“Yes, of course.” The lady perked up.
Callum reached into his pocket and pulled out his checkbook. I watched him, then had to look again. Ten thousand dollars. Holy shit. Who was he?
He handed the check to the woman, who nearly choked, and I’m pretty sure a tear formed in the corner of her eye. “Thank you so much, Mr. McCall.”
McCall. Him and Jax were brothers? Would make sense and I guess I could see it. Tall, dark, and handsome. Alpha, beta. I’d have to guess Jax was a little younger, but not much.
“Can I give you a hug?” The woman was asking, already walking around the table.
“Of course.” He opened his arms and the older woman walked right in and looked so tiny compared to him.
She patted his chest. “I don’t want to get make-up on your suit.” She grabbed his hands and then looked at me. “If I was younger, I’d give you a run for your money.”
“Any man would be lucky to have a good-looking woman like you.” Callum cooed.
The woman blushed and walked behind the table and scribbled something down. “Here’s a receipt for your records. What name would you like to be added to the scroll of donations at the end of the event?”
“Anonymous is fine.”
She reached forward and grabbed my hand. “You’re a lucky woman.”
“Don’t I know it.” I grabbed Callum’s hand, and we headed to the bar.
“Do you want an old-fashioned?” He brought my hand to his lips, placing a gentle kiss on my knuckles.
“Will it be as good as Emmett’s?”
“I doubt it. He’s truly perfected it.”
“I’ll try it and switch if needed.”
While Callum ordered our drinks, I looked around at the people filtering into the building and still didn’t recognize anyone.
He handed me the drink, then placed his fingers on my lower back, his pinky dipping just below the edge of my dress, grazing the top of my ass. He leaned over. “I can’t wait until my cock is buried-”
“Everlee?”
We turned, and I saw Mr. Randall walking over with Annalise, my assistant, a step behind him. She saw Callum and her eyes grew wide as she leaned back, clutching her chest, mouthing damn. I chuckled briefly, then turned my attention to Mr. Randall. “Hello, sir.”
I felt Callum’s fingers dig gently into my back. Was he jealous? Obviously, he knew it was a different kind of sir.
“So glad you could make it and bring a date.” He motioned towards Callum. “I really thought you were going to call out sick.” He chuckled. I chuckled. We all chuckled. But if he only knew the truth. That is why I was chuckling.
“Callum, this is Mr. Randall, CEO of McClintock Enterprise.”
“Very nice to meet you. I’m glad I made the invite list.” He said, removing his hand from my back to shake Mr. Randall’s. I felt the cool air hit my skin where his hand had been, and I missed our connection. Seconds later, it was back, and I breathed a sigh of… not relief, but of comfort?
“We’ll see you in a little. Going to walk around and find more people, then head towards our table. The chef is going to walk around soon to introduce herself before everything starts. I heard she’s going to do a cooking demonstration on the stage of what we’re eating tonight.”
“That sounds exciting.”
Callum nodded, but didn’t speak.
Mr. Randall and Annalise walked away when Callum looked at me. “Who’s the chef tonight?”
I shrugged. “Someone from France. I’m not sure. I wasn’t paying attention to anything related to this, because truth be told,” I leaned in close. “Iwasplanning on calling out sick, but you sort of put a wrench in those plans.”
“Glad I could oblige,” he smirked.
