Caleb

Chapter Seven

"Caleb tell you he convinced Bug to take a five hour nap today?" James said to Ricardo with pride, tipping his glass toward Caleb as a salute.

Ricardo whipped his head around and eyed Caleb in amazement.

"Really? She didn't fight you on it?" Ricardo asked.

"Oh she fought me, I just won." Caleb said with a smile.

"Your man is every bit as good as you promised." Ricardo said to Declan, giving him a nudge with his elbow.

The men stood in the kitchen swapping funny stories and getting to know one another, when Lainey appeared in the doorway, tilting her head and fidgeting with one of her earrings.

Caleb felt his pupils dilate as his eyes scanned over every inch of her, taking every ounce of his self control to keep his jaw from slacking open.

Holy. Shit.

Her olive skin looked even more perfect and flawless against the red silk fabric of her strapless gown that hugged every curve over her body as if it was a second skin and flared at the bottom where it nearly touched the ground.

Caleb nearly swallowed his own tongue trying to conceal his reaction to Lainey, but her eyes met his before he could school his expression. Her perfectly painted lips tipped into a knowing smile and she held his gaze for a second or two as if to say "Caughtcha lookin."

"We hear you've got a hot date tonight - Oscar from accounting huh?" James teased.

Lainey's eyes narrowed at Caleb, but thankfully her smile still remained as she playfully glared at him.

"Traitor." she sassed at Caleb, passing by him to reach into the fridge and grab an electrolyte drink.

"It was too funny not to share." Caleb said with a laugh.

"Why didn't you just say Caleb was your date?" Pierce chuckled.

"I would have if I had thought of that before we left to get in the elevator. I'm terrible at fabricating stories, okay. I was so mad, my brain quit working."

"Obviously." James joked.

Ricardo finished the rest of his drink as soon as he heard Camila call to him from the front foyer, indicating she was ready to leave.

The group started filing out of the kitchen, leaving Caleb and Lainey behind. He stood and watched as Lainey downed the rest of her electrolyte drink, which meant she was probably planning on drinking alcohol at the fundraiser. He had already discussed her tolerance of alcohol with James who explained that she took an extra dose of her medication and drank an electrolyte drink before and after if she was planning on consuming alcohol.

"Ready?" he asked as she finished it off.

"Ready, but I need to fix your tie first." she said, eyeing the bow tie at his neck.

Leaning in close to him, she reached her small hands up and grabbed the edges of his tie, tilting it until it was level and straightened to her satisfaction. Her eyes were focused on his tie, but his eyes were focused on her mouth. Her perfect full lips were calling to him, begging to be kissed. The tip of her tongue slid along her bottom lip as she focused on his tie, but the sight nearly unhinged Caleb who was hanging on to his self control by a thread.

"There." she said confidently, resting her hands on the lapels of his tux.

Bringing her eyes to his, she quickly picked up on his intense stare and he watched her breath catch, hearing her quick intake of air as their eyes met.