Free Hell Yeah!: Man of My Heart (Kindle Worlds Novella) (The Omega Team Book 5) by Desiree Holt Page B

headed across the hall to the bathroom to finish the job.
    Closing the door, he flicked on the light and stared at himself in the mirror. It amazed him he looked the same since he felt very different on the inside. Not just the release he’d given himself. A hand job was a hand job. It was much worse than that. He was fucking falling in love with Jasmine Grey. He, Caleb Branam, a ruined man who’d grown to hate the world, who carried death with him, was falling in love with the very last woman he should.
    What the fuck did he do now?

Chapter Five
     
    Caleb waited in the great room, hands in his pockets, staring out the window.
    He’s mad about the kiss. He blames me. No, he blames himself.
    She wanted to bang her head against the wall. Instead, she gathered up all the materials she’d need along with her precious McPherson guitar and her large tote purse then pasted a smile on her face.
    “Ready when you are,” she sang out, determined to be cheerful. She wasn’t going to let Caleb’s attitude diminish her big day.
    “Fine.” He turned to face her, his expression a careful mask. “Give me the address, and I’ll plug it into my GPS app.”
    They accomplished the trip to Austin mostly in silence. Jasmine and Caleb did their coffee routine in a silence she had a hard time figuring out. They had driven for about half an hour when she decided this was never going to work.
    “Maybe I should call Aron and tell him we need someone else. Or Carson might know someone.”
    The tightening of his grip on the steering wheel was the only indication she had poked the bear.
    “You won’t get anyone better than me, and that’s not just ego talking.”
    “Maybe, but they might know someone who is a little more pleasant.” She slid a glance at him. “Of course, they wouldn’t have to go far for that.”
    “I didn’t think I was being hired for my personality,” he growled.
    Jasmine couldn’t help herself. She burst out laughing. “And isn’t that a good thing because you’d never have gotten the job.”
    She waited for him to say something, but he just gripped the wheel tighter.
    “So, are you going to be the strong, silent type all the way to Austin? All day? All night?” She gave an exaggerated sigh. “I always did like the strong, silent type.”
    “Damn it!” The words exploded from his mouth.
    “Oh, good,” she teased. “He can still talk.”
    “That kiss was a big fucking mistake.”
    “Hmmm.” She allowed herself a tiny smile. “Didn’t feel like a mistake to me.”
    “Damn it, Jasmine.” He pounded the steering wheel. “We can’t do this.”
    “This?” She touched his arm. “This what? Pretend there’s nothing brewing between us?”
    “Right. Because there isn’t. And there can’t be, either.”
    “Oh? Why not?”
    “You know why, and I’m not discussing it. This is business.”
    She might have thought so if she hadn’t dropped her gaze to his lap and seen the bulge pressing against the fly of his jeans. He wasn’t as unaffected as he’d like her to believe. Maybe one kiss opened the door to something special.
    Okay. She could bide her time. They’d be spending a couple of nights in Austin when it got too late to return to the house. Maybe in a different environment she could dig further beneath that invisible suit of armor he wore. Make him understand he couldn’t carry the burden of blame for the rest of his life.
    She leaned back in the seat and tilted her ball cap down over her eyes. She’d have plenty of time to work on this.
     
    *****
     
    When they reached their destination, Caleb made her stay locked in the car while he scoped the outside of the building. Then he walked right next to her when they went inside. He didn’t know what he expected, but certainly not a real studio. He thought that wouldn’t happen until they were ready to do the actual recording. He thought— Well, it didn’t matter what he thought because here they were, in a studio Carson had rented