Caleb watched her go. Why hadn’t she let him explain? He couldn’t keep being jerked around like this. Either she wanted him, or she didn’t want him, but this on-again, off-again situation wasn’t doing either of them any favors. He wouldn’t hide. Lying to Lloyd was one thing, because Lloyd was clearly an asshole, but lying to everyone made him feel dirty. Maybe he’d give her some time to decompress and then explain himself. He headed back to his office to pack up for the day.

When he stepped back into the hallway, brown satchel under his arm, Lloyd was leaving his office at the same time. “Hey, fancy running into you here,” Lloyd said. His smile was all teeth, reminding Caleb uncomfortably of a shark. He wondered if other people saw the resemblance. “Headed home?”

“Yep. It’s about that time.” Caleb shifted his bag higher up on his shoulder and walked toward the door. He really didn’t want to talk to Lloyd any longer than he had to.

“Wait a second.” Lloyd caught up to him. “I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable, joking back there about you and Isabel.”

“I’m fine, but I don’t know if you made her uncomfortable.” Caleb tried to keep his expression neutral rather than sour. Maybe Lloyd didn’t know he was a total douche bag.

Lloyd chuckled. “Who, Isabel? No, she’s fine. If she didn’t want jokes like that, she shouldn’t be getting all wild and crazy at the company conventions. I could tell you some stories, dude.”

Caleb felt his chest tighten with anger. He didn’t want to leave Isabel to fight her own fight here. Listening to her get slandered like this was against everything he believed in. “That’s none of my business, and it’s probably none of yours, either.”

Lloyd was unfazed. He shrugged, the smile unwavering. “Maybe, maybe. Sweet of you to want to defend her, though. Thinking about dipping the pen in that company ink?” He actually gave Caleb an elbow nudge, as if they were coconspirators.

“You’re a pretty nosy guy. Anybody ever tell you that before?” Caleb needed to walk away before he did something stupid like punch Lloyd in the teeth. He turned his back on the other man when Lloyd’s voice stopped him.

“Hey, I’m just looking out for new guys like you. I like to see this company succeed. If there are any weak links, it’s only fair other people should know about them, right?”

Caleb turned, trying to keep his blood pressure down. “Are you calling Isabel a weak link?”

“I don’t know, man.” Lloyd shrugged. “She seems pretty emotional to me. Hot and cold. She’s the ice queen here, then goes all ‘wild child’ when we’re away? I appreciate that Will probably wanted to do the kid a favor back when he gave her the promotion, since she’s been here for years, but I can’t help feeling like she’s not really ready for this. I just thought you should know that, if you’re hoping to get involved with her.”

“Funny, I see it differently.” Caleb squared his shoulders to Lloyd, who was an inch taller but thinner, reedy, like a bending plant. Given the chance, Caleb could definitely take him down. “I’ve only been working here a couple of weeks, but Isabel’s been a great partner on this project. She knows what she’s doing and I like working with her. I’ve never heard her talk badly about anyone at the company.” As he spoke, he could feel his body tensing, adrenaline coiling in his stomach. “On the contrary, I’ve barely gotten to know you today, and you’re already badmouthing her. If someone’s coming out as the weak link, here, I don’t think it’s Isabel.” He was gratified to watch the smile slip on Lloyd’s face. “See you later.” Without looking back, he turned and left the building.

In his car, Caleb turned on the air-conditioning and sat in the enclosed space for a minute, taking deep breaths to calm himself down. The stupid sunshade he’d bought shielded him from the rest of the parking lot, so he could sit in moderate darkness and let the cold, stale-smelling air slowly replace the sweltering heat inside his car while he reviewed the conversation with Lloyd. He handled that better than he thought he would. He hadn’t said anything incriminating about either of them, he’d defended Isabel without taking over for her, and he’d called Lloyd out on being a douche bag. Honestly, though, this was a lot of trouble over a woman who didn’t even want other people to know they were anything other than work partners. It would probably have been easier to laugh off Lloyd’s comments and leave. Now he’d made an enemy in the marketing department within his first month on the job. Great. If he didn’t want to end up without a job, he needed to stay out of bullshit like this.

But Isabel. It killed him to hear someone talk about Isabel like that, full of swagger, like she was a punch line rather than a human being. He thought back to waking up with her Saturday morning, her limbs tangled with his, and felt his cock twitch with interest. Fuck.

Through the unblocked side window, he saw a blue Miata drive out of the parking lot, Lloyd drumming on the steering wheel with his sunglasses on as he turned right and headed out. He certainly didn’t seem upset. Caleb, on the other hand, was composing himself in the middle of the parking lot like any of this mattered. Isabel probably wouldn’t even care.

