Her sister was too astute, but Jules had no intention of letting on that Caleb had initially targeted Melissa to romance. It would sound like Jules didn’t trust her. She did.
It was Caleb she didn’t trust. He was underhanded, and Melissa’s instinct was to search for an amicable solution. That made her vulnerable to his bogus claims of both restaurants succeeding.
“All right,” Jules said, frowning. “Maybe it’s because I kissed him.”
“You what?”
“Well, he kissed me. I suppose that’s more accurate. He was the one doing the kissing. I simply...” Jules wasn’t exactly sure how to finish that sentence.
Luckily, she didn’t have to. Melissa jumped back in.
“Where? When? Why didn’t you say something?”
“It was a nonevent. That day we were moving the pictures, while you were talking to Noah. Caleb kissed me. I kind of kissed him back. It’s embarrassing, but he is pretty hot. And, well, I’m guessing he might be under the impression that I’m attracted to him. And, maybe, well, maybe he thinks if he dates me and, I don’t know, sweeps me off my feet, he can change my mind about the noncompete clause. You know that’s all he really wants.”
Melissa stared wide-eyed through the entire explanation, which Jules realized had gone on way too long.
“You kissed him back.”
“A little bit.”
“Okay.” Melissa rubbed the sandpaper a few strokes. “I get that you might kiss him. He’s a handsome, charming guy. But why did you agree to a date? What’s in it for you?” She paused. “Unless, ooh, are you genuinely interested in—”
“No!” Jules barked too quickly. “I’m not interested in him, genuinely or otherwise.”
“You just admitted he was hot.”
“He isn’t—” Jules stopped herself. She wanted to lie as little as possible. “Okay, fine, in an objective sort of way. I’d have to be dead not to notice that Caleb is hot. And Noah’s hot.”
Melissa’s brows went up, and she opened her mouth.
Jules bowled forward, talking louder. She wanted to get this over with. “There are a lot of hot guys in the world. That doesn’t mean I’m automatically attracted to them. I have a mission when it comes to Caleb, and I’m executing part of that mission through a fake date. I think I can use it to our advantage. Period.”
“Jules,” Melissa said.
“What?” Jules hoped she’d put it to rest.
“He’s behind you.”
“Who?”
“Caleb.”
Perfect. Now he had her on record admitting he was handsome. This was going to be a pain.
She felt her cheeks warm as she turned. “Hello, Caleb.”
“Hello, Jules.”
Silence fell.
She couldn’t stand it, so she leaped in. “I was telling Melissa about our date.”
“So I heard.”
She walked to the next table and started to push it out of the way. “Was there something you needed?”
He immediately joined her to help move the table. “Yes. There’s something I meant to tell you.”
Jules realized that Melissa had to wonder why Caleb wasn’t reacting to her outburst. She couldn’t for the life of her come up with a reason, so she decided on the blow-past-it strategy again. Hopefully, it would work better this time.
“What was it?” she asked Caleb.
“Do you want me to leave you two alone?” Melissa asked, obviously assuming, quite reasonably, that they had things to discuss.
“You need to hear this, too,” Caleb said. “What are we doing?” he asked Jules, nodding to the table now held between them.
“Stacking them all in the center of the room. Noah wants to work on the electrical today.”
“Is Noah here?” Caleb asked.
“He’s at the hardware store,” Melissa answered.
“Good.”
“Jules isn’t interested in him,” Melissa said.
Both Jules and Caleb turned to look at her.
“She might think he’s hot, but she doesn’t want to date him.”
Jules realized her protestations about the date hadn’t worked. Melissa thought she was genuinely attracted to Caleb.
“Don’t worry about explaining,” Jules told her.
“He’s really not her type,” Melissa said.
“It’s fine, Melissa.”
Caleb could barely hide the amusement in his tone. “Jules and I have an understanding.”
“An understanding?” Melissa asked in obvious confusion.
Caleb wrapped an arm around Jules’s shoulders. “She’s not convinced we’re a good idea, but she’s agreed to give me a shot.”