“I know, hard to believe, right? Apparently he has some kind of pathological condition. I wouldn’t mention it to him, okay?” She knew she was being naughty, especially as Grace couldn’t keep a secret if her life depended on it, but hey, she needed to claw back some of her lost ground somehow.
Grace nodded, frowning. “Sure. Not a word.”
“Can you tell him I’ll be there in a second? Oh, and you can take the rest of the day off if you like.” After he’d gone, she’d probably want to be alone. So she could spend a quiet couple of hours drawing mustaches on his stupid, handsome face.
Judith made him wait for a good five minutes while she fussed around with her appearance. Today she’d put on a sleek black pencil skirt with a dark blue silk blouse and black suede wedge-heeled ankle boots. A little bit hard-edged. Just as well. She had a feeling she was going to need every bit of that hard edge.
Eventually, knowing she was procrastinating now and that her skirt really didn’t need any more smoothing, Judith stepped out of the makeup room and came down the hallway to the reception area.
Caleb was standing near the reception desk, a slightly disconcerted look on his face as Grace patted his arm, in full flow about how a good couple of rounds of therapy could help with chronic shyness.
Judith wanted to smile but then his head lifted and his eyes met hers, and all urges to smile vanished.
He must have come from some sort of business meeting because he was wearing a fabulously tailored, charcoal-colored suit that did wonderful things to his shoulders. His shirt was a dark, intense purple, and a tie of dull gold around his neck. The look should have been too much but it wasn’t. On him it was delicious.
God, this so wasn’t fair. The man had no business being so hot, he just didn’t.
“Hi, Jude,” he said softly.
She cleared her throat. “Hello, Caleb.”
“Well,” said Grace brightly, “I’d better go. Make sure you give my therapist a call, okay?” She gave Caleb another pat, one that was totally unnecessary in Judith’s opinion. “You won’t regret it.”
“Why does she seem to think I’m suffering from pathological shyness?” Caleb asked as the studio door shut on Grace.
Judith waved a hand. “Who knows? Right, shall we get this over with then?” The quicker they did this, the quicker it would be over, and the quicker he’d be away from her.
“Wait a second.” Digging into his pocket, Caleb brought out a small, beautifully carved wooden box and laid it on the reception desk.
She stared at it. “What’s that?”
“An apology.”
“What for?”
“For my behavior the day before last.” His gaze met hers and she found she couldn’t look away. “I hurt you. And I’m sorry.”
Something shifted in her chest. Something heavy. “You didn’t hurt me.”
“Yeah, I did. I saw it.”
Damn him. How did he do it? How did he know? How did he manage to get under her carefully prepared armor? Judith clasped her hands together, hard. “I was the one that made the mistake, Caleb. I kissed you, not the other way around. That’s all that needs to be said. Shall we move on?”
His attention flicked to the box. “Open it.”
“Oh, I don’t think—”
“Please.”
Judith let out a breath, went over to the reception desk, and picked up the box. Probably jewelry. Probably the kind of sparkle his TV bimbos would like. Something generic that he usually gave to—
Her heart gave a little jump as she opened the box.
Nestled in black velvet was a pendant, a small bird crafted out of platinum, New Zealand’s native fantail. Its wings were spread, distinctive tail of feathers spread out in a graceful arc, a tiny sapphire for an eye.
A lump rose in her throat. Because she knew this necklace. Had seen it in her favorite clothing shop and had lusted after it for months, but it had been far too expensive.
How had he known? She tried to swallow. “Why this?”
He hesitated. “It reminded me of that bluebird necklace I got you for your thirteenth birthday.”
She remembered, too. The thirteenth birthday Joseph had forgotten, and so had her father. Caleb hadn’t. And that bluebird necklace had been the start of her crush on him. She’d worn it constantly for years afterward and still kept it in her jewelry box.
He hadn’t just bought her some random bit of bling. He’d thought about it. Thought about her. Like he’d used to.
The lump in her throat refused to go away.
No backsliding, remember? Distance.
“It’s lovely, Caleb. But I can’t accept it.” Of course she couldn’t. No matter how much she loved it. No matter how much she wanted it. Accepting gifts from him was a foot on that slippery slope. The one she couldn’t fall down ever again.