The Wrong Callahan

by Karly Lane

  She didn’t immediately look up at him, but when she did he saw her eyes were clouded with emotion. ‘I need to tell you something,’ she said quietly.

  ‘You made out with my brother,’ he said dryly.

  He would have laughed at the speed with which her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open had the situation not been so damn serious. The image of her kissing Griff was still too raw to laugh at just yet.

  ‘I did not make out with your brother.’

  ‘Kinda looked like you were into it a little bit,’ he said, striving for a casualness he was far from feeling.

  ‘He caught me off guard. I had no idea he was going to kiss me.’

  ‘He still has a thing for you,’ Linc said after a moment of silence.

  ‘Apparently,’ Cash confirmed, sounding bitter. ‘However, I think he has a clearer understanding of how things stand now, though.’

  ‘Did you tell him? About us?’ He was fairly sure he wouldn’t still have his head attached to his shoulders if she had.

  ‘I told him there was someone else. He wanted to know who. I told him it was none of his business.’

  ‘I see.’

  ‘Do you, Linc?’ she snapped, sending him a narrowed glare.

  ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

  ‘What’s going on with you? You’ve been avoiding me all day.’

  ‘You were the one who insisted on keeping us a secret.’

  ‘This was different. You knew something was up with Griff today, didn’t you?’ she demanded.

  He made a small grunt deep in his throat but couldn’t very well deny it. ‘I tried to feel him out on how he’d handle you and I getting together and he told me he wanted to try with you again.’

  ‘And you just stepped aside and let him?’ she asked, sounding horrified.

  ‘What was I supposed to do? You didn’t want me to tell him before the wedding, remember?’

  ‘So you were okay with allowing your brother to make a move on me? I can’t believe you.’

  ‘I didn’t allow him to make a move on you,’ he growled. ‘How was I supposed to know he’d kiss you … or that you’d let him,’ he added, then regretted it the moment he saw the wounded on her face. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said, rubbing his eyes briskly. ‘Forget it.’

  ‘Did you even mean what you said last night?’

  ‘What?’ He dropped his hands and stared at her. ‘Of course I meant it.’

  ‘You stepped aside for your brother,’ she pointed out in a tone that held a note of betrayal.

  ‘I didn’t step aside … I …’ He sure as hell hadn’t spoken up and said anything either. He felt like a bastard caught in the middle of a hopeless situation. ‘What did you want me to do exactly, Cash?’

  He saw her shoulders lose some of their stiffness as she eased back against the bench and let out a long, frustrated sigh. ‘I guess we should have told him.’

  ‘Yeah, well, maybe in hindsight earlier would have been better. I don’t think we can though, not this close to the wedding. It’s not about us now,’ he said. And it wasn’t—it was about Hadley and making sure her wedding wasn’t ruined by her two brothers glaring at each other all day.

  The gentle trickle of the water fountain and hum of insects hung in the air around them. ‘Hey,’ he said, holding out a hand to her. He saw her look up at him before taking it. ‘Let’s put today behind us. It’s Christmas and we still have some celebrating to do.’

  He tugged her upwards and into his arms and suddenly all the negativity that had hung over him through the day was gone. She felt so good in his arms, pressed up tightly against him, her head resting perfectly against his chest. Everything he’d felt last night flooded back through him. That was all that mattered. He would never stand back and allow anyone to come between them again.

  Cash closed her eyes and breathed in the scent of the man whose chest felt so solid and safe beneath her cheek. Her arms tightened around his waist as a wave of longing and love washed over her. She’d been hurt by Lincoln’s refusal to step in earlier, and yet, standing here like this, it no longer mattered.

  ‘I think we should go inside and open our presents,’ she said, pulling away slightly to look up at him.

  ‘I can think of a present I’d like to unwrap,’ he told her with a wiggle of his eyebrows that made her laugh.

  ‘Come on, I was so good not unwrapping it this morning.’

  ‘Fine. Let’s go unwrap presents then,’ he said, trying to sound hard done by, but allowing her to pull him along the garden path towards the house. She couldn’t wait till he unwrapped his. She’d had to arrange for one of the clients to pick it up and bring it out for her only the day before and had been worried it might not turn up on time.

