I fuss my bottom lip before it curls upwards on one side. Fuck, this woman has me on her hooks. “And how do I look, Georgia?”
“Oh,please,” Georgia admonishes me playfully, “don’t act coy. Phoebe nearly spat out her wine when I showed her your picture.”
I’m not usually one to turn down a compliment, but Phoebe’s opinion isn’t the one I’m after. “But what didyouthink?”
“Well, Callum.” She pauses, releasing a soft breath. “My first thought was that you are very, very handsome. And then I thought it’s a shame you live so very, very far away ...”
I sigh, nodding, as I scrape my fingers over the wood grain of my table. “Yeah, I’ve had similar thoughts.”
“Aww, you think I’m handsome, Callum?”
Ilovethe way my name sounds when she says it and that she keeps using it. “Very, very handsome,” I tease. “No, but, really, you are stunning.”
She lets out a small sound of acknowledgement, something between a hum and a breath. “Will you do me a favour?”
The question catches me off guard, so I stumble through my next words. “Oh, sure? What’s that?”
“Can you dial the accent down a little bit? I’m blushing brighter than Graham’s hair over here.”
“You’re flirtier on the phone than over email,” I tell her, chuckling under my breath. “I like it.”
“Yes, well, I don’t like to leave a paper trail.”
“No? Why’s that?”
“Because I inevitably end up rereading every message I send over and over again until I regret everything I’ve ever said. With phone calls or face-to-face communication, I can pretend I said nothing embarrassing whatsoever.”
“You’ve been nothing but funny and sweet and intriguing,” I assure her. Personally, I’m glad we met via email. I imagine I’ll enjoy revisiting them someday.
“Hmm. I’ve never been calledintriguingbefore.”
“Not to your face, maybe. But I’m positive you have been.”
“There you are, being charming again.”
“I just needed a minute to warm up, Georgia.”
“Oh boy, oh boy . . .”
“What?” I say, laughing at her tone and the repeated phrase.
“Hearing you say my name isdangerous, Doc.”
I choose to ignore the nickname, but appreciate its cheeky delivery all the same. “Why’s that, Georgia? More blushing?”
“Yes, exactly.”
“I like the way you say mine too,” I admit. “Please keep saying it.”
“I might force you to read all of your emails to me, Callum ...”
“I’ll do whatever you’d like me to, Miss Anderson.”
She snorts at that, and my smirk turns into a smile. A snort is the most endearing noise in the whole world, from her. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! You’ve taken things too far. That was damn nearpornographic.” Her last word is smothered by a giggle. “Please, have some decorum.”
“All right, fine. Lesson learned. I’m dialling it back.” A laugh tumbles out of my chest, low and hearty. “How was your day?”
After that, we talked for hours. I mindlessly wandered from my seat at the dining table to my sofa, then to my bedroom. I put her down on the dresser while I undressed, then hauled her into bed with me, plugging the phone into the wall so I could keep listening to her describe the documentary series she finished watching last night ingreatdetail.
