They suddenly stopped.
“Effie?”
Huh, so it wasn’t just my name Caine used that warning tone with.
I glanced over my shoulder at him and gave him a little wave. “Hey, boss.”
I was so glad I got the words out before I took in his appearance, because my mouth went dry and my brain stopped processing actual words. Caine was wearing a white T-shirt that sculpted his body. I could see the superb strength in his shoulders and arms. To make matters worse, he was wearing a faded pair of blue-wash jeans that hung on his hips in the most delicious way.
Caine Carraway in a business suit was gorgeous. Caine Carraway out of a suit was sexy as hell.
He also seemed human and normal to me for the first time ever.
Or he would have if he’d stopped scowling at me.
“Caine, come and sit down. Alexa’s joining us for dinner.”
He looked from Effie to me and then back to Effie. “Is that right?” he muttered.
The buzzer from reception sounded in the apartment before anyone could say anything else.
“That’ll be dinner,” Effie said.
“I’ll get it.” Caine strode away, tension stiffening his shoulders.
Once he’d left, I said to Effie, “He’s not happy.”
The older woman just grinned at me.
Caine returned with the takeout, and without saying a word he walked into the kitchen and surprised me by plating up the food and serving it to us. Effie didn’t seem at all shocked by this.
As he correctly guessed that the moo shu pork was mine and placed the plate in front of me he must have felt my burning, questioning stare because he asked quietly, “What?”
“You just did something for me. Me. Another person.”
That familiar scowl returned to his face. “I put food on a plate. Shut it and eat.” He sat down and began digging in to his own sweet and sour chicken and rice.
“Caine, be nice to Alexa,” Effie said, “or you won’t get a piece of the lemon meringue pie I made earlier.”
“There’s lemon meringue pie?” Caine and I asked in unison. We shot a look of displeasure at each other.
Effie laughed.
Suddenly my moo shu pork became very interesting to me.
“How was your day?” Effie asked Caine.
His reply was to give me a wary look as he lifted another spoonful of rice into his mouth.
I almost rolled my eyes. I’d never met a person so concerned about his privacy, and so concerned about keeping me in my place. “Right now I’m not your PA. You can even pretend I’m human.”
Caine looked at Effie but pointed his fork at me. “See? Smart-ass.”
“I think she’s hilarious.” Effie raised her glass of water to me and I smiled in thanks.
“You would,” Caine grumbled in this adorably boyish way that caused a little flutter in my chest.
In order to rid myself of the feeling, I just remembered the start to my day. “Well, if you’re not going to talk about your obviously very busy day, I’ll talk about mine and how my boss had me running all over Boston doing personal errands for him on a Saturday.”
Once more Caine surprised me by substituting a glower for a smirk. “Sounds like you need to get yourself a social life.”
“I see no point in that, considering you’ll just endeavor to ruin it.”
His eyes flicked to me and I saw amusement glittering in them.
The fluttering lowered to my belly and then lower still. Oh boy.
Hoping my attraction wasn’t obvious, I glanced guiltily over at Effie, who was staring at us both with something akin to glee on her face.
Damn it.
Sensing my scrutiny, Effie smoothed her expression and addressed Caine. “I’m going to have to get that idiot carpenter out—the railing in my walk-in has come down again.”
“Don’t.” Caine shook his head. “He’s clearly incompetent. I’ll have a look at it after dinner.”
What? I blinked rapidly. “Did you just … You do DIY?”
“When necessary.”
“And you’re good at it?”
His answer was to stop eating and look across the table at me with no small amount of wickedness gleaming in his eyes. “I’ve always been good with my hands.”
My breath caught.
Heat and tingles of arousal shot through my core.
I was trapped in his gaze and the only way I knew I’d be able to breathe again was by escaping. Somehow I forced my eyes down to my plate and exhaled. “I have no response to that,” I said, nonplussed.
When he didn’t respond I looked back up at him.
Caine was grinning. “You’re having an off day?”
He must have known the effect he could have on a woman when he did the whole smoldering thing. Sexy jackass. “I’m just tired after all the errand running I did around town today.”
“If that tired you out we need to get your stamina up. You should have been in the gym with me and Henry.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Um, no. The gym and I parted ways a long time ago. I’m in a relationship with Pilates and we’re very happy together.”
“Dancing,” Effie said, “now, that’s exercise and it’s fun. I’ve never seen the attraction in sitting in some smelly gym lifting weights.”
“Hear, hear,” I muttered.
“And then of course there’s sex. Lots and lots of sex.”
Caine’s fork clattered to his plate. He looked vaguely ill.
The snort I was trying to hold back bubbled up out of me and then Effie started cackling with laughter. It was infectious. I couldn’t stop my own from joining hers.
Caine looked from her to me, his lips pinched together. Finally he settled his irritation on me. “I will eat all of the lemon meringue pie,” he warned.
The thought cut off my laughter. “You can’t. Effie won’t let you.”
“Christ.” He shook his head. “You’re on a first-name basis? I’m fucked.”
Effie chuckled, wiping tears from the corners of her eyes. “Let me go get that pie.”
His eyes followed her as she disappeared into the kitchen and then he turned his attention to me. He leaned across the table and lowered his voice. “Look, I’m not sure I like you spending time with Effie. She’s like family to me. I don’t want my business life mixing with my personal.”
Some might call me stupid to make myself vulnerable to Caine, but I’d just had one of the best afternoons in a really long time and that was because of Effie. I didn’t want to lose that just when I’d found it. “I really like her,” I said quietly. “I can talk to her.”
Caine’s eyebrows drew together, but not in annoyance. There was curiosity in him. Finally he made me feel less stupid about my honesty. “Okay. Just no talking about me.”
I smiled and crossed my fingers under the table. “Deal.”
By the time we’d finished the most delicious lemon meringue pie I’d ever tasted in my life and Caine stood up to clear the table and load the dishwasher, I’d lost count of the many times he’d surprised me that night.
“Effie, you’re running out of detergent for the dishwasher,” Caine called through to us. This was followed up a few seconds later with “And milk. And eggs.”