“Caleb—”
He didn’t give her a chance to finish her reply, simply slanted his mouth over hers in a hard kiss that lasted but a second. Then he was walking past her and out into the kitchen, where he ruffled Luke’s hair, gave his mother a loud smooch on the cheek, and stole a piece of bacon all before heading out the door with a casually tossed, “I’ll be back in a few hours. Don’t leave the house until I return.”
Of course she couldn’t leave, she thought with bemusement. He’d taken her car to go to his interview, leaving her to face the consequences of her actions. Alone.
Face your actions.
Taking a deep breath, she walked into the kitchen with a, “Good morning, Claire.”
Renny couldn’t deny she deserved the hard look Caleb’s mother shot her. “Renny. Why don’t you park yourself on a stool while I wrangle some breakfast on a plate for you? Then, I want to hear everything about my grandson.”
It took a while to tell Claire everything. Some parts were harder than others. It involved a few tears, which Claire shared with her, a comrade spirit when it came to raising a child on her own. By the time it was done—an eye-rolling Constantine having stolen Luke long before so he wouldn’t start craving dolls and a tea set—Renny knew, no matter what happened with Caleb, she wasn’t alone.
“You and Luke are family,” which, as Claire explained with a wave in the direction of the sink, meant Renny got to do the dishes. Blech.
Chapter Thirteen
Beggars can’t be choosers.
That mantra did little to ease Caleb’s irritation when he realized the interview he’d set up the previous night by email was going to be with Wes Mercer, who predictably smirked when Caleb arrived at the Bittech building for his ten a.m. appointment.
“Well, look at what dragged itself into my office.” If by office, a windowless room loaded with monitors counted.
Pride made Caleb want to spin on his heel and say fuck it. Pride also made him stay because he had people depending on him. “I like this about as much as you do, which means not fucking much.”
“Pretty stupid thing to say considering you’re here looking for a job.” Wes leaned back in his seat and steepled his fingers, a smirk on his lips.
Caleb set his jaw and held his fists tight at his sides, resisting the temptation to wipe the smirk off Wes’s face. “Not stupid, honest. I’m not going to pretend I suddenly like you. Nor am I going to shove my nose up your ass for a job.”
“Keep going, although I should mention that, so far, you’re not really winning me over. As a matter of fact, I’m thinking you should probably just turn right around and do let the door smack you on the way out.”
“I am royally fucking this up.” Caleb sighed. “Listen, I need this position.” He really did. He’d asked around, and unless he was willing to bag groceries, wash dishes, or go bayou fishing, which would put him out of reach if Renny or Luke needed him, then, “This job is the best choice in town.”
Bittech didn’t just offer a decent wage, as his brother had explained, it provided benefits to an employee and his dependents.
And fuck me. I’ve got dependents now.
Wes spun away from him and drummed his fingers on the countertop bolted to the wall. The laminate surface formed a ring around the room under the monitors. Atop it sat a half-dozen keyboards and wireless mice. “You do realize that, by coming to work here, you’d be taking orders from me.”
Something that still surprised Caleb considering Wes was his age and seemed rather young for the position of head of security.
“I know how to take orders.” Too well, as a matter of fact. Except, this time, Caleb would do it by choice, not compulsion.
“What about breaking the rules?” The question emerged oddly, and Caleb noted Wes watching him intently.
“I’m not a rule breaker.” His mother had raised him poor, but right.
“What if you had to in order to keep people safe?”
Caleb’s brow knit into a frown. “What are you saying?”
“I’m wondering if I can trust you.”
“Depends. Trust me to hold your beer while you jump off a cliff, probably. Trust me to not call you a dickhead behind your back, probably not.”
Wes snickered. “You know, if you weren’t such an asshole, I could almost like you.”
“Dude, don’t say shit like that. It’s creepy.”
“What’s creepy is the fact I’m even thinking of telling you what’s happening.”
“Tell me what?”
For a moment, Wes didn’t reply. Then he blew out a hard breath. “Fuck it. You haven’t been around so you probably don’t know and aren’t involved.”
“Involved in what? Stop acting all mysterious like and spit it out.”
“I’m talking about the testing going on here.”
Baffled, Caleb blurted out, “What fucking testing?”