Enticing Daphne

by Jessica Prince

  “Shit, man. I didn’t realize it was as bad as all of that. Is that what your parting comment to Deacon was all about?”

  “I don’t expect you to get it. You grew up with Cybil and Nolan. They’re like the goddamn Cleavers. But I had that”—I point in the direction of the pub—“as an example growing up. So yeah, that’s what my comment to Deac was all about. Far as I’m concerned, monogamous relationships are a fucking joke.”

  Grayson looked uncomfortable all of a sudden, his skin turning a sickly gray color. “Then I guess it’s not a good time to ask you to be my best man?”

  I heard the sound of tires squealing to a stop in my head. “I… what?”

  “The best man… in my wedding.”

  My brain exploded. “You’re getting married?”

  He offered a tentative smile. “Well, I hope so. I mean, I haven’t actually asked her yet, and there’s a chance she could say no. And I’ll admit I’m a little freaked after everything you just said—”

  “Shit, brother. I didn’t… Fuck, I’m sorry. You know I think Lola’s great, right? And I don’t have a single doubt she’ll say yes. I was just taking my shit out on you. I’m really happy for you.”

  The skepticism didn’t fade from his expression as he asked, “You mean that?”

  I felt like absolute shit for taking my drama out on my best friend. “Hell yeah! And I’d be fucking honored to stand up there with you when you get married.”

  He breathed a sigh of relief, his shoulders visibly drooping. “Thanks, man. I really appreciate that. And you know, if you ever need to talk, I’m he—”

  “I know. And no offense, but after what just went down, I need to get the hell out of here.”

  Grayson clapped me on the shoulder commiseratively. “I get it. I just wanted you to know.”

  We said our goodbyes and I was finally on my way home. It wasn’t until much later that evening that I remembered I’d been in the middle of calling Daphne before the shit had hit the fan.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Daphne

  I was starting to get worried. Caleb had called a while ago, hanging up the second I answered the phone. But every time I tried to call him back since, all I got was voice mail.

  I couldn’t explain why, but my gut was telling me that something was seriously wrong.

  “What’s up with you? That’s like the seventh time you’ve checked your phone.”

  My head jerked up from the screen at the sound of Lola’s voice. Girls’ night had taken place at my house that week, and we were all currently gathered around my kitchen island, drinking wine and munching on the yummy little appetizers I’d made.

  I set it facedown on my refurbished butcher-block countertop. “Sorry. Just trolling Facebook. I’ll stop.” Fiona gave me a curious look while Lola and Sophia seemed to buy my answer easily enough. I took a large sip of my wine. “So, what were we talking about?”

  Sophia looked over at Fiona with a wicked smile. “We were talking about the fact that half the women in this room right now have slept with Grayson Lockhart.”

  “We were not talking about that!” Lola shouted while the rest of us burst into laughter.

  “Oh god,” Fiona cried dramatically, dropping her head onto the counter. “When you say it like that, you make it sound so gross.”

  I fell into the spirit of the evening, letting myself forget about the stress over Caleb, and teased, “When you think about it, it kind of is.”

  Lola threw a wonton across the counter at me. “Stop it. Don’t make it weirder than it already is.”

  “Ohmigod!” Sophia squealed. “You’ve both totally seen Grayson’s O face! Aw, it’s like a special bond between you guys.”

  Lola clapped her hands over her ears and chanted, “I’m not listening! I’m not listening.”

  The laughter was still ringing loudly from the others as I lifted my phone as discreetly as possible and checked the screen once more. Still nothing. I couldn’t take it any longer. “Hey, guys, I’ll be right back. I need to go to the bathroom.”

  I hurried into the powder-blue half bath on the first floor and quickly dialed Caleb’s number again.

  “Hey, you’ve reached Caleb. I’m either in a meeting or screening my calls, so leave a message and I’ll get back to you.”

