Caleb

Chapter Twenty Seven

Caleb ~

What the fuck just happened?

It was like he was back to square one with Lainey again, maybe even worse. She wasn't just skeptical of him, it seemed like she downright hated him, but why? What on earth had changed in the few hours they'd been home?

Right after his conversation with Hunter, Caleb had come to check on Lainey and heard the shower running. There's no way she accidentally heard him from inside the house, down the hall and in the shower. So what the fuck happened?

What the hell did I do?

Marcus and Declan had intercepted him in the hallway, following him as he brushed past them, still rubbing the back of his head in confusion.

"She's mad as fucking hornet." Marcus grumbled.

"Yeah no shit." Caleb muttered.

"You think she heard what you said to Hunter?" Declan asked.

"There's no way she heard what I said to Hunter. I was outside and she was in her room in the shower. I even went and checked."

Declan and Marcus had been in the pool house with Caleb for hours discussing the awful lies Caleb had to tell Hunter in order to stay in Colombia with Lainey. At first Declan was pissed about the paparazzi photographs, but he ultimately let it go once Caleb had explained that he was in love with Lainey and fully planned on trying to make something work with her long term.

The three men sat in the pool house and mused ways to break the news to Hunter that Caleb had lied out of an act of panicked desperation for the woman he loved, which was going to be difficult for Hunter to relate to. Of all the men at Knight security Hunter was the least likely to sympathize with matters of the heart. He was all business all the time, with very little room for romance in his life while he commanded all four teams. The consensus was to wait until after the election to break the news to Hunter and that they would talk to Hunter as a team in order to support Caleb. Hunter might not have time for romance, but he wasn't heartless and Declan was confident that he would come around.

The next step of Caleb's plan was to sit down with Lainey and figure out a way to get her father on board with their relationship. If they could get Ricardo's approval it would be ten times easier to get Hunter's approval. Caleb left the pool house fully confident in their plan, but all that confidence had been shot to tell when Lainey jerked her head from his hands and told him to go.

What the fuck is going on and how do I fix it?

*****

Everyone was dressed and ready to leave for the dinner party that was being held in Ricardo's honor. With the election just days away, Ricardo was the guest of honor and the entire family was expected to attend a cocktail reception and dinner party to celebrate his successful campaign.

Lainey hadn't surfaced from her room yet, and Caleb was practically coming out of his skin with nervous energy.

He had called Lexi while Lainey was getting dressed, desperate for advice. Granted, he didn't really care for what Lexi had to say, but he was going to take her advice anyway.

"If Lainey said she needs space then give her space, even if you don't want to. She's not a child or a possession of yours Caleb. She's a grown woman with boundaries and you need to respect them even when you don't understand them."

Lexi's words replayed in his mind over and over as he reminded himself to respect whatever boundaries Lainey was going to put up that night, even if he hated them - which he did.