Taming Him

Chapter 22 - Fake Date

FREYA

I opened the front door for Hannah, arching an eyebrow at her as she beamed at me and ushered me aside. She was carrying a giant mood-board, and she gestured to it with pride. "I present to you- our project."

Crouching down to gaze at it, I smiled. Hannah and I had spent the past four days cooped up in her room completing the project, and after I had left hers late last night, she had called me to let me know she was just applying the finishing touches. We hadn't got round to sticking everything onto the cardboard, so she had generously volunteered to do that before she called it a night.

"Now we just need to work on presenting it." I sighed, and Hannah flung her arm over my shoulder as she propped the mood-board against the wall.

"Don't you worry about that. We all know I'm the charismatic one in this friendship, and I have no issues taking the reins."

Hannah loved talking to anybody she could. If there was an excuse to do so, she was going to find it. If you were to look up the word 'chatterbox' in the dictionary, a giant picture of Hannah's face would take up the page.

We both turned our heads to see Kaleb waltz into the room from the kitchen, his thick eyebrows furrowed as he mumbled into his phone. "Yes, we're handling it." His voice was rough- scratchy. He sounded tense. "He's suspicious, but until we see the situation as too dangerous, we'll keep digging. No, that's fine. I'll talk to Brent and keep you updated. Bye."

Hannah was too busy fussing over our project to take notice of Kaleb's conversation.

His shoulders were strained, and he glanced up at us with a downturned mouth. Kaleb and I hadn't spoken much for the past few days. After my breakdown in the car, he had cooked me some spaghetti and creamy sauce- my favourite dish- and had sent me to bed early.

He hadn't spoken to me much about Will and what was going on with the investigation, and I had a sneaky feeling that my reaction in his car had deterred him from involving me any further.

Excusing herself to the bathroom, Hannah disappeared, and I made my way over to stand in front of Kaleb after he settled down on the couch.

"Who was that?" I asked, testing the water to see if he would tell the truth.

"My supervisor," he said flatly, avoiding eye contact with me, tapping away on his phone. Yep, he still didn't want me involved.

"Sounded tense." My attempt to lighten the mood fell flat.

Kaleb ran his hand down his face, groaning. Even when he was stressed, he was gorgeous. He had failed to shave over the past few days, and I couldn't help but notice the stubble he had accumulated.

"What was he saying?"

"They're pushing. They want Will arrested in the next week or so. I don't know if we'll be able to gather the intel that we need without coming across too brazen. It's risky, but they believe that Will is in the middle of planning something big, and they want to stop it before it goes ahead."

I mentally smiled at Kaleb's admission.

His phone beeped in his hand, and he cursed. "What fucking now?" Glaring at it, he huffed, turning his phone towards me and allowing me to read the text that had just come through from Brent.

Kaylee really enjoyed spending time with Freya. She was wondering if you guys wanted to go on a double date tonight?

I smiled, and Kaleb shook his head.

"No." His tone left no room for persuasion.

I scowled, crossing my arms over my chest. "Why not? It's the weekend. It'll be fun." I fancied getting out of the house. I had been working hard and needed something to perk me up.