  Damn it. “Hey, Caleb. It’s me. Again. I… well, I don’t really know. I just… will you call me back when you get a chance? I saw you called earlier and I’m starting to get a little worried.”

  God, I sounded like an obsessed stalker or something. I disconnected the call and pretended to wash my hands in the bathroom sink, stuffing my phone in my back jeans pocket.

  I went back out and tried my best to act like everything was business as usual, that I was just a normal woman having a typical girls’ night. But by the time my friends headed home a while later, I still didn’t feel any better.

  Luckily I hadn’t had much wine, so I was fine to drive. I rushed out of my house only five minutes after they all left.

  I was a ball of nerves by the time I got to his door, second-guessing my decision to show up at his apartment unannounced. But I couldn’t bring myself to leave until I made absolutely sure he was okay. It was like there was a sixth sense that just wouldn’t let me.

  I knocked on his door and waited for an answer. And waited. And waited. I lifted my hand to knock again when the sound of the elevator dinging behind me made me turn around.

  Caleb stepped out of the car, his head down with his hands shoved in his pockets.

  “Caleb?”

  His head shot up at my voice. “Daphne? What are you doing here?”

  I tangled my fingers together and chewed on my bottom lip. “I… um… I’m sorry. This is weird. I shouldn’t have just shown up like this.”

  He came closer, placing his hands on my shoulders in a soothing gesture. “Hey, hey. What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing. I just….” I chewed my lip so hard I actually tasted blood. “It’ll sound stupid, but I just had a feeling something was wrong, and I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

  His head tilted to the side while he studied me in complete silence for several agonizing seconds. “You were worried about me?”

  “Yeah,” I admitted hesitantly. “But now that I’ve said it out loud, I realize it sounds a lot creepy, so I’m just going to go. You’re obviously okay, and I’ve embarrassed myself enough for one ni—”

  I sidestepped him in an attempt to get to the elevator, but my words and movements were cut off when he grabbed my arm and yanked me back. Threading his fingers in my hair, his lips came down in a hungry kiss that I was all too happy to return. I hadn’t realized until right then that I’d felt like something was missing these past several days.

  I’d purposefully ignored the tiny black hole that had formed in my chest when Caleb wasn’t around. After three months of nearly constant companionship, it was like I was missing a limb. The moment he kissed me, I was whole again. The concept was worrisome, but I was so consumed with him that I couldn’t bring myself to care. Not about the fact that I was starting to feel more for him than I should, or that I had put Caleb McMannus in a place in my heart he had no business being.

  I was content to love in the moment. So when he finally broke the kiss, leaving me breathless and weak kneed, and softly spoke, “Stay with me tonight,” I was more than happy to oblige.

  I slowly woke, my limbs deliciously languid from a night of sex that was more intense and demanding than I’d ever experienced.

  I stretched my naked body and reached across the bed only to discover that I was all alone.

  I climbed off the mattress and grabbed one of Caleb’s T-shirts from the bedroom floor, slipping it over me before following the sound of running water into the bathroom. I peered through the glass of the shower, finding him standing beneath the showerhead letting the spray rush over him. I licked my lips at the sight of the water trickling around each rippled muscle.

  “Hey.”


  He spun around at the sound of my voice, and an odd sense of foreboding twisted my stomach at the look on his face. It was almost as if he’d forgotten I was even there. My smile fell as I asked, “You okay?”

  He swiped the water off his face with one hand as he twisted the knob to shut off the shower with the other. “Yeah. Everything’s fine,” he answered as he stepped out of the glass-and-tile enclosure. I had to step back quickly to get out of his way as he pulled a towel off the rod and slung it around his hips. “What makes you ask that?”

  There was something about his demeanor that was just… off. I couldn’t explain it or put my finger on it, but I felt it to my bones. “I don’t know. You just seem a little different, I guess.” I slipped my arms over his damp shoulders, not caring that pressing against him made the shirt wet. “If you’d woken me up, I could’ve showered with you,” I said in a low, sultry voice.