  Kneeling in front of the tree that she secretly loved, despite its delicate pine needles that drove her batty each day as she swept them up, Cash waited impatiently for Linc to hand her the wrapped gift. Buying your own presents wasn’t the same as someone else buying them for you. Almost reverently she began unwrapping the delicate tissue paper until she came to a flat, square box inside. She opened it slowly and her breath caught as she stared at the shimmer of gold that lay in the centre of the satin-lined box. ‘Linc,’ she breathed, unable to drag her eyes from the beautiful bracelet.

  ‘I was thinking more of sexy lingerie, but Hadley reckoned jewellery was the way to go.’

  ‘Linc, this is … too much. It must have cost a fortune.’ The diamond-set belcher bracelet twinkled up at her in all its golden glory.

  ‘I can swap it for a skimpy nurse costume,’ he offered.

  ‘Hmm, let me think … slutty nurse outfit or classy gold bracelet?’

  ‘Whatever. Your loss,’ he shrugged, although he looked rather pleased with himself.

  ‘What if I only wear the bracelet?’ she offered.

  ‘That could work.’ His eyes darkened and Cash shook her head helplessly at him, before reaching across to hand him his gift.

  ‘If this isn’t a skimpy pool boy costume, I’m gonna be really disappointed,’ he warned.

  ‘I don’t have a pool,’ she shrugged.

  ‘And apparently I don’t have a pool boy costume,’ he said, tearing open the wrapping paper.

  She watched him take out the photo frame and stare at it silently. Cash bit her lip. He hated it. ‘It was probably a dumb idea,’ she said feeling awkward.

  ‘No, it’s …’ He looked up at her with an almost stunned expression. ‘It’s perfect. Thank you,’ he said softly, his voice sounding huskier than usual.

  Cash breathed a small sigh of relief. She’d been trying to think of something special to get him and had almost given up until she remembered him telling her that driving through the front gates of Stringybark always made him realise he was home, and how he’d sometimes dreamed of it when he’d been away on deployment. Early one morning she’d driven over to Stringybark and taken a photo of the front gates and had it blown up and framed so he could always have it with him always.

  ‘Thank you,’ he said, reaching out to slide a hand around the back of her head as he kissed her gently. ‘And now for your real Christmas present,’ he said, turning towards the bedroom.

  ‘There’s more?’ she said, opening her eyes wide in mock surprise.

  ‘I’ve saved the best for last,’ he promised confidently.

  ‘I don’t know, Callahan,’ she said, holding her wrist up to admire her bracelet, ‘it’s gonna have to be pretty impressive to outdo this.’

  ‘Oh, it’s impressive,’ he assured her as he kicked the door shut behind them.

  Twenty-seven

  Cash reached out a hand early the next morning, groping for the source of the insistent ringing that had woken her from a very deep, relaxing sleep. Locating the phone, she brought it to her ear with an irritated, ‘Hello?’

  ‘Oh. Sorry. What time is it?’ Savannah’s voice sounded far too bright and chirpy for whatever obscene time of the morning it was.

  ‘I
don’t know, I can’t focus my eyes,’ Cash muttered.

  ‘Sorry, but I needed to call you.’

  ‘It couldn’t have waited just a few more hours till the sun came up?’

  ‘No. Listen. George has been offered an amazing job.’

  Cash scrunched her eyes and rubbed her nose, trying to concentrate on what Savannah was saying. ‘What kind of job?’

  ‘Well, it’s not a job so much as an opportunity. He’s been invited to design a garden for a big gardening show coming up over here. The guy he’s been talking to has seen some of George’s work and thinks he has a shot at making a real name for himself.’

  ‘Wow, Sav,’ Cash said, her eyes finally open and her mind registering what was being said, ‘That’s really exciting.’

  ‘I know. I’m so proud of him. This could be huge.’

  ‘So what would that mean … for you? Would you be staying over there?’

  ‘That’s what I was calling about. How would you feel about staying on longer?’

  ‘How much longer?’ Cash asked slowly.

