Chapter Twenty-Two
Hailey
The day was gorgeous and the heat was upon us as Mandy and I spent the day shopping. It was great to finally be settled in Florida and sight seeing was becoming easier by the day. We were settled completely in the apartment and were now at the point where we could drive to the supermarket or pharmacy without getting lost. We knew which beaches were the best to go to, which ones we should avoid, and which area of the city had the best shopping.
I couldn’t have been happier with how things were going, and I was often surprised with how hot it was in Florida in March. I was loving every minute of it, especially the beaches. You couldn’t go to any beach in Georgia in March. It made me look forward to moving to LA, and over the past few weeks, I had been scouting out apartments. After I spoke with Jillian, I learned that there was an office her agency had in LA, and she would be transferring there if I moved. Talk about a dedicated agent – that’s how I really knew that she believed in me.
Mandy and I were dress shopping that day. Well, that was a lie. We had intended on dress shopping, but we were buying all kinds of things as we were going along. I found the cutest Marc Jacob purse that I had to have. Between the money I was making on the job and the fact that Caleb kept bestowing us with gifts, I had plenty of money to splurge when I wanted to. It was hard not to get addicted to the lifestyle, to know that you could walk into any store that you wanted to and buy whatever you wanted. It was crazy, and I’d never thought that I would be in that position.
We walked out of a store, and I just stood there, my face in the sun, just soaking it up. I couldn’t remember a time that I was that happy, and I was so grateful to have Mandy with me to enjoy it, as well. She’d started writing for a local paper in Miami and was really making a name for herself. The people were so welcoming and warm in Florida. It was like the sun just transformed everyone and made them happier.
“What are you doing, silly?” Mandy laughed as she watched me soaking up the sun. “People are going to start to think you’re crazy.”
I smiled but didn’t turn to look at her. “Maybe I am crazy.”
“Well, I’m glad to see you are in a good mood today.”
“Why, wouldn’t I be? I’m shopping with my wonderful sister, and the sun is shining…”
“Oh boy. I say we get something to eat and have a daytime drink. What do you say?”
“Sounds good to me.”
We continued down the street until we found a bistro with an open patio; it was perfect. We walked in, and the hostess seated them. When the waitress came by, we both ordered frozen drinks. They were perfect for a day in the sun.
The waitress arrived with our drinks and Mandy ordered a burger and fries, and I ordered a burger with a salad, though I knew I would be stealing some of her fries. I took a sip of my margarita and smiled.
“Oh, these are good. I still can’t believe the deal I got on those shorts. I can’t wait to wear them.”
“I know. We can smell a bargain a mile away.”
“So, how are things going with that article you’re writing?”
“Great! The way things are going now, I think I will have enough accolade to get a job at a paper in LA when we go. Why not, right? I can still work from home, and it’s really fun.”
I was about to respond when two guys approached our table. Mandy smiled as we looked up at them.
“Hey ladies.”
“Hi, can we help you with something?” Mandy asked.
“Well, we saw you come in, and we thought we could buy you another drink and chat with you. We could have a fun day together.”
“I don’t think so, but thank you,” I said.
The one guy looked at me and almost did a double take. “Oh man, I didn’t recognize you from back there.”
His friend looked at him and then looked back at me. “What? Who is she? A celebrity?”
“That’s Caleb Harris’ girlfriend.”
I blushed as Mandy’s smile grew broader. She always loved when I got recognized, but I hated it. It would be one thing if it was for my own career, but being recognized just because you were someone’s girlfriend wasn’t that much fun.
“Oh man, yeah, you’re right. It is her. How do you feel dating that man-whore? The guy’s practically a pimp, he’s had so many girls.”
My mouth dropped open, and I didn’t know what to say. Mandy didn’t have that problem, however. “Excuse me?”
“C’mon, I’m sure this isn’t a surprise to you girls. The guy is notorious for sleeping with a ton of women. I was always jealous of the guy for that; what a ladies’ man. Did you put his past behind him? Cause if I were you, I would be worried it might come back to haunt you.”
I took a slow sip of my drink while I thought about what he said. “Do me a favor, guys, and beat it. You are ruining my lunch with my sister.”
“Whoa, whoa, we are just talking here, ladies. I was just joking, anyway. Caleb is a great golfer, one of the best.”
“Yes, he is,” Mandy defended him, and I smiled.
“Yeah, I hope he doesn’t choke up in the bedroom the way he does at the majors every year.”
