Playing the Bosses

20 Questions

A/N: Heads up before you read this chapter that I won't be doing the next update until November 8.

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The Countdown: Five Weeks Until Eva's Deadline

30 Days Left

Eva and Caleb sat across from each other on his private jet as they flew to the Bahamas. They hadn't exchange much words yet that morning and between Caleb's nerves and Eva's unrest, a strange tensions began to build.

Caleb hadn't been on a real date in over a year — not since he tried getting over Adrian. And he had never done a date as extravagant as the one he was taking Eva on. He truly wanted to impress her. And he hoped she was really giving him an opportunity to do so.

Meanwhile, Eva couldn't sleep. The guilt was getting to her — more intense than she ever expected. She hadn't felt as much remorse since she turned down Eric's marriage proposal. And she knew it'd only be worse when the truth came out.

"Aren't you sleepy?" Caleb asked, finally breaking the silence between them. "It sounded like you and Adrian are up pretty late last night..."

"Not really. I can't sleep well outside of a bed."

"Oh. What did you guys talk about? I'm sure Adrian had some shit to say about you coming with me today."

"He did," Eva confirmed.

"I fucking knew it," Caleb spat. "He pretended to be supportive to my face and went behind my back to sabotage things."

"Actually... he was pretty encouraging. He told me to give you a chance."

"What?" Caleb gawked.

"Why are you acting surprised? You said yourself that was supportive to your face. Except he wasn't pretending. He was encouraging me to come into this with an open mind. I'd planned to, anyway, but what he said helped your case a little more."

"Shit, really? He said to give me a chance?"

"He claims you're a sweet a guy. I'd like to see that for myself."

"Good to know..." Caleb tried his hardest to hold back the grin on his face. With his behavior since their breakup, Caleb thought that Adrian had forgotten his was capable of being anyone outside of the front he'd put up to protect his feelings. "Since neither of us can sleep, why don't we keep ourselves occupied for the next couple of hours, then?"

"Oh?" Eva tilted her head to the side curiously. "And what do you propose?"

"Twenty questions," Caleb suggested.

Eva snorted. "Really?"

"Yeah. Isn't that common for first dates or something?"

"You ask that like you don't go on a lot of first dates."

"I don't. My brand of slut is straight to the point. Either we're fucking or we're not. I'm not gonna lead someone on to think they have a chance at dating me. I know how that shit feels."

"So, you are capable of empathy... Even if you're not the best at explaining it."

"I'm not a monster, Eva. And I'm going to show you that today."

Eva nodded. "Okay, then. Let's get started with the 20 questions. Go ahead."

"Are you going to give me a chance today? I mean a real chance?"

"Clarify that question for me. Explain what you mean by 'real.'"

"I mean, are you going to come into this with an open mind? Are you going to treat this like a real date? You know. Let me court you like I'm not your boss who... was a bit of a dick for a while."