Page 43 of Tempted

“Aye. If you use my ensuite, there should be clean towels on the rack.”

“Do you mind?”

“Not at all.” He nods, walking away from me. It’s so strange but yet it makes so much sense, how much the dynamics between us have changed. After last night, it’s almost like we’re two completely different people around each other. I’m guessing that after the sexual tension was released from our tryst in the shower yesterday, and then the storm and me getting sick last night, all that angst between us is gone. At least, that’s how I feel. I no longer want to jab his eye balls out with a blunt object. Based on his changed demeanor, I would say that he likely feels the same.

As I’m in the shower, I hear a tap at the door. “I’m just setting your clean clothes on the bed. Feel free to change in there, lass.”

“Aye, thank you.”

The feeling of his hands on my body comes back to me, and I find myself wishing that he would violate me in the shower and reciprocate what I did to him yesterday. But he closes the door and takes his leave. The way he held me in bed last night, keeping me warm, caring for me, normally I’d think that he was soft for doing that, but I know that Malcolm is anything but soft. In fact, I can recall exactly how hard the man is, in all the right places. But I digress. I dry off and dress and find him in his office, on a call. He’s just ending it as I approach. “You look much better. All the color is back in your face.”

“I feel like a new woman.” I change the subject. “All is well at the office?”

“Aye, just the awning needs to be repaired out front. Nothing the building manager can’t deal with. I’ve called my landscaper as well. He’ll be here tomorrow with his team to clean the place up. Stores are opening and it looks like by tomorrow it should be business as usual.”

“That was one hell of a storm.”

“It was, lass. We were very lucky.”

He gives me a small smile and I reciprocate. “I should head out now. I’ve got a million things to do. Your robe is hung on the back of the bathroom door. Thanks for everything.”

He rises from his desk chair. “Are you dying? Are you hopping on a plane to Tokyo? What is this?” He chuckles.

“Not at all. I just...I know that we’re busy people, Malcolm. There’s no sense beating around the bush.”

My purse hangs from my shoulder. The phone inside it rings and I pull it out. It’s Moira. I put it on speakerphone, feeling like there are no secrets between Malcolm and me anymore. It’s an odd yet comforting feeling. I’ve always been very reserved about my business and my personal life, but somehow, I don’t feel that way around him. I suppose it’s because he treats me the same way, not keeping me from things when he’s on the phone. “Moira, did you survive the storm?”

Her voice is a little strange, hesitant, but I’m guessing that she’s just a little shaken up by the storm. “Aye, and you?”

“Aye. I was sick as a dog last night, but it came and went just as fast.”

“Good. Are you at home?”

“No. I’m at Malcolm’s. Is everything okay?”

“They will be. I got some news just now.”

“Oh?”

“The police found Callum. He insists that he didn’t kill granny. He says that she must have gone into cardiac arrest while he was there.”

“Really? Well, I’ve got a pillowcase with his handprints on it that could prove otherwise.”

“He knows about that. The police asked for surveillance tapes from the nursing home. Apparently, they’re grainy, but it looks like he was trying to help her, not kill her.”

The guest chair is behind me. I find myself needing to use it. “You’re kidding me.”

“No. I’m not.”

“If the bloody police knew that he didn’t kill her, then why were they searching for him? And why didn’t they tell us?”

“They had to go through the channels to see the tapes, Steph. It took until now for them to view the footage. Callum went back home to Scotland as well, so it wasn’t an easy thing finding him. And they were searching for him because, as you know, up until about five minutes ago, he was a suspect in a potential murder. But now that the tapes have proved otherwise, it’s over, Steph. He’s innocent. Callum walks.”

I’m numb for a moment. And then something occurs to me. “You think he paid them off to say that?”

“With what, Steph? He hasn’t got that kind of money. Why do you think he was looking for me?”

I watch Malcolm’s face. An exaggerated ‘v’ is between his brows, and he’s rubbing his temple with the pad of his thumb in thought.

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