Chance(56)

Chapter 53


Two Months Later



"I seriously can't believe you're doing this." Caleb pushes the paper on his desk back towards me. "You're going to turn that down."

I glance at the number he'd written down again. "I'm not interested."

"I've told you what a f*cked up mess Loire is right now, right?" He rakes his hand through his hair. "Gabriel can't get a handle on it and Asher left for San Francisco this morning?"

"He left?" I pretend I hear nothing but that. "Was he excited to go?"

He growls as he turns the paper around and scribbles down another number. "What about this? This has to be enough."

"Nope." I lean back in the chair and cross my legs. "You would get a lot more done if you worked in your actual office instead of here."

"Until an hour ago I was f*cking my girlfriend in the bedroom down the hall." He points the pen in the direction of the hallway. "The woman is completely insatiable. She can't get enough of me."

I don't look up from my smartphone. "You must have a really big dick."

"Fuck." His hand hits the desk with a thud. "You didn't just say that my dick is really big, did you?"

"You have a big cock, Caleb." I glance up from my phone. "I've caught you staring at it. You know how big it is."

He shifts slightly in his chair. He has an erection. I can tell by the way he's fidgeting. "I lost my train of thought."

"You were telling me that Asher left for San Francisco." I tap out a quick text message to Clive telling him I'll be in the office within the hour. "That means that he took that job at the recording studio there."

There's a long pause and I wonder if he's about to stand up and bend me over the desk. "I'm going to miss him. We've gotten close the last few months."

It's been two months since Asher came back. He'd been in therapy and for some of the sessions his brothers had gone with him. They'd worked through a lot of his issues as a cohesive unit and when he told them he wanted to move to the west coast to experiment with a career in the music industry, they had both been on board.

"I'm glad he went." I finally look up at him. "I'm proud of you for being so supportive of his dreams."

A ghost of a grin pulls at his lush lips. "I was only supportive because you told me you were coming to work for me. I thought you'd take his place."

"I never said I'd work for you, Caleb. I work for Clive. We've been over this more than a dozen times now."

He leans back in his chair his arms stretching above his head. "You said you would work for me last night."

"When you were eating me out?" I snap back playfully. "Newsflash Foster, when you have your head buried between my legs, I'll say just about anything."

"I'll remember that Bell," he counters. "We need someone brilliant to head up the operations for Loire. They're lingerie boutiques. It's ideal for you."

He may think that all of his pleading is falling on deaf ears, but it's not. I've been resistant to the idea of working with Caleb because I don't want to add any unnecessary strain to our relationship. I love the dynamic we have now. I spend most of my nights here with him and during the day he'll often stop by my office just to tell me how much he loves me. I ache when I'm away from him and since he's started sharing some of his ideas for the Loire division, I've noticed areas that need improvement.

More than any of that, I've run the idea past Clive. He reiterated what he told me about wishing Lilly worked for him. He told me he doesn't want to lose me, but he recognizes the value I can bring to the Foster organization. He also sees how much I love Caleb.

"Is that as high as you're willing to go?" I push the paper back at him.

In short order, he's turned it around and written a new number. It's more than five times what I make now. It's more generous than he needs to be and there's no way I'd accept it as is. "We're getting closer."

"Closer?" He spins it back around and studies the paper. "If I keep adding to this, you're going to make more money than me."

"How is that a problem?" I counter with a smile. "I'm worth it. You know that I am."

He crosses his legs. "If you're teasing me, Bell, you need to stop now. If you're not, I want to know point blank what it's going to take to get you to take over Loire for us."

I run my index finger over my nose. I motion for him to hand me the pen. "Give that to me."

He smiles at the tone of my voice. "Write down your bottom line, Rowan and I'll tell you if we can do it."

I stare at the paper knowing that what I'm about to ask for will change the dynamic between not only Caleb and I, but me and Gabriel and even Asher too.

I hold the pen above the paper and just before I start to write I look across the desk and into his eyes. "I love you, Caleb. I really love you."

"You'll never love me as much as I love you. Never."

It's the same thing he says every single time I say those words to me. It's what I want to hear each day until I die. I want to hold his hand, and kiss his lips and make love to him for the rest of my life. I write quickly, knowing that his eyes are focused on the paper.