face. “You don’t really know
anything about him, Annie,” she said doubtfully.

“
Well that’s
why people go out on dates, Mills, to learn more about each other,
and it’s just dinner and nothing else. I won’t be going back to his
place again like the first time. He said he’s willing to be friends
for now.”

Millie burst out laughing
and shook her head. “You seriously think any man could look at you
dressed like that and just want to be friends?” she asked
incredulously. “Annie, you’ll be lucky to make it to dinner,
girl.”

Despite her concerns,
Millie couldn’t help but be pleased that there was a little bit of
light shining in Rhianna’s eyes, a small hint of excitement. It was
the first time in weeks she’d seen her friend smile, let alone
laugh. This Caleb guy must be something pretty amazing to get this
type of reaction from Rhianna.

Her friend was frowning
doubtfully again as she looked down at herself for a second time.
“He said to wear something stunning. Said if he had to behave like
a gentleman, he could at least admire me whilst doing so. I don’t
have time to change, Mills. He’s going to be here any second.” She
was unconsciously biting her lower lip with concern.

“
You look
perfect, Annie,” Millie sighed, crossing over to her friend to give
her a big hug. “I’m only teasing you. I’m so happy you’re going out
on a date, honey. It’s time to start getting back into the swing of
things. You go and enjoy yourself. You deserve a little bit of
fun.”

Rhianna smiled slightly
and couldn’t deny that her heart was thumping a bit louder than
usual as she anticipated Caleb arriving. As if on cue, the doorbell
rang and she jumped slightly, her heart pounding a little bit
harder.

“
I’ll get
it,” Millie said gently. “Give you a minute to collect yourself and
me a minute to check out this Caleb.” Before Rhianna could answer,
her friend was striding quickly towards the front door and pulling
it open.

Caleb smiled down at the
tall, dark-haired woman who opened the door to him. He kept his
expression carefully neutral, not giving even the tiniest hint he’d
heard the tail end of their conversation because of his enhanced
hearing abilities. That skill wasn’t exactly something normal human
males possessed.

“
Hi,” he said
pleasantly. “You must be Millie. I’m Caleb Ryder.” He politely held
out his hand to the woman and watched her blink up at him slowly
before she took his hand and shook it firmly.

“
Pleased to
meet you, Caleb,” she said cordially. “Please, come in. Annie’s
almost ready.”

She turned her back and
must have made some kind of gesture, because Caleb caught a flush
of colour in Rhianna’s cheeks before his golden brown gaze slowly
roamed over her. He had to stifle a deep groan as his body stirred
with a healthy appreciation of the perfection he was viewing. He’d
told her to wear something stunning and she’d promised to knock him
dead. She’d managed to do both in one fell swoop. He was quite
literally willing to drop to his knees and promise her anything if
she would agree to let him peel that beautiful dress from her body
and let him lose himself in her.

He realised he was
literally standing there on the doorstep practically mute, and gave
himself a mental shake. He stepped into the apartment, walking
slowly over to Rhianna so he could lean down and graze her cheek
lightly with his lips. He also took the opportunity to breathe in
her heady scent before he whispered in her ear, “Just as well you
have a chaperone or dinner would most definitely be out the window
right now.”

Rhianna shivered
delicately as his husky voice whispered across the shell of her ear
and she had to smother down a moan as she felt a trickle of liquid
heat rush through her body. He was obviously very pleased with her
choice of dress, and she had to admit he was looking spectacular
too. He was wearing another black Armani suit coupled with a black
silk shirt. He’d forgone a tie and his long, silky golden brown
locks were loose around his shoulders. He looked good enough to
eat.

“
Shall we
go?” Caleb asked, straightening up and placing a hand lightly on
the small of her back to usher her from the apartment.

Rhianna grabbed her wrap
and purse, and smiled at her friend. “I won’t be late, Mills,” she
said, and almost laughed when Millie rolled her eyes at her, giving
her a ‘yeah, right’ look.

“
Enjoy
yourselves,” she answered, smiling. “Nice to meet you,
Caleb.”

