Playing for Keeps (Heartbreaker Bay #7)(58)

“You’re wrong,” she said softly, reaching for his hand. “You’re clearly his weakness.”

Caleb slid her a glance and then turned back to the road. “You hungry?”

“Nice subject change,” she said. “And yeah, I’m starving. But in spite of my dress, I don’t want fancy schmancy.”

That got her a small smile. “What do you want?”

“Honestly?” she asked.

“Yes.”

She bit her lower lip. “In-N-Out.”

He executed a U-turn—impressive in San Francisco downtown traffic—and took her down to North Beach near Fisherman’s Wharf. In the drive-thru lane, he gave her a brows up. She unbuckled her seatbelt and put her hands on his thigh to lean in and get a look at the menu—which she had memorized and didn’t need to look at.

What she did feel the need to do was touch him. Soothe him. Take away the hollow shadows still in his eyes.

Their faces were only an inch apart, and incredibly aware of the weight of his gaze, her eyes swiveled from the menu to his and stayed there while she gave her order.

Not breaking eye contact, Caleb ordered a couple of burgers for himself and added a large drink and large fries.

“It’s cheaper if you make it a meal,” she said.

He playfully tugged on a strand of her hair. “I know.”

“So why did you—?”

“Triple the last part of that order,” he told their unseen order taker.

“Will do, Mr. Parker,” came a very young-sounding male voice over the speaker. “Uh, and before you ask, yes, my sisters and I did all the chores you texted.”

“And your homework?” Caleb asked.

“Did you say a large drink?”

Caleb rolled his eyes and drove up to the first window.

The kid behind the register was a dark-haired, dark-skinned teenager, his eyes wary. “Okay,” he said. “So I didn’t do all my homework, but to be fair, it’s stupid.”

“Stupid or not, we’ve got a deal,” Caleb said, handing over cash for the food.

The kid swallowed hard and handed over two large bags with their order. Caleb went through them and made a few adjustments before handing Sadie one of the bags and the other back to the kid. “Are your sisters in the back booth doing their homework like I asked?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“See that they get this. There’s plenty for you too on your break.”

The kid’s sullenness lifted at the scent of the fries. “Thanks.”

“Don’t thank me yet. Text me pics of all your homework when it’s done. And Trenton?”

“Yeah?”

“It’d better be done, and you and your sisters home safe and sound by ten o’clock.”

The kid opened his mouth and Caleb merely went brows up.

The kid closed his mouth and nodded. “Yeah.”

“Text me.”

“I will.”

Caleb nodded and pulled forward and off to the side to open the bag of food.

“What was that?” Sadie asked, stopping him. “You being a hero?”

“More like me being a dick.”

She gave a slow shake of her head, leaned over the console, and kissed him. He froze for a beat, but no slouch, he then pulled her tightly into him. The kiss went wild. When they finally broke apart, both breathless, he stared at her. “What was that about?”

“You help people.” She shrugged. “It’s a sexy side of you.”

“I have sexier sides I can show you.”

She rolled her eyes and started in on her fries. “Seems to me that you take care of a lot of people.”

He gave a rough laugh but didn’t say a word. Not until he drove them into the Pacific Heights neighborhood where the streets were lined with big, expensive, amazingly gorgeous homes. He pulled into the short driveway of one of them, hit a button and a garage door came up. He drove inside and hit the button again and the garage door came down behind them. In the dark of the garage, he turned to her, his hand on her headrest, his fingers playing with her hair.

“You seem to have a thing for my hair,” she said.

“Actually, I have a thing for you. You feel comfortable coming inside?” he asked.

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“Just making sure.”

She got out of the car and looked around, beyond curious about him. The garage was huge. One wall was lined with tools, all looking well used. There was a truck in the next bay and on that wall were a couple of paddleboards, a surfboard, and skis.

There was an inside door, which opened without warning and a guy stood there, tall and big as a tree. His skin was as dark as his eyes, though he flashed a bright smile. “Just making sure you weren’t a bad guy,” he said. He craned his neck, looking behind him. “It’s your brother and he’s got the sort of company that means we’re leaving.”

“Is it a woman?” a woman wanted to know.

The tall, built guy grinned at Sadie and she realized she recognized him from the pub over a week ago. He was married to one of Caleb’s sisters. “Yep.”

“Well hurry up and let’s go out the front before they see us.”

“Too late.”