Caleb

Chapter Four

The corner of her mouth had the tiniest curve to it. It was the smallest smile he'd ever seen, but it was a smile nonetheless.

There it is. Got her.

"Fine, you can come with me, but can you keep a secret?" she finally relented, dropping her arms from her chest.

"Yes ma'am."

She raised an eyebrow at him as if she were trying to gage how trustworthy he was.

"I've got top secret military clearance. I think it's safe to say, I can keep a secret," he chuckled.

His credentials seemed to check out, because she turned on her heel and opened the front door. They walked all the way to the edge of the property line, passing a few of the grounds security guards on the way.

Where the hell is she going?

She finally came to a stop once they reached a tree line at the edge of the property and looked up at a small structure that had been built within the branches of one of the trees.

"A tree fort...I'll try not to alert the media," he said with a grin as he looked down at her and nudged her arm gently with his elbow.

"Hilarious," she teased, scrunching her face to feign laughter.

She grabbed the straps of her bag and pulled them up higher onto her shoulder as she readied herself to climb the ladder.

"Why don't you let me take that for you?" he offered.

"I can carry it."

"Never said you couldn't," he replied with his palm out, waiting to see if she'd allow him to help her.

Her chest rose and fell with an irritated breath, but to his surprise and delight she shrugged herself out of the straps of her bag and handed it over to him.

See that wasn't so hard.

"Thanks Darlin'," he said genuinely, flashing her a smile.

He threw the bag over his own shoulder and let her lead the way up the ladder. Once they reached to top Caleb looked around the tree fort that was basically the size of a studio apartment. It had bare walls and no furniture or embellishments, just a large empty room with a bunch of floor cushions scattered around. She immediately went to the other side of the room and opened two french doors that gave access to a small balcony.

Caleb let out a whistle as he eyed the lavish fort.

"This is quite a tree fort," he chuckled.

"Right? My dad had it built when James and I were kids. My mom hated it, because my dad built it high enough to have a view, but let's be real, it's way too high and dangerous for a five year old and a seven year old, so we never really used it. They were originally going to expand the property in this direction, but changed the plans and started building on the North side, leaving it out here on its own which is what I love most about it."

"And you come out here to do what exactly?" he asked looking around the empty room.

"To be alone," she sassed, pinning him with a pointed gaze, making it known that he was intruding.

He heard her words and felt her gaze, but that smile - that tiny little curl in the corner of her mouth was still there.

"Right..." he said scratching the back of his head. "Well, do your thing. Pretend I'm not here."

"That'll be easy," she teased over her shoulder. 

Tossing a few of the cushions next to one another, Lainey pulled a small light from her bag along with the book she had been carrying. He watched her fold herself into a neat little pile on the cushions, bringing her knees close to her chest and pulling the sleeves of her hoody down over her hands as she settled into a comfy position.