Page 293 of Now and Forever

STELLA

How I spent my afternoon was interesting.

I spent a total of five hours in the spa, walked around London, shopping my socks off and then met up with Lucia, Mark and Alec for dinner. When Mark invited me to come and join them, I was reluctant at first, but now that I was laughing with them with a chilled glass of wine, I was glad I did. I was a firm believer of laughter being the best cure for everything.

It basically took us approximately two hours to finish dinner and when Alec wanted to keep the roll going towards a nearby bar, I had to decline the trio’s persistent nagging.

“Come on, Stella!” Lucia pouted.

If I didn’t know any better, she was rather nervous to be around Mark. Good, because those two needed to talk.

As always, I had the best excuse. “I skipped work this afternoon. I’ll be making up for it tonight so I’m not all over the place tomorrow when I get back to my office.”

Speaking of work, the portfolio I was going to work on was conveniently in Callum’s home. Now, how in the world do I fetch it without having him know that I came by? I believe I left it at a nearby settee before I went to go knock on his study that night. Yeah, it was right about there, I was almost sure.

Alec gave me a big hug, kissing my cheek. “See you at lunch tomorrow, S.”

I gave them all a quick farewell before I hailed a black cab and gave Callum’s address in Chelsea. Usually at this time he was in the study, working. Or he could be out on a business dinner or with another woman. Who knew?

Our abrupt conversation earlier left me in a bad place, but as much as I liked to be around him, if he was acting like a cold, detached brute, then I’d rather be doing my own thing. If sex was all he was after, then let’s leave it at that. My feelings were already in the shitters. I couldn’t simply risk going deeper with the pile I had already.

Even if I was hurting inside, no one would know.

Almost half an hour later, the cab delivered me outside his home. I wasn’t nervous, per say. Somehow, I felt like I was doing a James Bond stint, oddly enough. Coming in and out of his house without his knowledge was, well, sneaky.

Callum’s home was a three-story building. The first floor had his study, dining room and kitchen. The second had the sitting room and living room. The third had the bedrooms in it. His basement had been basically transformed into a gym. It was a great, pricey, bachelor pad of meshed antique collections and modern contemporary design.

I had to take a few deep breaths before I used the key to enter his home. My heart thudded wildly against my chest as I slowly and quietly tiptoed into the softly lit foyer.

When I got to the hallway, I almost groaned when I found it dark. I had to pause to let my eyes adjust to the darkness before I continued on my tiptoeing quest for my project folders.

From my memory, the settee was between here and the study. So, I should be there any second now. From afar, a soft glow filtered underneath the door. Callum was working in the study, which was a good sign.

Spreading my hand a little wider as I went along, I needed to make sure I wasn’t going to miss the spot. When I did feel the soft, velvety settee, I immediately hunted for it, however it wasn’t on it so I had to check behind the tiny pillows. Still, no result.

“Shit!” I hissed out, whispering into the air.

My heart lodged in my throat when the hallway lights immediately brightened the darkness around me.

“Looking for something?” Callum spoke from behind me. Suspicious.

Fuck.

My.

Life.

Without turning around, I responded to him. “I left something here last night and I came back to fetch it.”

“It’s in my study.” He sounded calm, composed and very much detached… like the old Callum I knew well.

Spinning around, I pasted on half a smile. “I’d appreciate it if you could get it for me. I need to work on them tonight, if you don’t mind.”

“Where were you this afternoon?” he asked, clearly not amused as he ignored my fake smile.

Why was he asking about my whereabouts? “I was busy.”

“With who?” Callum bit out.

---