“Did you just get a page from Geneva to go to the break room?” Alyssa asked, walking out of her office.
He nodded. “Did she tell you what was going on?”
“No.” She looked around the deserted office. “Where is everyone?”
Shrugging, he walked over to take her in his arms. “Beats me.”
As he gazed down at her, he didn’t think he’d ever seen her look more beautiful. Since their weekend together, she’d started wearing her hair down and she’d replaced her baggy dark suits with pastel silk blouses and linen slacks. Today she wore pink and tan and looked so damned lovable she took his breath away.
“Have I told you how incredible you look today?” he asked, kissing the tip of her nose.
Her breathless laughter sent a shaft of longing straight to the region below his belt buckle. “I was thinking the same thing about you.”
“We need to talk,” he said suddenly. He wasn’t sure how she’d react when he told her everything about himself and the reason he’d taken over the firm, but he knew for certain there couldn’t be any secrets between them. “Come home with me for the weekend.”
“I’m not sure—”
“I am,” he said, nodding. “Remember, we’re supposed to be planning our wedding. Don’t you think we’d be expected to spend our weekends doing just that?”
“My poor parakeet will think I’ve abandoned him,” she said, laying her head against his chest.
He wasn’t about to let a bird keep him from being with the most desirable woman he’d ever known. “We’ll take him with us.”
“Are we going to discuss my ideas for the break room?”
“Among other things,” he said, distracted by the feel of her softness.
“There you are,” Geneva called from down the hall. She looked extremely flustered. “Please hurry. We need you both in the break room. It’s an emergency.”
“What’s wrong, Geneva?” With Alyssa hot on his heels, Caleb jogged down the hall. But when he entered the room, he stopped dead in his tracks. “What the hell?”
“What’s going on?” Alyssa asked, bumping into his back.
“Congratulations!” the entire Skerritt and Crowe staff shouted in unison.
Shocked to see all of the firm’s employees crammed into the break room, it took a moment for Caleb to figure out what was going on. He and Alyssa were the guests of honor at a surprise engagement party.
“Oh, my dear heavens.” Alyssa’s cheeks colored a deep rose and her baby-blue eyes were round with disbelief.
“We wanted you two to know how happy we are for you,” Geneva said, dabbing at her eyes with a lacy handkerchief.
Caleb put his arm around Alyssa’s shoulders to draw her to his side. “I think I speak for both of us when I say we really didn’t expect you all to do this.”
“I…we truly don’t know what to say,” Alyssa added, leaning against him as if her knees were about to buckle.
“Well, I do.” Grinning from ear to ear, Malcolm Fuller stepped forward and handed them each a champagne flute. “Since I’m the oldest employee here at Skerritt and Crowe, I have the honor of being the first to toast the happy couple.” Clearing his throat, he held his own glass high. “It’s with great pleasure that I have the opportunity to celebrate Caleb and Alyssa’s happiness. May your engagement be brief and your wedding perfect, and your honeymoon go on for a lifetime.” His voice grew gruff. “Congratulations, kids. You make a beautiful couple.”
As they listened to several others express their good wishes, Caleb realized that was exactly what he wanted—a long and happy life with Alyssa at his side. He wanted to make love with her every night and wake up with her in his arms each morning for the rest of his life.
When she glanced up and smiled at him, he knew he’d walk through hellfire and back just to make her happy. And if she’d let him, he had every intention of making their pretend engagement real.
Chapter Nine
After a leisurely swim, Alyssa sat between Caleb’s legs on a lounge chair by the pool, watching the shadows of evening fade into the dark of night. What were they going to do now? she wondered. The surprise party had been a wonderful gesture and she really appreciated their coworkers’ thoughtfulness, but it had also greatly compounded an already complicated situation.
She and Caleb couldn’t break off their “engagement” right away. It would look far too suspicious and without a doubt, everyone would know that it had been a sham from the beginning.
Unfortunately, continuing their pretend commitment posed an even bigger problem for her. The more time she spent playing the role of Caleb’s loving fiancée, the more she found herself wishing their engagement was real.
“You’re mighty silent tonight, sweetheart.” Caleb’s whispered drawl caused a wave of goose bumps to shimmy over her skin as he pulled her back against him to wrap his arms around her.
She sighed. She wasn’t about to tell him the real reason for her pensive mood. “I like watching the shadows cover the valley as the sun goes down.”
His low chuckle seemed to vibrate right through her. “Besides the scenery, is there anything else you like about being here?”
“Hmm, I really like the pool,” she teased.
He nuzzled the side of her neck. “Anything else?”
She closed her eyes as a wave of need swept over her. “The hot tub…is very…nice.”
“Yes, it is,” he murmured against her skin. “It’s very relaxing.” He nibbled her earlobe. “It’s really wet.” He nipped her shoulder. “It’s definitely hot.” Slipping the top of her swimsuit down, he covered her bare breasts with his warm palms as he kissed her temple. “And it’s a great place to make love.”
Her heart thumped her ribs and her breathing grew shallow. “If I remember correctly, that’s what you said about the pool, your bed, the sofa in the great room, the—”
He nodded. “Anywhere is a good place to make love with you, sweetheart.”
“We proved that last weekend.” With his hands caressing her breasts and his growing arousal pressed to her bottom, Alyssa felt as if her insides had been turned to warm pudding. Closing her eyes as her temperature rose, she added, “I think we made love in every room in the house, as well as out here by the pool and in the hot tub.”