  Caleb’s smile looked forced, not meeting his eyes as he placed his hands on my hips and nudged me back. “Sorry. I just remembered I have some stuff at the office I need to finish up before Monday.”

  I watched his reflection in the mirror as he squeezed a bit of toothpaste on his toothbrush and went to work. That knot in my gut tightened to an almost painful point. “Oh. Okay. Well, if you have time, how about I bring you some lunch? Or maybe you could come by when you’re done and help me finish stripping the wallpaper in the guest room.”

  He spit and rinsed, turning to face me once again. “I’ll just order something to be delivered. It’s probably going to be a pretty late night for me.”

  I got the distinct impression that he was blowing me off, but I didn’t want to be one of those women who made a big deal out of something that was all in her head. “Did something happen last night?”

  His face softened a bit at my question, and he leaned in to place a quick kiss on my lips. “Nope, I’m all good. Just busy.”

  He left me standing in the bathroom by myself. I waited for a few seconds, trying to get my bearings before following him into the bedroom. He already had a pair of jeans on and was working on the buttons of his shirt.

  I could have reverted back to the unsure, insecure woman I’d been back when I was with Stefan, letting my anxieties fester until I finally exploded in a mess of accusations. Or I could be the woman I’d turned into afterward who was self-assured and confident. One who refused to be a doormat for anyone and demanded answers. I chose the latter, knowing full well what the former had led to in the past.

  “You’re avoiding me,” I said with a confidence I most certainly wasn’t feeling. That nagging doubt in the back of my head began to grow into anger. Anger at myself for becoming too attached to Caleb. Anger at him for rehashing old feelings within me that I’d buried years before.

  “Sweetheart, I’m not. I swear. I just have a lot of shit going on at work. If I don’t take care of it this weekend, it’s going to bury me come next week.” He moved into me, wrapping his arms around my waist as he gave me that lazy, carefree smile I’d seen him wear countless times in all the gossip magazines. It wasn’t a smile that had been directed at me, at least not since our relationship had changed.

  I hated that smile and the cocky confidence it held.

  “Besides,” he continued, “there’s nothing to avoid, right? I mean, we’re just having fun. No strings. It’s not like we’re really together or anything.”

  It was like a knife had been plunged straight into my gut. And I had no one to blame for the searing pain I was experiencing right then but myself. He was only echoing the very words I’d said four months before. It was my own damn fault that I’d gotten carried away and complicated things with useless emotions.

  I swallowed down the golf ball–sized lump that had suddenly formed in my throat and did my best not to let my sorrow seep into my words. “Y-yeah. Sure. Exactly. Just fun.”

  That black hole in my chest grew until it took up every inch of space.

  He winked at me. The jerk actually winked. “Then we’re all good. I have to go, but feel free to hang around here as long as you want. Just be sure to lock the doorknob before you leave.”

  And just like that, with a peck on the tip of my nose, he left, taking a piece of me with him.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Caleb

  I hadn’t spoken to Daphne since I walked out of my apartment three days earlier, and I hadn’t been able to shake the feeling that something was missing. I knew exactly what was causing my discontent, but I couldn’t bring myself to do anything about it. The one-two punch I’d received at the hands of Deacon and my own father a few days earlier was still fucking with my head in a serious way.

  The intercom on my phone chirped just a moment before my assistant’s voice came through the speaker. “Mr. McMannus, you have a visitor to see you.”

  I quickly pulled up the calendar on my laptop and saw that I didn’t have any meetings scheduled, but it wasn’t unusual for someone to stop by unannounced. Thinking it might have been Daphne, I hit the button that rang back. “Thanks, Stacy. You can send her in.”

  A blonde walked through the door, but definitely not the one I’d expected or secretly hoped for. I shot up from my chair, propping my hands on my desk to keep me upright since I felt like my legs were about to give out. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

  Connie, the woman I’d seen with my dad a few nights back, shut the door behind her and sauntered into my office looking entitled and snooty as she took it upon herself to have a seat in one of the two chairs in front of my desk.

