She grinned. “Maybe I should rethink my career.”
“You don’t like working on Wall Street?”
Her forehead furrowed. “I didn’t realize I’d ever mentioned where I worked to you.”
Busted.
“You haven’t. Not in so many words,” Caleb said. He hesitated for a moment before he shrugged, and with a nonchalance he didn’t feel, admitted, “I saw you down there once.”
“In Manhattan?”
He nodded. “I was at district court, but decided to head further down for lunch at this little place near Rector and Trinity. I called out to you, but I don’t think you heard me.”
Actually, he’d held the door open for her, but before he could even say her name she responded with a polite thank you and walked inside, not even recognizing that he was the man who lived right next door. Caleb wasn’t sure why that still rankled as much as it did. Maybe because he spent so much ofhisfree time thinking about her, it hurt to know that she must spend so little time thinking about him. He didn’t even register for her when coming face to face.
“It must have been a while ago,” Leah said. “Our office moved to midtown and now I hate it.”
“You don’t like the city?”
“I don’t likedrivingin the city. Before I could drive down to Newport, park, and take the PATH train into Manhattan, but now that we’ve moved to midtown I’m forced to take the Lincoln Tunnel. By the time I get home I just want to crash. Takeout has become my new best friend.” She looked over at him. “The last two batches of herbs you brought over have gone to waste.” She gave him a playful tap on the forearm. “Although you’ve been cooking up a storm. Whatever you were making this past Tuesday night smelled so good I nearly knocked on the door to beg you for a taste.”
“It was Moroccan,” Caleb said. He leaned forward, and giving in to the devil on his shoulder, whispered, “If you’d have come over, I would have been happy to share.”
Leah’s grin took on a mischievous tilt. “Be careful what you wish for. I may not look it, but I’m no lightweight when it comes to enjoying a good meal.”
“I think I can handle your appetite.”
Her brow peaked. “You sure about that?”
“Why don’t you come over for dinner sometime and we can find out?”
Stop!
What in the hell was he doing?
He was flirting with another man’s fiancée, that’s what he was doing. Sure, she was flirting right back, but that didn’t make it right. Leah probably wasn’t thinking straight. She’d undoubtedly had a fight with Derrick. She probably thought flirting with Caleb was the best way to get back at her fiancé, but he didn’t want her to do something irrational that she would later regret.
“You talk a good game,” she said. “But I’ll bet—”
Just then Leah lost her footing, slipping backward on the log. Caleb moved quickly, wrapping his arm around her waist to steady her. He tipped her forward so she could stand, but he didn’t let her go. Instead he tightened his grip as his eyes held her steady gaze. The crisp mountain air took on a sultriness that had nothing to do with meteorological science and everything to do with the sexual tension humming between them.
His mouth was mere inches from hers. All it would take is a slight dip of his head to connect their lips.
“Thank you,” Leah said, breaking the spell as she reared her head back. “I…uh…I guess I should get down from this.”
Caleb held on to her until both her feet hit the ground, then he let go. Reluctantly.
“Speaking of food,” she said, already starting for the walking path that led back to the campground’s main area. “What do you say we go to the dining hall and grab a late lunch? I haven’t eaten since breakfast.”
Caleb wasn’t thinking about food right now. The only thing he wanted to consume was her.
She’s another man’s girl!
His head knew that, but he needed his head to explain it to other parts of his anatomy. As much as he wanted there to be something more between them, he knew there couldn’t be. She was engaged to marry someone else. It didn’t matter that she was here with him. It didn’t matter that she’d been flirting with him not even five minutes ago either. Thinking that he could take this beyond a little innocent flirting was just setting himself up for the biggest let down.
She was another man’s girl. Which meant she couldn’t be his.
