SASSY IN STILETTOS ARe version (5 page)

“I wish it was that simple. If I take it, it means
I’ll be dealing with celebrities and stuff. I wanted to do more serious
journalism, features, you know. Exposé type of stuff.”

“Any reason you can’t? I hear Oprah’s left a
vacancy.”

“We’ve been bought by Adele’s media company, and
she wants to give Bravo and E! some competition. I’m sure they’re not going to
let me ask the kind of questions I want to. I’ll be forced to stand on some
ridiculous red carpet, asking some anorexic, wannabe actress who made her see-through,
crotch-baring dress.”

Caleb coughed as beer went down the wrong pipe. “Does
such a dress exist?”
And when can I see you in it
? “Wait,
why did you think I already knew about the job?”

She shook her head distractedly as one of the
contestants fumbled their solo routine. “Oh, I received flowers. I thought you’d
sent them to apologize for class.”

“First of all, I ‘m not apologizing, because when
two people are dancing, it’s the man’s job to lead. And secondly, what flowers?”

“Orchids. They were delivered to my office today. Maybe
one of the execs heard about the job announcement.”

She thought he’d sent her flowers. Maybe he
should
one day. If it made her blush like that. “There was
no card?”

“It was blank.”

Caleb didn’t like the sound of the card. But he
didn’t press her.

After thirty minutes, Caleb found himself
engrossed in the show. The female judge was whoohooing. “C’mon lady, don’t put
her in the too-hot-to-touch category.”

Micha laughed. “I see you’re totally into this
now.”

He blinked. “I am not. But how can she put them in
the too-hot-to-touch category and not Carson and Julia?”

Micha grimaced. “Julia with her expressionless
face? Oh, come on.”

They sat in a companionable silence through
another beer and three more routines before she asked, “So the rehearsal next
week, are you bringing anyone?”

To the rehearsal dinner? He hadn’t really thought
about it. “I—uhm—are you? Bringing anyone?”

“What?” she squeaked. “I, uh, of course I have a
date. I mean I figured since the invitation said
and guest
.”

He narrowed his eyes.
Right.
She
couldn’t lie for shit. But he wouldn’t be caught without a date in case she
wasn’t lying.
Note to self, rustle up a date.
He’d
assumed that since they were in the wedding party they wouldn’t be bringing
guests. “Yeah, I’m waiting to hear from my date.” He fumbled and wondered how
he’d get through a dinner watching Micha with a date.

Caleb stood and outstretched his hand. She glanced
at it.

“C’mon Micha. Let’s see if we can get this right.”

“What? Right now?” Her eyes darted back to the TV.
“But the rest of the show…”

“I don’t bite.”

She frowned as she stood. “That’s too bad.”

Caleb’s brain stuttered, but he regained his
composure enough to take her hand and pull her toward him. “I thought we could
try that move again. This time, you could maybe try letting go.”

Micha fit so well in his arms. In her bare feet,
her forehead barely reaching his nose. When he looped his arms around her
waist, she stiffened at first, but when he tucked her body against his, she
sighed and relaxed into him.
Home
. It felt like
home. Caleb stepped into her, and she automatically slid into the modified
salsa step. Their hips moved in conjunction, and he tried to focus on the
steps, not how her body felt gliding with his, their hips moving in time. He
executed the spin that had landed her on her ass yesterday. Today, she spun
easily.

He pulled her back to him with a simple but
authoritative tug, and she spun into him directly into the next step. Easy. Like
they’d been doing it for years. Their breath mingled, and he could smell the
strawberry shampoo she used.

She gazed up at him with her lips parted and
pupils dilated. She didn’t blink her wide grey eyes, instead met his gaze
directly.  Her high cheekbones colored with a hint of pink.

Every instinct inside him screamed at him to press
his lips to hers. His whole body was rigid with constrained need. But he knew
her. She might look ripe for kissing, but if he did now, she’d only push him
away later. Automatically, his hands tightened on her hips, relishing the feel
of her in his hands. “Micha, I—”

Her voice was husky and low. Her gaze, half
lidded. “Yes, Caleb?”

He cleared his throat. He ached to kiss her. To
finally savor the taste of her on his lips. But he had to be patient. Instead,
he stepped back and let her go. “I think we’ll do fine at the wedding.”

