The waiter ran to do his bidding.
“Brysen Mariano,” my closest friend said as he leaned forward, extending his hand to Caleb.
“I know,” he replied darkly, shaking his hand. “Caleb Sterling.”
“So I assumed.” Brysen’s gaze was considering as he looked at the two of us sitting side by side.
“How do you know my Madeleine?” The possessiveness in Caleb’s tone was blatant.
“Maddie and I grew up together.”
Caleb’s attention moved from Brysen to me. “You ditched our lunch plans to meet an ex-boyfriend?”
“Not an ex-anything. Brysen is one of my oldest and closest friends,” I said, not liking the accusing look in his eyes.
I felt the muscles in his arm relax as he took a deep breath. “You should have told me you needed to see a friend for lunch today. I would have understood.”
“Would you really?” I questioned softly.
“I’m sorry for all the fuss, but it turns out, it will be two for lunch,” Brysen apologized when the waiter returned again.
“You’re leaving?” I gasped, stunned that he was abandoning me with Caleb.
“I am,” he confirmed. “You two obviously have a lot to discuss, and I was operating under some wrong information. I’ve already learned what I needed to know just by seeing the two of you together.”
“Wrong information?” I repeated, but it didn’t do any good. Brysen was already on his feet, ready to leave me alone with Caleb at a romantic table for two.
“I don’t need to worry about having to kick Caleb’s ass for hurting you like all the gossip is saying will happen because he’s not going to do that. Right, Caleb?”
“If I do, you have my permission to kick my ass. It will be the least I deserve.” Caleb’s response, on the heels of this strange turn of events, left me stunned. He’d turned my life upside down and I didn’t even know which way was up anymore.
Chapter 5
Caleb
I glared at Madeleine and crowded her into the corner of the booth. She shrank back, then seemed to recognize her retreat and sat forward, her face inches from mine. Damn, I loved her feistiness. I figured all that fire would be explosive in bed. I felt myself thickening, growing from the semi-erect hard-on I was always sporting around her to a fucking rod of steel between my legs.
I’d done my best to be patient, to woo her, albeit aggressively, and I was done with that shit. If I didn’t fuck her soon, I was going to lose my mind. I needed to bind her to me, and I would do whatever it took to make that happen.
I’d been picturing our life together for almost a year—the house, kids, even the fucking dog. I had never intended to wait long before working toward that goal. In fact, I’d made sure the investigator had been thorough, so I knew she had a birth control capsule in her arm. I’d checked her calendar, and, as luck would have it, she’d been due to have it replaced shortly after we started working together. I may have been a little underhanded and rescheduled her appointment out three months. She apparently didn’t notice the date had been changed, utterly dependent on her calendar to remind her of the appointment.
I had intended to use condoms and wait until she had accepted our relationship before making every effort to get her pregnant, but now, I was considering getting a jump-start on the future I wanted for us.
“Your woman? What the hell, Caleb?” Madeleine’s attempt at indignation was adorable.
“Yes, baby. My woman,” I clarified. “And, my woman doesn’t spend time alone with another man, friend or otherwise. Got it?”
She started to sputter, but I gripped her arms and pulled her forward to give her a hard kiss. A throat cleared behind us and I released her lips, looking to see the waiter had arrived with the meals Madeleine and Brysen had ordered. After he had left, I motioned for her to eat and continued speaking, avoiding any arguments.
“I received a call from my office in Paris this morning,” I lied. “We need to take a last minute trip out there to deal with a few problems that have arisen.”
I was going to take my girl to Europe, fuck her relentlessly, and fill her with every drop of come I had, until she was good and pregnant.
“I can’t simply drop everything and go to Paris!” Madeleine insisted.
“We’ll leave straight from here,” I continued, ignoring her protest.
***
We’d been in the air for an hour and I’d allowed Madeleine to sulk for those sixty minutes. When we’d first boarded my private jet, she couldn’t contain her wonder and excitement at the opulent atmosphere. Once seated, she masked her delight behind a severe frown and studiously ignored me.