On reflex, not wanting to inconvenience anyone or take too much, I start to say, "Oh, you don't—" my protest dies as Francesca shakes her head and Theo raises a dark eyebrow over his glasses, daring me to continue. Callum squeezes my handonce more, a silent communication that I interpret as'let people do things for you'.
So, I wisely snap my mouth shut and smile, "Thank you, Mr. Salvatore."
He nods once, satisfied, and what I assume is supposed to be a customer service smile flits across his face and then is gone in an instant. However, his gaze lingers on Francesca for a moment longer, still with that same tender look he had, before he lifts the phone back to his ear and continues on his way.
Francesca exhales and smiles at me. "TheVeronais our best suite," Francesca whispers to us, her eyes sparkling as she glances back to Theo's retreating form. "Mr. Salvatore is... so kind."
"I don't care what it costs, my mother wants it for the gala—" Theo barks into his phone, his Italian leather shoes stomping against the marble floor. "—so make it happen!"
"Kind," I echo, nodding my head and sharing an amused smile with Callum.
???
There's no doubt that theVeronasuite is the nicest in this hotel.
When we walk in, the floor-to-ceiling windows immediately catch our eye, offering a gorgeous view of the Boston skyline. Inside the suite was all Italy—warm and romantic.
A dozen perfect red roses sit in a crystal vase on a console table near the entrance, the subtly sweet scent catching my nose when I walk by. More bronze accents scattered throughout the room, beautiful lamps lit the room in a warm glow, and a black-framed print of intricate gold handwriting hung on the wall,'In Fair Verona, where we lay our scene... '
The bedroom feels dreamy. A king-sized bed dressed in adeep red duvet sits in the center of the room, surrounded by rich dark wood and muted bronze tones. Above the bed hangs a romantic painting: a man and a woman, their lips locked in a loving embrace, holding each other with desperate devotion. It feels like a hint.
Callum and I oblige—collapsing on the bed, tangled together and giggling through kisses.
We decide to take a nap, but not before Callum pulls my little otters from the bag and hands them to me with a grin. I didn't even know he had grabbed them for me before we left my apartment.
I gasp in delight as I cuddle them to my chest, reaching up to kiss his cheek. "Thank you, my otter."
"Figured you'd want them to see the big city too," Callum teases, and I grin, reaching up to slide the wig from my head and place it on the collapsible wig stand Callum pulls out of our bag.
Bailey told me that Sasha would be coming to do our hair and makeup around five-thirty, so we'll have a good couple of hours to nap. I quickly wrap my head in the red silk head wrap from Maeve, then strip down to my pink bralette and boy shorts.
Callum's eyes are on me the whole time, his warm gaze reverent and also a littlehungry. I will admit that I do enjoy the effect I have on him. At thirty, I've grown confident in myself, my body, and my sexuality. I've always enjoyed sex for the most part, but...
Callum and I haven't even rounded the bases, and everything we have done together has been more meaningful—not to mention moreerotic—than anything I've ever experienced before. I feel like I'm tethered to him, completely in tune, always in alignment. His pleasure is my pleasure.
Yeah, because you're in love.
And that's the weird thing about it, because I've been here before. I've been in love before—with Paul, with Spencer incollege. But that was just the feeling of being in love, without real reciprocal action. Those relationships, when they were good, they were good. I was generally happy.
This, though, with Callum, isn'tgood.
It's amazing. It's calm. It's fire. It's true. It's peaceful. It's hope. It's simplicity. It's complex.
It's safety.
Pure joy. Every single day.
Love isn't just a feeling. I've learned that a relationship and commitment cannot sustain themselves on feelings; there needs to be action to back them up, and with Callum, there's action—mental and physical.
Listening, not just hearing. Doing, not just promising. Seeing, not just looking.
I worried before that when I got into a new relationship, I would be tainted by Paul's betrayal and find it hard to trust someone with my heart again. That I would become the paranoid girlfriend, demanding to know where they were at all times, who they were talking to, and insisting they hand over their phone so I could look through it. I feared I would ruin the relationship through a self-fulfilling prophecy because I couldn't open my heart to trust again.
But this man of mine is the most reliable, trustworthy, honorable man I've ever met.
Callum never gave that fear an opportunity to rise because he built trust with me as a friend first. Presence and follow-through, promises made and kept, and complete open communication. Those are the things that tended the garden of our relationship, and that allowed it to bloom naturally and beautifully.
And now, I don't have any doubts about Callum and his fidelity.
