Callum nods and returns the man hug with the customary back slap. “I was here the other day, but you weren’t, and you know why I couldn’t come before that.”
“Well, water under the bridge. You’re here now.”
“Yes, and I have company,” Callum says with a smile.
“Who is this beautiful woman?” Gio’s warm eyes turn to me.
“This is Nicole Dupree. She’s the girl I’m planning to win over.”
Great, the whole not sleeping together or dating thing didn’t sink in.
Gio nods, and my lips part. “I see, well, Nicole, you’re in for a ride with this guy. I’ve known him for a long time, and I’ve never seen him fail.”
“I don’t plan to this time either,” Callum informs me.
Why does that statement make me want to both jump his bones and run? He’s even sexier when he’s broody and arrogant. Bastard. I have to stay strong. There are solid reasons why even this lunch is a bad idea. I don’t know anything about Callum. He could be taken for all I know. Sure, he doesn’t wear a ring and he hadn’t mentioned anyone else back home, but I know as well as anyone that it doesn’t really matter.
I lean back in my seat and cross my arms, ensuring my voice is as strong as my will. “Well, you’re not the only player in this game. I think you’ll find I’m a rather worthy opponent.”
Gio laughs. “Maybe you’ve finally met your match. I like this one, Cal.”
The nickname stops me. I just can’t picture anyone calling him anything other than Callum. The name Callum is strong, powerful, sexy as fuck.
“Cal?” I ask.
Callum rolls his eyes. “Only three people in the world can call me that, Gio, Milo, and my stepfather. Well, I guess my mum does, but it’s very rare she calls me Cal, although I would never stop her.”
I smile. “Well, Cal, we’ll see if there’s anyone else to hit your list.”
He shakes his head and offers me a panty-dropping smile. “Not happening, love.”
The term of endearment does something it shouldn’t be allowed to do since I’m strictly not going there. I shouldn’t like the way the letters rolled off his tongue. I shouldn’t want to hear it again and again, maybe even record it so I can hear it whenever I want. None of that should be happening inside me, but it is.
I don’t like this. I need it to stop.
“Well, I really need to get going,” I say as I get up.
His hand shoots out, gripping my wrist, and electricity courses through me. I pull my hand back, needing to break the physical connection, but when my eyes cut to his, I see it written all over his face. He sees it too. His pupils are dilated, and his breathing is slightly accelerated. I cannot go there again.
“Please don’t leave.”
“This isn’t a good idea,” I say, holding on to the very little amount of self-preservation I have left.
“What? Eating a meal?”
I close my eyes and sigh. “We both know that’s not what I’m talking about.”
Callum gets to his feet, his height dwarfs mine, as does his presence. “I promise to behave. This is just lunch. What can be the worry in having a lunch together?”
It isn’t just lunch, it’s my traitorous heart and body that can’t seem to stop wanting him. It’s that, when he walked in, my stomach tightened and my heart raced. It’s all the things that scare me because he’s my damn client. He’s also this mystery and someone I, Nicole Dupree, ran the hell away from. That is not normal. That is not okay, and I can’t let myself fall for him.
I look up, loving the deep pools of blue that reflect back at me, and I hear the hint of confusion in my own voice. “It’s not just you I worry about.”
“What would make you feel more at ease?” His voice is calming, lulling me into a false security.
I can’t let myself fall into this trap. “Nothing. I’ve done this dance, and I ended up with a broken ankle. I won’t do that again.”
He brings his hand up to my face, brushing my hair back. “I don’t want anything, Nicole. All I want is for you to relax. I’m not going to hurt you. I won’t push you.” The sincerity rings true in each word. “I’m asking you to stay, have some pizza, and if you still want to leave when we’re done, I’ll understand. But Gio’s pizza is best eaten in the company of another.”
Ugh. Damn him. Now I feel like a crazy person because he really hasn’t done anything wrong. He’s been kind and polite, and I’m a loony person. I am not the loony person in my life. I’m the level-headed, sex-enjoying, fun friend. I do what I want with whomever I want and live a fucking joyous life. This guy has turned me into one of my crazy friends.
“Fine,” I say with defiance. I’m going to eat pizza and then be like, so long, big guy. That’s what a badass does. “I’ll sit, but if you do anything flirty, I’m gone.”
He raises his hands. “No flirting.”
“Okay.”
We both take our seats, and Gio comes back around the counter with bruschetta, fresh mozzarella, and slices of bread. “Thanks, Uncle Gio.”
He smiles at Callum. “Did you know Callum is the reason Periano Pizza is open?”
“I didn’t,” I say as I take a bite of the bread that’s been dipped in red sauce. “Oh my God!” I burst out. “This is heaven in my mouth.”
Callum nearly chokes on his food.
“Mind out of the gutter,” I tell him and turn back to Gio. “This is amazing. I’ve only ever had the pizza here, but this mozzarella with the sauce is unbelievable.”
“Thank you, it was my Grandpa Vito’s recipe.”
“Well, it’s fantastic,” I say and then shovel a forkful of the mozzarella into my mouth.
