by G E Griffin
“Well, I’m younger than you, and maybe I just haven’t met the right woman yet. Doesn't mean to say I’ve ruled out the prospect though,” Seth smiled lazily.
“Well, best of luck with that one, little bro. I truly thought I’d picked the right woman when I married Cassie. Turned out I couldn’t have been more wrong,” I stated.
“You know, not every woman is like her. You were just taken in by Cassie’s looks, which made you blind to how shallow and self-centered she really was. Now, about this Faith. I take it she’s a Brit, if you met her in London, and so she lives over there?” Seth swiftly turned the conversation back around again. Like a dog with a bone, he wasn’t about to give up.
“Yep.”
“So how can you help her from here?”
“Having worked with Faith in London, it didn't take long to figure using her expertise going forward could make our lives a hell of a lot easier. So that’s why I pushed for her to be offered a role in overseeing things from this side,” I explained calmly and rationally, keeping it all work related. “Career wise, it’d be a really good move for her too, so as I see it, it’s a mutually beneficial, win/win situation all round.”
“So, that means Faith’s coming over here?” Seth queried.
“Possibly, I’m not sure yet. I only offered her the position earlier today, so she needs some time to consider whether she’d be prepared to relocate. That’s why I was checking my cell, to see if she’d come to any decision yet.”
“But this job offer does mean you’ll be seeing her again?” Seth relentlessly kept on the same track.
“If she accepts, yes. Purely in a work capacity though,” I hastily clarified. No way was I ever going to admit that I hadn't been able to get Faith out of my head ever since I got back from England. I put it down to the fact that she was different from all the other women I'd slept with since my divorce. Faith was such an intriguing mix. Vulnerable, sweet, shy and yet uninhibited and proactive in bed, making the sex we’d shared pretty memorable. Maybe it was because I was the first guy she’d been with since her husband, that made me feel some kind of responsibility towards her - it was hard to explain even to myself, let alone my brother.
“So if she needs time to consider this job offer, why are you badgering her on a weekend?” Seth continued.
“Because we need her answer pretty much straight away, if the project isn’t going to be delayed in any way,” I said. “Ideally, we’d like her in place as soon as possible, to take care of the inevitable hiccups that are bound to occur.”
“And contacting her really couldn’t wait until tomorrow? Was it really so urgent that you had to check with her while you were supposed to be relaxing with your family today?” Seth took a swig of beer from the bottle he’d brought out with him, as he coolly regarded me with eyes that were just a touch lighter shade of amber than mine.
“Look, I’m just sending her a text, that’s all. You’re making far too big of a deal out of this,” I protested. “Come on, let’s go back inside now. The others will be wondering where we’ve gotten to.”
But by the smug, knowing look on Seth’s face, I knew he didn't believe me for a second, especially as I didn't really understand myself why I felt this strong need to check in with Faith.
Nor could I properly explain why I’d not felt inclined to procure myself any kind of sexual activity since I’d returned from London, but I put it down to the pressure of work getting to me. I might have had a reputation as the go-to hatchet man for dealing with hostile takeovers, but handling any redundancy situation was always much harder once you’d met the employees, and could put names to faces. I much preferred to handle things at a distance, to avoid getting emotionally sucked in, so that’s why I'd initially been reluctant to take the London assignment, but I’d been overruled by my boss.
Things didn't get any easier after Seth and I went back inside.
“Vanessa Armstrong was asking after you, when I saw her in town a little while back,” Lucas informed me. “I told her you were away on business, said maybe you’d get in touch when you got back.”
My youngest brother also had the trademark Mackenzie hair, along with the amber eyes. Mom often complained that her genes had been totally dominated by Dad’s, as none of us had her blonde hair or blue eyes.
“What in hell’s name did you go and say that for?” I glared at Lucas. After the divorce, I’d had a heck of a job trying to tactfully distance myself from Cassie’s sister, so the last thing I needed was him giving her any kind of encouragement.
“Vanessa’s nothing like Cassie. Always thought you picked the wrong sister,” Lucas calmly stated.
“If you think Vanessa’s all that, why don't you go ahead and give her a call yourself, Lucas? Trust me, I’ve had more than enough of the Armstrong sisters to last me a lifetime,” I replied tersely.
“Wouldn’t be any point, seeing as it’s you she’s crazy about, Caleb,” he replied. “Just give the poor girl a call, put her out of her misery.”
I knew what he was saying was true enough, but it made no difference. Vanessa was a nice enough girl, but I’d never been interested in her, and no way did I want any connections with that family, not when they only served to dredge up all kinds of shitty memories of my marriage.
“It wouldn’t be right or fair when I'm not interested in whatever she’s offering, now would it?” I insisted irritably, wishing my brother would just shut the fuck up, while wondering how the hell I could check my phone again without Seth noticing and making some kind of comment. If I could only see I’d gotten a reply from Faith saying she was okay, I’d be able to relax.
“You seem kinda distracted this evening, honey. Is everything okay?” Mom asked, as she looked over at me. The way Mom unerringly honed in whenever any of us had something on our minds never ceased to amaze me. She seemed to have a sixth sense about these things. A momma bear’s intuition, that’s what Dad said it was.
