Chapter Four
Caitlin couldn’t believe she’d gotten herself into this mess. When he’d said he’d do anything in return for her pretending to be his fiancée, she imagined making him lug all of the equipment to the charity ball venue, and then she’d envisioned getting him to tend and clean up after the shelter animals that would be on display. In retrospect, she should never have agreed to Taylor’s bargain—in truth, she wasn’t sure why she had. Maybe it was because his sweet grandmother had seemed so stoked that they were engaged. Maybe it was guilt over trying on the ring and getting it stuck in the first place. Maybe it was because he was ridiculously persuasive, painfully hot, and had topped it all off with that adorable faux proposal.
Still… Engaged? Not on her life. Never again—well, at least not for a long, long time. She took another sip of coffee as Taylor pulled a long section of dental floss from a spool on the table.
“It’s not a loose tooth,” she said as he attempted to thread the floss under the ring, which was no easy task since it was wicked tight. “You can’t just tie string to a doorknob and pull it off without taking my finger, too.”
“Patience,” he said, still trying to get the floss under the ring. “I’m a man of many talents.”
Yeah, no doubt. Caitlin was pretty sure B, Deborah, and Felicia could attest to that.
He turned her hand over in his big palm and tried again, this time successfully threading the floss under and out the other side of the ring. He pulled six or so inches of floss through and turned her hand back over, giving it a squeeze between his. His hands were warm and huge compared to hers, making her feel feminine and delicate. It was unnerving the way her body responded to every little touch. Annoying, really.
He then wound the floss around her finger again and again, cocooning the knuckle and continuing toward the fingernail, which she noticed had a chip in the purple polish. Perfect.
His motions were precise and confident as he made progress. The single layer of floss was snug, but not tight enough to cut off circulation in her already tender finger.
“I don’t see how this is going to work,” she grumbled, more uncomfortable with his nearness than his ill-conceived plan to remove the ring. They guy smelled as good as he looked. Delicious. As if agreeing, her stomach rumbled.
His dark eyes met hers. “Hungry?”
Starving. “Nah. I’m good.” Her traitorous stomach growled again.
“Hmmm,” he said, using the little metal thingy on the floss container to snip the thread at the end of her finger. “First things first.” He took the top of the thread above the ring in his fingers and began to unwind. “First we get the ring off, then we eat some lunch.”
As in together? Like a date? No freaking way was that going to happen. She was already practically dizzy from being this close and inhaling him like a batch of cookies or something. “Thanks, but I’m not hungry.” Her stomach growled again and she groaned inwardly.
Smiling, he focused on her finger, still untwisting the floss from the top. As he unwound it, the ring moved down her finger toward her knuckle with no pain. Holy crap. His crazy scheme might actually work.
The ring was touching the knuckle now. Hopefully, the floss wouldn’t join in the spirit of her day so far and get tangled up or something.
“All good?” he asked as the ring made it past the widest part of her knuckle while he continued to unwind.
She nodded, contemplating writing a how-to manual on creating the worst possible first impression. The swollen, red finger with chipped polish was a winner for sure. Well done, Cait.
After another round, the ring broke mercifully free of her knuckle and Taylor slid it off the rest of the way, setting it on the table between them. She moved her hand to her lap, both regretting and celebrating the loss of his warm touch. She finished unwinding the rest of the floss as he watched her with a scorching I-told-you-so smile that made her insides flip over.
“Cool trick.” She crumpled the floss into a ball and set it on the table next to the ring. “Where’d you learn that?”
He looked away, smile fading. “I was a medevac pilot in Afghanistan.” He stood, opened the fridge, and pulled out a pizza box. “Learned lots of tricks.”
Medical evacuation. Her gaze flitted to the picture of him in uniform. As her mind ran through possible reasons a soldier would need a ring removed, her heart stuttered. He must have seen and been through horrible things. “And that’s how you know Will Anderson.”
The Anderson family had semi-celebrity status, often making appearances in the tabloids and papers. They ran all sorts of businesses under the Anderson Enterprises umbrella, the most visible of which was a prestigious antique auction house.
He set a familiar red, green and white Franky’s Pizza box on the table and sat. “Yeah. Will and I went through Officer Candidate School in Virginia together before we took off on different tracks. As karma would have it, he was my last evac before my discharge from active duty. We reconnected that day and have been tight ever since.” He opened the pizza box and turned it toward her, offering her one of six or so pieces left of what looked to be an everything pizza without olives or anchovies. “I can heat it if you want.”