“
And you,
Millie,” Caleb smiled, genuinely liking the dark-haired woman on
first meeting. The bond she had with Rhianna was obviously
something special. He found it hard to dislike someone who cared
about the woman at his side.

He stifled down another
groan as he escorted Rhianna from the apartment and down to his
waiting Porsche. Had he really offered to just be friends for now?
Was he insane when he had? There was no way on the planet he could
ever simply be friends with Rhianna Armand. He wanted her far too
much to deny himself the pleasures of her body.

Caleb helped Rhianna into
the car and then climbed in himself and waited until she’d buckled
up her seatbelt. He watched her with a slight smile tugging at his
lips. Who would have thought a seatbelt could be so erotic? She
obviously sensed his eyes fixating on the way the strap lay over
her breasts and he had to give himself a mental shake when he
caught her arching an eyebrow at him.

“
Are we
going, Caleb?” Lavender eyes searched his face intently as she
tensed slightly.

He smiled and looked
away, taking a deep breath and regretting it immediately when the
sweet scent of lavender and jasmine assaulted his nostrils. His
body twitched and he managed to keep his expression as neutral as
possible as he started the car.

The enclosed space inside
the car was going to be a problem. Her scent was incredibly
intoxicating and his photographic memory was kicking into gear and
replaying their night together at his mansion. Caleb felt like an
untried youth trying to overcome his excitement at the prospect of
his first sexual encounter instead of a man with over two millennia
of experience to draw upon. It would have been highly amusing if it
were happening to someone else.

He pulled away from the
apartment and tried to turn his mind to something else. “So, Millie
calls you Annie,” he commented as he drove through the residential
neighbourhood. “Is that your preference?” It sounded like such an
asinine thing to ask but it was something to say.

Rhianna could see the
tension in him and was going to ask what was wrong, but the heated
look in his eyes a moment ago rather answered the question for her.
His attraction to her was evident and she couldn’t deny it sent a
little shiver down her spine knowing he found her so attractive.
“Rafe and Mills always called me Annie,” she answered after a brief
pause. “At school I was more commonly called Rhia. I don’t really
mind either. Whatever you’re comfortable with.”

Caleb pursed his lips
thoughtfully for a moment as he ran the names over in his mind. “I
like Annie,” he finally answered and glanced quickly to see her
reaction. She was staring out the windscreen and a slight smile
curved her lips when he spoke. She approved of his choice; that, in
turn, made him smile too.

“
I don’t know
very much about you, Caleb,” Rhianna said, turning to look at him.
“What kind of work do you do?”

“
I’m a
partner in a few technologies companies and also a silent partner
in Karpathia’s,” he answered carefully. This was one of the reasons
he didn’t have relationships with women. They invariably asked
questions and he had to be exceedingly careful with his
answers.

“
You part own
the nightclub,” she repeated slowly, a hint of surprise in her
tone. “I find that surprising for some reason. I can imagine you
working in a big company with your suits and all, but owning a
nightclub seems a bit out of character for some strange
reason.”

He laughed and shot her
an amused glance. “You don’t think even high flying businessmen
need an outlet to let their hair down?” he asked. “My partner
Demetri sees to the day to day running of the club. I tend to just
go there to let off steam after a particularly hectic day in the
boardroom.”

He watched her out of the
corner of his eye as he turned onto Old Forest Road. “I went back
to the club every night after we met. I was hoping you’d come
back.”

Rhianna sighed and closed
her eyes, leaning her head against the headrest. “I had to go back
to reality,” she answered, a hint of sadness in her tone. She
couldn’t help feeling a thrill at his words though. A beautiful man
like Caleb actively trying to find her again was quite a heady
thought.

Caleb took his eyes off
the road for a fraction of a second so he could look at her
unobserved, and in that exact moment a shape blurred out of
nowhere, crossing the road in front of them and crashing into the
car.

Caleb’s first thought was
for Rhianna. His arm shot out across her chest to keep her firmly
in the seat even as he automatically began to correct the hard
slide as the car spun around. They were in the middle of nowhere,
the forest on either side of them, and he had to work hard to stop
the car from hitting any of the trees.