Beyond Broken(13)

        

"No, I'm not," she started, glancing down at her rose gold watch. He'd told her six and her watch read 6:02.

"I'm sorry, princess. I didn't realize chatting with my employees when you're supposed to be working off your payment to me was acceptable."

Maddie's eyes narrowed, but she remained silent, exchanging an exasperated look with Brian. He gave her a wink and she started ascending the stairs. Every step took her closer to Caleb and she told herself that it was the stair climbing that made her a little breathless, not the man who stood waiting at the top of them.

She could feel his eyes on her. When she finally reached the top and stood before him, he took in her outfit leisurely, which sent treacherous shivers shooting through her body. He ended at her favorite nude kitten heels, which she'd bought half price at Nordstrom's Rack. His brow seemed to lower even more.

"This is a garage," he sneered. "Don't wear heels next time."

She frowned. "It's not like I'm working on the cars. I'll be in the office. And I think this outfit is very professional, don't you?"

He didn't reply, just sent her a dark look that prickled her skin with awareness. She may not like Caleb's attitude, but her body certainly didn't mind him. At all. Refusing to provide an answer to her question, he gestured her inside with a grand sweep of his arm as though she was the princess he mockingly called her.

Straightening her spine, she passed him, trying not to inhale his delicious, spicy scent on the way. Then she came to a sudden halt.

"Oh my God," she whispered. Eyes widened, she took in the office. At least, what she thought was an office. Every inch of it seemed to be covered in paper, paper, and more paper.

"You said you're good at bookkeeping, princess. Let's see you prove it," Caleb said behind her. He was so close, she could feel the heat from his body.

The mess was making her fidget. She liked to be organized. And because she craved order, everything in her apartment had its place, from her adorable cat mug-which she used to store pens on her desk-to her bookshelf-which was shelved by genre and the author's last name. Sometimes, she organized it by the color of the book covers, but only when she was feeling particularly rebellious.

Yep, she was quite the rebel.

As Maddie's brown, terrified eyes swept the expanse of the office, she realized she didn't even know where to begin. Caleb brushed past her and resumed his place at the large wood desk on the left side of the office.

When her brain finally processed what she was seeing, she stammered, "You want me to get through all of this?" 

Caleb shrugged, not looking at her as he started on a stack of paper in the middle of his desk. "You offered. And can I just say that your spark plugs were damaged, so the total cost for the car is $980." He shot her a smirk. "Including tax, of course. As far as I'm concerned, I'm getting the bad end of this deal."

"You can't be serious! Have you looked around this office lately? You can hardly see the furniture."

"This was your idea, princess. If you want off the hook, fine. But that'll be $980 on your way out."

"My car's probably not even worth that much," she grumbled quietly under her breath. Then she blew out a breath. If Caleb Montgomery was trying to scare her off, it wouldn't work. "Fine," she said, slapping her purse down on a stack of boxes by the door. "Where should I start?"

Judging by the look on his face, it was obvious that he had expected her to bolt the moment she walked through the door. Then he narrowed his eyes. "You're the expert. You figure it out."

High school crush, be damned. Caleb was a grade-A jerk.

With a rock-hard body and do-me eyes …

Maddie sighed.

This was not going to be easy.





SIX





Caleb looked up from the stack of papers in front of him for the millionth time in two hours and automatically sought out the small figure across the room.

Maddie was still working away, hunched over the makeshift desk she'd made out of cardboard boxes and spare chairs. She was rummaging through receipts and invoices dating back from who knows when. The space between her eyebrows was pinched and every now and again she'd grumble to herself.

Caleb had tried to fight stealing glances at her all evening. Eventually, he'd just given up. He held a strange attraction towards her that spread through every nerve of his body. He wasn't thrilled about it either. If she swept that glorious, couldn't-stop-imagining-it-spread-out-on-a-pillow hair over her shoulder, or drifted from one side of the room to another, bending down to sort through boxes in those goddamn heels of hers, Caleb would clench his fists under the desk and take steadying breaths. And he stayed seated, because if he were to stand, his hard-on would probably scare even him.