“I’m fine, Mom. Just got a lot of things going on at work, that’s all,” I smiled reassuringly at her.
“Hmm. Seems to me you’ve become even more of a workaholic since your divorce, burying yourself in your job, and travelling away so much. You know, it really is time you thought about starting over again, Caleb. I worry about you being lonely on your own, I’d really love for you to bring a nice girl home for us to meet.” Mom reached over and patted my arm as she smiled, while out of the corner of my eye, I could see Seth smirking. I glared a warning at him, but of course he couldn’t resist.
“Well, Mom, I think our Caleb might just have met someone, but the problem is, he’s sweating on her moving nearer,” he grinned.
“What! You might have said something, Caleb,” Mom exclaimed. “Who is she? And what does Seth mean about her moving nearer?”
“Seth is mistaken, Mom. Just because I happen to be mentoring a female colleague from our London office, that does not mean I'm involved with her romantically,” I clarified. What Faith and I had shared hadn't been any kind of a romance; it had just been a mutually beneficial interlude.
“Well, I'd say this English lady must be something special to have you on such pins and needles, waiting to see if she’s going to be heading on over from London out here to California,” Seth raised his eyebrows challengingly, as Mom fixed her stare on me.
“So, tell me more, Caleb. Exactly who is this English colleague you’ve been personally mentoring? As your brother said, she must be someone special, as I don't recall you ever mentoring anyone before. What made you decide to take on this role now?”
Great. Thanks to Seth, Mom was now officially on my case.
“Her name is Faith, and we worked on an assignment together in London recently. I could see she had the potential to be really useful in handling the account transfers from the Royal London office over to our head office here in San Francisco, so in mentoring her, I've just been doing my job in utilising a valuable asset, nothing more. But we have a very tight timeframe to work within, which is w
hy I’m following things up with Faith this weekend. That’s it.” I shrugged, trying my best to down play things.
“You’ve left out the bit about Faith having had a rough deal lately, how she’s been widowed tragically young, and how you want to help her out,” Seth helpfully elaborated. Him and his big mouth - now Mom was going to be really intrigued, wasn’t she?
“Really? The poor girl’s been widowed? Oh, that’s so sad.” Mom shook her head sympathetically. “I can see how you would feel drawn to help her.”
“Faith’s personal circumstances have nothing to do with the job offer she’s been made. That’s based purely on her abilities and skills. She’s just a valuable asset the bank would be stupid not to make the most of,” I repeated.
“Sounds like this girl has really gotten to you,” Lucas added his two cents worth next. “And if she does relocate over here, I’m betting you’re gonna find yourself getting even more drawn to her.”
“If Faith does decide to relocate, I would have very little to do with her, actually,” I hastened to correct him. “Her personal circumstances are only relevant in that they mean she’s less likely to have any ties that would prevent her from taking the job. Having her in situ would expedite the integration of the two systems, leaving me free to move on to the next project. As I keep telling you all, this is nothing personal, and none of you would be making any comment if this was a male colleague I was mentoring. Now, can we please change the subject and move on to something else?”
“Leave the poor boy alone,” my dad piped up from where he’d been listening to everything in his usual quiet way. His deep amber eyes sparkled with humor as he winked at me. “I'm sure Caleb will tell us in his own good time if and when there’s someone special he’d like for us to know about. Sometimes you have to let things grow in the dark for a while, before exposing them to the full sunlight.”
Mom smiled.
“I guess you're right, Nate. I'd hate for our interest to kill off the first tender shoots of anything promising.”
I rolled my eyes while my brothers snickered. However much they might like to have their little fantasies about me going down the happily ever after route again, that was no longer an option as far as I was concerned.
But before I could become too morose in thinking back to my divorce, I managed to escape to the bathroom to check my cell in private, and was relieved to see I'd finally gotten the text I'd been waiting for.
“Sorry, had phone on silent earlier. Back home safe and sound. F
I could relax. Faith was okay.
Nothing bad had happened to her. All was well in the world.
Chapter 11 - Faith
When I landed in San Francisco, I could hardly believe I was actually there, especially as it was somewhere that Drew and I had talked about visiting one day. But now I was here on my own, which felt pretty scary if I was being totally honest, especially as everything had happened so quickly once I’d taken the plunge and agreed to come over and find out a bit more about this job I'd been offered.
That didn't mean I seriously thought I'd actually be relocating, moving to the other side of the world, leaving behind everything I'd ever known, not when my familiar surroundings sometimes felt like the only connection I had left with Drew.
That was why it felt wrong to be heading so far away. Wrong, and yet at the same time undeniably exciting, so it really annoyed me that my mum and sisters seemed to think I was so pathetic that I'd be unable to cope with this new challenge, that even just a weeklong trip away would be too much for me. But all their negative attitude achieved was to make me all the more determined to prove them wrong and show these naysayers that I was perfectly capable of standing on my own two feet.
At least Harry had been supportive. She was blasé about the whole idea, as she’d been all over the world with her job, and didn't see popping over to the States for a week as such a big deal.