I stood up as the two of them burst out laughing. “I find it amusing that two losers like yourself would stand here and insult a guy who has more talent in his little finger than you both have in your entire bodies. What do you guys do for a living, besides scratching each other’s asses?”
Their mouths dropped open, and before they could follow with a comeback, I said, “Get away from our table. We don’t want to be seen with you. I’ll call for security if I have to.”
They walked away without saying another word. Losers. I sat back down at the table and looked at my sister, who had a huge grin on her face.
“Now that was awesome. I don’t get to see you flip out as often as I would like.”
I laughed, “Well, my God, I wasn’t going to let those losers talk about Caleb that way. I don’t appreciate it. I can’t say much about his past, but he’s a decent guy with a lot of talent. He doesn’t deserve that.”
“I agree.”
I took a sip of my drink as I thought about Caleb and how much I liked him. He had been so kind to us since we’d arrived and bent over backward for anyone in his life. I had no idea what to think about his past with the ladies, but I thought it had a lot to do with him trying to run from the pressure that he was under.
I really liked Caleb, and the last three weeks had been wonderful. We had pretty much forgotten about what had happened between us and had moved on – though it was something that was on my mind a lot. He made sure to keep affection at a minimum, so it was obvious he was sorry about what happened between us, that he didn’t intend on complicating our situation further.
I had told Mandy all about it the next day, of course, and she had bubbled with excitement. She just told me to be careful. She really liked Caleb and wouldn’t have been disappointed if we got together for real. I knew nothing like that would ever happen, though – this wasn’t some fairy tale.
I was just glad that things had gotten back to normal. I had worried that things would be weird between us, but the chemistry was still there, so it was easy to feel comfortable around him.
I took a deep drink of the margarita as the waitress brought our food. I could see the guys sitting at the bar with their drinks, periodically looking over at us. I glared at them, not wanting them to get brave enough to come back over.
“So, things have been good between you and Caleb? Nothing more to report?”
I smiled. “No, it’s back to business as usual. No weirdness. Thank God.”
“To be honest, I don’t know how you keep your hands off a guy who looks like that. He’s so handsome and that body... It must have been even better naked.”
I blushed. “Stop it. It’s definitely a night I haven’t been able to get out of my mind. The sex was insane, and it had been so long since I had been with someone. Maybe I was just drunk off the feeling.”
“No, good sex is good sex, no matter what. You can’t fake that just because it’s been awhile.”
“Yeah, I guess that’s true,” I agreed. “It’s been so fun being here.”
“No, kidding. And it put you where you wanted to be to work on your career. If you hadn’t have taken the job, we would still be stuck in Georgia. Now you can move on to bigger and better things.”
“I know, you’re right. Funny enough, though, sometimes I think about sleeping with him again. I know it’s stupid, but there are times, more often than not, that I want him again. Is that bad?”
Mandy laughed, and I couldn’t help but laugh, too. I knew exactly what was on her mind and what she was going to say to me.
“Yeah, it’s really bad, but so what? I would totally go for it if I was you.”
“Really? I think I dodged a bullet. Everything is back to normal, and I don’t have to worry about things being weird.”
“Yeah, but it’s not like you are getting paid for sex. If that was what he intended, he wouldn’t have felt so bad the next day and definitely would have brought it up again to you. Or tried to pay you more to get you to agree.
“But he’s never brought it up since, and you said he was apologetic for it. Having sex with him can be separate from work. You wouldn’t be the first girl who got involved with her boss. It happens all the time, and no one sits there worrying about whether they are getting paid for prostitution.”
“Yeah, but they aren’t being hired as someone’s girlfriend.”
“Yeah, I get it. But it’s all fake. Sometimes you guys don’t see each other for days. You’re not his escort, for crying out loud.”
“Look, I was just saying that sometimes it’s on my mind. I can’t help it. I really do like Caleb, and if it was a completely different situation, I would want to have sex with him again.”
Mandy smiled. “Yeah, no shit. The guy is gorgeous and one of the nicest guys we know.”
“And, he has a shady past.”
“Yeah, what guy doesn’t? We only know about Caleb’s because it’s smeared all over the papers. How many guys have we dated where we had no idea what they did in the past? You can’t judge him off that. We all make mistakes, and it seems like he’s trying to change his life.”
“Yeah, I know. You’re right.”
“Life is short, Hailey; just do what you feel is right. The rest will fall into place.”
I smiled. She always knew the right thing to say. I always felt better about any situation after talking to Mandy. I sipped my drink as I wondered what Caleb was up to.