Page 36 of The Reaper
“I didn’t ask you to slip.”
“I slipped, anyway.”
He stepped closer, voice quiet. “You can’t even let yourself enjoy it, can you?”
“I did.”
“But only for a second.”
My throat tightened. “A second was all I could afford.”
Caleb was quiet then. When he finally spoke, his voice was low. “You ever wonder what might happen if you gave yourself more than that?”
I didn’t answer. I couldn’t.
Because I had wondered. More times than I’d ever admit.
But wondering was a luxury. And I’d grown up with none.
“You should go,” I whispered.
He held my gaze for a long beat. “You sure?”
I swallowed. “No.”
That smile again—faint, crooked, knowing. But there was no smugness in it. Just something that looked a little too much like sympathy.
He stepped into his slacks and bent to grab his shirt. “You always run after sex?”
“I don’t usually do sex.”
“Shame.” He buttoned the top few buttons, then left the rest undone. “You’re really good at it.”
I snorted despite myself. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”
“It’s supposed to make you think twice.”
“I’m still thinking.”
He nodded, pulling his belt through the loops. “Let me know how that goes.”
As he moved toward the back hallway, he paused by the wine shelf. Turned back.
“You ever need help curing venison,” he said, his voice low and rough, “or turning off that brain of yours again ... you know where to find me.”
I hesitated, heart lodged somewhere between my ribs and my throat.
But the truth was—I didn’t know where to find him. Not really. Not unless he came back through that door. Not unless he wanted to be found.
I opened my mouth, then closed it.
He paused near the shelves of wine, half-turned, watching me with something unreadable in his eyes. Then he reached into the back pocket of his slacks, pulled out his phone, and held it toward me.
“Here,” he said. “I’ll make it easier.”
I stepped forward and took it without speaking. The contact was already open. Blank. Waiting.
“Caleb Dane,” he said, like it wasn’t a secret but also not something he offered often. “I’m at The Palmetto Rose for now.”