  ‘Maybe another three or four months.’

  Three or four months!

  ‘Cash?’

  ‘I’m here,’ she said quickly.

  ‘I thought you’d fallen back to sleep or something.’

  ‘No, no, I’m here.’

  ‘I know you were supposed to be leaving in a few weeks, but this has come up unexpectedly and it’s really too good an opportunity for him to pass up.’

  ‘Of course it is. He should totally go for it,’ Cash said, but her mind was still fixed on Savannah’s offer to stay on longer. A couple of weeks ago she wouldn’t have even hesitated about extending her stay—she had no real plans in place and she loved it here—but Linc would be leaving soon. It wasn’t like that should have any bearing on her decision, though, but it was the first time she’d really allowed herself to think about what would happen when Linc left. It was a depressing thought. She tried to shake off the gloom—their relationship wasn’t supposed to be long-term, and Linc had made no mention of them continuing after he returned to Brisbane. It was time to start facing reality. She needed to make plans.

  ‘Look, I know it’s come out of the blue, so you think about it for a bit and let me know. It’s not going to change our decision to stay—I’d just like to keep the spa running for as long as possible, that’s all.’

  ‘Yeah—of course, that’s important. I’ll let you know, okay?’ She couldn’t think about it now, she needed to clear her mind of all the distractions, namely the drop-dead gorgeous man who had not long ago got out of bed to start his day.

  Cash rolled her eyes as she turned away to get the hot towels that had been heating. Mitch hadn’t stopped talking the entire time he’d been here, and Cash was just about ready to shove a sock in his mouth to shut him up. The man sure liked the sound of his own voice. She got that he was obviously a big deal in the news world—she was even somewhat impressed that she’d occasionally seen him on TV but, try as she might, she could not warm to the guy. The only conversation he seemed to bother taking part in were the ones that involved him talking about … well, him. Cash wasn’t sure there was actually room in the marriage for Hadley, Mitch and his massive ego. While Hadley often brought up funny stories about her work in the field, she rarely mentioned anything grisly. Mitch, on the other hand, seemed to take great pride in reliving every gruesome detail about each story he’d covered, complete with sound effects and re-enactments. It was exhausting to watch.

  Her thoughts had been drifting back to Savannah’s offer all morning. It made sense. She’d built up a clientele and she knew they’d be happy for her to stay on in Savannah’s absence. So what was holding her back from saying yes?

  Linc. She let out a long sigh. He’d be leaving soon. She pressed the hot towels onto Mitch’s face a little harder than she meant to and mumbled an apology. She’d always known their relationship wasn’t going to go anywhere; unfortunately, her heart hadn’t been listening to her head and had gone and fallen in love.

  She unwrapped the towel and replaced it with another.

  ‘So there I was, unable to walk on my injured leg, all alone in the dark. The Taliban out there somewhere, watching and waiting,’ Mitch continued his theatrical monologue, breaking into her troubled thoughts. ‘I had no idea if I’d survive the night.’

  And yet here you are, so I guess there was a miracle. ‘If you’d both survive the night, you mean?’ She had to admit, though, the guy had amazing skin. Despite his harrowing time reporting from overseas battle zones, he clearly took time out for a skin-care routine—skin like this didn’t stay hydrated and undamaged without some pretty regular maintenance, especially if it was exposed the harsh elements of the Middle East.

  ‘Pardon?’

  ‘Well, you said this was the story that won your award, so it wasn’t just you out there. You had a camera man with you, right?’ Cash explained.

  Mitch looked at her blankly.

  ‘So there were two of you there, and you couldn’t walk because of your leg being injured. Why couldn’t the cameraman help you walk?’

  ‘Well, he was … there was nothing he could do … besides, he was busy filming. That’s not the point. The point is, in my line of work, there’s great risk and that night I came very close to staring death in the eye.’

  ‘Oh. I see.’ Tosser. The longer Cash spent around this guy, the more concerned she was that Hadley was making a very big mistake.

  ‘Seriously, what is your sister doing marrying this guy?’ Cash asked, exasperated after telling Linc about their encounter.

