Free Haunted by Cheryl Douglas

with them.”
    Elle locked eyes with him. She’d expected
him to look away, but he didn’t, and his gaze confirmed he meant every word.
She suspected he didn’t toss that word around lightly, and she cherished it all
the more. “You know it’s way too early for us to have these feelings for each
other.” Even though she hadn’t said it, she wanted him to know she felt the
same way about him.
    “Who says it’s too soon? Is there some
pre-determined timetable I don’t know about? Hell, I know people who’ve fallen
in love within minutes of meeting each other, and they’re still happily
married.”
    Falling in love meant trusting her
instincts, and after what had happened with Ricky, that prospect terrified
Elle. When it came to her career, she always trusted her gut to guide her, but
love was different.
    “I’m not him,” he whispered. “I don’t know
which guy put that haunted look in your eyes, Elle, but I’m not him. I’d never
hurt you the way he did. You’ve got to believe me, to trust me, if this is
going to work.”
    Trust. There’s that word again. She’d trusted her parents to love and take care of her, and while
they’d provided the basic necessities for as long as they were legally
obligated to, they’d left her feeling emotionally abandoned.
    “Did you hear what I said?”
    “Yes,” she said, pulling herself out of the
past. Caleb had the right to expect her to be fully present, but with her
recent past dogging her, it wasn’t easy. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to let my
mind wander. I heard what you said, and I know you’re right.”
    “Does that mean you’re willing to give me a
chance?”
    She nodded, but he didn’t look impressed.
    “By that, I don’t mean I want you to spend
time with me when you can squeeze it into your schedule,” Caleb said. “I mean
that I’d like to know I’m a priority in your life. Naturally I’d promise you
the same.”
    Her top priority had always been her music.
Was he asking her to shift her priorities to make room for him as a test, to
see if she would agree to his demands? “I can’t make any promises, Caleb.” She
gripped his shoulders when she saw him shut down. “It’s not because I don’t
have feelings for you. I think you’re great, but this is happening too fast. I
need time to process. Please try to understand.”
    “I do.” He tipped his head back and closed
his eyes as he blew out a breath. “I’m sorry for coming on so strong. It’s not
like me to be so… insecure.”
    That was the last word she would have used
to describe him. He seemed so confident, so comfortable in his own skin. That
was one of the things she loved most about him.
    “You have no reason to be insecure,” she
said. “I am invested in this, in us. If I gave you the impression I wasn’t, I’m
sorry.”
    He opened his eyes and lifted his head. “I
told myself it was no big deal that you’re a celebrity. I’d almost convinced
myself that you’re a regular person, but you’re not.”
    “Yes, I am.” Elle hated when people put her
on a pedestal just because God had blessed her with a good voice and the
creativity to put her feelings into words.
    “You have cameras trained on you all the
time, people following your every move.”
    She wrinkled her nose. “That’s the part of
the job I could live without.”
    “There is a nation of men who’d give their
right arm to trade places with me right now.”
    Elle rolled her eyes. “I think you’re
exaggerating.”
    “Do you?” He closed his hands around her
hips. “Would you think I was pathetic if I told you I’d checked out your social
media pages?”
    “No.” Elle had checked out his website and
Googled him. She figured it was common practice. “But what does that have to do
with anything?”
    “I read some of the things guys tweeted about
you. Not to mention the posts they left on your fan pages. Those guys are
obsessed with you.”
    She laughed lightly. He was making way too
much of