Page 21 of Wreck Me

Caleb reached for his water, taking a gulp while maintaining our eye contact. Though I could feel anger fester, it was hard to let it bubble when I could see the sincerity reflecting through his gaze.

But he didn’t know my father and the man he could be. There was a reason he scaled to the top of his industry so quickly. My father was a cold, manipulative man, and could turn anything in his favor.

I took a deep breath, exhaling loudly. “I will have the conversation when I’m ready, Caleb. I’d like to have a leg to stand on before broaching the subject. Preferably a job and a plan of action on how to implement my career path. My father likes to see things in motion, not just hear about them. If I want any sliver of consideration from him, I have to play my cards right.”

“This isn’t—,” his voice boomed, causing several patrons to look our way as he lowered his voice and spoke to me rather than the entire restaurant. “I’m sorry. This isn’t something your father should have a say in, Isla. It’syourlife. Stop letting him hold the control.”

“It’s like you haven’t heard a word I’ve said over the last month,” I seethed, biting my tongue to keep my voice low. The last thing we needed was more attention. “I was literally brought into this world so he’d have an heir. Someone to take over his legacy once he was ready for retirement. Even before I was conceived he had control over my life. Breaking it won’t be easy, and if I want any—any hope—in doing so, I have to do things slowly. Calculated.Myway.”

As if he knew I was ready to end the conversation, our server carried over two steaming plates on his left arm, stopping in front of our table to present them to us.

“Pesto penne,” he said with gusto as he sat my entrée in front of me. “And the lobster ravioli,” he said in a more brisk tone, placing Caleb’s meal in front of him with a little more force than needed to set a plate down. “Can I get you anything else at the moment?”

“No thank you, this looks wonderful,” I praised. Our server beamed at me and spun on his heel, striding away from our table while Caleb looked at his ravioli with irritation. I placed my hand on top of his as it grasped his fork. “Let’s eat. This looks delicious. I’m excited for my carbs.”

He huffed a small laugh and cut into his ravioli, placing a bite between his lips before uttering an audible moan. His eyes closed in delight, savoring his bite. As he swallowed, he popped his eyes back open and shoveled another piece of his pasta onto his fork, turning it in my direction. “You have to try this! It’sfuckingamazing.”

I laughed and opened my mouth, and he wasted no time placing the fork between my lips. As the flavor hit my taste buds, a moan floated past my lips, too. “Wow, you weren’t kidding.”

We ate our meal as slowly as we could, sharing bites and savoring the divine flavors, and although we filled the gaps with small talk, our earlier conversation lingered in my mind and I couldn’t help but feel tension between us. Tension I didn’t want there, but had no desire to amend at the moment. Though, I made a decision about the options he had given me tonight, and knew the clock was ticking on letting him know my choice.

“Look, I know I might have overstepped earlier, but like I said, I just want to see you follow your dreams,” Caleb said, breaking the stretch of silence. He set his fork down on his completely empty plate and shifted in his chair to look at me again.

My eyes drifted to my plate, also empty minus a few stray noodles, thanks to Caleb helping me clean my plate. “I don’t really want to talk about it right now, please. Tonight’s been beautiful, dinner was delicious. Let’s just finish our date on a positive note and I’ll deal with my future some other time.” I offered him a small smile, hoping he’d lay it to rest at this point.

“Ok.”

“Thanks.”

Our server dropped the check on the table as he passed by, offering us a curt “Thank you” as he moved onto his next table with their drink refills. Caleb reached for it while simultaneously pulling out his wallet. He set the bill down to pull out some cash, and I couldn’t help but glance at the total.

“Are you sure I can’t pitch in?” I urged, knowing I could barely afford my meal but wanting to help in any way I could.

“Absolutely not.” He leaned over and kissed me on the temple while he laid three twenties and a ten down on top of the bill. “This is our first real date, Starlight. I want to take care of you.”

Caleb’s chocolate eyes sparkled mischievously as he stood, offering me his hand. He helped me shrug on my coat before pulling his own on, reaching down to grab my hand after we were both bundled. Our fingers entwined together as we moved toward the restaurant's double doors.

Once outside the restaurant, he spun me into him and pressed a warm, sweet kiss to my lips, which parted automatically. I sighed into him as he deepened the kiss, his tongue sweeping over mine.

“Did you decide on which option you wanted, Starlight? Not option three, unfortunately, since we’re now outside,” he asked against my lips, pulling me back into another knee-weakening kiss before I could answer.

As much as one kiss could cloud my judgment, I knew I couldn’t let it, and mustered every ounce of strength I could to break the kiss. “I did. Caleb, I choose option four. I’m going home tonight. Alone.”

Caleb’s face fell at my answer, and I quickly kissed him again. “Tonight was amazing. Well, most of it was,” I laughed. “But I have class super early in the morning and honestly, my vagina needs a break from you.”

“There’s no changing your mind?” He smirked, pulling the hood of my coat onto my head and arranging my hair that lay on top of my chest. He kept a tendril between his fingers.

“Nope,” I said playfully, pulling my hair away from him. “I’m going home. You can drive me there, though.”

He groaned dramatically, pulling the keys from his pocket with one hand and my hand with the other. We began walking in the direction of the lot where he parked his car, our arms swinging slightly as we moved. “As long as I get a goodnight kiss.”

“Deal,” I said as he guided me down a row of cars, stopping in front of his beat up sedan. He opened the passenger door so I could dip beneath the frame and drop into the passenger seat.

As he closed the door for me, I heard him say, “A goodnight kiss between your thighs.”

“Caleb!” I laughed and his muffled laugh carried through the vehicle as I bent my head back against the headrest.

CHAPTERTHIRTEEN

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