As soon as he sees me, a smile quickly appears on his gorgeous face. “Come here, Owl,” he calls out, the smile growing even brighter.
Owl.I love my new nickname.
I find myself hurrying toward him, as if I haven’t seen him in weeks rather than days. He steps into the hallway—it’s safe because he’s the only room on this floor—and I run and jump up into his open arms, like a clip from that stupidIs it Love?reality dating show. I wrap my legs around his waist, link my arms around his neck, and Caleb chuckles as he holds me in his strong arms. He gives me a playful peck on the lips, which makes me giggle against his mouth, and he laughs, too.
“Hi, Roo,” I tell him.
“Roo?” he asks as he puts me down.
I step into the penthouse suite, and he follows behind me. I turn around as the door clicks shut. I put my hands on him again, this time sinking them into his thick black hair. “Yes. Roo for kangaroo.”
A crease appears on the bridge of his nose. “Roo. Hmm.”
“Trust me. You’ll like it when I say it,” I promise.
“Oh?”
“Yes,” I say, drawing his mouth to mine. “As in, come here, Roo.”
Then I kiss him. I taste mint on his tongue and inhale the faint scent of grapefruit lingering on his hair. His skin is warm against mine, his hands now slowly sliding up and down my rib cage.
“I think I can live with it,” he murmurs against my mouth before kissing me again.
Finally, we break apart. Caleb lifts one hand to my face, gently brushing his knuckles against my cheekbone. “We should order dinner,” he says.
I nod.
He reaches for my hand, and then I catch his gaze lingering on my bracelets. “I’m glad you like the new one,” he says.
“I love it. It was a wonderful welcome to Montreal for me. Thank you.”
“You,” he says, dropping another kiss on my lips, “are welcome.”
Caleb leads me over to the plush taupe sofa in the living room. I take a seat, and he retrieves his phone off the coffee table before taking a seat next to me. “The room service menu is on the app,” he explains.
I bite my lip. I think I need to have this conversation about The Downforce Network with him now. Before dinner. Otherwise it’s going to hang over me this entire evening, and I don’t want that.
“Before we order, I need to talk to you about something,” I say, determined.
Caleb immediately puts his phone down. “What’s wrong?”
I put my hand on his thigh. “No, no, don’t look panicked. Nothing is wrong.”
“Okay,” he says, but he still sounds unsure.
I can’t help but smile at that. “That was not convincing.”
“You’re not about to dump me, are you?”
“Of course not!”
A look of relief fills his face, and it makes me laugh. “Roo, don’t be stupid. I just gave you a nickname. I wouldn’t do that if I were about to break up with you!”
A sheepish, boyish smile appears, and my heart melts a little bit.
“Fair point.” His expression shifts back to serious. “But what do we need to talk about?” Caleb reaches over and tucks a lock of my hair behind my ear, then he begins to stroke it in a calming way, as if he somehow knows I’m anxious and tense about what I have to say.
I pause for a moment, gathering my thoughts. “I know we’ve agreed to keep our relationship a secret while we are getting to know each other. We’ve done that for a month now. And to be clear, I’ve had no problem spending all of our time at your house or a hotel room. I don’t regret us staying underground.”