“Of course you should go, Faith. Just look on it as an all expenses paid trip to California, courtesy of your employer, especially as San Francisco is one of my all-time favourite places. And there’ll be the added bonus of seeing this gorgeous Caleb guy again. Maybe this time round you’ll be able to arrange a hook up with him,” she’d winked suggestively at me.
I still hadn't told Harry about sleeping with Caleb, thinking it sounded like a typical seedy office affair, which it hadn't been at all, so I preferred not to debase my memories.
“It would be purely a work trip, Harry. And as Caleb is one of the senior executives over there, I wouldn’t be dealing with him, just his minions. I’d probably hardly see him,” I’d told her.
Professionally, I was well aware that Caleb would be far too senior to baby sit me on my visit. And personally, as great as it had been, I understood that the sex between us had just been a one off, it had only happened thanks to an unusual set of circumstances, and there was no chance of it happening again. He may have kept in touch because he had me in mind for this job, but I had no doubt that Caleb had plenty of other offers in his private life to keep him busy back on his home turf.
And as far as the job offer went, I was savvy enough to realise that in trying to recruit me to solve any potential issues that might arise, they were attempting to get a solution on the cheap, and that was why I shouldn't feel guilty about taking this all expenses paid trip to the States, even though I had no real intention of taking the job.
I took a deep breath as I collected my luggage and then headed through to the arrivals area, where I’d been told there’d be a driver waiting to pick me up. Although I’d never planned to be a career girl, I could get used to this, I thought to myself - flying business class, being met at the airport, staying in quality hotels.
Yep, not too shabby at all.
I scanned the throng of signs being waved around as I made my way out, looking for my designated driver, but instead my heart lurched when I saw a familiar tall, dark haired figure standing there.
Caleb.
Just as good looking as ever, casually dressed in washed out jeans and a white T shirt, smiling as he raised his hand in greeting and headed on over.
“Caleb! What on earth are you doing here?” I grinned up at him, more pleased than I cared to admit to see his familiar face.
“Thought I'd come and personally welcome you to America, Faith,” he replied in that gorgeous rich voice of his, as he bent down and kissed my cheek. It was just a chaste brotherly kiss, I told myself firmly, even though the brush of his stubbly cheek and his clean masculine smell immediately invoked heady memories of what had gone on between us previously. Like I hadn't already replayed that scene over and over in my head countless times. Suddenly, I was glad that I’d tidied my hair and brushed my teeth just before we’d landed, so that at least he didn't find me totally disgusting and repulsive.
“I never expected you to interrupt your weekend to meet me at the airport like this. I’m sure you must have better things to do,” I said.
I’d arrived Sunday morning, which allowed me the rest of the day to settle in, before I was due in at the office on Monday, which I felt sick with nerves about. But I just couldn’t allow myself the luxury of giving into the panic that was threatening to swamp me. Stubborn determination not to prove my family right in their assertion that I couldn’t hack it, would hopefully quell the nauseating butterflies in my stomach.
“Seeing as it was my suggestion you come over, I figured I should make sure you got safely settled into your hotel. I also wanted to give you the lowdown on places to steer clear of, seeing as you’re a female here on your own,” he explained, and as he scanned my face, I was reminded all over again of how unusual and piercing those amber eyes of his were.
“That’s really sweet of you, but I am used to looking after myself these days you know,” I reminded him, thinking how one of his nice big comforting hugs wouldn’t go amiss right at that moment, but then quickly reminding myself that as we were purely business colleagues, nothing like that would be happen
ing this time round.
“You're used to London, not San Francisco. Just thought it’d be useful if I gave you the inside track on my home town, that’s all,” he shrugged. I decided it’d be rude and churlish to make a big deal out of his thoughtful gesture to come and meet me, so I let him take my suitcase, and then trotted along behind him as he led the way out of the arrivals hall.
I let out a whistle of admiration when we reached Caleb’s car, a decidedly flashy, blue metallic, two-seater model. He couldn’t hide the note of pride in his voice as he casually informed me that it was a Corvette Stingray. The car was a thing of beauty, and I couldn’t help thinking that Drew would have loved it. American cars. Something else he would never get to experience. So bloody unfair.
We drove off with a wonderful throaty roar from the engine, and while I’d got Caleb all to myself, I decided to grab the opportunity to voice my concerns, as I didn't know when I’d get another chance.
“Can I just say something, Caleb?”
“Sure. What’s on your mind, Faith?”
“Well, one of the reasons I never expected you to meet me at the airport was that I assumed you’d want us to keep our distance. Trust me, I understand perfectly that you wouldn’t want what happened between us in London becoming common knowledge, so I just wanted to reassure you that no one will be hearing any gossip or tittle-tattle from me.”
Caleb quirked an eyebrow as he glanced over at me.
“I took that as read, Faith, or you wouldn’t be here. Neither of us is stupid - we both know it wouldn’t do either of us any favours if word got out that we'd slept together.”
“So you regret it then?” I couldn’t help asking, as a pang of hurt shot through me. No one likes to think of themselves as a mistake, do they?
“No, I have no regrets whatsoever,” he answered without hesitation. “Do you?”