Shaking her head, she smiled and picked up a piece. This was her favorite. Cold Franky’s everything pizza. “And now, you work for Will Anderson.”
“For his family’s company.” Taylor took a slice. “Not many open helicopter pilot jobs in the city. People tend to hang onto them. I’m lucky they had an opening. But enough about me. Tell me how you came to be a dog walker.”
“Well, I—”
To her relief, she didn’t have to answer, because his computer and phone dinged at the same time, indicating they were linked. No doubt it was an incoming text like his earlier ones. Caitlin resisted the urge to glance at his computer screen.
“Michael Anderson just requested an unscheduled flight. It never fails,” he said, shoving his phone in his pocket and taking several huge bites of pizza. “I’m really sorry about this.” He pushed his chair back and stood. “Gotta go. I’ll be back before Beau’s next scheduled walk, so there’s no need for you to hang around. Would you mind locking up when you go?”
Speechless, she watched as he grabbed his blazer from the back of the couch and a small leather folder from the computer desk. Snatching another piece of pizza and a hat from the hook by the door, he shot her a smile. “I’ll pick you up at Animal Attraction around five for Gram’s party.”
At least he wasn’t going to come to her apartment, which was a good thing because it was a huge mess because she and Fiona were making table centerpieces for the charity event. “What do I wear?”
He grinned as if he knew a joke of some kind. “Super casual and warm. She likes outdoor games.”
What? It was freaking freezing outside.
And right before the door clicked shut behind him, he stuck his head back in. “And fiancée…” He winked. “Pack enough warm clothes for three days. We’ll be in the Catskills until Sunday night.”
Caitlin stared open-mouthed at the door for a few moments as his words sank in. Catskills as in Catskill Mountains? Three days? Oh, hell, no.
She yanked the door open and ran barefoot into the hall. The elevator button was lit up, but he was gone. He must have taken the stairs, the chicken.
Muttering, she tromped back into the apartment. “He scammed me, Beau,” she grumbled, slipping a foot into her wet boot. “Your owner is a cheater!” The computer dinged. “In every respect.”
Beau answered with yawn.
“Seriously, he totally knew I thought it was just a party tonight, not a three-day deal.”
The dog’s tail thumped on the floor several times as he gave an unenthusiastic wag while she pulled on her second boot with a squick sound as her heel slid in place. “I would have made a much harder bargain had I known. I mean, I’m gonna spend three days perpetuating a lie in exchange for his working the charity ball for a couple of hours.”
She retrieved her soggy coat from the hook by the door and slid it on with a shiver. “He hasn’t heard the end of this. I’m going to find the worst job ever for him at this event.” Beau rolled on his back and stretched, and she couldn’t resist rubbing his belly. “I’m serious.” She stood up straight and stared down at Beau. “I should really back out.”
Beau flopped to his side and closed his eyes. Caitlin sighed. The problem was, she didn’t want to back out. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, a break from the city with all its concrete and negative energy suited. And besides, she really liked his grandmother, who Taylor had practically pushed out the door when they came out of the bathroom. He’d explained later that he wasn’t in the mood for a full interrogation right then, and Grams didn’t appear to mind being hustled off. In fact, she seemed eager to go and genuinely excited Caitlin had agreed to come to her anniversary party.
Still, three days pretending to be engaged to a man she hardly knew was troubling. A smile tugged at her mouth. Not nearly as troubling as Taylor would find being a one-man moving company and poop scooping service during the charity ball.
“So, I’ll see you later, big guy.” She pulled her key out of her pocket and Beau sat up. She scratched his broad head and his tongue lolled out. She’d known Beau for a while and the dog clearly adored his owner. Taylor couldn’t be that bad, right? And besides, Jane knew him and was in business with his bosses, so there was that, too. Lots of checks and balances. She gave his apartment one last study. Her eyes landed on the bookcase where his loving family stared back from the frames. Yeah, totally safe.
Her mind drifted back to the way he’d looked leaping over the sofa wearing only a bath towel, and her heart rate kicked back into high gear, taking the rest of her body along for the joyride down memory lane.
Safe? Maybe it wasn’t him she should worry about. Maybe it was herself.