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With a single dip of my head, I walked through the living room and glowered at Alfie. His expression remained stoic.

“We’re going out, in case you want to call Caleb and let him know.”

I huffed when he didn’t reply, and continued on to the guest bedroom. I found my bordering-on-indecent little black dress, a necessity in any modern woman’s arsenal, and my highest pair of heels. Caleb had the audacity to assume he had some right to be concerned, and even go so far as to have me followed, but I was going to prove to him that he was wrong. I might have agreed to help him, but that in no way meant I answered to him. In fact, I hadn’t answered to anyone in a really long time, and I wasn’t about to start now.

GIRLS NIGHT OUT was a disaster, and my Friday night was officially a bust. I stared at my two love-struck friends, and wondered why I thought they were the best choice for the plan I’d had in mind. I guess it no longer mattered though, because shortly after we’d arrived, Brian and Landon had shown up, and that shot my plan to shit. While Aaliyah and Landon flirted without shame, and Annabelle looked about ready to bang Brian right there amidst the crowd, I got stuck talking to some investment banker named Eugene. He was thirty-three years old but already had a widows peak and had gone grey prematurely when he was twenty-six. That was after he married and divorced his high school sweetheart, and had an affair with a woman fifteen years his senior. The guy wasn’t even drunk and he’d told me his whole life story, making me wish that I was drunk just so that I wouldn’t have to listen.

“So, what is it that you do?” he asked, sipping his cheap whiskey and soda (seriously?).

I stared at him, and tried to recall what he’d just asked me. When I looked over his shoulder, I saw that Alfie was still standing by the door watching us. He’d stopped trying to be unimposing an hour ago. I sighed, accepting defeat.

“I’m sorry,” I said, looking back at Eugene. “But my friend over there is calling me, and I have to go, but it was nice meeting you.”

I was up and out of my seat before he could reply, and walked towards Aaliyah and Annabelle.

“I’m off,” I told them, pulling at the hem of my dress. I suddenly felt a little underdressed and uncomfortable. “I’ll see you girls at the office on Monday.”

“You can’t go,” said Aaliyah. She barely separated herself from Landon, and from the glassy look in her eyes it was clear that she’d had a little too much to drink.

“It’s fine, I’m just going to have Alfie take me back to Caleb’s.”

“Are you sure?” asked Annabelle, smiling from her spot on Brian’s lap. “The party’s just started.”

Uh, no, it hadn’t, but I wasn’t about to deny my friends a good night out, even if mine had been an epic fail. In fact, I’m pretty sure it broke the “failure” scale.

“You girls have fun,” I hugged Aaliyah, and blew Annabelle a kiss over the table. “I’m wiped anyway.”

I waved goodbye, watching as they went back to their men, and stopped when I came face-to-face with Alfie.

“Okay, big guy,” I acquiesced. “Take me home.”

He grunted (I think) and then followed me outside. The bar had a ‘no paparazzi’ policy so I was grateful that I didn’t have to worry about being accosted. After the day, and subsequent evening I’d had, there was no telling what I’d do if some random guy shoved a camera in my face.

The drive back to the penthouse was quick, and I took my shoes off on the elevator ride up. The doors opened, and after I’d bid goodnight to my shadow, a.k.a Alfie, I started down the hallway to the guest bedroom.

“Did you have fun?”

I shrieked, and spun around, my hand on my chest. Caleb was standing in the hallway just outside his bedroom doors, his ink-covered arms folded across his chest. Dressed in cargo shorts, and a navy polo shirt, he looked more country club than he did C.E.O, and I had to admit that it suited him.

“Don’t do that!” I hissed. “Do you want me to die of a heart attack at twenty-three?”

He didn’t reply.

“I thought you were in the Hamptons.”

“I was.” He stepped closer. His expression was both guarded, and a little amused. God, this man drove me crazy like no one else could, and he got under my skin without even trying.

My brows dipped, and I checked the time on my phone.

1 a.m.

“You left there at 11 p.m.?”

“Midnight, actually. Alfie told me you went out, tried to pick up a guy, and I figured I could resolve your little rebellion if I apologized in person.”

“I danced with one guy, and you felt the need to come back to the city because of that?”

He shrugged. “You were trying to get my attention, and now you have it.”