  Linc gave a slow shake of his head and exhaled loudly, ‘Buggered if I know. She loves him. I guess he must have some redeemable qualities the rest of us can’t see.’

  Hadley was such an intelligent, independent woman, how could she not see what an egotistical, self-centred twit this guy was?

  ‘There’s no point trying to tell her, she’s a Callahan woman—once they make their mind up about something …’ he shrugged.

  ‘I hate to break it to you, but I don’t think it’s only a female Callahan trait.’

  He flashed a grin at her. ‘Yeah, but on me it’s called perseverance.’

  ‘Hmmm,’ she said doubtfully. ‘So, can I interest you in a facial, Mr Callahan?’

  ‘Yeah, no,’ he said backing away from the table slightly, ‘I wouldn’t be caught dead with cucumber on my eyes.’

  ‘Hey, Mitch Samuals is man enough to do it …’

  ‘Yeah, well, he’s a bigger man than me,’ Linc said sarcastically. ‘However, if you were offering a massage … the full-body naked kind, I might just be tempted.’

  ‘So, sex, in other words?’ she said, lifting an eyebrow at him.

  ‘Pretty much,’ he agreed with the half-smile that played havoc with Cash’s resistance.

  ‘Sorry, you’re out of luck, cowboy. I’ve got two more clients due in shortly, and I believe they’re your cousins … so unless you want them reporting back to your mother that their beauty therapist was running late because she was having sex with their cousin …’

  ‘Like that’s never happened before,’ he scoffed and caught the bunched-up hand towel she threw at him.

  ‘Haven’t you got something more constructive to do than bother me?’

  Linc dropped the towel on the bed and moved closer to her. ‘Do I bother you?’ he asked, lowering his tone as he leaned forward to nuzzle the side of her neck.

  Cash couldn’t suppress the shiver that ran along her arm and produced a trail of goose bumps. How was she supposed to resist the guy when he did that? A reluctant moan escaped her lips as she tipped her head back, allowing him better access to the sensitive skin of her throat. Oh damn. ‘Forget the massage,’ she said, turning and working the buckle of his belt. His grin widened appreciatively as she made quick work of the buttons on his jeans and took charge of the situation.

  Linc put his hat back on his head and opened the door, greeti
ng his cousins as they walked up the path. He turned round and winked at Cash, holding up his watch as proof that they’d managed to beat the clock with time to spare.

  His grin widened as he saw Cash shake her head helplessly at him, before leading the women into the treatment rooms to get started, a smug grin on her face. Man, she was perfect.

  The phone beeped before it automatically switched to message bank as it did whenever Cash was with a client. Linc stopped in the doorway as he heard the caller’s message.

  ‘Cash, it’s just Sav. I know I said to take your time and think it over, but I’m just wondering if you’ve thought anymore about the offer to stay on? Give me a call when you get a sec. Bye.’

  Linc’s cocky grin faded as he slid into the ute and stared out the front windscreen. He was so far gone it would be funny if it weren’t so pathetic. He braced his hands on the steering wheel and dropped his head in defeat. He thumped the wheel and swore out loud. Everything was falling apart. If she stayed here, he’d lose her.

  He should have asked her to move with him earlier.

  This was crazy. He knew she couldn’t get enough of him, just like he couldn’t get enough of her. They were perfect together. How could she possibly be considering staying on here after everything they’d shared over the last few weeks? He frowned and muttered another curse. Okay, so he knew they hadn’t known each other long, but it felt like they had. He didn’t want to see the blaringly obvious reason why his asking her to move to Brisbane could be considered a risk. In his gut, he knew it was the right decision. They’d have the time and space to get to know each other like regular couples did. But how could he ask her to move now, when she was clearly considering Savannah’s offer to stay?

  There was nothing for her here. Except Griff, a small voice reminded him. No, he didn’t believe that. Griff had had his shot. Cash wouldn’t go through that again when she knew there was no spark between them. Not to toot his own horn, but there was no way she’d be able to go back to that after the chemistry she’d had with him. Unless she forgot about him once he left and headed back to Brisbane and decided she could settle.