Dirty Little Secrets (Dirty Little Secrets #1) (13 page)

After she asks me how I’m feeling, I tell her I’m better. Getting better by the hour. So, she goes out of her way not to mention the robbery or my subsequent hospitalization, and successfully manages to avoid staring at the bruises on the side of my face that I wasn’t able to fully cover with makeup this morning.
 

Sam stays in the periphery, just like Caleb promised he would be, and he almost cracks a smile when Felicity and I stop for ice cream and offer him a cup full of mint chip. It doesn’t take long for the all-business scowl to come back though, just daring anyone to even look in our direction.
 

After we finish our ice cream, we move on to the last boutique of the day, one that Felicity’s been talking about all afternoon.
 

“Caleb told me he was sending out the big guns, and I see that he meant it,” she says, nodding in Sam’s direction.
 

“The literal big guns,” I reply as I flex my pathetic bicep and point at it. “He could probably crush someone with those muscles.”
 

Felicity laughs. “Don’t let Caleb hear you say that. He’ll get jealous.”
 

He probably would, and I don’t plan on testing that theory to find out if we’re right. “Caleb’s got nothing to be jealous about. He’s…perfect,” I say. Even I can hear the dreaminess in my voice, so I’m not exactly surprised that Felicity picks up on it.
 

“Oh, you’ve got it bad,” she teases. “It’s good, though. That’s good for Caleb. It’s exactly what he needs.” She’s standing in front of a dress display, examining the cut of the fabric, and the way it hangs. I wonder if she’s going to ask someone to model it for us. When she did that earlier, the store owner gave us champagne to sip as we watched a mini fashion show. I wouldn’t say no to something like that again.
 

“What do you mean that’s exactly what he needs?”
 

She shrugs as she moves to examine the dress hanging next to the one she has apparently decided that she doesn’t like. “He’s always been a tough nut to crack, ever since he came to live with us after his parents’ accident.”
 

I know it’s not possible, but I’m sure I feel my heart stop beating right in my chest. The air gets thick and difficult to breathe. I hadn’t ever heard anything about an accident, and I’m not sure whether I should admit to that, or go along with what Felicity’s saying like I know what she’s talking about. No, I need to tell her that I wasn’t aware of that, because if Caleb wanted me to know, he would’ve told me. After everything he’s done for me since I met him, at the very least I owe him his privacy.
 

I must have some kind of shocked look on my face, something that makes it clear that I wasn’t aware of whatever happened to Caleb’s parents, because Felicity stops examining the dress in front of her, and freezes. She looks over at me, her mouth dropping into an O shape.
 

“You didn’t know,” she manages to say. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything, I just assumed he had already told you about all that.”
 

“No, not yet.” I move forward, and run my hand along the fabric of a gorgeous silk wrap dress, hoping to make the whole situation a little less awkward.
 

“What a terrible thing for me to let slip,” she replies, looking absolutely stricken. With some other people, I might suspect a hidden agenda was at play, but Felicity looks genuinely upset that she said anything at all.

“It’s okay, I won’t say anything. If he wanted me to know, he would’ve said something. Clearly he’s not there yet.”
 

“You should definitely hear it from him instead of a bigmouth like me, I’m sorry. It wasn’t my place to bring it up if he hasn’t done it already.”
 

I put my hand on her forearm and give her an understanding smile. “It’s okay, honestly. I won’t say anything, and I’ll let him tell me in his own time. Don’t feel bad; you’re not used to censoring yourself about him, and things between Caleb and me are still kind of new. We’ve just been enjoying each other, and haven’t really gotten to the part where we tell each other our deepest and darkest secrets yet.”
 

I am the last person to judge Caleb for the things he hasn’t told me, considering I have a laundry list of things I need to confess to him at some point, and I guarantee that my list? It’s worse than his. All of this makes me realize that as far as we’ve come over the past month of knowing each other, we’ve still got a long way to go.

