Page 26 of Raise The Bar
We say our goodbyes and I turn my attention to getting changed into the sundress I’ve brought from home. After the way my day has gone, I should probably ask Callum for a rain check and just head home. But I don’t want to do that.
Go after what you want.
Chapter 15
Callum
“Hey there, buddy!” Josh greets me jovially when I open my front door to him.
“Hey yourself,” I say cautiously as he breezes into my condo. When Terrance called me two minutes ago announcing his arrival, I was confused, but told him to send him up. I haven’t talked to Josh since our chat last weekend and he’s never just come by my place unannounced before. I have no idea why he’s shown up with no notice. “What’s up, man?”
“I just thought I’d drop in.” He’s a little too casual about his visit. He strolls around my living room and peeks his head into the kitchen. I’m not sure what or who he’s expecting to find. “Do you want to go grab a beer? TGIF, am I right?”
“I wish I could, but I’ve got a meeting.” Not a lie. Maggie will be here in less than an hour, which I’m not excited for or the slightest bit nervous about at all. I definitely haven’t been pacing and tidying my already immaculate home for the last hour.
God, why am I doing this to myself? It’s just a meeting. I’m going to help her build her business. That is what I do. I take an idea with potential that there is a market for, and I make it happen. I’ve been in the big rooms with the big names and their even bigger bank accounts and I’ve never felt like this.
It’s not the business that has me in knots; it’s the girl.
When Maggie asked me to help with her soap business, I jumped at the opportunity. Being able to spend more time with her, to help her with something other than finding a date? It was the easiest decision I’ve ever made.
“A Friday night meeting? You have a lot of those?” The corners of his mouth are slowly creeping upward. Okay. He’s definitely messing with me. “Who did you say you were meeting with again?”
“I didn’t say, but I feel like you already know the answer to that question,” I say with a sigh. His smile goes full-wattage and he loses the act.
“So what are you two meeting about?” He proceeds to make himself comfortable on my couch. He seems relaxed and in a good mood.
“It’s a business meeting. She wants to expand her soap business and establish an online presence. I want to help her get there.”
“I bet you do,” he says with a grin and a lot of innuendo.
“It’s a business meeting, Josh.”
“Yes, you’ve mentioned that.” He takes a long look around the room. “I’ve never participated in this kind of meeting, but I have to say, I’m surprised by how many lit candles are involved.”
Asshole. I don’t dignify his comment with a response, but I do blow out the two scented candles I’d lit an hour ago. I was just trying to make the place smell nice, not set the mood. Maggie always smells so good. Like vanilla with a hint of coconut and sunshine itself. Is it a moisturizer she uses? I picture her massaging lotion into her soft brown skin before I can stop myself. Holding in a groan at the feeling those images invoke, I turn back to my uninvited guest.
“Why are you here again?” I fail to keep the annoyance out of my voice.
“Aww, I’m just screwing with you. Betty told me about your new,” he waggles his eyebrows, “partnership.”
“You’re really enjoying this, aren’t you?”
“Do you not remember all the shit you gave me about Betty before we got together?” I may recall ribbing Josh about his more than obvious feelings for his current girlfriend when he first moved to Boston last year.
“Of course I do. But when I did it, it was hilarious. Besides, you were pursuing Betty. I’m helping out a friend.”
Josh shakes his head. “You’re seriously not going to make a move on her? It’s obvious that you’re into her.”
“I’m seriously not going to,” I tell him. “I like her. Probably too much. But my feelings on relationships have not changed.”
He nods slowly like he still doesn’t buy what I’m selling him. “As long as you make that perfectly clear to her, I’ll leave you alone.”
“I will make my intentions clear as crystal.”
“Good. Go easy on her. Your magnetic personality can be overwhelming sometimes.”
“I can’t help it if people are affected by how charming and likeable I am,” I say, laughing it off so Josh can’t tell that I’m the affected one. “Don’t worry. I’ll be a total gentleman. And maybe you’ll lay off goading me about Maggie a bit?”
