I continue trying to work this out, coming up with increasingly ridiculous possibilities, until Caleb steps to the front of the room. He’s so drool-worthy in that suit, so imposing, so stern, that all I can think about is Saturday night. His eyes, dark and heavy-lidded as he asked if I was ready for him.
I never dreamed that I could get this wet listening to someone discuss due diligence.
The conversation then moves onto licenses and retraining and all the other things that will be issues as they merge the companies. Even when every topic has been addressed repeatedly, the board members are still dragging the meeting out, chatting about nonsense, when Caleb’s reminded them twice that he has a flight to catch.
CALEB
Did the code work?
No, not yet.
Try this one: IRNTBIYA
I read…
I remember…
I wait until the meeting’s done before I reply to his text.
Sorry. That code didn’t work either.
CALEB
Meet me in conference room A as soon as we’re done here.
He rises. “I’m sorry to cut this off, but like I said…I’ve got a flight leaving.”
He walks out abruptly and after quickly introducing myself to board members, I walk down to the other conference room as he’s instructed—and find myself tugged behind the door, in the room’s only hidden corner.
His lips brush over mine. I pull him by the collar when he tries to move away and deepen the kiss.
He groans. “I really do have to leave for the airport. I just wanted to see you first.”
I glance between us at the erection he’s trying to adjust. “It appears you wanted to do more than simply see me. What were the codes?”
“You look beautiful today was the first one.”
My cheeks flush. “And the second?”
His hand slides over my ass, and he laughs, almost to himself. “You’ll need to figure that one out on your own, but it involves a place I really need to be again.” He kisses me one last time and walks out of the room. I reach for my phone to examine the still-undeciphered letters: IRNTBIYA
This time it only takes me a few seconds:
I really need to be inside you again.
CALEB CALLS me on the landline the next night after the twins are in bed, and we talk for hours. It feels like the part of my youth I missed—the part where you are so giddily infatuated with someone that you laugh for no reason at all, that you can almost taste your happily-ever-after. I am Cinderella, discovering the glass slipper fits or Belle kissing the Beast at last. I stop just short of picturing a wedding the entire village turns out for, assisted with my dress by magical mice and bluebirds… but barely. When he’s talking to me, hinting at all the things we’ll do when he gets back, it seems as if nothing could ever go wrong.
“How much time do we have on Saturday?” I ask.
“Not much,” he says with a sigh. “I’ve got to fly out again Sunday morning. But can we plan a weekend away this summer? The kids are staying with Jeremy’s mom Fourth of July weekend, right?”
I grin. “Yes, but…are you actually going to take a long weekend off? Is that something you’ve ever done in your adult life?”
He releases a quiet laugh. “It might be a first. I must kind of like you.”
“I kind of like you, too.” It’s the world’s greatest understatement, but he’s only had a few months of this infatuation while I’ve had twenty years. I need to give him some time to catch up.
He’s back at the office Wednesday for only two hours before he leaves again, and when his meetings in Denver run over, he asks me to meet him in San Francisco because he has to fly out first thing in the morning.
I opt not to show up wearing only a trench coat as Molly suggested, a decision I’m grateful for when I’m at the front desk of the Ritz asking for the room key Caleb left for me—a situation which gives rich-guy-paying-for-sex vibes even without the trench coat.
I ascend to the twenty-third floor and open the door to find him pacing with the phone to his ear. He waves me in and mouths, “Sorry,” while continuing to bicker with someone about licenses.
I kick off my heels and stretch out on the bed, and his eyes grow hazy.
“Look, I shouldn’t have to spell this out for you,” he barks into the phone, his gaze still on me.
I’d intended to be patient, but watching Caleb lose focus is more tempting than I anticipated. I slide the skirt up, up, up, until he could just make out my panties if he tilted his head to the side.
He tilts his head to the side.