Beyond Broken(48)

Later, she'd analyze his actions. She'd wonder why he'd done it. But right then, she was embarrassed, angry at herself, and furious at Caleb.

"Paul, I'm-"

He cut her off. "I'll see you back at the table."

Maddie bit her lip, feeling like she'd been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. She reminded herself that it was only a casual date, that she didn't need to feel like she'd been cheating on him or anything.

Although kissing a man while on a date with another is not okay, she told herself.

Paul walked past her and disappeared into the restroom. She wondered if Caleb would say anything to him, but she didn't hang around to find out. Back at the table, Kyra eyed her, as did her date, Connor, no doubt wondering why her face was so red.

Maddie wanted to leave. She was reminded why she was more of a home body, who liked to stay in and watch reruns of comedy sitcoms on tv then go out to bars and do something as stupid as socializing. Surely, Sheldon Cooper would never kiss her to make another man jealous, or make her a naughty proposition and make her want to say yes. No, Sheldon Cooper wouldn't play games. 

When Paul returned to the table, the mood went steadily downhill, until Kyra said it was time to go. It was past midnight. Maddie wanted desperately to apologize to Paul, for what had happened earlier, but couldn't until she could catch him alone.

On the way out, she didn't glance at Caleb, but waved goodbye to his friends. She would deal with him tomorrow. As they were walking towards Kyra's car, parked a few blocks away, she walked slowly behind Kyra and Connor and glanced at the man walking next to her.

"Paul, I'm really sorry about what happened," she said. "I'm so embarrassed."

He kept his eyes trained forward, his hands stuffed deep in the pockets of his jeans. "It's okay, Maddie."

"No, it's not," she argued. "What you saw … what I did … I'm not like that. I mean, I'm not the kind of girl that does that sort of thing, especially when I'm on a date with someone else. It was unexpected. And it was a mistake."

"You two obviously have some sort of history," Paul supplied.

She supposed, in some way, they did.

"I'm helping him with his business," she answered, because she didn't know what else to say. "But he's not … I don't see anything serious with him."

Paul finally looked at her. "So why did you kiss him?" he asked quietly.

Her face burned. "It's complicated. But I can tell you honestly that I don't think anything will happen between Caleb and I. He's not like that. And I know that. I'm just sorry you got pulled into the middle of it."

"I thought we were having a good time. I know I have no right to be jealous, but I like you, Maddie. I'm not going to pursue this," he gestured between the two of them, "if you're interested in someone else."

Maddie thought that she could like Paul. He was kind, attentive, and made her smile. He should be the kind of guy that she went after. She realized that whatever she had with Caleb, it wasn't going to go anywhere. He wasn't emotionally available and she'd known it a few days after she first started working at the garage; he'd told her himself. Did she really want to get mixed up with someone like that? Did she really want to fall head over heels in love with someone like that? Because she had a feeling that if she continued down that road, she would.

Maddie sighed and stopped walking, turning to face Paul. "Can we just start over?"

"What?" he asked, a quizzical look on his face.

"Let's start over. Could you forget what you saw tonight and just pretend like we're meeting for the first time, right now?"

Paul gave a hesitant laugh, but his smile was warm. "I think I can do that." Then he held out his hand, all mock-seriousness. "Hi, I'm Paul."

"Maddie," she replied, laughing, shaking his hand.

"So, Maddie, hopefully you won't think this is too forward of me, since we just met, but I think you're beautiful and you have great smile. Would you like to get dinner with me sometime?"

She smiled. "I'd like that."





NINETEEN





Maddie stepped foot in the garage early the next evening. Even though if was almost five o' clock all the mechanics were there, even Jones, the one that Caleb confronted after he made uncomfortable remarks to her. She waved at Peter and Brian, but saw that they were busy with work, so she went straight upstairs, not wanting to bother them.



       
         
       
        

Caleb wasn't in the office. His computer was still running, but the screensaver was on, so she wondered where he was. Mostly, she wanted to confront him about yesterday because he'd embarrassed the hell out of her. Besides, being annoyed with him was better than dwelling on the fact that he'd asked to come home with her. That was something she didn't need to think about in detail, no matter how many times her mind turned there.