Falling harder and harder for him, maybe he needed her just as much.
Chapter Sixteen
CallumdrovethroughGraniteCreek, with its wide brick sidewalks and welcoming mom-and-pop shops.Flower baskets hung from lampposts.Sandwich boards and signs peppered the storefronts, enticing the end-of-summer foot traffic inside for ice cream, a new book, or handcrafted decor.
“This is where you live?”Grace pressed against the window, wishing they didn’t have a meeting at his office and that she could hop in and out of stores for the rest of the day.“It’s out of a storybook.”
“Probably why Vivian headquartered us here.She needed something nice to put up with the lot of us.”
Grace tried to imagine Callum’s boss.She was someone who could handle a gaggle of men who likely tipped the scale toward alpha with characteristics like Callum.Trained military or law enforcement.More than capable.Probably gruff and used to getting their own way.The Vivian who Grace imagined wasn’t the type to locate a headquarters in a heartwarming small town.
“The office is actually an estate all the way through town,” he explained.
Light traffic and a lack of stoplights helped move the drive along.They’d been in his truck for hours.The main thoroughfare transitioned from cutesy stores to residential.Callum turned from one road to the next, winding up a hill, and then bypassed a private gate.
They summited the hill, turned through a horseshoe driveway in front of a massive Victorian manor, and parked in the small lot adjacent to an expansive entrance.“This cannot be your office.”
He glanced out the windshield and admitted, “It’ll really blow you away once you go inside.”
Grace had to rewrite Vivian in her head as she drank in the large house’s turrets and gables and a wraparound porch.Vivian had to be more like a strict schoolmarm capable of ordering a group of bullheaded men around with a stern look.“I don’t think I’m dressed nicely enough to walk in.”
He laughed, but she gave a serious once-over of her casual shorts and lightweight long-sleeve T-shirt that covered her bandages.
Callum gestured to his pants, which had too many pockets, and the T-shirt stretched over his chest.“There’s no dress code.Don’t let all those windows and spindles fool you.”
And by windows, did he mean the stained-glass ones or the ones at the top of the towering spires?
They crossed the parking lot and walked to the overstated entrance.Callum rested his hand on her lower back as he swung open the grand door.She was stunned.“This place is…” The polished floors gleamed.The tall ceilings towered.“Amazing.It should be in an architectural magazine.”
“It probably has been.”
“I believe it.”The foyer opened on both sides to what had once been mirrored living rooms.Or rather, drawing rooms?Parlor rooms?First of what had to be many living rooms?Grace didn’t have words to describe this house.But the central staircase had stolen her thoughts.It was almost as wide as the entry hall and reached toward a floor-to-ceiling stained-glass window.
In one of the living rooms converted to office space, three men, similar in height and stature to Callum, huddled in front of a large flat-screen monitor displaying a blueprint.One man swiped his hand over the screen, and the blueprint switched to a satellite view.He swiped his hand over the screen again, and the blueprint reappeared.
“Come on, I’ll introduce you to some folks.”Callum led her in.
“It looks like they’re busy.”She hung back.“I can wait over here.”She realized the blueprint was of Alicia’s house and caught up.“What are they doing?”
“We’re installing a security system for Alicia.”He glanced over.“To supplement the dogs and cat.”
The three men turned, and Callum introduced her to Decker, Rhys, and Wes.They were all-business but nice.Decker had an edgy look.Rhys hid under his hoodie jacket despite the temperature outside reaching the nineties.Wes was the most talkative.All were exceedingly professional and focused on Alicia’s house.
“Alicia agreed to a security system?”Grace calculated an estimate of what their hourly rate was and the cost of the hardware.No matter what number she came up with, it would be out of Alicia’s budget.Grace would make sure she picked up the bill.She was the reason Alicia needed it, after all.“Why didn’t you tell me?I’ll pay for it.Make sure she doesn’t spend a dime.”
Wes laughed.“I believe she told Vivian that your ex-husband was paying out of something she called the fuck-him budget.”
“Wait.When did Alicia and Vivian connect?”Grace shifted, uncomfortable that she’d been left out of the discussion.
High heels clicked down the grand staircase, and Grace turned.The woman coming down the stairs was definitely the boss.She walked the walk, strutting actually, and Grace was immediately in awe.
“Vivian Maddox.”With red lipstick that matched her nail polish, black leather pants tucked into fuck-me high-heel boots that deserved their own fashion shoot, the woman held out her hand and assessed Grace with eyes darting over her like a mental X-ray machine.“Sorry to meet you under these circumstances.”
Vivian wasn’t a schoolmarm.She wasn’t the enforcer of a strict dress code or the manager of these men.She was the queen bee.
“Dean and Scar need to talk to you, then we’ll debrief,” Vivian told Callum before returning her laser focus to Grace.“Come with me.I’ll stash you somewhere comfortable while you wait.”
Grace followed the semi-scary lady and her kickass boots as they ascended the scene-stealing staircase.
