“Sit, Cal. Relax.” I gesture toward the second chair and slip past her.
As I pad into the kitchen, her playful quip follows me. “Is this how you treat all your ladies, Gage?”
I snort, shaking my head, as I pour her a mug of coffee. I add extra milk and half a sugar, just the way she likes it. When I step back onto the balcony and pass it to her, her dark eyes find mine over the rim of the mug.
She blows onto the coffee before taking a slow sip. Her eyes fall shut and she groans appreciatively. “This hits the spot.”
I roll my lips together to keep from laughing.
“Oh, stop.” She nudges my leg with her bare toes. “Get your mind out of the gutter.”
“Hard to do around you,” I admit. “And…” I hold up a hand to cut her off. “There are no other ladies, Callie. I’ve been single a long fucking time.”
“Yeah.” She tugs the wide neckline of her lightweight sweater higher on her shoulder. “But there’s always women, Gage.”
“None that stay for coffee,” I clarify.
She smirks at that and turns her gaze back to the sea.
“What do you want to do today?” I ask after a moment.
She glances at me in surprise. “I thought you had a whole plan.”
I chuckle. “I have many plans. Just trying to gauge what you’re up for.”
“Whatever you got,” Callie shoots back, grinning.
Man, this is the woman I missed. The playful, charming, down-for-anything woman I met years ago. “You’re already more relaxed than yesterday.”
She lets out a slow exhale. Nods. “You know, Gage, I feel better too.”
“Salt air and sleep.”
“Sunshine,” she tacks on, lifting an arm overhead to stretch before taking another sip of coffee. “I could get used to this.”
“Nothing stopping you except yourself.”
She rolls her eyes but then shrugs. Serious now. “This was a tough year.”
“I know it was,” I sigh, reaching out to take her hand. I hold her fingers lightly in mine and drag my thumb across the backs of her knuckles. “We can play hooky and disappear before the Gutierrezes arrive and pull us into whatever shenanigans have been cooked up for today. Or we could join them.”
Callie stares at me for a long moment. “And then go for dinner?”
“We have a reservation at seven,” I confirm.
Her eyes light, a spark of glitter. “Where?”
I chuckle. “Not telling.”
“How will I know what to wear?”
“You always look perfect,” I reassure her. “And it’s not too fancy. A traditional restaurant on the beach. I booked ahead just so you can try Paella Valenciana.”
“Oh, that’s right. I forgot paella was invented here.”
“Yeah. There’s a ton of ways to make paella but the traditional way…”
She lifts an eyebrow, waiting.
