Parental Guidance (Ice Knights #1)(49)

“Would that have been bad?”

“No.” He looked right at her then, not at the phone’s camera lens but at her. “But it wouldn’t have been you.”

Hello, heart, there is no reason to go into overdrive right now. Her heart didn’t listen. Instead, it pounded a hectic beat against her ribs while she tried to figure out what to say to that.

No doubt taking advantage of the moment, he snagged his phone back. “Then, we went on date two, where I found out you were just as competitive as the initial date I’d expected.”

Okay, neutral ground. She could talk about that. “That obstacle course was fun.”

“You know,” he said, his focus going from the screen to her, his dark eyes serious. “That’s when I knew you were going to always keep me on my toes, never knowing exactly what to expect.”

It wasn’t fair that he kept doing that, putting her at ease and then ramping things up again with words he didn’t mean but she so wanted to hear. How had that happened? How had she gotten lost in a fantasy of fake dates? This was why she’d made the rules, kept mostly to her usual routine, and refused to consider the possibilities. The last thing she needed was another man in her life who acted like he could be Prince Charming only to leave time after time.

Needing desperately to regain a foothold, she reclaimed the phone, surprised her hand didn’t shake when she did so.

“I wouldn’t have guessed judging by how well you did on our cooking date that you didn’t spend much time in the kitchen,” she said.

Reaching out, he toyed with the string hanging from the rip in her jeans just above her knee, his thumb occasionally brushing the bare patch of her skin. “When it comes to getting to hang out with you, I’m pretty much willing to try anything.”

“And you loved the food.” The words came out in a rush as she tried not to melt under the most minimal of touches.

“Somehow I missed out on keeping any of the leftovers, though.” He looked up at her, everything about him taking on an air of dangerous promise and sensual teasing. “I have no idea how that happened. Do you?”

The images came one after another. Being naked above him. The scratch of his beard against her thighs. Coming so hard she’d nearly collapsed on top of him.

“One of the great mysteries of life,” she managed to squeak out before taking a deep breath and releasing it in an attempt to focus on the video at hand and not what she wanted his hands to do. “And now we just finished with date number four: trying to teach my dog some much-needed manners.”

“Is the date over already?” He grinned, obviously aware of exactly what he’d done to her with that comment. “There should be more later. It’s a gorgeous day. I know Anchovy would approve.” He gave a whistle, and the dog came rushing over.

In the chaos of Anchovy getting onto the bench with them, finding a way to squeeze his big self in the small space between them, Caleb retook his phone. This time, though, instead of staying behind the lens, he stayed in the frame with her and Anchovy.

“Now this is a good-looking picture,” Caleb said. “Thanks to you two.”

As if he understood a single word, Anchovy let out a little doggie sigh of happiness and laid his fuzzy chin down on Caleb’s shoulder. Was it possible to be jealous of her own dog? Because at that moment she was.

“So, that’s it for us,” Caleb said, addressing the people who’d be watching the video. “Four Bramble dates down with the amazing woman my mom picked out and with only one more to go before this parental-guidance experiment ends. Be sure to catch up with us after date number five.”

He gave a little wave, but Zara just didn’t have it in her to do the same. The realization hit her square in the heart that walking away from Caleb after one last date was going to hurt like a bitch.

The question was, could she take the pain—because even though it was all but guaranteed, she couldn’t help but hope it just might work out.

…

An hour later, they’d brought Anchovy back to Zara’s apartment along with a takeout bag’s worth of fragrant Thai food from the place on the corner. Caleb followed her inside, using his elbow to shut the door behind him. Per usual, her space was clean and everything was in its place.

Almost a dozen miniature scenes were on her long worktable. He set the food down on her kitchen island and went over. They were as detailed and perfect as her work displayed at Hot Thang Review, but they were more fantasy than family, with tiny elephants and kittens climbing out of a bag. It was hard to look at them and not be in awe of how talented she was.

“You didn’t have to buy dinner.” Zara took out a couple of plates from the cupboard and silverware from a drawer. “The app was pretty clear about the date parameters, and you have officially completed them for date number four.”

“True, but we were both hungry, and there’s no harm in a good meal.”

She raised an eyebrow in question as she added a generous amount of the stir-fried rice noodles to each plate.

“No one can resist pouring their stories out over good food. It’s the key to good team bonding.” He crossed over into the kitchen area. “Trust me, there’s a reason why Peppers has us go out for team meals.”

It was always fun to watch the rookies try not to geek out at being at a table with their heroes—especially since not that long ago, every veteran at the table had been a wide-eyed rookie. The longer the season went on, the more relaxed the meals got, until it was like eating with family.