Dirty Little Secrets (Dirty Little #1)(39)

“I’ll consider it,” I tell him, smiling. I know he must think that I’m playing professionally hard to get, but I’m not. I really do want to consider his offer; I would love long-term gainful employment here, and a chance to work on some large-scale innovative projects. I know this is crazy, and that it’s foolishly hopeful, but the longer my tracking program runs without any hits, the safer I feel here. The safer I feel, the more hope starts to creep in where it has no business being. Hope makes me think that maybe I can stay here. Hope tells me that I might be able to make a fresh start in a new city, and outrun all the consequences that are waiting for me back in Chicago.

Hope is a terribly seductive thing.

I turn to Caleb, who is patiently waiting for me to return the to the conversation. Oliver and Felicity are off in their own world, and Ben walked away to find something to eat.

“Hey,” I say to Caleb, gently pulling on the sleeve of his jacket to get his attention. I nod in Felicity and Oliver’s direction. “Are those two…”

“No,” Caleb answers hastily, without even a thought. “No way. Ben would lose it.”

I want to tell him that Ben shouldn’t have a say in his sister’s or his friend’s love life, but it’s not my business, and I don’t want to fight about it.

“One of my investors is over there, mind if I go say hello?” Caleb asks.

Bless him for noticing that my eyes completely glaze over when he’s talking business. I nod, and give him a quick kiss before he walks away. Oliver joins him, leaving me alone with Felicity.

“We should head to the powder room,” Felicity says. She smiling at me, but she gently grabs my wrist and pulls me through the crowd, so there isn’t really time for me to argue with her.

The room is empty, thankfully, and she pulls a compact out of her purse and pats my cheek with it.

“Your bruise was starting to show,” she says.

“Oh!” I turn and look in the mirror, where I can see the faint hint of yellowish-green peeking out from under my foundation. “Caleb didn’t say anything.”

Felicity smiles at me. “I don’t think that’s what he notices when he looks at you.”

I can’t help but smile back at her. She’s so sweet, and I’m so lucky to have a friend here, someone I can talk to who isn’t Caleb.

“Thank you for taking care of me.”

“You’re welcome,” she says, patting my cheek. “Does it hurt?”

“No,” I tell her. “Not anymore.”

I watch her in silence, until the curiosity is too much. “I’m surprised you noticed the bruise,” I say.

“What do you mean?”

“You mentioned Caleb not noticing this when he looks at me, with the way you were looking at Oliver, I’m surprised you noticed this.” I make sure to convey that this is all very lighthearted teasing on my part. I don’t want her to get defensive, but she and Oliver are incredibly obvious. I don’t think she knows this.


Felicity sighs, and there’s a wistful look in her eyes. “Oliver doesn’t feel that way about me. I’m just his best friend’s annoying little sister.”

I grin at her, because she so blind. “Oh, I’m pretty sure he think about you as more than that, if the way he looks at you is any indication.” I wink at her, and she’s definitely blushing now.

“There,” she says, snapping her compact shut. “Good as new.”

She, however, clearly does not want to pursue this conversation, and I’m not going to push her into talking about something she doesn’t want to talk about.

“Thank you,” I tell her, leaning in for a quick hug.

“Anytime.”

I’m finding that despite the fact that I came to New York City not intending to put down any kind of roots, the need to make a friendship grow with Felicity is pretty strong. She’s a lovely person, and I like being around her. I like who I am when I’m around her.

“Feel like getting together for lunch later this week?” I ask.

She beams at me as she slides her compact back into her clutch. “I’d love that.”





CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO





“You looked beautiful in that dress, but you look even better out of it,” Caleb says, as he kisses and licks his way across my chest. We’re both naked and in his bed, and it’s like coming home again, because it’s been way too long since we’ve been together like this.

My fingers slide through his soft hair, and I smile. For the past week and a half, ever since the robbery, it’s like we’ve been living in a world where everything is tilted just slightly to the right. Now, lying naked in each other’s arms, with Caleb’s hot mouth trailing slow, wet kisses across my skin, it feels like the world is starting to make sense again.

“I wish you would have kept the suspenders on, honestly. Actually, you should still be wearing the whole ensemble.”

Caleb chuckles, as he licks a circle around my nipple, then tugs it between his teeth. “You don’t like me naked?”

“I love you naked. You should be naked almost all the time.”

“Almost?” Another, more teasing bite to my nipple.

“We should’ve had a quickie in the back of the car, is what I’m saying.”