by Maddie Wade
“Take off your shirt and do that same pose with Callie. I need Pierce to see it.”
“I’m not a model.”
“I know that, although with that jawline and the body I suspect you have under there, you should be.”
“Please, Reid. I just need Pierce to see what we need from him.”
“Yeah, please take off your clothes, Reid, the hunky bodyguard,” Pierce purred.
Reid looked at them all as if they had lost their minds, he had no intention of putting himself that close to Callie. But then she looked at him with that pleading, cute as fuck look he noticed she did when she wanted something, and he felt himself giving in. “Fine, but these never see the light of day.”
“Scouts honour,” Callie replied with a smile.
Reid shook his head and pulled his shirt over his head, tossing it on the floor.
“Oh, my,” Pierce sighed as he watched Reid walk to where he and Callie had been standing.
“What now?”
Callie smiled, and he scowled at her. She was enjoying his discomfort too much. “Stand behind me and put your hands on my hips.”
Reid did that keeping some distance between them. Callie backed up until her entire back was flush to his front, before lifting her arm and wrapping it around his neck as if she was pulling him down for a kiss.
Reid could feel the silky heat of her soft skin against his chest, and it was better than he’d imagined it would be. The curve of her ass pressed against his dick that was already hard from the feel of her, and her eyes went wide and her lips parted as she looked into his eyes.
Their faces were inches apart, and he could feel the tickle of her breath on his face, see the desire darken her green eyes to a moss green flecked with amber in the middle. Her full pouty lips, covered in some kind of gloss, made him want to take a bite, to taste the sweetness he knew he’d find there.
He felt his hands grip her hips tighter, pulling her closer, feeling the soft flesh give at his touch as his head moved closer until their lips were almost touching and he could see the beating pulse in her neck, feel her desire for him.
He couldn’t remember ever being this attracted to a woman. He wanted to spend hours fucking her, exploring her body with his hands and mouth. Watching her face as she climaxed from his fingers, mouth, and cock.
“Oh my God, that’s perfect.” The clicking of the camera lens brought him out of his lust induced fog, and he pushed away, putting a hefty distance between him and Callie as he grabbed his shirt.
“If you want me, I’ll be on the phone outside.”
He strode for the door, ignoring the chatter behind him. He needed fresh air before he did something stupid like act on his need for the woman he’d known less than twenty-four hours and who was already turning his neat life upside down.
Reid didn’t go far, just paced outside the room trying to get his body back under control. A timely call from Clay lit up his phone.
He answered on the second ring, hoping his guilt wasn’t noticeable to his buddy through the phone. “Hey, Clay.”
“Reid, how is everything? Is Callie okay?”
“Callie is fine, but a little heads up that she was Calista Lundholm would’ve been nice.”
“Yeah, I forgot to mention that. My bad.”
“Yeah, like ever. How come you never told me she’s done so well for herself?”
“Callie doesn’t like me making anything of it and to be honest, it never came up.”
“Well, I’m here with Mitch and Liam. We’re going over her security, who I fired this morning by the way. The little prick didn’t give a shit about her, only her money. I’ll find someone new. I have some contacts.”
“Fuck. Thanks, Reid.”
“Don’t thank me yet, it gets worse. Callie has a stalker, and he’s escalating. I don’t know if it’s quick or if it’s been going on for a while. I think it’s been a while.”
“Shit, what did Callie say?”
“She has no idea; she’s had a few things happen but nothing that was a red flag to her.”
“Things like what?”
“Notes, flowers, things going missing or misplaced on set. Nothing at home though, thank God. I have Liam and Mitch going over the CCTV for a lead and I’m going through her list of contacts but so far there’s nothing obvious. I need to look into a few people, though.”
“Okay, keep me posted. Is your boss good with this?”
“He will be, I’m sure. He’s my next call.”
“Thanks, Reid. Give Callie a hug for me but keep it PG so I don’t have to castrate you.”
Reid snorted to hide the choking feeling of guilt. “Good copy.” He signed off and ran his fingers through his hair.
“Coffee?” Sophia asked and handed Reid a cup which he took.
“Thanks.” The coffee was excellent and black, just how he liked it.
“Is she going to be able to honour her commitments?”
He eyed the woman next to him. She looked like she was worried, but he could see that underneath the concern was a cutthroat businesswoman wanting money and prestige. “Maybe.”
“Maybe isn’t an answer. Callie needs to honour these bookings, or they’ll find someone new. There’s always someone ready to step in and fill the shoes of the older models.”
“Older models? Callie is what? Twenty-five?”
“Twenty-six and that’s getting old for a catwalk model.”
“Fuck me,” he said, shaking his head.
The woman was in her prime, barely legal in the US to drink, and she was already considered over the hill.
“I’ll do what I can to make sure she honours her commitments, but,” he said when Sophia smiled, “I won’t compromise her safety. If anything else happens then all bets are off, and I won’t argue with you on that. You and Melvin will just have to fucking deal with it.”
“Fair enough.” Sophia walked away, already digging her phone from her pocket.
