Playing Pretend (9 page)

“It’s a beautiful name,” I remarked quietly. “Braelynn. How old is she?”

Caleb regarded me carefully, obviously deciding just how much to tell me.

“Four weeks,” he replied. Just like I’d guessed.

We fell silent, and my uncertainty of what to say grew. As much as I wanted to reassure him that I would keep my mouth shut, I knew it wouldn’t be enough, and if he were to believe me, I’d have to
show
him that I could be trusted.

“Why are you still awake?” he asked softly. I tried not to read anything into his tone, or the way his rigid stance had relaxed. I couldn’t give him the impression that I still harbored feelings for him, given that he already had so many other things that he needed to worry about.

“I couldn’t sleep,” I swallowed, and brushed a stray strand of hair behind my ear, “Even though an actual bed is a nice change from the backseat of my car.”

Caleb’s brows dipped, and his mouth twisted like he’d tasted something sour. “We need to talk about that.”

“Not much to talk about,” I sighed, choosing to be completely honest. “I haven’t spoken to or heard from my father in two years, and my mother gave up almost everything in their divorce. I’ve been taking care of myself.”

“And you had your surname changed.”

I wanted to be surprised that Caleb knew that, but I wasn’t. Not really. He had a plethora of resources at his disposal, and if he’d known who I was since my first day, then he knew I no longer went by Kadence Archer. My only hope was that if
he
knew, it wouldn’t be easy for anyone else to find out. I couldn’t risk my father knowing, not yet at least.

“I needed a clean break, and it makes it easier to hide when no one knows exactly who you are.”

I wanted to say more but thought better of it.

“I appreciate your help, Caleb, and I won’t tell anyone anything. By the end of next week, I’ll be out of here, and we can go back to pretending the other doesn’t exist,” I paused, “If that’s what you want.”

Caleb remained quiet, and I wasn’t sure why that bothered me.

His only acknowledgement was a nod, and a mumbled
good night
, and when he didn’t move to walk way, I did it for him.

“ON A SCALE OF
one to ten, how mad are you?”

Aaliyah stopped in front of my desk, and I lifted my gaze from the screen of my laptop to look up at her. She looked somewhat remorseful, and held out a steaming cup of coffee from Starbucks.

I looked between her and the cup, and sighed heavily when I realized that I didn’t
want
to be angry with her, even if I felt that my privacy had been invaded. It was Friday morning, and after having such a late night, I was running on fumes. Caleb had left long before my alarm woke me up for work, and I didn’t want to make myself at home by making coffee at his place.

“That depends,” I replied, taking the cup from Aaliyah’s outstretched hand. “Are you going to make a habit of getting involved in my personal life?”

I sipped the caffeinated goodness, my senses humming appreciatively when met with the full-bodied Latte flavor. Oh, she was good, using one of my weaknesses to get me to forgive her with less effort on her part. I had to admire her determination.

“I can’t say that I won’t, I’m a nosy bitch, but can’t I get a pass just this once? It was extenuating circumstances, and I had to do something to help, Kadence.”

I regarded my friend, and co-worker, and saw the contrition shadowing the delicate features of her face. I wasn’t one to hold a grudge, but the latent anger I should’ve felt the night before, was shoved aside by everything else that had transpired from the moment Caleb had decided to be my Knight in shining armor. But even with Aaliyah standing in front of me, I couldn’t muster up enough energy to be angry with her for caring.

“I’ll forgive you, on one condition.”

“Anything.”

“Promise me that if you’re ever worried about me again, you’ll come to me instead of talking to Caleb.”

Aaliyah opened her mouth, and then winced when she said, “I can’t promise you that.”

I shook my head, and she was quick to add, “But only because Caleb would have my ass.”

I puffed up my cheeks, and then exhaled in a rush. Caleb was proving to be a conundrum, a walking contradiction. Trying to figure him out, along with his motives, was pointless, so why did I keep trying?

I was starting to think I was wasting my time.

“I’ll make it up to you with lunch at Bryant Park,” said Aaliyah. “How does that sound?”

