I could get through an agonizing two hours if it meant he’ll leave me alone and Jamie would be less stressed and annoyed at work. I’d go to bat for her any day of the week. If I got through this lunch without any frustration, then I’m sure dinner will be precisely the same.
An hour later, we returned back to Jamie’s office without any more conversational topics I was either avoiding or getting annoyed by and instead was replaced with a long bout of silence on the entire ride back. There was nothing for me to say and nothing about him I was interested in knowing more about, so I didn’t owe him any favors either.
“We have returned,” Callum announced to his staff. “Marta, did I have any messages?”
“Yes, sir. You have a couple of messages from media vendors that returned your call.”
“Great,” he replied while skimming the messages. “I’ll be in my office, hold my calls until I come out. I need to make sure I get a hold of these companies today.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Oh and Marta?”
“Yes, sir?”
“Just call me Callum.”
“Okay, thank you.” Marta understood, and Callum smiled before shutting his office door.
“How was your lunch?” Jamie asked me the exact instant Callum was out of earshot.
“Bloody fantastic,” I answered mocking Callum with a fake British accent.
“That bad huh?” Jamie laughed.
“Actually, it was bearable. Was annoying in the beginning but it eventually calmed down.” I shrugged.
“You’re starting to like him, aren’t you?” Jamie grinned.
“Oh, no way.” I waved my hands around. “I do not like the guy. He is such an arrogant son-of-a-bitch like he’s God’s gift to women. I had to practically agree to a date just to get him to shut up.”
“No, you didn’t!”
“I did, unfortunately.”
“Why? What happened?”
“I don’t know, he was just so arrogant. He wouldn’t take me back to the office until we had a ‘proper outing’ as he called it. He asked if I wanted to go out on an official first date and well, I was afraid that we would be sitting there forever, so I just agreed. I figured that if I agreed, he’d leave you alone too.”
“What happens after the first date?” Jamie asked.
“Don’t know, don’t care. He promised to leave me alone after one date so I’ll be free and clear after it is over and he also promised that the only thing we will be doing is talking over dinner and that’s it. Two hours and I’m scot-free.”
“Just don’t fall in love.” Jamie teased.
“Doubt that’ll happen. Sooo not into the guy. It’ll be a quick two hours and my life can return to its normal boring self.”
“Yet, I’ll still be stuck with him. Hey, I have an idea.” Jamie had this scare idea hatching expression. She was a brilliant person and half of what she came up with scared me shitless to know her.
“Does it involve me?” I was afraid to ask.
“Of course it does. Oh my god, I am so brilliant!”
“What kind of plan are you devising? Am I going to regret agreeing to something?”
“Just hear me out. I have a way for Callum to leave me alone permanently.”
“That is great news. What is the idea?” I was excited. Kill two birds with one stone.
“Make him fall in love with you!”
“What? No way! No, no and definitely NO way.” I said adamantly.
“Oh, come on Lisa. You’re going on a date with him anyway, all you have to do is be your usual charming self and not look at him as a disgusting little troll.”
“I get that part, but if he falls in love with me after our first date which I don’t think will happen, brings me to my next concern of him wanting to spend more time with me.”
“Just make excuses, draw it out…stick to phone calls only.”
“That’s even worse!”
“How are phone calls even worse?”
“Because when you are with someone in person, you have a lot of things happening around you as a distraction and time wasters. On the phone, its just him and me alone and the focus is on the intimacy. It’s like foreplay with your voice.” I explained.
“You mean phone sex.”
I sighed knowing I was this close to agreeing with the stupidest idea she’s ever come up with.
“Never mind. I’m going home.” I readjust the strap of my purse on my shoulder.
“No, Lisa wait. I was just joking. I get what you’re saying, but this can work. Just make him fall in love with you on this date and if he wants to see you again just keep rescheduling.”
“I can’t keep rescheduling forever, and I don’t want to talk to him on the phone, video chat with him or anything at all. I don’t want to spend any more time than this one date.”
“Fine. I’ll think of something.”
“Well, you better think of it quick because I don’t want to deal with him becoming infatuated and then he’ll never leave me alone.”
“Don’t worry! I’ll figure it all out by the time your date happens. When is it by the way?”
“I don’t know yet but hopefully soon. I want to get it over with, but I’m assuming I’ll hear from him soon. Regrettably, I gave him my number.”
“Okay, good.”
“Anyway, I’ve gotta get out of here otherwise I’ll be late picking up Carlie from school.”
“Okay, I’ll see you soon. Don’t worry, I have everything under control.”
“You better and you owe me BIG time. Huge.” I pointed at Jamie before I exited the building.
Agreeing to date with Callum King is one thing, but getting out of a second one with him would be impossible. I don’t know how Jamie was going to do it, but she better find a way to end this whole thing because I didn’t feel right deceiving anyone even if someone like Callum deserved it. Pretending to care about someone was so very wrong, and it didn’t bode well for me, and I already felt guilty about it.