The view outside his window was occluded suddenly by a person, and Isabel opened the door and slid into the passenger seat next to him.

“What’s this?” Caleb shifted in surprise. He may be confused about his feelings toward her, but his body was not.

“Thank you for that.” Isabel turned in the seat to face him, her eyes red. Had she been crying?

“For what?” Caleb asked.

“I heard you. I was about to leave, and I was right on the other side of the door. Nobody’s ever stood up for me at work like that.” She twisted the hem of her shirt in her hands, looking down. “I can’t believe that’s what Lloyd thinks of me. I always thought I was overreacting.”

Her lip was trembling, barely enough to be visible, but Caleb noticed. Without thinking, he leaned across the center console and cupped her chin in his hand, kissing her. Her lips quivered under his before she opened her mouth with a sigh, and what he had intended to be a chaste kiss turned much hotter. Although he’d just wanted to comfort her, he found himself wanting her, wanting all of her, and the first tentative brush of her tongue against his made him groan and tug her closer.

No, he couldn’t do this. He broke the kiss and sat back, catching his breath. “Wait, stop.”

Isabel was still leaning across the console, her eyes registering confusion when she opened them. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t want to be your dirty little secret, Isabel.” Damn, it felt ridiculous saying this aloud. But he pressed on. “I don’t want to hide whatever this is from our coworkers and pretend we barely know each other.”

“Well I don’t want to run to HR and announce something if it’s just a little fling.” Isabel shifted back in the passenger seat, her jaw set. “I’m not going public unless it’s a relationship, and I can tell by your face that this isn’t what you want.” She pushed open the door, but he reached out and took her arm before she got out.

“Wait,” he said, tugging gently. She closed the door again, turning to him with a wary look in her eyes. He considered his recent feelings, the tumultuous ebb and flow of his emotions, and let out a shaky breath. “Okay. Listen, it isn’t that I don’t want a relationship. But I’m really worried about fucking this up.”

Isabel didn’t interrupt, instead kept watching him with a neutral expression on her face, so he continued. “My parents are domineering and obnoxious, but they’re happy together and they’re really successful lawyers. My brother has a perfect family with a perfect wife and perfect kids. He’s a goddamn dentist. I’m the fuck-up of the family. I barely passed high school and had to do remedial classes before I could get into art school, even with a killer portfolio. I started a business and it failed. I’ve applied for a dozen other jobs and been turned down for all of them.” Now that he started talking, he felt like he couldn’t stop, and the words kept tumbling out. “I had one serious relationship and she cheated on me, and I don’t want that kind of heartbreak again. I don’t do relationships because if I fuck up a relationship now, it’s just one more thing I’ve fucked up. One more way I’ve failed. I have to look at my family and know that I’m a disappointment to them. It’s easier just not to try, to shut off that part of myself.” He swallowed. “God, now that I’m saying this, it sounds really messed up. I’m thirty years old, Isabel, and I’ve only had one serious relationship. How screwed up is that?” He didn’t give her a chance to answer. “And then you come along, and it was supposed to be just another fling, but I like you. I like hanging around with you, I love sleeping with you, but you want more than that. You want something serious, something forever, and I don’t know if I’m cut out for that.” The earnest expression in her eyes was too much right then, so he turned away, staring instead at the underside of the bubble-coated sunshade. “I don’t want to fail at this, too.”

Isabel was silent. After a couple of minutes, Caleb glanced over, just to make sure she hadn’t gotten out of the car somehow without him noticing. She was still studying him with that caring expression on her face, that kind look in her eyes. He could forget his problems in those eyes. She reached out and gave his hand a gentle squeeze.

“Okay,” she said at last.

He waited, but she didn’t add anything. “Okay, what?” he prompted.

“Okay. This clearly bothers you, so we don’t have to call it a relationship.” She shrugged, but the motion came with some effort. “If you want to be public with this and stop hiding, then we can go to HR in the morning. And I’ll try not to press you for more commitment than you’re willing to give. I figure if you stood up for me to Lloyd like that, then the least I can do is honor your wishes. It’s not exactly what I want, but I think I’d rather have this than nothing.”

Caleb felt a rush of relief mixed with apprehension, an unsettling combination. Was he really this afraid of fucking up even something that wasn’t a real relationship? “Really?”

Isabel nodded. “That’s okay with you, right? We’ll tell people. We’ll tell HR.” Isabel visibly swallowed, and her smile was thin. “It’ll be fine.”

“Yeah. Yeah, that’s good. Yeah. Fine.” He knew he wasn’t very articulate at the moment, but he was pretty sure he’d just started dating someone without planning it.

“Okay. Then . . . we should take some time for this. Think on it.” She nodded. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” After dropping a quick kiss on his lips, she opened the car door and was gone.