For two years, this woman had been working for him, keeping his apartment immaculate so he couldn’t complain and all that time, he’d never once considered dating her. He’d even been rude to her.
She released a sigh and opened her eyes. She stared at him and he smiled.
“We … er … we did it, didn’t we?” she asked.
“What’s your favorite color?”
“Not the question I was expecting.”
“I’m curious.”
“Is this about the game last night?”
“My parents invented a game where they completely invade a person’s privacy. No, it’s not about the game. I was just curious.”
She lifted up the blanket as she rolled over. He didn’t get to see her tits and he wanted to.
“You really want to know my favorite color after you told your father we’re engaged?”
“One problem at a time.” He didn’t actually see it as a problem but he doubted she felt the same way.
She looked at him for several seconds, running her hands across her face. “Don’t you think we should talk about what happened last night?”
“All in good time. For now, what is your favorite color?”
“I don’t have one.”
“You don’t have a single favorite color? The one you gravitate to more than others.”
“Nope, sorry. I don’t.” She blew out a breath. “I think all colors are beautiful and have a place.” She shrugged then released a yawn.
“Do you want a dog someday?”
She chuckled. “Is this twenty questions?”
“Why not? I’ve got to know something about you.”
“The engagement?”
“We’ll get to that.”
“Do you always get what you want?”
“Yes.”
“Maybe I should be the exception to the rule?”
He stroked some hair off her face. “No exceptions in my world. I always get what I want.”
“Yes, I want a dog. If you really must know, I’m like all of those other terrible women who want a man to love me, take care of me, to have a dog, and a dozen kids. Possibly even a few dogs, several cats, and lots of rabbits. I want to make them lunch and breakfast for school. I’d love date nights and long walks. Picnics. Are you afraid yet?”
Oddly enough, he wasn’t. He didn’t know why he wasn’t affected like this. With other women, he always made sure they knew the score. There was no chance in hell of him ever, ever, being a dad or a family man.
Now, he was considering it.
Why?
Was it Lauren?
She was different from any other woman he’d known, and again, he didn’t exactly know what made her different, just that she was. This weekend was messing with his head.
“What about you?” she asked, drawing his attention once again.
“What about me?”
“Do you want a family one day? I know I answered that question downstairs but I figured it was something you put to make your family feel better.”
“I’m not a complete jerk.”
“I know, but you still want to impress your family.”
“I don’t know. It’s not something I’ve thought about.” He stopped thinking about it around the time he enjoyed partying a lot more than staying indoors, doing nothing. “What do you do for fun?”
“You’ll hate it.”
“Tell me.”
“No. You’ve got all of those magazines and tabloid things. You love the attention. There’s no getting away from it.” She shrugged.
“Forget about the tabloids and the press. Tell me about yourself.”
She blew out a breath. “There’s nothing really to tell.”
“Just tell me.”
“Fine. Fine. It’s really boring but I stay in, read, watch a movie or something.”
“You don’t party?”
“Nah. I don’t see the point in it. I did party a couple of times. Waking up with a hangover, and sometimes a little hazy on the details the night before, it wasn’t fun. If it was ever fun.”
“I never really thought of it like that,” he said.
“Maybe you should,” she said. “It might help you to put some things into perspective. What do you really get out of partying?”
“I don’t have to think.”
“What is it you don’t want to think about?” she asked.
He didn’t answer because the truth was, he didn’t know what he wanted to think about. Sometimes it helped to combat the loneliness.
No.
He was never lonely. He always had an endless supply of people around him, especially women. They had no meaning. He felt more with Lauren during this weekend than he had with anyone else.
“It’s okay. I know sometimes it can be way too personal.”
There was a sudden knock at the door and before either of them could say or do anything, it flung open.
Lauren let out a squeal and Caleb couldn’t believe his mom and dad actually barged into the room to see him.
“What’s going on?” he asked, looking at his parents.
“It’s breakfast. Don’t for a second think we didn’t see you two sneaking off last night. Caleb, I can’t believe you left it to your father to tell me you were engaged. There’s so much to do and to think about. Have you given it any thought yet, Lauren? Where you want the wedding? How many people? We’re going to have all the family and then of course there’s the board. The wedding cake. The food. Oh my, I’m so happy right now. I’ve already arranged for all of the brochures to come. You’ve got to come here every weekend.”