Playing for Keeps (Heartbreaker Bay #7)(48)

Idaho had been just a stopover to check in and see Kel. His cousin had been quiet lately, too quiet, and Caleb sensed a restlessness in him.

Something Caleb could understand.

They’d ridden horses, shot the shit out of a few boxes of clay targets, and then gone at each other in the gym until neither of them could move. Kel had sisters, two of them, and Caleb thought of them as fondly as he did his own sisters, but neither had been in town so Caleb and Kel had spent the evening drinking each other under the table and swapping stories.

The rest of the trip—New York, London, and D.C.—was a blur of work. Sienne had met him in D.C. They’d had several long but productive meetings and had then flown home. After landing, they’d met up with his team in his office for a debriefing, after which everyone but Sienne left. Exhausted, Caleb leaned his head back in his chair, closing his eyes for a minute.

A flash of Sadie’s lips on his skin came to him, her breath hot on his neck, followed by the remembered sensation of her legs wrapped around him, her hardened nipples pressed tight against his chest as she arched up into him. The gasp that escaped her mouth when he finally slid into her with one smooth stroke . . .

Great, and now he was getting hard at work. His eyes snapped open and he shook it off. He had decisions to make about where this was going with her, and though his heart had already made those decisions, his brain kept reminding him to be cautious.

In his pocket, his phone buzzed a text. It was Sadie and he felt a smile curve his mouth. They’d been texting during the days, calling at night.

Sadie: I’m having dinner with Ivy. Ham and pineapple pizza. I took some grease off with my napkin, so if you see me looking skinny next time you see me, don’t be alarmed.

Caleb: Only monsters put fruit on pizza.

Sadie: That’s pretty discerning from the man who has a cartoon turtle on his ass.





Sienne picked that exact moment to look over his shoulder and her brows vanished into her hair. “How does she know about that tattoo?”

He stood and he slid his phone away without comment and headed to the door.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m done for the day,” he said.

She stared at him as if he’d just announced he was the tooth fairy. And for good reason. He never took off without a close-the-day one-on-one meeting with her. “You don’t have a dinner meeting . . .” On her iPad, she thumbed her way to his calendar. “I don’t see anything—”

“It’s personal.” He’d meant it when he’d told her that he was looking to get more of a life. Or at least better balance. He knew that was what was playing into the odd restlessness he’d been feeling. Although spending the night with Sadie a week ago now had done a number on that restlessness . . .

He wanted another night.

A lot more nights, lost in her arms, her touch, where he felt . . . well, a whole lot of things he hadn’t in a damn long time, and not a single one of them related to his work.

He brushed a kiss to Sienne’s cheek. “You’re off too. Go see your big sexy husband and have dinner together before midnight for once.”

Now she was concerned. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. And we talked about this. You’re always after me to get a life. That’s what I’m doing.”

He watched her go from concerned to annoyed in two point zero. “If this is a date,” she said, “you didn’t let anyone vet her.” She brought up her notes application. “Is it Sadie?”

“None of your business.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

“Wow,” Kayla said, waddling into the room with Hannah right on her heels. “Tension’s thick enough to cut with a knife in here, what’s going on? Are we brawling? And why didn’t we get an invite?”

“I want to be on Sienne’s team,” Hannah said. “She fights the dirtiest.”

“Hey,” Sienne said and then paused. “And true . . .”

Perfect. Caleb shook his head. “No one’s fighting. I’m leaving for the night.”

“Perfect,” Hannah said. “Then we’re going to have a girls’ night disguised as a meeting so we can put it on the company card.”

“I need to add something to the meeting’s agenda,” Sienne said. “The topic’s Sadie Lane.”

“No,” Caleb said. “Not happening.”

Sienne put a hand on his arm. “You know we vet everyone you intend to date as a matter of course. It’s called protection, Caleb, and we have a very good reason for it.”

She was the only one on the planet who could make him feel like a stupid teenager. “Whatever.”

“You know you’ve won an argument when the other person says ‘whatever,’” Hannah noted.

“You used to be the nice one,” he said. “And Sadie isn’t like anyone I’ve dated before. For one thing, we’re not dating.” A fact he intended to fix, but that wasn’t up for discussion either.

Sienne pulled out the big guns and moved in close, setting her head on his shoulder, looking up at him with deceptively sweet eyes. “We do this because we love you.”

“I forgot just how dirty you fight,” he murmured, but he slid an arm around her and gave her a squeeze. “Stay out of her personal life. Note that I’m not even going to bother asking you to stay out of mine. See you all tomorrow.”