“But I really am glad to see you.”She pinched her lips together.“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you everything before.”
“You don’t need to apologize.I heard everything you said yesterday, and…I was coming at you from an angry place.I should have said I’m glad you’re here.I missed you, hon.”
The air in her lungs shimmered.He had no clue how much she’d missed him.
He squeezed her shoulder.“Are you okay?”
Nope.Not even close.
Sherlock trotted into the living room with a meow.Thank God.A distraction.He hopped onto the coffee table, and Grace reached for him.He ducked out of reach and offered a disdainful feline glance over his shoulder before gracefully perching behind Callum.
He laughed.
“Traitor,” she told the cat.
“Come on, kitty.Be nice to Grace.”
Sherlock jumped between them.Callum held out his hand and let Sherlock cautiously inspect him.After a momentary standoff, Sherlock stretched closer to him.
“He might like me more than he likes you.”His large hand slid over Sherlock’s back.
“That’s impossible.I feed him the best treats.”
Sherlock purred, turning his head to nuzzle Callum’s hand.
“Oh, come on.”
Callum rotated his wrist and let Sherlock rub his face against his palm.“You were scared I was leaving?”
One hundred percent.“I was curious.”
“Your face said a lot more.”
“Since when can you read my face?”But just in case, she needed to avoid meeting his gaze.“I’m concerned about bringing trouble to Alicia.”
“But not yourself?”
“I’ve always known what I signed up for.Alicia would do anything for a friend, and I don’t want to take advantage.”
“I get that.We’re going to fix it.I promised, remember?”
She would never forget the promise of a house with a garden.In a neighborhood of friendly faces, where she might have a family one day.Last night, his promise was unfathomable.Today, the idea was the tiniest bit more plausible when he spoke to her with that low rumbling voice.
“Simple, huh?”She sipped her coffee and hid behind the mug again.
“It’s what I do.”
Her eyes met his.A swarm of butterflies circled and danced in her stomach.“I believe you.”
Sherlock tentatively pressed a paw onto Callum’s powerful thigh.He tested and placed his other paw, kneading as Callum continued to pet his back.
“Where do your folks think you’ve lived all this time?”
“I kept a low profile and didn’t stay anywhere long.”
“That’s not an answer.Where do they think you were?”
“Don’t ask, don’t tell?”She ignored the way his expression hardened and wished she had bottled up the way he’d just made her feel moments before.“They think my home base is a place I purchased through a shell company.It’s one of the places I mentioned to your colleague.Dad and Mari never asked questions because I asked them not to.Knowing too much would be close to fraud.”Orwasfraud, if she was honest with herself.
