Soon they were no longer the only ones on the dance floor. The band switched to something more up-tempo and Caleb whipped Didi around, then pulled her back in just as quickly. She gasped, then giggled. He knew he would give anything to keep her smiling like that.
The sparkling lights. The mix of cologne, perfume, and sweat. All of it seemed to seep into them as they moved with the mass of bodies. They jumped. They swayed. Didi closed her eyes and twirled in his arms. The fringe of her dress whipped around her legs.
She opened her eyes and beamed. “Caleb! This, all of it!” she said above the music, breathless.
He brought his lips to her ear. “Having fun?”
As if on cue, the balloons popped one after the other, raining gold and silver confetti over them. It was magical. The entire evening was magical.
“So pretty.” She raised her hands again, catching the glittering squares in her palms, and bobbed from side to side as he moved his hands up her arms.
A tap on his shoulder from behind broke the spell. He turned around and came face-to-face with the icy glare of the last person he had wanted to see that night.
“Caleb, I need to speak with you,” JJ said.
“Father, can we not do this now?” he asked between his teeth. Didi’s hold tightened in his hand, giving him much-needed restraint as they stopped moving.
His father’s gaze hardened. “Yes, we are doing this now. I’m giving you the option of speaking privately in my study or out here in the open.”
Caleb’s mouth opened to respond, but Didi’s lips on his cheek stopped the nasty words from tumbling out. “Go with him,” she said softly so as not to draw attention to them. “I’ll be fine with Nate and Tash.”
“You sure?” Even if he asked, he already knew the answer, so he caught his cousin’s gaze in the crowd. He shared a brief nod with Nathan. But before leaving Didi, he cupped her face with his free hand and gave her the kiss he had wanted since she arrived—hard, hot, and full of promises. Only when she stared back at him with desire-dazed eyes did he let go of her hand and follow JJ to his office.
Twenty-One
“CLOSE THE DOOR behind you,” JJ said after entering his office and striding to his desk without as much as a look back.
Caleb did as he was asked, to save anyone else from the words about to be spoken in this room he had grown to hate. He kept his gaze away from his mother’s portrait. If only to spare her from having to see his rising impatience at being pulled away from Didi.
“Father, can whatever you have to tell me wait until morning?” he asked. “We have a ballroom full of guests that I must attend to. In case you’ve forgotten, it is my birthday.” He emphasized the last word, but barely got a flinch of remorse from the man behind the desk. What else could he have expected?
The smack of a thick folder against wood drew his attention. JJ flipped open the file and scanned the pages.
“Diana Alexander. Seventeen. Father left when she was eight. Mother works multiple jobs to support their family. Grades are deplorable. Barely managed to graduate high school due to a poor attendance record. She’s not—”
Caleb’s indignation rose with each piece of information about Didi that reached him. “You had her investigated!”
His father pinned him with a cold stare. “It was for your own good.”
Caleb ran his fingers through his hair in disbelief, not caring that he messed up the styling for the evening’s twenties theme.
“The way you looked at that girl . . .” His father’s shoulders slumped when he exhaled. “That’s the same way I used to look at your mother. And she’s not good for you. . . .”
His father’s words snapped him out of his speechlessness. “Don’t you dare say that about Didi!”
It took all of his willpower to keep from walking across the room and punching JJ in the face. To actually say . . . No, Caleb wasn’t surprised. Of course his father would have resorted to this kind of tactic. Caleb squared his shoulders and faced the bastard head-on so his intentions wouldn’t be misunderstood. He modulated his voice, intending for his father to hear each and every word clearly.
“Ever since Mom died, you have buried yourself in your work. You didn’t raise me. I had to fend for myself. I dated everything in a skirt so I wouldn’t become someone like you. Someone who fell in love and allowed it to destroy him.” He ignored the shock on his father’s face. “Then Didi literally tripped into my life and changed everything. She’s the light. She makes me feel again. Makes me feel like maybe falling in love isn’t as bad as I used to think. You should understand that. It’s what I remember best about you and Mom.”
“Caleb, you don’t understand what you’re talking about. She’s—”
“No!” He waved his hand so JJ wouldn’t say anything more. “There’s nothing else you can say that will change my mind about her.” He turned on his heel and hurried out of the office.
“Caleb!”