“I’m glad that he has someone who will keep his secrets,” I tell Felicity, playfully bumping her shoulder to help lighten the mood. “It must be difficult to find that kind of loyalty living the life that he does.”
 

“He’s like my brother, but marginally less of a pain in the ass than Ben is,” she says, laughing.
 

“Ben seems like a good guy.” There aren’t many people who would race to make the kind of machine he made for me on a few days’ notice.
 

“He is,” Felicity says, moving on to the next dress. She looks at the fabric thoughtfully, biting her lip in deep concentration. “It’s funny, Ben had a tendency to be a little…let’s call it
fickle
, when it came to his personal relationships. Caleb, he had a history of keeping people at arm’s length. I’m glad he decided to be different with you.”
 

With everything that’s still unknown between Caleb and me, it’s nice to know that my presence in his life has made a noticeable difference to the people who know and love him.
 

“I’m glad he decided to be different with me, too,” I reply with a smile.
 

Felicity’s phone buzzes. She pulls it out of her purse, and starts typing furiously. “I’m sorry, I know this is rude, but I’ve got an assignment due on Friday, and my partners and I have been trying to schedule time to get together to work on it.”
 

I’m sure my mouth drops open in surprise, because I assumed she was out of college already, even though I hadn’t ever asked.
 

“Don’t look so surprised,” she says, grinning.

“I…you just seem so…together. Not that college students aren’t together—I didn’t mean that at all—but you have your own business and all of these connections. I wouldn’t have ever thought you were still in school.”
 

Felicity laughs as she puts her phone back in her pocket. “I understand. Doing what I do requires a good eye and some taste, but you don’t need a degree for it. My career choice has been a bone of contention between my father and me, and I’m getting my degree to prove that I’m serious. I’m learning more about the business side of things so I can expand and grow. I’m going to be a brand someday.”
 

I grin at her. “Good for you. I think you’ll be amazing at it, if today is any indication.”
 

“It’s such a spoiled little rich girl thing, you know? A personal shopper? Getting
paid
to buy things? I mean, it even makes
me
want to roll my eyes. I’m pretty sure I’ll never hear the end of it from my family, but I don’t want to be a joke. Not with them, not with anyone.”
 

“I don’t think anything about this is a joke,” I tell her.

“You know that old adage, ‘do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life?’?”

I nod. That’s why I got into software development. I love it, and it doesn’t ever feel like work. Earning a living doing what you love is the greatest gift a person can give themselves. I know not everyone is lucky enough to be able to do that, but I’m glad that Felicity is able to.
 

“I love doing this. I have a knack for it, and people want to work with me. Styling people, searching for the right outfit for an occasion, I don’t know…I know it’s frivolous, but it makes me want…
more
.”

“It’s not frivolous to the people who hire you,” I tell her.
 

“Yeah,” she replies with a smile. “That’s true. My dad thinks that sitting at a desk and cultivating a family legacy is the only way a person’s professional life has any worth. But I’m going to cultivate my own legacy.”
 

“I have no doubt that you will.”
 

Felicity sighs, like some great burden is off her chest, and I get the feeling that she doesn’t have very many people to talk to. I’m glad I could be that person today.
 

“Enough about me,” she says, as she reaches forward and pulls a black gown off of its rack. “What do you think about this?”

The dress is almost too beautiful to touch, but I do it anyway. It’s sleek with a flowing skirt, and a halter top with a neckline that scoops low enough to be revealing without revealing too much. The back is almost nonexistent, but still somehow manages to be tasteful. It’s a dress that I wouldn’t have picked out for myself in a million years, but it’s gorgeous. I haven’t even tried it on yet, and I want it.
 

“I think it’s beautiful,” I admit. “But I don’t have any occasion to wear it.” This is a special event dress, not something you throw on to go out to dinner.

“Well, you’ll be happy to know that Caleb specifically requested that I pick out something just like this for you.” She puts her hand on my shoulder, holds out the dress, and leads me toward the dressing area.
 

