Her eyes darted to his. She opened her mouth, but then closed it. Caleb considered giving her a pass, but then decided against it. Instead, he pushed a little harder.
“So?” His brow lifted. “For someone who claims to be so nosy, why haven’t you been all up in my business, Leah?”
Her pregnant pause was as telling as anything she could say.
“I…uh…I guess I didn’t want you to think I was getting too personal.”
His gaze dropped to her lips just as she pulled the bottom one between her teeth. She released it, and the urge to kiss her full, glistening mouth grew so strong Caleb had to clutch his hands to stop himself from doing just that.
When he spoke, his voice was little more than a whisper. “For future reference, I don’t mind you getting too personal.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” she said, her tone equally hushed.
The air crackled and sizzled around them, the sexual tension growing thicker with each second that ticked by.
Leah was the first to look away. Slapping her palms against her thighs, she cleared her throat.
“So, what about the rest of our story?”
Her evasion technique was about as smooth as a bumbling criminal running from the police, but Caleb went along with it. He had no business staring at those lips the way he’d been staring, imagining the feel of them against his own, longing to make it a reality.
The reality was that she was someone else’s woman. Why was it so hard for his brain to comprehend that?
Maybe because of the way Leah had looked athim. He hadn’t imagined the heat in her eyes, or the way her chest rose with the labored breaths she sucked in. She was just as affected by this energy pulsating between them as he was.
“What about our first date?” Leah asked.
“Huh? Caleb blinked several times, trying to remember the conversation.
“We need to come up with something good for our first date.”
Right. They were making up a past for their fake relationship. How could he forget?
“How about your first date with Mr. Lexus?”
“You have no idea how much joy it would bring to Derrick if he knew you referred to him as Mr. Lexus. It would make his day.”
“In that case, don’t tell him,” Caleb said.
“Don’t worry, I doubt I’ll have the chance.”
His forehead furrowed. “Why not?”
Leah hesitated for a moment, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth once again. Once again, Caleb was so tempted to pull that lip from her teeth and run his finger across it that he ached with it. He wanted to see if her lips felt as tender as they appeared.
“Derrick didn’t just back out on this weekend,” she said. “He backed out on everything.”
Thatgot his attention. “What do you mean?”
“I mean he broke off our engagement last night.”
Her revelation slammed into him like a two-by-four.
They broke up? She was no longer engaged?
“Why—” Caleb had to clear his throat. “Why did he break things off?”
“He said he wasn’t ready to get married.” She averted her eyes, but not before Caleb caught the sadness lurking in their warm, brown depths. It made him want to beat the shit out of her ex for ever putting that look on her face.
