Dirty Little Secrets (Dirty Little #1)(30)
Caleb sighs exasperatedly behind me, and the sound of it makes me want to smile. “That’s not how this works, Mia.”
“It’s how this is going to work if you want me to agree.”
Caleb gives Stone a curt nod.
“What’s your first name, Stone?”
He looks so amused, I get the feeling that he spends his days with people who are perfectly willing to keep a wall of professionalism between themselves and him. I am not that person.
“It’s Sam, ma’am.”
“Sam,” I say, delighted, as I reach out to shake his hand. “I’m Mia.”
“Mia…” Caleb says testily.
“I know, I know. This isn’t how it works.” I narrow my eyes at him. “This is how it’s working now.” He nods and gives me a reluctant smile.
Sam shakes my hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, ma’am.”
“Mia.” I’m going to get him to call me by my first name if it’s the last thing I do.
“Yes, ma’am.”
I sigh, and Caleb is grinning like he’s won something. He leans in and kisses me, then straightens his tie.
“I’m going to the office for a bit. You have fun with Felicity. I’ll see you later.” He claps Sam on the shoulder as he passes him. “Best of luck, Stone. You’re gonna need it.”
“I’m not that bad,” I tell him.
He smiles. “Well see about that…Mia.”
I clap my hands together and somehow manage to squeal, which is more than a little embarrassing. Doesn’t matter though; this feels like a victory.
* * * * *
Felicity and I spend the morning—and the better part of the afternoon—flitting between shops, filling up the trunk of Caleb’s SUV with countless bags from trendy boutiques that Felicity insists we visit. I thought Caleb was being facetious when he said that she was a professional shopper, but when he said literally, he meant literally. She knows all the salespeople in all the stores we enter, and they even take us back to look through new arrivals that aren’t out on the floor yet.
After she asks me how I’m feeling, I tell her I’m better. Getting better by the hour. So, she goes out of her way not to mention the robbery or my subsequent hospitalization, and successfully manages to avoid staring at the bruises on the side of my face that I wasn’t able to fully cover with makeup this morning.
Sam stays in the periphery, just like Caleb promised he would be, and he almost cracks a smile when Felicity and I stop for ice cream and offer him a cup full of mint chip. It doesn’t take long for the all-business scowl to come back though, just daring anyone to even look in our direction.
After we finish our ice cream, we move on to the last boutique of the day, one that Felicity’s been talking about all afternoon.
“Caleb told me he was sending out the big guns, and I see that he meant it,” she says, nodding in Sam’s direction.
“The literal big guns,” I reply as I flex my pathetic bicep and point at it. “He could probably crush someone with those muscles.”
Felicity laughs. “Don’t let Caleb hear you say that. He’ll get jealous.”
He probably would, and I don’t plan on testing that theory to find out if we’re right. “Caleb’s got nothing to be jealous about. He’s…perfect,” I say. Even I can hear the dreaminess in my voice, so I’m not exactly surprised that Felicity picks up on it.
“Oh, you’ve got it bad,” she teases. “It’s good, though. That’s good for Caleb. It’s exactly what he needs.” She’s standing in front of a dress display, examining the cut of the fabric, and the way it hangs. I wonder if she’s going to ask someone to model it for us. When she did that earlier, the store owner gave us champagne to sip as we watched a mini fashion show. I wouldn’t say no to something like that again.
“What do you mean that’s exactly what he needs?”
She shrugs as she moves to examine the dress hanging next to the one she has apparently decided that she doesn’t like. “He’s always been a tough nut to crack, ever since he came to live with us after his parents’ accident.”
I know it’s not possible, but I’m sure I feel my heart stop beating right in my chest. The air gets thick and difficult to breathe. I hadn’t ever heard anything about an accident, and I’m not sure whether I should admit to that, or go along with what Felicity’s saying like I know what she’s talking about. No, I need to tell her that I wasn’t aware of that, because if Caleb wanted me to know, he would’ve told me. After everything he’s done for me since I met him, at the very least I owe him his privacy.
I must have some kind of shocked look on my face, something that makes it clear that I wasn’t aware of whatever happened to Caleb’s parents, because Felicity stops examining the dress in front of her, and freezes. She looks over at me, her mouth dropping into an O shape.
“You didn’t know,” she manages to say. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything, I just assumed he had already told you about all that.”
“No, not yet.” I move forward, and run my hand along the fabric of a gorgeous silk wrap dress, hoping to make the whole situation a little less awkward.