Callum: My family knows, and so do Zoe and Cass. Word is going to travel fast now. People are going to be expecting more from us if we are husband and wife.
There’s a pause. No ellipses. Literally just her either ignoring me or trying to figure out what to say. Finally, she responds.
Amanda: You’re the boss.
I both love and hate that response. On one hand it strokes my ego, making another part of my being need stroking. And on the other hand, I feel like this really is just a contract to her and she’s not thinking about me outside of that at all.
Chapter 16
Amanda
Icannot stop thinking about Callum.
Despite the fact that I have only been writing for Hardin records for a week and my life is running a thousand miles an hour faster than it ever has, my brain has been running at the same pace.
And it’s all thoughts of him.
The way his hand felt on my lower back, stuck like warm glue, unwilling to budge until I was sitting at the table.
The way he watched my response to everything, giving me glances of affirmation when I said something good and pressed his knee into mine under the table when someone said something abrasive.
God that knee touch.
Who would have thought knees were an erogenous spot? It’s the most unsexual thing any man has ever done and yet, it lit my whole body on fire to a melting point. And he didn’t move away. Not until we got up.
As I go through the motions of working in a major recording studio, I try to shove my boss to the back of my mind. It’s easier said than done though. He’s my boss and I keep running into him. Whether it’s checking in on the progress of songwriting forLil Chaos or introducing me to new artists that will be touring with him, I feel like every time I turn around, he’s right there. Suit dark and fitted, stretched across his toned pecs, forearms strong and veiny and way too sexual for a body part that is allowed to be exposed. Here the man is introducing me to Grammy winners, and I am drooling over the way he rolls up his sleeves!
When Friday finally comes, I find myself staring at the clock. It’s not that I don’t love my job but my God, a girl can only spend so much time around a man who makes the blood pump from her heart to her downstairs before she needs a break. Luckily, I have a dinner date with my best friend Iris tonight and seeing as how I haven’t talked to her since before I went to Vegas for the bachelorette party, I am confident we will have plenty to talk about.
We meet at a ramen spot in Southpark. Iris has been my best friend since college. Honestly, I don’t talk to most of the people I went to school with before that. I always felt like I didn’t quite fit in with girls my own age. Iris is four years older than me. I guess I’ve always meshed with people older than me…
Which would explain why my world flipped upside down by a lone silver fox…
Iris is a music major as well, but in a different field. She lettered in band and orchestra and went on to study music theory with an emphasis in orchestra and opera. She dresses neatly, pulls her hair back or lets it softly beach wave and is always, always on time.
We are yin and yang.
But…it works for us.
“So, I need to know everything,” she says with a smile as she takes a sip of her white wine. “You’ve been so busy, we haven’ttalked at all! I need to know about Vegas. And your sister’s upcoming wedding, which I am sure is a headache. And the new job. Tell me all of it!” She smiles and leans in on the table.
I smile back, reaching for my own drink, a gin and tonic. “Well Vegas was Vegas.”
“No, no. I need more than that. Your sister dragged you around Sin City and knowing her, she was trying to– what does she always say? Make you let loose?”
“Yeah,” I pop my lips. “That’s her life goal it would seem. So, we went out and I played babysitter.”
“Obviously,” Iris sighs as they set our food down. She adds soy sauce to her bowl. “Tell me you got to have a little fun at least.”
I have never been a good liar. Especially when it comes to Iris. She’s always been able to read my face no matter how hard I try to hide what I’m thinking or feeling.
She stops. A smile spreads across her perfectly pink lips. “Oh…something happened. Tell me what happened?”
“We went to this speakeasy. And keep in mind, by that time, we’d had a lot of drinks. And there was this…auction.”
“An…auction? What were they selling?”
“Men,” I say casually and take a bite of my noodles. I can feel Iris’ eyes on me, and it takes everything in me not to smile.
