Page 36 of Callum
“When.”
“Okay.Whenwe have a first kiss, I want it to be just you and me. I don’t want the eyes of my family on us. I don’t want to wonder if my sister’s throwing death stares our way or aiming imaginary daggers toward my back. I want intimacy. And privacy. I want…just us.”
His eyes darkened, and something hot and unfamiliar flickered through them. Then he tugged her body even tighter against his. “I want those things too, honey.”
The pause that followed felt so deep and intense that she looked away. But she didn’t separate from him. Instead, she lay her head on his chest like she’d done it a million times before, and just rocked, allowing herself to be swept up in all that was Callum.
CHAPTER13
Fiona tugged Callum’s T-shirt over her head. And there it was again. The smell that was all him. It surrounded her. Consumed her. And she loved it.
She released her updo so her hair fell softly around her shoulders. Then she took a deep breath. She’d already brushed her teeth and scrubbed her face clean of makeup. Now she just needed to step out of the bathroom. But things felt different between her and Callum now. It wasn’t only because of the dance or the man telling her he wanted to kiss her. It was thetime spent with him. Time that had changed things between them. Twisted the relationship into something more intimate.
A delicious shiver ran through her at the memory of their dance. The feel of his arms around her as he whispered sweet things in her ear. They’d stayed on that dance floor for so long she’d had no choice but to forget there were others in the room. Forget Amanda’s words and Freddie’s presence.
With a steadying breath, she stepped out to find a shirtless Callum with his back to her as he faced the window. A phone was pressed to his ear as he spoke to, presumably, someone on his team. Words like “security” and “data” flew around. She stared at the deep ridges of muscles in his back. The way his olive skin glowed in the moonlight. The funny thing was, his back was just as spectacular as his front.
Then he turned, and those warm brown eyes darkened.
Suddenly, all ability to think or function fled. She wasn’t sure if he was feeling it too, but his words stopped as his gaze brushed over her body.
Holy God, she needed saving from this man.
She swallowed, screaming at her legs to move. When the message from her brain eventually reached her limbs, she made it to the bed, then slipped beneath the covers. But she wasn’t hiding herself from him. And more than that, she wasn’t running from their attraction.
Nerves almost rattled her teeth as she watched him end the call. Which was dumb, right? Because they’d already slept in the same bed. They’d done this last night. Except that was before they’d danced, and he’d admitted to wanting to kiss her. Oh, and she’d been drunk. Drunk people rarely got nervous.
She cleared her throat. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, the guys at work need me to look into something. It can wait until tomorrow.”
“They can’t do it themselves?”
He pulled back the sheets on his side of the bed. “I do a lot of the tech stuff for the company. Finding information. Hacking systems.”
So he was smart and gorgeous and sweet and dangerous.Great. “Is there anything youcan’tdo?”
He grinned. “I struggle to keep my library books in the same condition I borrow them.”
She laughed. He was right. His one flaw. “If that’s your only problem, you’re doing pretty well.”
He flicked off the light, and with a small sigh, she rolled onto her side, away from him. She lay there for a full five seconds, wondering if she should—
A strong arm slid around her middle and pulled her back into his front. She bit her lower lip to hold in the groan, because his body just felt so…dang…goodaround her. How the heck was she supposed to sleep without this tomorrow night?
She closed her eyes to the feel of him nuzzling her hair. “Thank you for letting me come this weekend.”
She could have laughed.Hewas thankingher? “Callum, you have done something for me that I’ll never be able to repay. This weekend should have been so incredibly hard, but it wasn’t. Because of you.”
“Maybe you can repay me by telling me your favorite food so I know where to take you when we get back.”
“Vanilla ice cream with crushed Oreos.” He laughed, and she quickly added, “But I don’t think that’s appropriate first-date food, so maybe lamb shanks?”
“Done.”
Her breath almost caught, because that was him admitting he’d be taking her on a date when they got home. Had this relationship shifted from something fake to something real? Could they make it work when they got home?
“Can I ask you something?” he asked quietly, his rumbly voice brushing over her skin.