“What for?” I ask.
 

Felicity shrugs. “No idea, but we’re shopping on his dime, so I do what I’m asked. Today I’m just a consultant, and the hired help, so if he wants me to buy a dress, we’re buying a dress.”
 

Far be it from me to turn down an offer like that.
 

“Looks like you had fun today,” Caleb says, with an amused glint in his eyes as they roam over the piles of bags that Sam brought up from the car.
 

I feel self-conscious and embarrassed all of a sudden, and I can’t really put my finger on why. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I’m just now getting a good look at everything I brought home with me, and Caleb’s the one who footed the bill. Maybe this wasn’t what he was expecting? I think it’s too much, but Felicity had insisted. Maybe Caleb thinks it’s too much, too?

“I did have fun, although I think Felicity went a
little
overboard.”
 

Caleb leans in, and kisses me softly. “I asked her to spoil you, so I think she’s still on the ship.”
 

When he looks over at Sam, Sam gives him a little nod. I have to admit that I find the fact that the two of them can have a whole conversation without saying a single word a little unnerving.
 

“The security wasn’t so terrible, was it?”
 

“Not
so
terrible,” I say, giving Sam a teasing smile. “He was a good sport about letting us stop for ice cream.”
 

“I’ll always let you stop for ice cream.”
 

I step forward, and shake Sam’s hand. “It was a pleasure. I apologize for complaining about it at first.”
 

Sam is about to say something, but Caleb cuts him off, giving me a sharp look. “Don’t worry. You’ll have more time to get used to each other.”
 

Somehow I knew that this wasn’t going to be the only time I was going to have Sam’s company, but I’m not going to fight Caleb on it.

“Will that be all, Sir?” Sam asks Caleb.
 

Caleb nods.
 

“It was nice to meet you, Sam.”
 

“You too, ma’am.”
 

I let out a long-suffering sigh. “I see we’re back to this ma’am business. I’m going to break you at some point.”
 

Sam grins at me. “I look forward to it.”
 

Once Sam is out the front door, I turn to Caleb, who is pulling on his tie. “You’re not very friendly with him.”
 

He looks at me as if I’ve just said the most absurd thing he’s ever heard. “I pay him to make sure that nothing bad happens to you, Mia. I don’t have to be nice to him for that.”
 

I furrow my brow, and Caleb’s expression softens. “It would be nice if you could be nice, that’s all I’m saying.”
 

“That’s not the way I do business, Mia.”
 

“I’m not telling you how to do business, Caleb,” I reply. “It’s just an observation, that’s all.”
 

He takes a deep breath, then unbuttons his cufflinks and starts rolling up his sleeves. “Noted. You had fun today?”
 

“Yes!” I reply, nodding. “I like Felicity a
lot.
”

Caleb grins fondly. “Me too.”
 

“I’m glad that you set up our little clothing expedition. I’ve never really enjoyed shopping, until today.”
 

“And it looks like you were successful,” he says, pointing at the mountain of bags.
 

“We were.” I take a step forward, stretch on my tip toes, and kiss him. “Thank you. That doesn’t seem like enough, but…
thank you
. I didn’t know how much I needed a day out.” A safe day out, is what I really mean. Even though I fought Caleb over sending Sam along with us, I’m glad he was there. He allowed me to enjoy myself out in public in a way that I haven’t since I left Chicago.

“You don’t have to thank me,” Caleb replies. “But if you really want to do something nice, have dinner with me.”
 

“That sounds like it’ll be nice for me, too.”
 

He takes my hand, and plants a kiss across my knuckles. “Here’s hoping.”
 

* * * * *

When Caleb asked me if I would have dinner with him, I assumed he wanted me to put on one of my new dresses, and join him at some restaurant that had a months-long waiting list, where he’d be able to walk right up to the hostess and get a table. I was not expecting him to take my hand, lead me into the kitchen, and pull out one of the barstools. I definitely wasn’t expecting him to open the fridge and start pulling out ingredients.