‘Ah, that’s the excuse she chose then.’
‘What are you insinuating?’ he asked, hoping his sister might have noticed something in Tasha’s behaviour that mirrored his feelings for her.
‘Nothing.’
Why was his sister so infuriating when he needed her to just say something? ‘No, go on. Tell me.’
She turned to leave, stopping at the doorway. ‘It’s just that I saw the pair of you getting cosy a few times.’
He thought back to when he had spent time with Tasha at the manor property but couldn’t recall ever acting in a way that might make anyone suspect he liked her. ‘Rubbish. You’re just winding me up now.’
She laughed. ‘Maybe I am.’ Then leaning forward and tapping the side of her nose, she said, ‘Or, could it be that I’m not?’
‘Bugger off, Erin,’ he grumbled, not wanting to be teased any longer. ‘Some of us still have work to catch up on.’
‘Bye, big brother.’
‘Whatever.’ He wanted to let her know he was happy for her before she left. ‘And well done.’
‘Thank you,’ she shouted as she closed the flat door behind her.
Callum opened his notebook and found the page he was looking for, with suggested questions for one of his guests, and began typing them up. He stopped working as something dawned on him. Hadn’t he wondered about his mother not realising he was an adult now, despite being almost thirty? What a hypocrite he must be to worry so much over his sister, just as his mother did for him. Erin was an adult too. She had her own business and was more than capable of putting most people in their place.
He turned the page of his notes, ready to begin typing again. Was he right to consider Riley simply as a regular person, or did the man who mostly surrounded himself with yes-people have more arrogance and a stronger feeling of entitlement than others? He gave the idea further thought and decided he would keep his distance so as not to annoy Erin by being overprotective, but he’d be ready in case she did need him.
After all, wasn’t that what family members were for?
29
TASHA
Tasha listened to Dale and Riley’s Zoom chat for a few minutes before waving at Riley and indicating the door. He barely registered that she was about to leave but gave her a curt nod. Making the most of having time to herself, Tasha decided to pop into town. She hadn’t been to the shopping area in St Helier yet and wanted to buy a couple of things to take home to her parents. Even though they usually had some sort of snarky remark about her working for Riley, she still liked to find them a souvenir each time she travelled anywhere with him.
She decided to take the bus, having noticed a bus stop a short way down the road from the apartment where they were now staying. It would be nice to travel like a normal person for a change rather than in a smart car with a driver and Riley being stared at and photos being taken constantly.
As she waited with several other people for the bus to arrive, Tasha thought about filming starting the following day. She was looking forward to it, not because it would be another day on a film set but because she would see Callum again. It hadn’t been twenty-four hours since she saw him last but even though Riley had kept her busy running around sorting out clothes and ordering in food for him, she still missed the man who had unexpectedly woken something in her she’d thought dormant after so long being happily single.
What was it about Callum that brought her emotions alive again? He was friendly and very good-looking. She thought of his piercing blue eyes, fair hair and chiselled jaw and wasn’t surprised someone had thought him attractive enough to want him in a glossy commercial.
The bus stopped and Tasha waited her turn to get on.
‘I don’t know what it is,’ an elderly lady standing next to her said. ‘But whatever you’re thinking about has put a right big smile on your face.’
Tasha thought of Riley and how if she didn’t already know her boss was not attracted to her, she certainly did now. Callum was the sort of man Riley saw as competition, and the mere fact that he had no issues with Callum proved she was right to think that way. The feeling was mutual.
‘Boyfriend, is it?’
Tasha realised she would like Callum to be just that. ‘Not yet.’ She lowered her voice. ‘Maybe never.’
‘Well, lovey, there’s no harm in hoping now, is there?’
She supposed not.
The woman’s attention was taken from her by a friend who hurried over to her, and they were soon deep in conversation. She had seemed very nice, but Tasha was happy to be left to her own thoughts once again.
The bus ride to town was far nicer than most bus trips she had taken. As the bus took them on a higher road overlooking another lower one, she looked past it to the beautiful bay with what appeared to be a fort on a small island and to the right of those modern flats. What a pretty island, Tasha mused, deciding to get off at the next stop and see where the roads took her.
She hadn’t been walking for very long when she came across a building that she thought she recognised.
