Chapter 20

Caleb shoved my suitcases until they rolled out of the way and hit the wall. The sound jolted me out of my uneasy contemplation. Caleb walked toward the kitchen without a word.
He wasn't even trying to set me at ease. It was... odd. I followed him toward the kitchen. It was just as sterile looking as the rest of the place.
The silence stretched awkwardly, broken only by the putter of a coffee pot brewing in the small kitchen.
"Coffee?" Caleb offered, gesturing toward a sleek countertop holding a minimalist coffee machine.
"Yes, please," I mumbled, feeling strangely adrift.
As he busied himself with the coffee, the shrill ring of the doorbell shattered the quiet. My heart jumped into my throat. Was it Sebastian? Quinton? An unwelcome curiosity gnawed at me. I heard the door open.
"Caleb?" An unfamiliar voice rang out.
Caleb pulled out pots. "Kitchen. Coffee?"
"Fuck yes."
The door closed and Jason entered. I went still, shocked and breathless. What was he doing here? Did he live here too? It would make sense since Caleb was his bodyguard.
"Yvonne, right?" Jason greeted me, a forced smile playing on his lips. "This is a surprise. Caleb didn't mention you'd be staying here."
His presence was overwhelming, his cologne was heady, and he was so beautiful. For a moment, I couldn't find my voice, the shock keeping me silent.
"Caleb?" Jason chuckled, a humorless sound. "Of all the places you could have chosen… You could have taken her somewhere with some life."
His gaze flicking past me towards the living area. Caleb put two steaming mugs on the coffee table.
"Making yourself at home, yet?" Jason asked. "You're here because..."
"Caleb offered," I said.
He snorted. "Right. Well, I'm sure it's not the most comfortable. If you get sick of it, you're welcome to come stay with me."
My stomach tumbled. The thought excited me, but I shook my head.
"Thank you for the offer, but it's fine. It's convenient for work, and with everything that's happened, it seemed like the safest option for now."
Jason studied me for a long moment, his expression unreadable. "Safest option?" he finally echoed, a hint of something akin to curiosity creeping into his voice. "What makes you think you're not safe?"
The question sent a jolt through me.
"That's not important right now," I said coolly.
Before he could respond, the clatter of the pans filled the air.
Jason shrugged, sipping from his mug. He got up and frowned.
"Usually, I'd stay for whatever you're cooking, but duty calls."
"Get out. I hate cooking for you."
He snorted. "He's nicer than he seems."
Jason left, and I took a deep breath, the sound of my own heartbeat echoing in my ears. Caleb didn't speak while he cooked, but when he was done he slid a plate to me and threw the dishes in the dishwasher.
The steam from the delicious meal swirled around my face, blurring the clean lines of the minimalist apartment. The aroma of garlic and herbs danced in the air, a stark contrast to the sterile ambiance. To my surprise, Caleb turned out to be a talented cook. Each bite of the pasta was an explosion of flavor, a testament to his unexpected skills.
As I savored the meal, a bizarre thought flitted through my mind. I could marry Caleb. The thought hung in my mind. It was odd, considering, but I didn't think anything about it. Everything had been weird for the last few hours. I shouldn't feel anyway about it. We ate in silence, and it was oddly comforting.
I didn't know anything about him. He wasn't chivalrous, and he wasn't seemingly interested in me in anyway. It was nice.
My voice broke the comfortable silence. "This is really good, Caleb," I complimented, genuine admiration filling my words. "I wouldn't have pegged you as a culinary genius."
Caleb shrugged. "A man has to eat."
Despite my compliment, he remained frustratingly unfazed. There was a stoicism to him, an emotional distance that fueled my curiosity even as it frustrated me. Where was the spark, the excitement? Was he even capable of such things?
Dinner ended, and Caleb excused himself, disappearing into his room and emerging moments later clad in workout clothes. "Heading to the gym," he announced, his voice neutral.
With a curt nod, he vanished out the door, leaving me alone in the sterile silence. My initial relief at being alone with my thoughts morphed into a strange sense of emptiness. Was he avoiding me, or was he really unbothered about me being here? Maybe he just didn't care...
Or he was leaving me alone so Quinton could come over.
I glanced toward the door. Jason had just wandered in with no problem. What if Quinton could do the same?
I left the living room, pushing my suitcases toward one of the rooms. Neither room looked lived in or much different, but I took the one without a bathroom attached to it.
I went into the hallway bathroom. Standing in the bathroom doorway, I stared into the mirror. Caleb's lack of reaction to me left me feeling oddly insecure. I wasn't a great beauty or anything, but he didn't even look at me like sex had ever crossed his mind with me. I ran a hand over my stomach. It was flat. I was petite. I didn't have large breasts, but they fit my frame. I took pride in my soft skin and the youthful glow in my face.
Perhaps, I thought with a sigh, Caleb was different. Maybe he wasn't driven by the same desires as other men. Maybe he was just… content. Content in this sterile world he'd built around himself. Or maybe he was gay.
I winced and shook my head. There was no way he was gay. He was too handsome, too masculine for that. I couldn't imagine it, especially since Jason apparently got him into filming every once in a while.
Filming what I wondered.
What I just wasn't his type?
That was depressing.