A Kiss At Midnight (Delilah and Caelum) novel Chapter 53

Chapter 53

Come on Delilah, you can do this

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I standing right in front of the Hart residence staring at the front door for what felt like the thousand time in a span of minutes, not being able to click on the doorbell.

Seriously, though, what was the worst that could happen

My eyes narrowed slightly, okay, correction. There were several horrible things that could happen, he could slam the door in my face, could tell me to leave.

Getting a door slammed in my face wasn’t exactly high on my list of favorite experiences.

I took a step forward and another, my hand lifted toward the doorbell, fingering hovered over it just to immediately dropped again.

Nope, not doing it

Turning around before stopping two steps later, “Come on, come on,” I muttered under my breath, “you can do this.”

Just slam the test script in his face so he can chew on his words about you not being responsible..okay, maybe nof not slam

it, that was slightly aggressive.

But definitely make sure he sees it, make sure he knows I passed and he has to sit there and choke on every single one of his stupid comments about me being irresponsible.

I scoffed. “I can’t believe he called what we had a mistake,” the words left my mouth before I could stop themnNd Immediately I frowned. And the more I thought about it, the more irritating it became.

The audacity, the absolute freaking ass audacity

s

Tossing my hair over my shoulder. “But that’s beside the point, Delilah.” I pointed at myself. “Focus.”

The point was simple, I needed him. Painfully, embarrassingly needed him. Especially since for some reason my brain had decided that every explanation from every teacher went in one ear and out the other, but whenever Caelum explained something, It clicked. Immediately.

So I needed him, far much more than I thought I needed. If I wanted my grades improving even more than it already was, he had to agree to our deal again.

Taking another deep breath, I marched toward the door again, my hand lifted, finger moving toward the bell when the door suddenly swung open.

“Oh shi..” I stumbled backward in surprise with my finger still awkwardly raised in the air.

Standing in the doorway was Amelia, Caelum’s mother, her warm m eyes sparkled with amusement as she stares at me, while I quickly lowered my hand.

“Hi, Mrs. Hart.”

“Call me Amelia,” she smiled warmly at me as she carried on, “I think we’re slightly past being formal, this is our second meeting, after all.”

My fingers immediately moved through my hair. “Right,” smooth. Delilah, real smooth. “Amelia.”

Her smile widened. “There we go.”

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Chapter 53

God, she was way too nice, and for some reason it made me nervous.

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Amelia glanced toward my still raised hand then back at me, “I have to admit,” she said with visible amusement, “watching you decide whether or not to ring the bell was quite entertaining.”

It almost felt like I coming feel my soul leave my body as my entire face heated in embarrassment, knowing she did not witness that. Please tell me she didn’t witness that.

“Oh my God.”

“I was going to wait until you finally rang it,” she laughs as continued, “but it seemed like you were having a bit of an internal battle.” I wanted the ground to swallow me whole, this very instant

I covered my face. “This is so embarrassing.”

“I actually found it quiet adorable.”

“No.” I muttered out, mortified.

“It really was,” she says again and this makes me groaned at how genuinely awful this was.

Amelia finally took pity on me, laughing warmly again as her expression softened. “Caelum’s in the garage if you’re looking for him.”

“Oh.” the word left my mouth automatically and the second it did. I mentally smacked myself.

Oh.. that’s was all I had. An oh

Amelia somehow looked even more amused. “Follow the sound, dear.”

I frowned slightly. “The sound?”

She nodded. “You’ll hear it.” then she smiled knowingly, “and maybe you will finally manage to drag him out of there.”

My brows furrowed, wondering exactly was that supposed to mean. still, I found myself nodding, “Okay.”

She smiled once more time m before gently closing the door and just like that, I was alone again. Letting out a long breath.. my ears perk trying to listen for any sound, and at first there was nothing, then faintly I could hear it somewhere behind the house.

I adjusted my grip on the assessment paper in my hand before following the sound, and the farther I walked around the side of the house, the louder it became. It was a steady beat, low and rhythmic.

The music eventually guided me toward an open garage, making me slow slightly as I approached, stepping closer, then stopped.

The garage was huge, much more bigger than I had expected., with the walls painted in dark charcoal gray and black metal shelving lining one side. There were various tools hung neatly organized across pegboards while sports equipment sat stacked in designated sections.

The concrete floor had been polished smooth enough to reflect the overhead lighting, everything looking clean and organized.

My gaze shifted farther inside, immediately landed on the gym equipment, lots of it. Treadmills, bench presses, pull-up bars, weight racks, dumbbells. Far more equipment than some actual gyms.

Suddenly I became painfully aware of my outfit, mini skirt, heels, cute top and perfectly styled hair. Yet I looked like I had accidentally wandered into the wrong movie.

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Chapter 53

Okay, hold it

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Shaking the thought away instantly, my eyes wandered around the space while I stepped farther inside, the assessment paper remained clutched tightly in one hand.

I was halfway across the garage when a voice suddenly spoke behind me. “Who are you?” and I nearly jumped out of my skin, “are you perhaps lost.”

Spuning around immediately, only to freeze in my spot. Okay, wow, like holy smoking wow

The guy standing behind me was unfairly attractive, tall, dark hair, sharp jawline and a confident posture. He looked older than I was, probably three years older or possibly four.

His gaze swept over me slowly, taking me in from head to toe, then returned to my eyes as one dark eyebrow lifted and realized he’d asked me a question.

Right, words, those existed

“Um…” I cleared my throat, I’m looking for Caelum,” his eyebrow rose slightly higher. “Is he here? I heard he was.”

The corner of his mouth curved upward, then he took a step closer, an amused looked crossing his face. “Blonde hair, ocean blue eyes, the body of a goddess.”

My brow furrowed as I stared at him, confused, while he carried on taking a step closer, stopping directly in front of me, and a grin pulling at his mouth. “You must be the lovely Delilah Quinn.”

I tried not to show how surprised I was at the fact that he knew who I was already. Raising a skeptical brow. “You know who I am?”

His smile widened even more. “Oh, I know more than just your name,” there was something knowing in his tone, that was far more amused. And honestly, It wasn’t difficult to figure out how.

Caelum, obviously. This had to be someone close to him. Cousin maybe? Friend? Something.

The stranger extended a hand toward me. I’m Ryder.”

Well, that was certainly a bad boy name

I looked at his hand for a moment before finally taking it. “Delilah.”

He chuckles at this. “Yeah,” eyes sparkled with amusement. “I know.”

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