“How was the south of France?” Caleb asked, pausing a yard away.
The chair’s occupant stood and turned. She was a whirlwind of lovely scents and female charm. But pity those who would mistake her ladylike demeanor for weakness. Natasha Parker was the strongest woman he knew. She could deliver a punch like nobody’s business.
Her light blue eyes shone at the sight of him. “When Nathan told me that you were interning at JJ’s firm I had to come here to see for myself. Is the world ending? Should I be prepared for an asteroid?”
A smirk pulled at his lips. “I missed you too, Tash.”
Laughing, she ran into his arms full tilt. He barely had time to brace himself. He wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her off the ground as she secured hers around his neck. Her giggles filled his ears when he spun them around.
“Caleb, this is my place of work.”
In spite of the lightness in JJ’s admonition the threat was still there. He returned Natasha to her feet and placed a kiss on her cheek, then stepped back, taking a good look at her. She was much too pale.
“Shouldn’t you be a golden-skinned goddess by now?” he asked.
Instead of replying to his question, she looked over her shoulder at his father and said, “Can I steal him away for lunch, Uncle JJ? Surely he’s allowed an hour away from his sentence.”
“Consider yourself paroled,” his father said, playing along. Then his eyes hardened. “But have him back here in the afternoon. We’re prepping for a major case.”
Natasha didn’t wait for JJ to change his mind. She entwined her fingers with her cousin’s and towed him out of the office. He went willingly, taking great satisfaction in the fact that Michael would be left to fetch the lunch orders himself.
Considering their lack of time, Caleb took Natasha to a café a block away from Grant Tower. He was pretty sure JJ expected him back at the firm exactly an hour after they had left. He wouldn’t even have been surprised if the man timed it. But he would gladly suffer the consequences for lunch with his favorite cousin.
He pulled back the wicker chair for her at a corner table. She thanked him and picked up the menu sandwiched between the salt and pepper shakers. It was a simple tea shop tastefully decorated with a yellow-and-white color scheme, which he knew Natasha would appreciate.
“What’s good here?” she asked as he took his own seat.
“I don’t know,” he said, glancing at his own menu. “This is my first time here.”
She raised an eyebrow, so very much like the way Nathan did. “Figures. This place is way too girly for you. How do you know about it?”
He shrugged. “I pass it on the way to work. It’s the closest place that isn’t a deli or fast food. I do know how to treat my ladies right.”
“Of course. I did teach you.”
“And I am forever grateful for your mercy.” He touched his chest in mock adoration.
Natasha’s reply was to pluck one of the flowers out of the tiny vase in front of them and chuck it at him. He caught it and tucked the stem behind his ear. This garnered another giggle. He had missed her. They all did. Tash being back returned some semblance of order to their world.
“I’m so glad you’re back,” he said without hesitation. “We regressed to complete cavemen while you were gone.”
Natasha lowered her menu and stared straight at him. “I heard you went and got yourself a fake girlfriend.” Her eyes widened. “I’m astonished the idea came from Preston, of all places.”
“I’m as stunned as you are.” He chuckled.
“You have to tell me what she’s like.”
“Didn’t Nathan fill you in? He’s been spending time with her too.”
“I heard about the white dress she was going to wear to the garden party,” she said, folding her hands over her lap. “She sounds like a riot. But I want to hear what you think of her.”
“There’s nothing much to tell.” He dropped his gaze, drawing circles over the fleur-de-lis design of the menu. “She’s playing her part.”
“Yet you can’t seem to look at me when you’re saying all this. You like her.”
His eyes flicked up to catch her grin. “I like her well enough. She’s interesting.”
“Interesting. Is that what you boys are calling it now?”
“Don’t go there, Tash.”
“If she’s able to put that uncomfortable expression on your face I have to meet her.”
Caleb shifted in his seat. “She’ll be at the picnic next week. You can meet her then.”
“I think I will.” She nodded, then reopened her menu. “Let’s eat. I’m starving.”
Fifteen