Accidentally on Purpose Read online

  Over it, she stood. She needed a ’tude adjustment before she tossed her computer out the second-story window. Leaving her office, she took the elevator up, staring at her reflection in the metal doors, feeling . . . lonely.

  Which was ridiculous. Her life was fine, good even. She didn’t need Archer, or any man actually. But she wanted one, even if only for a night. She wanted to be held, touched. Desired.

  She had to use a special keycard to get the elevator to stop on the fifth floor, which everyone thought was paid storage, authorized personnel only.

  It wasn’t paid storage.

  It was a penthouse apartment, huge and rambling, with gorgeous, heart-stopping, three-hundred-and-sixty-degree views of the city.

  Spence’s.

  He wasn’t home so she let herself in and walked to the tall windows to look out at the city below, determined to get her life back on track. The security and safety track. Happiness would be nice as well but beggars couldn’t be choosers.

  She was still standing there when Spence, accompanied by his friend and former business partner Caleb, walked in. They were in running gear and all sweaty, talking about some computer program for one of their drones.

  Spence looked up with a smile on his face that faded at whatever he found on hers. She had a great poker face when she wanted but at the moment she was feeling too raw to access it.

  Not wanting to reveal the crazy in front of Caleb, she headed into Spence’s kitchen. His fridge was usually well stocked because he was always hungry and everyone knew it. Women loved to make food for him. Trudy was the worst culprit of them all. She constantly cooked for him so he didn’t have to lift a finger for himself.

  Elle opened his fridge and found a container of perfect little mouth-size quiches. Setting it on the counter, she dug in.

  “Help yourself,” Spence said dryly.

  She didn’t answer; she just kept eating.

  “You know, I might’ve been up here with a woman,” Spence said. “In a compromising situation.”

  “Really?” Caleb asked. “Who?”

  Spence shot him a dirty look. “Not the point.”

  Caleb sent Elle a friendly smile. She actually liked the guy. She didn’t know what it was about him, but she didn’t seem to scare him off like she did most people. He was good-looking in a rugged cowboy sort of way, smart as hell, and always took the time to talk to her. He’d asked her out several times now but she’d always been busy.

  Maybe it was time to change that.

  “What?” he asked when he realized she was staring at him.

  Spence winced. “Caleb, man, what have I told you? Never approach it when it’s angry. You have to wait until the steam stops coming out of her ears. And even then, you need a full-scale strategy. Never, ever, ever ask it a direct question.”

  Elle rolled her eyes and kept eating.

  Caleb didn’t look intimidated, which she realized she liked. A lot. She knew he had something like four or five older sisters. She supposed that had given him a certain immunity from the Fear of Women. “I’m not angry,” she said. At least not at that moment.

  Caleb held her gaze. “You’re something,” he said perceptively. “I mean you look beautiful as always, but . . . off.” His warm chocolate brown eyes were sincere—he wasn’t playing with her. “You okay?”

  She stopped chewing and actually felt her heart skip a beat, but hell no, she was not going to reveal that she felt alone. And lonely . . . She’d done enough revealing of herself lately, thank you very much. Been there, bought the T-shirt, and got sunburned anyway. “I’m okay. Really,” she said into his obvious doubt. “In fact . . . ask me again that thing you sometimes ask me.”

  Caleb looked at Spence and then back to Elle, his gaze confused.

  Men. “Ask me again,” she said meaningfully.

  He blinked. “You mean . . .”

  “Yes.”

  He swallowed hard. “You want to go out with me?”

  “Yes.”

  He grinned. “Sweet. Now?”

  “Well, you’re kind of sweaty right now so—”

  “I can be showered and ready in five seconds,” he said without missing a beat, already heading to the door. “We could go out to breakfast.”

  There was something to be said for a show of enthusiasm, but she had work. “How about dinner?” she suggested. “Tonight.”

  “Oh,” he said and laughed a little. “Right. That’s better.”

  Spence opened his mouth, caught Elle’s glare, and wisely shut it again.

  Elle took another quiche, smiled at Caleb, and went to work, feeling much better about things.

  Half an hour later she got a text.

  Spence: I hope you know what you’re doing.

  Elle: I do know what I’m doing. I’m working for you.

  Spence: Are you always such a smartass?

  Elle: No, sometimes I’m sleeping.

  Archer and some of his guys went to the pub for lunch. He’d been told by his doctor to stay home but the hell with that. He needed the distraction of work. For years he’d so carefully squelched his desire for Elle. Or at least pretended to squelch it, but suddenly, or not so suddenly at all, he was losing the battle, miserably. He’d actually thought he could keep his hands off her, never mind her mouth, but he’d failed at that too.

  When Caleb showed up at their table, Archer nodded and gestured to their platter of hot wings and fries. “There’s plenty.”

  “Thanks but I’m not staying.” Caleb was as smart as Spence, meaning that he was smarter than anyone in the entire place, but unlike Spence who could be equally comfortable walking a dog or designing a drone or addressing an entire board of directors, Caleb didn’t seem comfortable at all. “I just wanted to tell you that I’m taking Elle out tonight.”

  The chatter at the table came to a complete and abrupt stop.

  Caleb never took his gaze off Archer. “Just wanted you to know.”

  “Why?” Archer asked.

  Something crossed Caleb’s face at that. “I guess because if our situations were reversed, I’d want to know. Anyway, have a good lunch.”

  And then he was gone.

  “If Caleb gets to go out with her, I can too, right?” Joe asked.

  “No,” Archer said.

  “But—”

  Trev grabbed a chicken wing and stuffed it in Joe’s mouth. “You’re welcome,” he muttered under his breath, and if there was more conversation, Archer didn’t hear it over the heavy thudding of his heartbeat in his ears.

  On the one hand, he was proud of Elle for actively seeking out the life she wanted and certainly deserved. On the other hand, watching her go get it sliced right through him in a way that made breathing nearly impossible and hurt more than being stabbed.

  Caleb came for Elle after work. They walked the Embarcadero, something she hadn’t done in a long time. It was fun. And okay, maybe some of that sense of adventure and excitement came from the fact that she knew Caleb was active on several different dating sites—which meant that she wouldn’t be able to break his heart.

  “Have to admit,” he said as they walked along the water toward Fisherman’s Wharf, winding in and out amongst a good-sized crowd, “I was surprised when you agreed to come out with me tonight.”

  “And I was surprised you had room in your busy social schedule.”

  He laughed, not insulted. “You can’t believe everything you hear.”

  She cocked her head. “So what percentage of what I hear would you say I should believe?”

  He flashed an easy grin. “Fifty. Sixty tops.”

  When they got to Pier 39, they stood in the west marina under a setting sun and watched the sea lions doze on the docks. “Sure has been nice having you around ever since Archer got Spence to hire you as building manager last year,” Caleb said.

  Elle took her eyes off the water and stared at him. “What?”

  Caleb smiled. “Yeah, we all like having you around. You soften the boss up—