He nudges Callum. “I like this one. A woman who can eat is attractive.”
I smile. “Well, I should be damn near irresistible after this meal. I plan to lick the plate clean.”
Callum’s eyes meet mine. “I think that ship has sailed.”
I point with my fork at him. “No flirting.”
“I’m doing my best.” His hands go up in surrender.
Whatever.
“I don’t know if I would have the strength not to flirt,” Gio smiles.
“Believe me,” Callum says with strain, “it’s rather difficult, but she’s collaborating with me on a project, not dating, which she likes to make crystal clear.”
I shrug. “No dating clients. It’s a rule I live and die by.”
Callum grins. “We’ll see about that.”
After an amazing lunch, where Gio spoiled me rotten, Callum asked if I would show him one of my favorite places. So, we’re at the beach. My safe, calming, and soul-soothing place. Whenever I’m down or feeling off, I come here to find my center. It’s where I can let go of my issues, pretending the tide takes them when it leaves.
“You really spent summers here every year?” I ask as we walk along the shoreline. He seemed almost surprised when we came here, as if he’d never seen the ocean.
“I did. My father insisted I spent time in America. I was mostly in Georgia, but we came to Florida for two weeks each summer to check on his businesses here. His sister lived in Tampa which is what made him buy up property. I didn’t actually enjoy the area, though. I never got to see it.”
“That seems so sad. That you didn’t really get to do much.”
It’s crazy how much our childhoods mirror each other’s. My father enjoyed toying with my mother, he was always selfish with his wants instead of mine, and he was miserable most of the time.
“I’ve never seen the ocean like this,” Callum says as he looks out.
“Never? You never came to the beach?”
He looks off at the water. “I didn’t get to see the ocean unless I was looking through a window. My time here was always about learning what my mother didn’t care to teach us. Things like how to take a company and turn it to profit. You know, what every seven-year-old boy wanted to know when visiting his father . . .”
My heart breaks for
the boy in him. “I understand that more than you know. My father is a brilliant businessman as well. I never did fun things when it was his time with me. He was either working or I was stuck with my temporary mommy while she used his black card to redecorate what the last one did. I think it’s just how successful men who run empires are.”
Callum turns to me with soft eyes. “Not all of them.”
He’s saying so much more than the words. He’s saying he isn’t that way. He wouldn’t do that to his own child. I don’t know how I know all of this about him, but it’s there. I can see that Callum would be there in other ways that our fathers weren’t.
“No, I guess not. Maybe it’s a choice.”
His hand reaches out, and for some reason, I take it. It’s like two broken children just found something together. His thumb brushes against the top of my hand, and I become dizzy. Why does his touch always feel so right? Why am I so lost one second and then so found the next when he’s around? It makes no sense. We barely know each other, and yet, I understand him.
“I will never treat a child that way. I had the complete opposite at home with my mum. My stepfather was the one who took Milo and I everywhere. He always made sure that the only thing we always had was fun.”
I love that he had that. “My mom never remarried. My father broke her heart so badly that I don’t think she could ever find all the pieces.”
Like someone else standing on this beach.
“I’m sorry for her.”
I shrug and pull my hand back. Not wanting to seem like it was because of that moment that I did it, I pull my hair up into a messy bun and start to walk again. “It’s fine, she’s happy taking his money and irritating him. What is your mom like?”
He smiles, and I think this will be nothing like my feelings toward mine. “She’s wonderful. She is a great mum even though she had a lot of pain in her life. The complete opposite of my biological father. Warm, caring, always smiling as though she couldn’t stop herself. She had to endure a man who wasn’t capable of loving her or the son she loved more than her own life. I can’t imagine that was easy for her, so even if she has flaws, which she does, she did the best she could.”
I wish I could see things the way he does. I love my mother, I really do, but she drives me nuts. “Mine is a handful.”
He laughs. “Yes, it seems your mum and you aren’t close?”
“It’s not that we’re not close, it’s that we’re very different.”
“How so?”
I sigh. “Besides her being crazy when it comes to how I live my life? She’s very judgmental about me.”
“What about?” Callum pushes.
I really hate talking about her. I usually end up angry, but Callum was just open, and in some small part inside me, I want to do the same with him.
“She wants me to be married and popping out kids. I want none of that. I’ll never get married because monogamy is ridiculous. Who the hell wants to be with one person for the rest of their life? No one. We delude ourselves into thinking that this is what we’re supposed to do, and you know what? Most don’t.”
Callum stops walking. “You’re quite passionate about that, I see.”
One day, I’ll be able to control my tongue. Clearly, that day isn’t today. “I just . . . I don’t want to tie someone down who doesn’t want to be. I’ve seen what happens firsthand when there’s one person who wants out but isn’t mature enough to actually leave.”
That’s the best I can come up with. I would rather have zero expectations about a relationship and be surprised than have lofty expectations and end up hurt. My friends all thought their marriages were going to work and that was not the case. It’s better to be guarded than think love is sunshine and unicorn poop, because it’s not, love sucks.
“That’s fair, but what if you meet a man who wants to marry you, love you, and be devoted to you? There are men like that who exist.”
