“This is nice,” she said. “I’ve never slow danced with anyone before.”
Her admission burned through him. “That’s a shame. You are really good at it.”
He twirled her around, then pulled her back in one smooth move. She giggled as she settled closer to him, hooking her free hand behind his shoulder. The skirt of her dress brushed against his legs. He nuzzled the top of her head, her hair smelling faintly of turpentine.
“So that’s your dad.”
“Yeah.”
“We didn’t talk long, but I get an asshole vibe from him.”
Caleb threw his head back and laughed.
Fourteen
EARLY THE NEXT morning, Caleb walked into his father’s office with coffee in hand. JJ liked his morning brew black, piping hot, and fresh from the pot. Not even half past eight and already the man was elbow deep in files and scribbling furiously on a yellow legal pad when Caleb placed the cup on the last corner of his desk left uncluttered.
Without looking up from the brief he was putting together, JJ picked up the cup and took a sip.
“Why are you staring at me?” he asked without lifting his gaze from the thick file. “Surely Michael has something better for you to do than stand there all day.”
Caleb shifted his weight from his heels to his toes then back again, hands in his pockets. “I guess . . . um . . . I was just . . .”
JJ sighed, dropping the pen on top of his notes. He pinched the bridge of his nose as he leaned back in his seat. “I did not pay for private school only to have you eat your words when speaking. My time is precious. Either spit it out or leave.”
Swallowing, Caleb said, “About what happened with Didi yesterday . . .”
“Didi?” JJ intertwined his fingers, elbows on the armrests. “What about her?”
A kernel of relief sprouted in his gut. “If she overstepped her bounds—”
His father interrupted him by raising a hand. “If this is your attempt at apologizing for the girl, you are failing miserably.” Then he lowered his hand and regarded Caleb with that frigid gaze of his. It could have frozen the entire office. “I can’t say I approve of her rudeness, but that would make me a hypocrite. My job requires me to be direct when I need to be. She was merely answering my questions. I say that girl has backbone. Certainly more than you are showing me right now. If you think yesterday will affect our agreement, it doesn’t.”
He held in the breath he had been about to exhale at his father’s silent “but” and waited. It didn’t take JJ long to continue.
“I understand why you feel the need to bring her to the events. I even understand why you feel the need to flit from one girl to the next—”
“Let me stop you there,” Caleb said, finally regaining some of that backbone his father had been talking about. “Don’t ever presume to think you understand me. As far as I’m concerned, you checked out as soon as Mother was lowered into the ground. Now, if you don’t mind. Michael knows where I am if you need anything.”
He left his father’s office without looking back.
If loving someone meant becoming like JJ, he would have none of it, thank you very much. He had his cousins and his friends. At the end of the summer he would have a year of freedom. What more could he ask for?
Didi’s smile popped into his mind. Unexpected warmth spread across his face when he thought of her. The way she laughed, so light and open. The way the corners of her bright eyes crinkled when she became animated about something she was explaining. Especially anything that had to do with art. And the way she smelled . . . like everything good in the summer.
“Shit!” Caleb jerked as steamy liquid hit his hand.
He had been so caught up in his daydream of her that he missed the cup when pouring the next coffee. Dropping everything, he stormed off toward the bathroom to get cleaned up. He couldn’t wait to get on a plane out of there.
About an hour before lunch, Caleb dropped off the latest copies he had been asked to make at Michael’s desk. The often surly assistant was on the phone. Michael raised a finger for him to wait. Caleb did so by stepping back and stuffing his hands in his pockets, managing to keep the sarcasm he so wanted to share inside. Then familiar feminine laughter coming from inside his father’s office caught his attention.
“Oh, Uncle JJ, what am I to do with you?”
The question drew him forward. That voice. That carefully chosen response. He would have recognized it anywhere. Before he knew it he was entering the lion’s den of his own accord, ignoring Michael’s protests. His father’s visitor wouldn’t mind.
JJ looked up from the woman seated on one of the chairs across from his desk and said, “Ah, there you are.”
The lightness in his tone didn’t deceive Caleb. His father pretended to be amiable for the sake of his favorite niece. But they all knew better.