Playing for Keeps (Heartbreaker Bay #7)(68)

Rocco raised a hand with his fork in it as a salute, and Sadie ran on.

“Arf!” Lollipop said excitedly.

Sadie’s phone buzzed, and hoping it was Caleb, she answered without looking at the screen while on the run. “I’m trying to catch you.”

“What are you talking about?” her mom asked.

Crap. “Nothing, forget it. I’ve gotta go, I’ll call you back—”

“You always say that, but you don’t call me back. I need your confirmation that you’re coming to dinner next week. It’s the practice rehearsal family dinner. You know, where we practice being a warm loving family before we have to actually do it.”

Damn. That was in only a week?

“Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten,” her mom said. “You know how important this practice is. We have to get in sync.”

Good luck with that one. “Of course I didn’t forget.”

“Good. Who’s your date?”

“Um . . .”

“You promised you’d have a date for the wedding.”

“Yes,” Sadie said. “But this isn’t the wedding. It’s not even the real rehearsal dinner. Like you said, it’s just the practice.”

“Which we’re doing for you.”

Sadie had to laugh. Of course they were. “Because heaven forbid I just act as myself, right?”

“Honey, I’m not in the mood for your sass. Just say you’ll be here.”

She stood up on one of the wrought-iron benches in the courtyard to see the entire length of it, searching for a sign of Caleb. “I’ll be there.”

“With a date.”

“Fine, with a date,” Sadie said.

“What’s his name? What does he do?”

She managed not to smack her forehead with her own phone. Not was he nice , or does he treat you right , but what does he do . . . She was worried Sadie was going to bring someone inappropriate to the wedding and needed to get an early look at her choice. “He’s a genius billionaire and he wears expensive suits,” she said without thinking.

“Well, there’s no reason to be sarcastic.”

“Mom.” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “I’ve got to go.”

“You think I’m a bad mom.”

Sadie craned her neck one way and then the other, searching for the tall, built guy walking out of her life.

“Wow,” her mom said into Sadie’s silence. “You really do think that.”

“Mom—”

“You’ve got to go, remember?” And she disconnected.

Sadie might’ve called her back, but she caught sight of Caleb at the other end of the courtyard. She took off at a fast clip, to the huge joy of Lollipop on her back. By the time she got to Caleb, she was breathless from the mad dash.

Okay, that wasn’t the truth. She was breathless because she’d nearly not caught him. The man was smoke when he wanted to be. But she managed to get in front of his long-legged stride and face him.

But then she realized she had no idea what she wanted to do or say. Luckily Lollipop had her own agenda.

“Arf!” the dog said at the sight of her favorite male.

Sadie wasn’t going to wag her tail or give herself away in any such fashion, but she knew one thing—she wanted to believe in him. In them . “Mount Diablo,” she said, still fighting for air.

Caleb reached a hand toward her face and her heart squeezed because it was going to be okay, he was going to touch her.

But he stroked a hand over Lollipop’s head instead, although his eyes remained on Sadie. “Mount Diablo?” he asked quietly, not giving away a single hint of what he might be feeling.

Fair enough. “You asked what was on my list,” she said. “Dating’s not, because clearly I suck at it. But Mount Diablo is because I’ve lived in San Francisco my entire life and I’ve never been.”

He hesitated only very slightly. “Have you ever called in sick?”

“Yes, but never when I’ve actually been sick,” she admitted.

A small smile curved his mouth.

An hour later, he’d driven them to the trailhead of Mount Diablo. The three of them stood on top of the rock city, surrounded by a spread of cavernous caves and sandstone rock formations that took Sadie’s breath away.

So did the man who’d brought her here. He had Lollipop’s pack now, having relieved Sadie of the weight. Lollipop had walked a bit of the trail, but it turned out she much preferred riding on Caleb’s shoulders.

Caleb had been up here before, of course. He’d been everywhere and done everything, and though Sadie liked to consider herself worldly and cynical, she had nothing on him.

He turned and studied her. “I feel like I smell smoke burning.”

“I’m not sure what you see in me,” she said and worked at not grimacing at the pathetic statement. But she really didn’t know, and apparently she needed to.

He glanced over at her, clearly surprised by this.

“You know what? Never mind,” she said quickly, turning away and pretending to study the view.

She heard him release Lollipop to run around to her heart’s content and then pulled Sadie onto his lap. His arms closed around her and he kissed her shoulder, then the nape of her neck, blazing a trail to her ear.