Half of her wanted to slip out the door and go home. But that would be cowardly. She’d done what she’d done, and pretending it hadn’t happened wasn’t going to change that.
She heard sounds down the hallway and guessed they were coming from the kitchen. Running her fingers through her hair and gathering her courage, she determinedly walked toward the noise.
Caleb was in a bright, spacious kitchen, pouring coffee.
He looked up to stare at her.
Her stomach lurched with nervous energy. “I have absolutely no idea what to say.”
“How about ‘morning’?”
“Morning,” she said, relieved by his relaxed posture and demeanor.
“Coffee?”
“Please.”
He retrieved another cup and poured. “Do you take anything in it?”
“Black is fine.” Any form of caffeine was fine with her at the moment.
He came around the breakfast bar, a cup in each hand. “Did you sleep okay?”
“Soundly.”
He smiled. “I’m glad to hear it.”
The polite chitchat was stringing her nerves tighter and tighter. “Caleb...I don’t know what happened last night.”
“You mean you don’t remember it, or you don’t know what caused it.”
“I remember it fine.”
Their gazes locked as he handed her a cup.
“Good,” he said.
“No, bad.”
“That’s sure not how I remember it.”
“You know what I mean.” She took a drink, hoping to jump-start her brain. She needed to be fully functional right now.
He gestured toward a round wooden table, with four padded chairs. It was set in a bay window facing southwest. The storm was over, and the sun was coming up, lighting the calm ocean.
“What do you want to do?” he asked as they sat down.
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“Go home, go back to—” Her thoughts went to her sister. “Melissa must be worried.”
Come to think of it, why hadn’t Melissa called? Had Jules’s phone battery died?
“I talked to her last night,” he said, then immediately put the cup to his lips.
Jules felt her embarrassment and anxiety rise. Her voice came out raspy. “What did you tell her?”
“That you were angry. We’d fought. You were exhausted and fell asleep on my sofa.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
The morning light softened his expression, and he looked more like a friend than a foe. This was the up close Caleb. This was the Caleb she had to avoid if she wanted to stay sane.
“I did tell her you thought I’d put Noah up to it. And I also told her that wasn’t true.”
Jules found herself nodding. She believed Caleb when he said that. Which meant Noah thought she was going to fail. And Melissa must still have her doubts.
The aspen trees outside fluttered in the breeze, and the waves pushed against the rocks below. The only sound in the kitchen was the faintest hum of the refrigerator.
“If we’re going to keep doing this,” he said.
She sat up straight. “We are not going to keep doing this.”
“We keep saying that, yet...” He spread his hands.
“This time it’s true.”
“I should have used some protection.” He seemed to hesitate. “But you must be using birth control, right?”
She worked her jaw for a moment. She wanted to tell him it was none of his business, but she didn’t believe that was true.
“Hormone shots,” she said. “Not specifically for birth control,” she felt compelled to explain. She didn’t want him to get the wrong idea about her sex life—which for the most part didn’t exist. At least, until he’d come along. “But that’s one of the effects.”
He gave a nod. “Good.”
“Caleb.” She put a warning note into her voice. “We’re not going to—”
“I heard you.” He spun his empty cup on the polished surface of the table. “I like you, Jules.”
She didn’t want to hear this. She didn’t want the good Caleb to make her do something stupid. Truth was, if she operated on emotion alone, she’d drag him straight back into bed.
He caught her gaze again and held it. “I’m ridiculously attracted to you, and—”
A sound caught their attention. The front door opening and closing.
“Caleb?” It was Matt.
Panic hit Jules straight in the solar plexus, and she lost her breath.
“He knows,” Caleb said.
The panic grew. “He what?” She rose to her feet.
Caleb looked like he regretted the admission. “He’s a close friend.”
Her tone was a harsh whisper. “I haven’t even told my sister.”