He was pretty damn fine and not bad to look at, and when he wasn't a complete ass, he could be funny. Too bad I wasn’t looking for anything more than what we’ve already done and what I already agreed to. I am not in the least bit interested in finding out what Callum King is like deep down, so why did it feel like I had to keep convincing myself that I didn’t care?
Chapter Eight
CALLUM
IN ALL MY YEARS OF NEGOTIATING DEALS AND ANALYZING THE WAY people made decisions, I have never met a person I couldn’t figure out so I was pretty confident that Lisa would agree to go out with me. I knew within the first few minutes that there was something behind her negative declarations and defensive banter that she was hiding something. Although, I didn’t know what it was quite yet I was determined to find out. It wasn’t the motivation behind wanting to spend more time with her, it was because she was a curious little thing.
I also knew women just as well as I knew how to negotiate but better. I knew what women wanted in a man, how they wanted to be approached and treated and what made them tick. It never took me long to make them compliant, but I was tired of being agreed with. I liked it when a woman challenged me, made me think and shocked me. I loved it even more when she called me out on my shit.
Lisa was all of those things: she was gorgeous, beautiful and fiery and it turned me on every time she shot back a witty quip. That is why I wanted to see her again, I wanted more of that fire that made me hard each time she opened her mouth. I wanted to know more about her and who she was without the banter also, but I had to find out why she had this dislike towards me after having such a great time.
I wonder if it had anything to do with feeling guilty about what we did. She said she had free time and wanted one night of fun by herself but chose not to spend the time with any of her friends, not even Jamie. I found that rather odd. Could it be that she was already in a relationship or married? Was that the reason? Did she feel guilty about cheating on whoever she was in a
relationship with and wanted to avoid getting caught by getting rid of me?
This was certainly something that I needed to settle before I continued pursuing her. That talk about one more date was balderdash. If she were indeed single and available, I would probably not be okay with ending potentially a good thing. The fact that I was turning women down just for a chance at getting to know her should allude to how deadly serious I was about getting to know her. If she was playing games and being purposely deceitful, I wasn’t going to let her get away with it. No one made a fool of Callum King.
I didn’t have any friends here in Southern California other than business associates I’ve made along the way whenever I’ve made business trips here off and on over the years but no one I would call a friend. The only person I could potentially talk to about anything would be, Sam. He was the only person here that I have had some sort of personal time spent with so it made sense to invite him over for a beer and see what advice he could give me.
He managed to land a lovely lady like Jamie, and she was just as much of a spitfire as Lisa was. The only difference was Sam was more of the calm, old-fashioned sort so how he managed to not only win over Jamie but also handle her was something I really wanted to know how to do.
Sam and I had a change of plans and decided to just scoot on over to the local watering hole near the office after we closed up for the night. I was grateful not only for the company but also to be shown around to some local spots. I’ve spent the last few weeks in my penthouse drumming up ideas and haven’t really had anyone to hit the town with so I was grateful for the plans other than the impromptu BBQ and scotch I had with Sam and Jamie when I first arrived.
“Thanks again for this, mate. It really means a lot. I’ve been dying to get out.” I slapped his back as we walked towards the more active part of the downtown area in Sutton Hill.
“It’s not a problem, Callum. I’m glad you asked me to show you around, I completely understand the situation you’ve been in. You are living in a new town, regardless of how permanent. Although you’ve fit in quite nicely in the office and fit the mold as far as the town goes…you had a stable life and we sort of took you away from it.”
“You didn’t exactly take me away from the life I had back in my hometown. I accepted your offer didn’t I?”
“You know what I mean. You had a comfortable life that you built up, and we changed it.”
“I had the final say, so if it changed, it was because of me. I knew what I was getting into and I’m quite fine with that, but I need to be on the piss now and then. Get energy out, yeah? You know, have a bit of a drink.”
“Oh, yes. It’s good to go out and get drunk, party or whatever it is you need to do after working so hard like you do. I personally like to go home, relax with a good glass of bourbon, go out on the boat with Owen or spend time with Jamie.”
“Jamie, not much of a sailor?”
“No, she gets seasick easily, and anti-nausea pills don’t always work for her, but she will make an effort now and then.”
Several minutes later we arrived at an establishment called Calle, that looked like an American gastropub and steakhouse that overlooked the water and pier. It had wall to wall windows and was a fantastic choice to dine at as the sun was starting to set, and the view was made visible to all of the patrons wherever they ate.
“Such a vision.” I gasped in awe.
“Indeed. I take Jamie here every chance we have. The porterhouse is even more amazing here.”
“More amazing than this?” I pointed towards the sun setting behind the pier.
“You’ll see.”
“I guess that means you’re doing the ordering for the both of us.”
I had to concede to Sam when our meal arrived sometime later, and it looked divine. For the both of us he ordered the porterhouse accompanied with garlic mashed potatoes n gravy and grilled asparagus seasoned with salt, pepper and drizzled with olive oil.