Micha blinked rapidly before taking two more steps
away from him. He hated letting her go, but if he didn’t, he’d do something
stupid.

“Yeah, I, uh, great.” Her tongue peeked out to
lick her bottom lip.

Caleb rolled his lips inward to keep from
groaning. He needed to do something with his hands before he tugged her back
into his arms. “You want another beer?”

She was still staring at him like she wanted to
jump on him. Her eyes trained on his lips and her ample chest rising and
falling with each shallow breath she drew. For several hopeful moments, he
thought that she might drop one of her walls and tell him she wanted him.

“Actually, it’s been a long day. I probably better
call it a night.”

Of course. He’d known she was going to run. “One
of these days, Micha, you’ll ask me to stay.”

“Unlikely.” She tipped her head up, meeting his
gaze.

“If you say so.”

Micha shifted uncomfortably in her seat, certain
Jaya was trying to torture her. Why had Jaya insisted they all bring dates? All
week Micha tried to rustle up a date but had come up empty. Eventually she’d
stuffed her poor assistant into a monkey suit and told him he had to escort
her. She’d rather have taken a bullet to the eyeball than show up alone
tonight. Why the hell Jaya had opted to seat her next to Caleb during the
rehearsal dinner was beyond her. And now she could feel him staring at her. Oh,
he wasn’t blatant about it, a sly look here, a drifting glance there. Every
time she moved, his knee nudged hers. She reached for her wine glass and grazed
his arm. Every time accidental contact occurred, it sent electric jolts through
her body, and her skin felt like she had a prickly heat rash.

Refocusing, she turned to her date.
Smile pretty, Micha. Don’t be a bad host.
She should at
least make an effort. “So, Ryan, you were telling me you like rafting?” There,
she’d made her effort.

Next to her, Caleb shifted in his seat and turned
to face Ryan’s direction as her assistant told everyone about the class five
rapids and his less-than-experienced trip buddies.

Without concentrating, she could actually
feel
Caleb’s breath, tickling her spine. Curse Jaya and
Ricca for suggesting she wear her unruly curls up. Sure,
they
liked to wear their hair up because it gave their honeys easy access for
nuzzling. Immediately, a memory flashed of her and Caleb on the dance floor the
night they’d met. The way he’d leaned in to whisper to her that he wanted to
take her out.

Wait for it
. Ah, there
it was—her body softened for him immediately, responding to the memory. God,
she had to get laid and pronto, before she gave in and actually slept with Mr.
Handsome as Sin.

Micha crossed and uncrossed her legs again.

When Caleb leaned in to whisper in her ear, a
shiver stole down her back.

“Seriously, Micha, you need to stop moving around.
Why are you so antsy?”

As if he didn’t know. She whispered back through a
false smile, tight enough to crack her molars. “Why are you watching me so
close, Atkins? See something you like?”

His answer was immediate. “Yes. But then, you
already know that.”

The timber of his voice was low, and his words rolled
over her like whiskey on a cold night. Hell, that man was sexy. She turned her
attention to her date more resolutely.
You will not sleep
with Caleb Atkins. You. Will. Not. Sleep. With. Caleb. Atkins.

She met Ricca’s gaze across the table, and when
her friend beamed at her, Micha couldn’t help but relax a little. Ricca was
also blissfully in love. She had that totally sated been-on-honeymoon look on
her face that all newlyweds wore. They weren’t married yet, but if Micha had to
bet money, it was only a matter of time.

And as for Jaya, well, she’d found her Mr. Right. Alec
was the perfect complement to her friend’s serious type-A personality. He
actually forced her to have some fun. For years, that had been Micha’s job, but
it was nice to see Jaya happy. Both her friends would tell her to date Caleb
already. But it wasn’t that easy.

Micha hadn’t had a real relationship since leaving
New York. Finding out she’d been living with a married man and that his wife
was crazy enough to try and carve little chunks out of her, had sort of soured
her on the whole happily ever after thing. And she would never forget how Simon
hadn’t even bothered to try and see her or apologize. Her judgment had been all
wrong about him, and she’d vowed she would never let herself be blinded by
feelings again. No matter how genuine they may seem.

