Beyond Broken(9)

        

Impulse had him reaching for the lights and his keys. Before he knew it, Caleb was locking up his uncle's office and heading down to the main floor of the garage. He told himself it was because it was late and he was tired, not because some part of him was intrigued by this woman, whose name he didn't even know.

Yes, he was simply tired.

It had nothing to do with those damn freckles.





FOUR





Clank, clank, clank, clank.

The sound made Maddie's heart skip a beat. Her eyes automatically swiveled towards the metal staircase that wound up to Caleb's office, only to see the man himself making his way down towards her and Brian.

Darn. She'd hoped to be long gone by the time he came out of there. Yet, she found herself in another embarrassing predicament.

Her brother wouldn't pick up his phone. He was probably with his girlfriend or something because he usually always picked up whenever she called. Unless, he was … well …

She cringed at the thought of her older brother's sex life. Instead, she peeked up at Caleb out of the corner of her eye, trying to decide what her options were. She could call a taxi at this hour, but she still didn't have her stupid wallet, so she couldn't pay the driver. Did she have any cash lying around at home? Would the driver believe her if she said she was just going to run inside real quick? How much would a taxi cost from here to her apartment?

Caleb's deep voice reached her ears. "Why are you still here?"

Maddie glanced up at him, his sheer bulk filling her vision. He'd stopped only a few feet away, his keys hanging in his left hand. Brian wandered off to collect his things. Peter was nowhere in sight. It seemed they were closing up for the night and she still had no idea what to do.

With a sense of dread, she simply stared at him, debating whether or not she should give him another reason to think she was stupid. She figured the diesel was enough to last a lifetime for a man like him.

"Did you not hear me?" he asked, his voice low. Maddie started, unconsciously taking a step away. Something flickered over Caleb's face when he saw the movement. Maddie could've sworn that he softened his voice just a little bit when he spoke to her next. "I'm closing up. You need to leave."

"Aw, lay off her, Caleb," Brian chimed in, stuffing his beefy arms into an old navy blue jacket. He winked at Maddie. "He has a crush on ya, is all. He's always mean to the pretty ones."

"Brian," Caleb warned in a clipped tone, even as Maddie's face heated up. Curse her pale skin. She would never be able hide her embarrassment.

A crush on her? Absolutely ridiculous. Besides, it was coming about ten years too late, as far as she was concerned. 

"Your brother still not pick up?" Brian asked her, concern touching his features. Maddie shook her head slowly, opening her mouth to say that she would get a taxi, but Brian cut her off before she could get a word out. "No problem. Caleb here'll take you home, sweetie." She and Caleb both started to protest, but he cut them off. "I would take you myself, but my wife would work herself up if she knew I'd been out and about with a young lady like you."

With that, Brian waved them both goodbye and, whistling, sauntered over to his car parked out in the lot. They both watched him drive away, his headlights glaring and taillights flashing, before all was silent again.

Maddie bent down to retrieve her purse, which she'd settled against a red toolbox with peeling paint. Her throat felt tight as she met Caleb's eyes. They were unreadable, as usual. She forced a smile, clearing her throat. "It's all right. I'm just going to get a taxi. I'll come back tomorrow for my car."

The moment she turned away from his obsidian gaze, her smile died. Maddie let her hair form a curtain around the side of her face so he wouldn't see. She was exhausted. She just wanted to get home. But first, she had to find some way of hunting down a taxi, because there was no way was she going to admit to Caleb that she let her phone die.

Maddie made it maybe two steps before she heard him curse lowly.

"Get in the car," he told her, quiet resignation permeating his tone.

"No, really, I'm just going to-"

"Don't be ridiculous. Just get in the damn car. I still have to close up." Caleb must've beeped his keys because Maddie saw a shiny black SUV light up at the far end of the lot.

"Seriously, I-"

"Jesus, woman! Do you have to fight me on everything?" His eyes flashed with frustration.

Maddie was grasping at straws. Anything so that she wouldn't have to endure a ride home with him. "I don't even know you," she protested, hoping her half-lie sounded convincing. Caleb, of course, wouldn't think anything of it, because as far as he knew, they didn't know each other. They'd only exchanged a few words with each other in high school. Obviously, Caleb didn't remember, even though Maddie remembered every second. "You could be a serial killer or something!"