“I am now on Team Calle,” I mumbled as I chewed.
“Didn’t I tell you?” Sam chuckled before taking a sip of his IPA.
“You did, and I am ashamed I didn’t believe you the first time around.” I mimicked and took a sip of my own IPA bottle. “So tell me about you and Jamie. How long have you two been together?”
“Officially? Around 15 months give or take.”
“Did you two meet at the Foundation?”
“No, we meant several months before that.” Sam took another sip of beer.
“If you don’t mind me being inquisitive but how did you two meet? You don’t look like you both normally cross paths so I’m curious as to what the story could be.”
Sam sighed before answering, “You’re right, we didn’t run in the same circles, not even close. We met at Animus; it’s a martial arts gym.”
“Ah, you train in martial arts? What style?”
“Primarily Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu but Muay Thai is taught there as well.”
“Jamie trains there too?”
“Yes, that’s how we met. We were asked to train together, and we kept running into each other whenever she played at the country club. She has a band.” I explained.
“She has a band too? Wow, I would have never guessed.”
“Neither would I, but I guess after running into each other a lot, she was looking to change jobs, and so she started working here.”
“Then you two got together,” I answered for him.
“She actually pursued me, but I don’t know if she would have if I didn’t give her the idea.” Sam was smug about the fact. I think he rather enjoyed knowing that.
“What do you mean?”
“I just went for it at the beach. We were talking about plans I had for the Foundation, and I went for it. I didn’t intend to, but things happen for a reason. I regretted it instantly but Jamie’s stubborn. She was determined for us to be together and she never gave up believing it would happen. I kept running from it, but I’m glad she was persistent and never gave up on me.”
“You’re a lucky guy.”
“I definitely know that. I make it up to her every day, and I intend on doing it for the rest of my life.”
“Any desire to take it further?” I inquired.
“Marriage you mean? Yeah, that’s definitely the end goal. I’ve never had an exact timeline of when that would be, but I’ve been thinking about it more and more.”
I pat him on the back, “Well what are you waiting for then mate? You’ve got yourself a prize, go on and seal it up.”
“It’s coming. It’s definitely coming. What about you? You’ve got a lady back home?”
“Nah. I’m not spoken for.”
“Oh that’s right, I forgot. Jamie mentioned earlier that you and her friend Lisa had lunch. How’d that go?”
“Amazingly well. She’s a little devil, that one. We’re going on a date soon. She’s not quite fond of me though.”
“You’re going on a date, but you think she’s not interested in you? I don’t think she would have accepted if she wasn’t into you.”
“I think she only said yes to get me to stop pursuing her.”
“What makes you think that?”
“She seems to want to pick fights with me constantly.”
“Well, look at this way. If she hated you, she wouldn’t have agreed to lunch and date, so maybe it’s her way of pretending not to care.”
“Think so?” I asked.
“Definitely. It could be her way of being cautious. She wasn’t too fond of me in the beginning either.”
“You know her, she’s Jamie’s friend right?”
“Yeah, they’ve known each other for a long time.”
“What do you know about her?” I asked. I was eager for any information on her that would help me figure her out.
“She’s thirty. I know she has a daughter, but I don’t know anything about her. She’s fiercely independent, headstrong and very loyal. I could see it happening to you two if you are willing to not only han
dle all of that but are patient and know how to pick your battles. She’s going to be a tough one to crack.”
“I’ve noticed that,” I admitted.
“Know where you want to take her?”
“I’m rolling around a few ideas in my head, but nothing settled as of yet.”
“Well, if you want a chance with her you have to be patient like I said but don’t let her bulldoze you. She’s not a desperate woman, and she needs a more robust man to handle her, and you definitely need to win over Jamie. She isn’t exactly your biggest fan either.” he laughed.
“She isn’t? I thought she was quite fond of me.”
“Not at all. You infuriate her to no end. I tried to calm her down about it, but you keep screwing that up for me.”
“Sorry, mate. I didn’t know. I wonder what I could have possibly done.”
“I think she doesn’t like the fact that you bother her for everything.”
“It’s a compliment. I told her that if she wants to go far, she is going to learn how to lead. No one out there is going to take her seriously if you’re always by her side to save her. She’s definitely going to have to learn how to take criticism and learn to take a step back and remove her emotions from every given situation and the fact that I go to her shows my confidence in her potential.”
“Well, I don’t think she realizes that’s what you think. Jamie’s mind is ruled by her heart, and she’s a very reactive person. She needs to be explained things. Otherwise, she’ll make assumptions about what your intentions are, and I think right now she thinks that you’re just an asshole who likes to piss people off because you’re very confident in yourself.”
“I am confident in my abilities to do anything, but I’m sorry if she thinks I’m an arsehole.”
“Don’t tell me, you should tell her,” Sam suggested.
“Right-o. I think she deserves a big apology.” I agreed.
Twelve Nights (Serendipity Book 3) Page 5