On cue, my stomach rumbled, and Aaliyah responded with a giggle. “I’ll take that as a ‘yes’.”

“Fine,” I quipped, unable to stop the upturn of my lips. “Now let me get back to work.”

Aaliyah bounced back to her desk, and before I could get back to completing my to-do list, my desk phone rang.

I answered with, “Callahan Industries, Kadence speaking,” and expected someone to be calling for Macy.

“Kadence.” Caleb’s voice travelled through the phone, and I swear my heart fell over itself. Stupid thing needed to be replaced, or at least reminded what it felt like to be broken by the man on the other end of the line.

“Cal -” I started, but then realized I was at work and corrected myself. “Mr. Callahan. Macy isn’t in at the moment, but -”

“I wasn’t calling for Macy.” God, I hated it when he cut me off like that. Pompous ass. “I need you to come into my office. Now.”

The line went dead, and I stared at the phone with incredulity. Fortunately, I already knew that ‘rude’ and ‘abrupt’ were the extent of his vocabulary.

After finishing off my Latte, which admittedly was my small act of rebellion, I righted my black pencil skirt, and my silk turquoise peasant blouse before walking to Caleb’s office. My confidence was a little on the low side, but if I had to fake it in front of Caleb, then I would. I knocked on the door once, and pushed it open, expecting to find Caleb at his desk. Instead, I found the spacious office empty, and filled with beams of light coming through the floor-to-ceiling windows. They stretched along my right, and rounded the back end of the space behind a glass, and steel desk. On the left stood three leather sofas, a small table in the middle of the sitting area, and to the side of Caleb’s desk was a dry bar. Unlike his penthouse, this was all man, and it lacked the warmth he’d created in his home.

“Took you long enough.”

Caleb’s grumble startled me, and I turned around from my spot in front of the windows. He appeared from behind the wall located just beyond his desk.

“I had something to finish for Macy,” I lied. “What is it that you wanted to see me about?”

In dark navy slacks, a white shirt, and a dark blue tie, he looked like every bit the shrewd businessman I’d read about. But after last night, I also knew he was a father, and that made him more human to me. The rest of the world hadn’t had the chance to see that side of him yet.

Caleb opened his mouth to speak, but was interjected by a knock on the door. It opened, and an older woman walked in. Caleb greeted her, and she kissed his cheek before turning to me.

“Kadence,” he motioned towards me. “This is Andrea. She’s the head stylist at Nordstrom.”

I shook the woman’s hand, very aware that her gaze was scrutinizing. Her black hair was tied up in a high ponytail, and her crisp suit showed off her slender physique. She was exactly the type of woman I could picture Caleb with; someone worldlier and more experienced. The thought alone irritated me.

“It’s a pleasure,” I said. I turned back to Caleb. “I can come back another time, when you’re not busy.”

“She’s here to see
you
,” he replied. “Your wardrobe is…” his eyes traveled from the top of my head to the tips of my heels, “Lacking.”

“Excuse me?” My voice hitched, and I felt my face warm. His jibe was unnecessary, especially in front of a complete stranger.

“You need some new clothes,” said Caleb. “You represent my company, and I can’t have you looking like
that
.” He waved his hand in front of me, and I struggled to keep from feeling both hurt and humiliated.

Something flashed in Caleb’s eyes when he caught my withering expression, but it was gone before I could blink.

“I’m sorry to have wasted your time,” I told Andrea. “Mr. Callahan will compensate you, I’m sure. Now,” I glared at Caleb, “I have to get back to work.”

My heels clicked loudly as I walked out with as much dignity as I could muster. Caleb had a terrible habit of making me feel no taller than a few inches, and I hated myself for allowing his words to burrow their way into my head.