It was time to check in with Jack and update him, then he needed to speak with Mitch and Liam. He was just finishing up with Jack when Callie walked off the set, her robe covering her again.
“Hey,” she said with a blush, but she didn’t duck her head like he expected.
“Hey. You done?”
“Yes. Just need to get changed and take this make-up off, then I am. Why?”
“Because I’m fucking starved. Want to grab a burger before we go home?”
“Sshh, you can’t say burger around here. Sophia will have a fit if she catches me eating something like that.”
Reid smiled at her easy laugh. “I won’t tell if you don’t.”
“Well, in that case, give me ten minutes.”
Reid watched her walk to the trailer and couldn’t fight the feeling that it didn’t matter what he did, this woman was going to be trouble. It didn’t stop him from watching her the entire way there with a smile on his face, which instantly made him frown when he realised.
He was so fucked.
Chapter Six
The Fox and Crown pub was crowded with lunchtime regulars when Reid pulled the car into the parking lot. After nearly three years of living here, she still hadn’t got over her love of the family pubs that were around every corner.
This one was a little out of their way, but as she stepped inside, she smiled. The dark oak beams, uneven, tile floor and shining brass optics were gorgeous, and the dried hops that decorated the top of the bar above her head made her feel as if it she was in another world.
Reid ordered a beer for himself, and she went wild with a diet coke, knowing she’d consume enough calories to keep her in the gym for an extra hour as it was. They took a seat in the corner, close to a window and away from too many prying eyes in the bar, and picked up the menu which was sandwiched between the salt and pepper pots.
Callie could feel Reid’s eyes on her and looked up at his frowning face. He’d been smiling when she walked away and into the trailer, but when she’d come out, he’d shut down
again.
The impromptu photo shoot had probably been a mistake, but she was already having trouble keeping her body in check around this man. Having him touch her in such a way, look at her like he wanted to kiss her, feeling his hands on her skin, his chest against her back had been hot.
No other way to describe it, she’d been seconds away from kissing him when the sound of the camera had pulled him from his daze. He’d let her go as if she’d burned him and walked out of there like the devil was on his heels.
She knew he wanted her, the evidence of that had been pressed against her ass, and even if it wasn’t, she wasn’t a fool, she knew when a man wanted her. What was unusual was that she wanted him as strongly as she did. Reid affected her in a way no man ever had before, and yet he seemed to hate the fact he was attracted to her.
Maybe it was just a physical thing, or perhaps he didn’t want to feel that way. Regardless, they needed to find a way to communicate because the stalker situation had to be dealt with.
“Listen,” she began, and he looked up from his menu. “I know we haven’t got off to a great start, but maybe we should try and be friends. I need you until my team can get a handle on things, and I don’t want things to be awkward between us.”
“I fired your security team,” he said as he took a sip of his beer.
Callie felt her jaw go slack and fought to keep her composure—and her temper. “I’m sorry, what?”
“They were incompetent and slack. Liam, Mitch, and I should never have been able to walk up to your door, and the security in your home is shit. So, I fired them.”
“You can’t just fire my security.”
“Too late, I already did.”
Taking a deep breath, she practised some breathing techniques while the waitress arrived and took their order. Her appetite gone, she ordered a bacon burger and fries anyway. She had enough to deal with without Reid looking at her like she was going to faint any second.
The fact was, she was about to change her team anyway, but that was her decision to make not Reid’s. She knew he was waiting for her reaction, and it wasn’t lost on her that his announcement came after she’d asked if they could be friends. Reid seemed to be the master of evasion.
“So I take it you have a plan?”
He shrugged his big shoulders. “A few. I need to make some calls.”
“Any chance you want to clue me in as I’m the one going to paying them?” she asked through gritted teeth.
“A friend in Hereford has a security company. I’m waiting for a call back from him.”
“Fine,” she said, letting it go. “You’ve seen my schedule and how much travel I’ve got coming up. What’s the plan for that?”
“I’ll be travelling with you.”
“You what?”
“I’ll be travelling with you as your bodyguard until we get someone else on board and find the stalker.”
“We don’t even know there is a stalker, this could be a random thing.”
Reid shook his head, and his eyes went hard. “Fraid not, sunshine,” he said, sounding genuine. “We found cameras in your home and evidence last night wasn’t the first time this person has been on your terrace.”
Nausea crept up Callie’s throat and she swallowed hard to force it away. Her body shook as panic from Reid’s words invaded her system.
“Fuck.” Reid bit out as he moved so he was crouched low in front of her, hands on her knees. “Focus, baby. Just look at me,” he demanded, and her brain automatically obeyed the command and moved to his face. “I won’t let anything happen to you; do you understand? I’ll keep you safe until we’ve found this guy.”
“Okay,” she said, and her voice sounded weak even to her. She felt him rubbing his thumb over her knee in a calming gesture which was having anything but a calming effect.
“Good, now let’s eat and then get you home,” he said standing and moving away to his seat as the food arrived. Callie instantly missed the physical contact, even though it was small.
