I step away from him, shaking off his hold.
“Gage,” I say, my voice trembling.
He shakes his head, one side of his mouth tugging upward. “I’ll think about everything, Callie. I’ll even talk to you about it. But you have to stay. Enjoy the anniversary party. Relax a little.” He gestures wide to the beach. “Let your hair down and have an adventure.”
I narrow my eyes at him.
His smile widens. “I’m doing you a favor.”
“You’re being selfish,” I point out.
He chuckles easily but his eyes flash. “With you? Always.”
“Gage!” I say, exasperated. This man’s flirting knows no bounds.
He shrugs as if to say, what do you want from me?
And that’s the scary thing. I want too much from Gage and I shouldn’t.
I can’t.
Because he’s my client and I’m…too old, too set in my ways, too wrapped up in work to be the woman in his life.
He has a family brimming with love and support.
And I only have me.
“Stay the week,” he repeats, not having the courtesy to even pose it as a question. He pats my phone in his pocket to drive the point home.
I look back toward the beach house where Mrs. G’s watchful gaze stares at us from the balcony.
Sighing, I meet Gage’s eyes. “I’ll check into the hotel?—”
“There are none.”
“What?”
“Cal, it’s the start of the Easter holidays. Everything is booked up.”
Is that why my flight was so expensive? It makes sense.
“I—well, I,” I sputter, wracking my mind for a solution.
“You’ll stay with me,” Gage says easily.
I turn back to look at the beach house, already overflowing with visitors.
“Not there,” he laughs. “I rented a small apartment. You can take the bed.” There’s humor in his voice and when I meet his eyes again, I note the amusement in his eyes.
I point at him. “I’m here for work.”
He nods, sobering slightly. “I know you are. But I hope you still have some fun. You need it.”
I don’t bother replying to that, instead starting back toward the beach house.
Gage’s chuckle trails over me and I shiver from it. From his proximity.
From the promise in his watchful gaze and playful tone.