AALIYAH MADE GOOD on her promise to take me to lunch, and after a delicious meal, we took a slow walk back to our office. We kept the conversation light, but I could tell Aaliyah was dying to ask about what was going on between Caleb and me. She was practically bouncing in her seat at lunch, her eyes aglow with child-like keenness. I’d tried to convince her there was nothing to talk about, but she was like a dog with a bone, and eventually I gave her just enough information to mollify her. I didn’t tell her everything, especially not that I was living with Caleb, because becoming the next source of office gossip was not on my agenda. I was distracted, so I allowed Aaliyah to steer our casual tête-à-tête. I wasn’t even sure what she was yapping about, and by the time we got back to Park Avenue, I had little to no recollection of the walk from Bryant Park.

My phone rang, and I pursed my lips when I didn’t recognize the number. At first I debated not answering, considering that the only person who actually had this number was my mother, but chose to find out who was looking for me.

“Hello?”

An aged male voice crackled through. “Uh, hello. Is that Ms. Kavanagh?”

“Yes.”

“I’m sorry to bother you. It’s Paul, the doorman at the Puck Building. Mr. Callahan gave me your name and number, and I thought I’d give you a call since I can’t reach him.”

“Is everything okay?” I asked, my mind immediately jumping to Braelynn.

“Well that’s why I’m calling,” said Paul. He sounded nervous, and unsure, and that wasn’t helping the sudden flurry of anxiety in my stomach. “Danielle, the Nanny that has been looking after Caleb’s daughter left the building an hour ago without the baby, and hasn’t been back. There’s no one else in the penthouse -”

“I’m on my way,” I interrupted loudly. Aaliyah stopped in front of the doors to Callahan Industries, and frowned.

“What’s going on?” she mouthed.

I shook my head, and ended the call before stepping into the street to hail a cab.

“Call Caleb,” I told her. “Tell him I’m on my way to his place, and to meet me there as soon as he can.”

“Kadence, tell me what’s going on.”

“No time.” A cab pulled up next to me at the curb, and I looked back at Aaliyah one more time. “Please, call Caleb, and if he doesn’t answer, keeping calling until he does.”

Her lips moved, but her response was already silenced from the inside of the cab. I watched as she ran into the building, and then told the cab driver where I needed to go. A few minutes, and several traffic violations later, the cab screeched to a stop outside the Puck building. I threw what little money I had in my purse at the driver, and flung myself out of the cab. My feet carried me to the elevators, and it felt like I’d stopped breathing while I made my way to the penthouse. Paul let me in – Caleb hadn’t given me keys – and I picked up my pace until I was standing in the nursery. Braelynn was screaming, tears staining her little red face and her small hands bunched into fists. Without hesitation, I picked her up, and cradled her to my chest, careful to support her head in the crook of my arm.

“There, there,” I cooed gently, brushing my fingertips over her soft hair. “I’m here, sweet girl.”

Braelynn calmed, and made a suckling noise with her mouth. I had no idea what her feeding schedule was, but I was willing to bet that she was hungry. I looked over my shoulder at Paul, getting a good look at him for the first time. He was an older gentleman with white hair, aged features, and surprisingly kind eyes. “It’s okay,” I said. “I’ll keep an eye on her until Mr. Callahan gets back.”

He looked at me with open suspicion, probably wondering whether or not to trust me, but then Braelynn stopped crying and I guessed that was all the proof he needed that she was okay.

“I’m going to keep calling Mr. Callahan,” he replied gruffly.

“That’s fine.” My gaze fell back to Braelynn. “I’ll feed the little Miss, and see if she needs to be changed.”

Paul grouched something unintelligible, and as soon as he left, I went about changing Braelynn. I buttoned up her baby grow, wrapped her up in her pink blanket, and ventured into the kitchen to find her bottles. Caleb had her formula labeled, along with everything else she needed, and once I’d sterilized and warmed her bottle in the fancy bottle warmer, I settled onto the sofa and placed the bottle in Braelynn’s mouth. She took it ardently, and ate with as much gusto that a newborn could. She had quite the appetite for such a small thing.

I watched her in awe, feeling unfamiliar warmth fill my chest. I could’ve sat there for minutes, or for hours, it didn’t matter. I was so enraptured by Braelynn that it felt like I’d lost all conception of time.