“Wow, he even has the book boyfriend name.”Lola heard the smirk in her best friend’s voice.
“How long have you knownCallon?”Maddie asked again.
Lola met his eyes, and he held her gaze with such intensity that she wanted to squirm.“Not long, but I want to get to know him better.”
Katy chuckled.“I bet you do, Jane.”
Lola groaned.Katy was not going to let the Tarzan-thing go.She should have never compared him to the book character.
“I’m taking the next couple days off work,” she told them.“I’ll send Sal a text, but will you let him know I’m fine?I just need a break.”
“We’re all due a break,” Katy said.
“Nope, nu-uh.”Lola shook her head.“You can keep your curiosity a little longer, Psycho.”
“Ugh, fine.”Katy sighed.“Keep him to yourself for a couple of days, but after that, he's ours.”
Lola bit the inside of her cheek to keep from snapping back something ridiculous like, ‘Bitch I will cut you.’In her rational mind– which obviously she didn’t have much of left– she knew Katy meant they wanted to meet him.Not that she actuallywantedhim.And why the hell did that thought make her so angry?“I’ve lost my damn mind.I mean I keep saying that, but I truly am beginning to believe it.”She was talking to herself, not even paying attention to the fact that Callon’s voice continued beside her as he talked to her two best friends.“I mean, I’ve never wanted to hurt my friends.Okay,”she held up a finger, “rephrase that.I’ve never wanted to hurt them over a guy.To be fair, any time I have wanted to hurt them, they’ve totally deserved it.Shut the front door.”She blew out a breath and ran a hand through her shoulder-length hair.
“You really do like to talk to yourself,” Callon held her phone out to her.The screen was now black, indicating the phone call was over.Her caring, albeit nosy, best friends had hung up.
“How’d you get them off the phone?”
“Promised to send th em a shirtless photo later.”
Lola’s head snapped up so fast she was surprised she didn’t give herself whiplash.
Callon’s eyes flashed with a wicked gleam, and she saw the humor in them.“Possessiveness looks good on you.”
What was she supposed to say?Shedidfeel possessive of him, even if that was completely insane.Apparently, that was her new M.O.
“It’s late, and you look tired.”Callon lifted her chin, his eyes roaming over her face.“I should let you sleep.”
She smirked.“Let me?”
To Lola’s surprise, he leaned forward, and like he’d done on the sidewalk earlier, pressed his forehead to hers.“You’ve no idea the amount of self-control it’s taking not to throw you over my shoulder and take you with me.And I could, Lola Katz.I could take you, and you’d never be able to get away from me.And I would make sure that you neverwantedto.”
She could feel her heart racing in her chest as his hand wrapped around the nape of her neck, sending a firestorm cascading through her veins.His touch an inferno, consuming every part of her, forcing her body to bow to his will as if she was magnetically drawn to him.
“The intensity you feel right now is only going to grow.The need I have to see you, to be near you, to touch you, will become your need as well.There is no escaping this.There is no escaping us.So, yes, I’m going toletyou go to sleep, instead of crawling through your window and joining you in your bed.A bed where I could hold you safe in my arms where you belong.Instead, I’m going to sit out here making sure you’re safe, as I have done for the past few weeks, and as I will do for the rest of our lives.”
“You’re going to sit on my fire escape for the rest of our lives?”Maybe it was because he broke her brain when he used such a commanding voice that she asked such an obtuse question.Or because he touched her so gently, yet, firmly.Or maybe it was because he said all the things she’d always wanted to hear.
Callon’s warm breath fanned out over her face as he let out a low chuckle.“I’ll tell you this, Little Cat.Life with you will never be dull.”
They sat like that for several minutes before he pulled back, but just far enough to press his lips to her forehead, giving her a soft kiss.“Go to bed, Lola.I’ll still be here when you wake.”
She swayed toward him as he moved further from her.“Is that a promise or a threat?”
“Both.”
Lola shook her head, and her lips turned up in a small smile.She scooped up her phone from her lap and stood.As she backed up toward the open window, her eyes stayed on him.She worried that if she looked away, he’d disappear.“I’m only going to bed because I’m tired.Not because you told me to.”
“Whatever you need to tell yourself,Sazzi.”
It was a testament to how tired Lola was that she didn’t ask him what he’d just called her.After crawling back through the window, she turned to ask, because how could shenot?He simply shook his head at her, his too-handsome face back in its stoic form.“Tomorrow.”That was all he said.And based on the determined look in his glowing eyes, Lola figured she wasn’t going to get an answer out of him.
“I didn’t want to know anyway,” she muttered, and pushed the window closed.She forced herself not to stare at him while she did it.She turned toward her bed muttering the whole time until she collapsed, not even bothering to change into her sleep clothes.“And if I do want to know, which I don’t, I can just go hit up the internet.The internet knows all.”Lola could have sworn she heard a dark chuckle just before sleep took her.