Ahh, the question that has no answer since it’s impossible to know the future. “Well, I’d ask him to flash forward in his time machine and show me how he feels in ten years, five, or even a month from that date. Chances are, he doesn’t feel that way again.”
He laughs. “So, you don’t believe a man can love a woman his entire life?”
“Yes, no . . . I’m not sure. It’s that unknown that keeps me from trying.”
And that I was a mistress and will never be the wife who is oblivious.
“That’s rather sad,” Callum says softly.
“I think it’s smart.”
“Sure, but at what cost?”
I shrug. “I think I’m fine. I have a great job, a wonderful home, unbelievable friends who have even more unbelievable kids. I have a very healthy sex life, and I’m happy. If the cost is that I’m not going to get my heart trampled, then that’s fine by me.”
Callum grabs my wrist, stopping me from going forward. “What if that man would give you more than you knew you could have? What if his touch made you faint in the knees? His love made you stronger instead of weaker? What if he protected you, keeping you from any pain because his life’s mission was just to make you smile?”
My heart races because I wonder if that is real. I close my eyes, letting the vision of Callum’s arms protecting me filter in. I allow the little movie to play out in my mind of us ten years down the road, wrapped up in a blanket on the beach as our kids played in the sand. His love cocooning me in a way I never thought possible.
When I open my eyes, I remember that I was naïve before when I thought the same with Andy, and the movie screen goes black.
“That’s a fantasy,” I tell him. “One that usually ends with tragedy. It’s better to just watch porn and call it a day.”
He chuckles. “Even a good porn movie ends with a happy moment.”
“Yeah,” I agree with a grin. “They both orgasm, which is the best ending you can get. And the only one I’m ever going to let play out.”
Chapter Twelve
Callum
It’s quarter after one, and I can’t sleep. All I can think about is Nicole. We enjoyed a few hours together on the beach, laughing, enjoying each other’s company and then I knew I had to back off. I remembered her offhanded comment in the restaurant about her broken ankle. Then, as she talked more about her feelings on love, it became clear she’d been hurt.
Today was a huge coincidence that worked to my benefit. I had planned to go see Gio since I’d been in town long enough without visiting. It’d been a long time since I’d stopped by, mostly because I knew there would be disappointment at my lack of communication. He’s the only man in America who ever felt like family. My father was more of a business partner, but Gio always offered me a friendship. Even though now, I guess he and I are business partners as well.
Ten years ago, my father decided he was going to sell the real estate he owned when his sister died. He didn’t care about the people it would effect. No, he only cared about further lining his pockets by selling to a developer who was going to tear it all down. I knew that it meant Gio would lose the pizza place, and I couldn’t allow it.
I bought it from dear old Dad under a shell company and gifted the use of the building to Gio. I was able to keep that quiet for about five years until Milo’s big mouth ruined it.
I was there on the street, debating whether I should go in, when I saw her sitting inside, and I couldn’t stop myself. I wanted to be where she was. It was a gamble whether she’d think I was crossing the line, but at the same time, I had to be close to her. Then, when her mother offered to leave, there was no doubt in my mind I would do whatever I could to spend some time with her.
I get out of bed, splash water on my face, and call my brother.
“What the fuck are you doing awake?” Milo answers the phone. “It’s one in the morning there.”
He’s a genius. “I’m aware of the time, I can’t sleep.”
“Clearly.”
“What’s going on at the office?” I ask, wanting
to get some work done since I’m awake anyway.
Milo runs over a few details on the projects we have going on. Thankfully, my staff there is capable of keeping things running without me there. This company doesn’t have that infrastructure yet. Nothing was done by others, he had his hand in every facet of his business.
I take the opposite side of how to run things. I believe trusting others is part of what makes you a good boss. You have to give people the lifeboat and hope they paddle to shore.
“When will you be back?” Milo asks.
I should be there right now. I planned to be back, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to leave. Mostly because, for the first time in a long time, there’s someone I want to be around.
“When I get things situated here,” I tell him. Vague answers are the best when it comes to my brother. If he thought I was returning tomorrow, he’d be off in the Greek Isles by sundown.
“And how long will that be?”
“I don’t know, Milo,” I snap. “There’s a lot of things I’m juggling. You’re going to have to do what’s necessary there or I’ll find someone else who is willing to step up.”
I start to pace, gripping the back of my neck. I knew this day would come at some point. Knew I was the only heir to my father’s estate, but I wasn’t nearly as prepared to take it over as I thought. What has me so on edge is my company in London. Dovetail is thriving there. It’s my dependable income, and while the US company is doing better, it’s a lot of gambles. I like a sure thing. It’s Milo who usually talks me into the risks.
Milo clears his throat. “All right, Cal, no need to be a bloody prick about it. Fuck, just keep me informed.”
“I will.”
My brother switches gears. “So, meet any hot women since you’ve been there?”
Immediately a vision of Nicole flashes before me. She’s driving me mad. I think about her smile, her voice, the way her aqua-colored eyes change based on what she’s wearing, and how she brushes her hair back when she’s slightly nervous.
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