She smiled as he watched her and waited for her to start eating before he nodded, seeming content that she was all right for now and then dug into his own burger.
The food was excellent, and as they ate, she relaxed again and asked him about his family and his job.
“Well, mom is still working her ass to the bone. Nessa is in remission, we got the news just last week, and Tori is applying for different colleges.”
“You must miss them,” she said, hearing the affection for his family evident in his voice.
“I do, but I also love what I do here. I get back when I can though. What about you?” he asked as he threw his napkin on his empty plate and eyed her fries. She pushed them towards him with a grin, and he dove right in.
“I miss Clay and my parents but I don’t have a lot of friends back home now. Modelling took me out of school a lot, and I ended up being home-schooled. The modelling world is cutthroat, so not too many friends there. The few I did have either stabbed me in the back or fell in with the wrong crew, and we lost touch.”
“That must be lonely?”
“I guess, but I’m so busy I don’t get a lot of time for anything anyway.”
“No serious boyfriends?”
Callie snorted at that. “You saw the list.”
“Yeah, but surely there’s someone who caught your eye for longer than a few weeks?”
Yeah, you and then only the pictures of you from my brother’s phone. “Not really,” she answered instead.
“You should meet my friend’s girlfriends, Evelyn and Pax. They’re both fashion lovers and would love you.”
She tipped her head to smile at him. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“I’d like that.”
“I’ll see if I can make it happen in your crazy schedule.” He laughed and tipped back the rest of his drink and laid some cash on the table.
“Let’s get home,” he reached for her and placed his hand on her lower back as he walked her to the car. The warm feeling in her lower belly was just going to have to go ignored.
The last two weeks had been a whirlwind, from Paris to New York then Ibiza then home. Through it all, Reid had been polite, patient, and kind but with a definite do not cross the line vibe. Callie adjusted the vent towards her face, hoping the blast of cold air from the AC would keep her awake as Reid drove them home. Exhaustion was her constant companion these days.
For her part, life had continued the same, the stalker wasn’t mentioned and there had been no further incidents. Reid had as he’d promised to put her in touch with a security company he’d already vetted, and she was talking with the owner the following Monday.
“Modelling is harder work than I gave it credit for,” Reid commented as she rather ungracefully stifled another yawn.
“It’s not the glamorous life of parties that people make it out to be, at least not for me.” She turned her head to watch the drizzle coming down on the windscreen. Reid was just too handsome a temptation after two weeks together.
“How did you get into it?”
“I got scouted at a shopping mall when I was doing a cheerleading demonstration. Signed on with an agency and the rest just snowballed from there. I actually wanted to be a guidance counsellor.”
This was the first personal conversation they’d had since the pub. They’d arrived home to be met by Mitch and Liam, and things had turned to the stalker. It was nice to talk to someone, someone real, who wasn’t paid to be there like Sophia or Mel were.
“You would’ve been good as a counsellor. I mean, you’re an excellent model obviously, but you’re a good listener as well.”
She turned and flashed a smile at the genuine compliment. “Thanks. I guess I help people in different ways now. Money affords me the chance to help more people than I could have otherwise.”
Reid nodded and was silent, she wondered if it was insensitive to talk about her vast wealth, but it was part of who she was. Being embarrassed by it when she had earne
d it was silly. Yet, she had always felt a little guilty for being paid so much for basically having her picture splashed across the world, when so many others could barely eat.
Reid pulled into the parking garage of her building and killed the engine, before turning in his seat to face her. “You’re not what I expected, Callie East,” he said using her real name, not the professional one everyone else used.
She considered that for a second as she let her eyes wander over his strong profile. “Neither are you, Kirk Reid.”
The moment seemed charged with electricity, the cab of the vehicle practically vibrating with it. She’d done her best to keep their exchanges to friendly banter with nothing that could be considered flirty or suggestive. Reid had made it clear he wasn’t there for that and Callie wanted to grasp whatever she could from this enigmatic man.
“What did you think I’d be like?” he asked with a tilt of his head.
“I don’t know, but not sweet and kind and thoughtful. You’re a good friend, Reid.” She forced the words past a sudden lump in her throat. She didn’t want him to see how disappointed she was at the thought of only being his friend. She wanted more, and she couldn’t have it.
“I don’t want to be your friend, Callie.”
He reached up and cupped her neck with his palm, causing a shaky breath to escape. Her eyes moved to his lips that seemed to be coming closer. Her eyes closed as she waited for the second his lips would touch hers, when a loud bang on the window made them both jump apart.
“Shake a leg, you two,” Liam said, grinning at them through the window.
Reid sighed and pulled away but not before she saw the relief on his face. He’d been about to kiss her, and he was glad he hadn’t. That stung, but maybe he was right in his thinking. Kissing would only make her want something more, and the thought of his kiss made her think of forever, which was silly.
Reid wasn’t the settling down type, she remembered her brother saying so and everything she’d seen confirmed that theory. His job and lifestyle didn’t leave a lot of time for a relationship, not that she could talk. Her life was crazy busy, and she barely saw Bono these days.