Dirty Little Secrets (Dirty Little #1)(37)

I feel tears pricking at the back of my eyes, because Caleb is such a loving and caring man. I can’t even picture a world without him in it. He’s only been a part of my life for a month, and he’s…he’s irreplaceable.

“We spent so much time alone,” I tell him, before placing another kiss on his lips. I feel sorry for the younger versions of us, crippled by loss and unable to really share it with anyone. But those losses led us here, so some good came out of them after all.

“Not anymore,” he says softly.

“Not anymore.”





CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE





I’m sitting at the island in Caleb’s kitchen, surrounded by several different varieties of gourmet bagels, and a selection of artisan cream cheese spreads from one of my favorite bakeries down the street. A steaming hot mocha, made just the way I like it, is warming my right hand.

In retrospect, I should’ve known that Caleb was trying to butter me up for something.

My mouth is hanging open, which I’m sure makes me look absolutely ridiculous. It takes me a minute to find my bearings, but when I do, all I’m capable of saying is, “You want me to go to a ball?”

Caleb laughs, shaking his head as he dips the end of his knife into a tub of garden vegetable cream cheese. “It’s not a ball, it’s a benefit.”

My eyebrows scrunch together. “Is…is there a difference?”

Caleb has been pretty patient with me thus far, but he’s starting to look at me like I have two heads or something. Like the answer to this question should be obvious. “Balls are held for a bunch of rich, pompous windbags who get together to dance and eat insanely expensive food, and stand around and congratulate each other about how rich they all are.”

“Well,” I say, blowing into the small opening on the lid of my cup to cool down my coffee. “That doesn’t sound appealing at all.”

“Benefits,” he replies pointedly, “are held for a bunch of rich, pompous windbags who get together to dance and eat insanely expensive food, and stand around and raise money for charity.”

I can’t help but laugh at his unflattering, probably accurate description. “And you want me to attend this gathering as one of your fellow windbags?”

“Not a fellow windbag.” He sounds offended on my behalf. “As the date of a windbag. This windbag,” he says, pointing at himself. “I need some arm candy.” He grabs his bagel and his coffee, walks around the island, and comes to rest right in front of me.

“Oh, I’m arm candy now, is that right?”

“You’re the sweetest arm candy there is.” He leans down and kisses me, and I have to admit…it’s pretty sweet.

“You’re not playing fair, convincing me with a kiss like that.”

“There’s more where that came from, if you need more convincing.”

“Oh yeah?” I say, sounding breathless in a way that would embarrass me, if I cared even a little bit about being embarrassed in front of this man.

“Yeah.” Caleb leans in, and presses his lips against my neck, sucking gently in that spot that drives me crazy. Oh, he’s good.

Okay, he’s kissing me into it. “Is that why you told Felicity to pick out a nice dress for me when we went shopping the other day?”

He hums against my neck, and oh, that’s nice. “Maybe,” he says, as his lips brush across my skin.

“Sneaky,” I reply. “I like it.”

Caleb leans back, looking at me with what seems like just a touch of apprehension in his eyes. “My friend Oliver will be there. I’d like you to meet him.”

First Ben and Felicity. Now Oliver. He’s integrating me into his life more and more, and even though I should probably tap the brakes on this thing, I don’t want it to stop.

“Tell me about the food,” I say with a grin, as I swipe my fingertip along the edge of my bagel, then lick the little bit of cream cheese off.

“So much food,” he says. “Trays and trays of food.”

“I’m warming up to this idea,” I reply, teasing.

“Tell me what it’ll take to get you warmer.” Caleb is sliding his hands up and down my arms, and giving me that look that’s impossible to say no to. Not that I was ever going to say no in the first place.


“You should probably tell me what will be waiting for me after the benefit.”

He furrows his brow, and looks adorably confused. “What’s waiting for you after?”

“I mean, what’s going to happen after this benefit. You’ll be looking amazing in a tux, wearing suspenders, I assume?”

Caleb grins. “Suspenders can definitely be arranged,” he says, bracing one hand against the countertop so he can lean in like a gorgeous predator, going in for the kill.

“I’ll be wearing a dress.”

“Mmm,” he hums. “A very sexy dress.”

“Low cut,” I tell him, skimming my finger down the collar of my tank top. Purely for demonstration purposes. “After the ball-”

“Benefit,” he corrects.

I playfully roll my eyes. “After the benefit, whatever will you do with me?”

“Oh,” he says throatily, his voice dark and deep. “I can think of lots of things.”