She’d dated plenty. But she never let any guy get
too close. Even when she tried to let people in, it was like an invisible
barrier repelled her from whoever she was with. She’d made pushing people away
an art form. After what Simon had done to her, she had no intention of getting
hurt like that again.

Add to that, Caleb wasn’t just any guy, but
practically family. She wasn’t going anywhere near a relationship with him. If
she messed with him, Alec and Beckett would be all up in her business. Everyone
would. And that wasn’t in the playbook. Caleb was the kind of guy who wanted
open and uncomplicated, and she was complicated as hell. When it didn’t work,
it would be her fault.

She liked her privacy. She liked her freedom. Eventually,
no matter how hot and heavy they were, she’d feel hemmed in, and then it would
be messy and ugly for everyone.
Especially me
.

But maybe if she scratched that itch, she’d get Caleb
out of her system.

Who was she kidding? Once wouldn’t be enough. He
seemed like the slow lover type.

Micha shook her head, trying to get the image of
him over her out of her head. Fantasies would get her nowhere.

“Something funny, sweetheart?”

She fought the urge to lean into the caress of his
voice. “Yep, you, calling me sweetheart. You’re sure your date won’t get
jealous? I have to tell you, I’m not in the right outfit to fend off a girl
fight.” She made it a point to smile at the pretty blonde seated on the other
side of Caleb when what she really wanted to do was rip that chignon out of the
woman’s head. But she would only do that if she were jealous. Which she wasn’t.

Still, she gripped the edge of her chair to be
safe.

“Is something wrong, dear?”

Micha raised her eyes to meet Adele’s, and she did
her best not to scowl. She wouldn’t be forgiving Adele anytime soon.

Through her teeth, Micha muttered, “No ma’am.” She
glanced around the gilt room in all its splendor. “Taking everything in.”

Adele nodded then slid a glance to Caleb before
speaking again. “Well, now that you’ve all imbibed in the fantastic wine and
enjoyed this meal, I want to move on to the next part of our festivities. A
little game.”

Oh fuck
. Jaya had
promised there would be no games. Micha glared at her friend, but Jaya only
shrugged. Micha stifled a groan. Sure, she wanted to extricate herself from
Caleb and make a much needed appointment with her B. O. B. but this was Jaya’s
night. She could behave.

Adele addressed the table of twenty. “Now, you
know I don’t normally do frivolity, but as you all are among family and the
closest of friends, I thought this might be fun. A little scavenger hunt.”

Jaya grinned, her competitive nature flaring. “In
the hotel? Fantastic.”

Adele chuckled and winked at her. “Sorry, darling
daughter-to-be, you and Alec are sitting this one out. You’ll be judges.”

Jaya looked genuinely crestfallen, and Micha had
to giggle. Maybe while they were on their little scavenger hunt, she could beg
Ryan to take her home.

“The game will be partnered. To make it more
interesting, you won’t be partnered with your dates. As you know, Alec and Jaya
have some Westhorpe business to take care of over the next month and will be in
and out of town. I thought it would be a good way to have everyone get
acquainted. You’ve been paired with a partner. And you’ll be tied together with
these.” She held up an exquisite silk scarf. Knowing Adele, it was probably
Hermes.

As Adele droned on, Micha stopped listening. She
was definitely getting out of here. She’d have to convince her partner to either
do the work of two or to ditch with her. There was no way she wanted to be paired
with Caleb’s date, Beth, or Jaya’s sister, Tamara. And tied to them no less.
She didn’t have enough patience for that tonight.

When Adele called her name, she only peripherally
listened to her partner’s name. She didn’t know anything was wrong until she
met Jaya’s gleeful expression. Micha narrowed her eyes. Oh that little—

“Looks like we’re partners,” Caleb said smoothly.

***

Caleb didn’t believe in luck. He wasn’t an idiot;
he knew a set up when he saw one. He’d known something was up the moment he’d
arrived and taken a look at the table arrangement. One enormous round table. He’d
be able to see Micha from any vantage point, although, admittedly, Alec and
Jaya had surprised him with the blatant seating arrangement. But he could roll
with the punches. He’d begged the two of them to stop trying to match make.