Page 67 of Callum
He had?
“But,” he continued before she could get a word in, “if you keep getting distracted by your phone, neglecting your work, and making mistakes, I will have to take further action.”
Hang on a second… “Rick, I don’t make mistakes, Ineverneglect my work, and what exactly do you mean, further action?”
“You know what I mean, Fiona.”
So he wasn’t just being an ass now, he was threatening her employment? She crossed her arms and lowered her voice so her words reached only him. “Why do you do this, Rick? This last month, you’ve had moments where you’ve been downright awful to me.”
His eyes narrowed. “Don’t pretend you don’t know why.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You know exactly what happened. Then you came into work pretending it didn’t. That would piss off most men.”
Okay, now she was really confused. “I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Anger darkened his features. “You’re actually playing that card?”
“What card?”
The words were lost in the air because Rick was already turning and walking away from her.
What the hell was that? Good God, maybe she needed to see if there was a librarian position at The Community Library in Ketchum, because working under Rick just wasn’t good for anyone.
She blew out a breath and turned back to the computer screen, but the next hour was the slowest of her life. The library was dead, Rick basically ignored her, and Callum never responded.
“Hey, are you all right?”
She looked up at Patricia Edwards, an older librarian. She was nice, but part of that cliquey group of women who’d never welcomed Fiona into their fold. “I’m fine. Almost finished.”
Patricia patted her arm. “Good.”
Not caring what Rick said, she lifted her phone to send a quick text to Stacey. She needed someone to lift her mood.
Fiona: Tell me something funny. I need to laugh.
The phone dinged almost immediately.
Stacey: Mom got a new alarm system for her house for added security, but then stuck the code up next to the system in case she “forgot.” I tried explaining that it wasn’t a good idea, but the advice fell on deaf ears. The code is still there for whoever feels like breaking in. That’s the level of uselessness I come from.
Fiona laughed out loud. That sounded like Aunt Alison. The woman was great but didn’t always think her plans through. She was still smiling when the door opened, and Liam stepped in.
She frowned as he approached the desk, pushing her phone into her pocket. “Hey. What are you doing here?”
“Callum’s going to meet you at your place.”
Her frown deepened. Liam’s words weren’t curt or unfriendly, but they lacked the usual warmth. Plus, why was Callum meeting her at her place? And why hadn’thetold her?
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
“That’s between you and him, Fiona.”
She flinched. Not at his words, but at what hedidn’tsay. He didn’t confirm Callum was okay. He didn’t put any warmth into his voice. Hell, he barely met her gaze.
Something was wrong. Had something happened to Callum? Had he changed his mind about them?
Her chest began to rise and fall in quick succession, and she realized she was panicking…because she was falling for Callum. Had let herself fall hard. Given her heart permission even when the rest of her had rebelled against it from the beginning, warned her that it wasn’t smart, and she’d be hurt again.