  “Pleasure to see you too, Caleb. I thought maybe it was time we had a chat about your father.”

  A loud burst of bewildered laughter escaped my throat. “Is this a joke? Are you off your meds? What in the ever-loving hell would make you think I’d have any desire to sit with my father’s latest whore and have a conversation?”

  Her blasé expression morphed into the best facsimile of a glare she could make considering the bitch had been botoxed to within an inch of her life. “I’d suggest you stop with the insults. Christopher won’t be pleased to hear that you’ve continuously insulted me.”

  I let out a derisive snort and took my seat, pressing my fingertips together in a steeple beneath my chin. “Lady, I don’t know what delusion you’re currently living in, but if you think my old man gives two shits about you, you’re seriously fucked in the head. You’re just his current fuck. Not the first and, sadly, won’t be the last.”

  The woman had to be well into her fifties, but she’d had so much work done she looked at least ten years younger. However, no amount of surgery could mask the cold vindictiveness on her plastic face. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that.” She smiled callously. “Christopher’s quite taken with me. You’d do well to treat me with some respect. There’s a possibility that I’ll soon be your stepmother. I can make life very, very difficult for you.”

  My fists clenched against my desktop so hard my knuckles cracked. “You crazy bi—”

  “No! Ms. King, you can’t just walk into—”

  My office door swung open and Daphne, followed by my beleaguered-looking assistant, came rushing in. “I’m sorry,” Daph directed over her shoulder at Stacy. “I know I shouldn’t barge in, but I really need to talk to him.”

  “Mr. McMannus, I’m so sorry,” Stacy sputtered. “She wouldn’t take no for an ans—”

  Daphne’s eyes landed on Connie a second later and a frigid chill suddenly enveloped the entire room. “Mom?”

  “Daphne?”

  I shot up again. “You two know each other?”

  Daphne

  I was so damn thankful the stalls were empty as I rinsed my mouth in the sink, swishing and spitting the water around to get rid of the nasty taste from being sick. My stomach had been a mess for days. I attributed it to my stress over Caleb. It had thrown my entire body off. It was either stress or a stomach bug, but whatever it was, I couldn’t shake it.

  I rested my hands on the basin and lo
oked up into the mirror above the sink. My complexion was pale and clammy, my makeup streaked from throwing up.

  The bathroom door creaked open and Sophia’s voice came through. “Daph, honey? You in here?”

  I blew out a breath through my mouth, hoping to stave off the nausea that still lingered. “Yeah,” I answered.

  She and Lola moved inside, staring at me with matching expressions of concern. Not that I could blame them. Ten minutes before, as soon as the On Air light had gone off, I’d bolted from the studio with my hand clamped over my mouth.

  “You still feeling sick?”

  Stupid Caleb. Stupid feelings. Stupid non-relationships with no stupid fucking strings attached! “Yeah. I think I’ve got a bug or something.”

  Lola came up to me, a frown marring her pretty face as she lifted a hand to feel my forehead. It was a motherly gesture that I’d never experienced from my own mom; she was too busy with whichever man she was trying to scam to worry about her daughter being sick. I might have struck out in the parent department, but I’d seriously lucked out with my friends. “Aw, honey, I’m sorry. You think you should maybe eat something?”

  My stomach revolted at the mention of food. I gagged and placed my hand on my traitorous belly to calm it down. “Uh, no. Think it’s safe to say I’ll be skipping lunch today. But you two go. I’m heading home shortly. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

  They each gave me a hug, Sophia adding a kiss to my forehead, and headed out. I stayed in the restroom a while longer, running cold water over the inside of my wrists before feeling well enough to go back to the office. I’d just finished packing up my stuff when I was hit with an idea.

  For someone who claimed not to be avoiding me, Caleb was doing a freaking awesome job at it. I wasn’t going to feel better until I confronted him, and I couldn’t go another day feeling this sick.