Page 54 of Callum
Callum was already planning on it.
When the officers left, he closed and locked the door, not thatthatwould do much good. Then he turned to see Fiona’s eyes darting around the space, like her mind was working overtime.
He stepped in front of her and touched her hip. “Talk to me, Fi. You okay?”
She stepped back, causing his hands to drop. His brows slashed together.
“Yeah, but I think I should stay somewhere else tonight. I might call Jenny and see if I can crash with her.”
Her words fell like blows to the gut. Hell no. He didn’t intend for the woman to leave his sight. “I’ll stay over. You’ll be safe with me.”
He was better than any locked doors anyway.
He stepped closer, but again she moved back, shaking her head, her voice quiet. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
What the hell was going on?
Suddenly, he remembered her face when she’d left the bathroom in the restaurant. He also recalled Kasey exiting the restroom after Fiona.
“What did she say to you?” he asked quietly. He wanted to lash out, but it wasn’t Fiona he was upset with.
Her eyes flashed up. “Who?”
“Kasey. She followed you into the bathroom. What did she say?”
She straightened. “She told me about your breakfast yesterday.”
He cursed under his breath. He should have told her about that. “She came over just as I was about to leave. Said her ex had come over in a rage and done some damage to her living room. She didn’t feel safe waiting for the police on her own, so I waited with her and made her something to eat.”
Fiona frowned. “Oh. She didn’t tell me that. Just that you had breakfast.”
“I did it out of duty, not anything romantic.”
She seemed to think about that for a moment. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I should have. But I know you’ve been burned before, and I didn’t want to say anything to make you question us.” He took a small step forward, testing the waters, relieved as hell when she didn’t back away. “If it ever happens again, I promise, I’ll tell you.” He’d made a mistake that he wouldn’t be repeating.
She gave a slow nod.
“You thought I’d blow you off for her?”
“It’s not hard to believe. She’s beautiful.”
He could have laughed. “No…you’rebeautiful.” She was the fucking definition of the word. At her silence, he raised a brow. “You don’t believe me?”
She lifted a shoulder. “I think my self-confidence is a bit low since Freddie.”
What he wouldn’t do to be able to hit that guy just once. Although, once probably wouldn’t be enough.
He took another small step forward, this time grabbing her hips. “Freddie is an asshole and didn’t deserve you. I know how lucky I am to have you, and I sure as hell wouldn’t do anything to risk losing you.”
“Really?”
Did the woman truly not see what he saw? She blew every other woman out of the damn water. “Yeah, honey. Really.”
Her chest rose and fell, then she reached for his head and tugged him down to her lips.
CHAPTER18
