Tasha sensed he wanted to kiss her. Excitement swelled in her chest at the thought, only for Callum’s gaze to lift until his eyes were locked with hers.
‘You’re an amazing woman, Tasha; I hope you know that.’
Delighted to hear his praise, Tasha concentrated hard on hiding her disappointment that he hadn’t kissed her. ‘I certainly needed the reminder, so thank you. I suppose we should go back so I can book my flight home.’
He seemed shocked. ‘Flight?’
Tasha had been so caught up in his reaction she realised she hadn’t actually voiced her decision. She gave him an apologetic smile, unsure whether his reaction was one of disappointment or simply surprise.
‘Yes, sorry. I let my studio flat in Clapham go before coming to Jersey and had been looking for somewhere further out of London to live. Somewhere a little cheaper and with more greenery around it. Now that I don’t know where I’ll be working, I think it’s safer for me to wait until I’ve found somewhere nearby to rent.’ She frowned. ‘I think I’m going to cast aside my reservations and stay with my parents for a while. We could do with patching things up and if it means they’ll need to have the satisfaction of me admitting they were right to be concerned about me working for Riley, then that’s what I’ll have to deal with. I need to move forward though. I’m not good at just sitting around and doing nothing.’
She had expected him to laugh at her quip, but he didn’t.
‘I’ll be sorry to see you go,’ he said eventually.
She felt a pang of loss in her chest. ‘You will?’
He nodded. He stared at her for a moment. ‘Do you mind if I kiss you?’
His question was so unexpected that she almost laughed.Mind?, she wanted to ask. She couldn’t think of anything she would rather do.
Instead she shook her head slowly. ‘I wouldn’t mind at all,’ she said, unable to stop smiling. ‘In fact, I think I’d like that very much.’
Callum’s mouth slowly drew back into a smile and, taking her in his arms, he pulled her close to him and slipped one hand behind her head before lowering his head until his lips met hers.
44
CALLUM
As they kissed, Callum knew the last thing he wanted was for Tasha to leave the island. Let alone leave his flat.
Her arms tightened around him as her kiss became more passionate. Delighted, Callum gave in to the sensations and did the same. Kissing Tasha was amazing and if he was sad to know she would be leaving before, this only made the thought of her returning to the UK even harder to bear.
He wished he could tell Tasha not to leave but stay on at his flat; however, doing so would be selfish of him. What right did he have to interfere with her life? Hadn’t she just got away from someone who had spent the past three years ordering her about? Callum decided that regardless of how he felt, Tasha needed to do what was right for her. He just hoped she would choose to return at some point.
They sat on the sand near the sea wall watching the sun slowly disappear into the horizon.
‘This is incredible,’ she said. ‘There isn’t anything marring the view of the sun going down. What an incredible place to see this.’
‘I’m glad you think so.’ He looked at her and, seeming to sense she was being watched, Tasha gazed up at him.
‘Thank you, Callum.’
He wasn’t sure what she was thanking him for. ‘I’m not sure why I deserve your thanks,’ he said eventually.
‘Because of all the ways you’ve helped me while I’ve been on the island.’
She sighed.
Callum frowned. ‘I still think it’s a bit much that the director wants me to be involved in any way, especially when I only had a couple of scenes.’
‘Yes, but remember you’re well known and loved here on the island, and having you in some of the promotion will be a good way to get people who don’t know who Riley is to tune in and watch. It’s all about viewing numbers, Callum.’ She laughed. ‘Anyway, I’m sure you’ll have fun and if nothing else it’ll give you great content for your radio show. You might even meet new and interesting people you can invite on the show for interviews.’
She had a point, but it didn’t make up for the fact that he would be spending more time with Riley, without Tasha being there.
‘Don’t look so glum,’ she teased. ‘It’ll be fine.’
He shrugged. ‘But you won’t be there and if Riley was insufferable with you keeping him in check, I daren’t think how he’ll be without you.’
