Callum froze.“How’s that possible?”
“Maybe he’s not keeping as close an eye on her as we thought.Maybe he’s not putting the full weight of his resources on tracking her.”
“You sound like Dean with all of your ideas and no answers.Speaking of ideas,” he grumbled.“Grace and I talked, and I’m giving you an official heads-up: we don’t have a damsel situation.And you don’t have to butt into my personal life again.”
Vivian snorted.“Think you have that all sorted out, do ya, Prince Charming?It doesn’t work that way.”
“It’s different.”
“That’s what they all say.”
“Never mind.”He shouldn’t have brought it up.“If not Marino, then who firebombed Alicia?”
“Andwhydid they firebomb her place?”Vivian mused aloud.“I have the same questions, and nothing yet.Before you jump down my throat.We’re working on it while you two stay low.”
“Staying low as we can.Don’t worry.”
“And make good decisions.Smart, level-headed, fully clothed decisions.”
He blew out his cheeks.“Gotta go, Boss.”
“Don’t blame me when this all comes crashing down,” she muttered and hung up.
The phone rang again.This time it was Dean, who proceeded to give Callum a more technical explanation of what Vivian reported.Interesting, but he didn’t walk away from the conversation feeling as though he knew more.
Callum opened the bedroom door.The hallway opened to the living room, where Grace remained on the couch, studiously sucked into her work.Her anxious energy had all but disappeared as if she were content so long as she wasn’t thinking about the fire at Alicia’s or her ex-husband.
Callum itched to do something.He didn’t have a mission objective—well, other than keeping Grace safe, and if he interrupted her now, she might bring up what he’d pushed off until they arrived: the reason he was no longer in the Army.He wasn’t ready for that conversation yet.Soon.The right time would come to him.
Instead of bothering her, Callum checked on the chicken pot pie.The scent of baking dough warmed the air, but it needed far more than the thirty-five minutes they’d set the timer for.He reset it.
“It smells delicious.”Grace stretched her arms over her head.“How long until it’s done?”
“Maybe fifteen more minutes.”
“We’re going to starve to death.”Her smile warmed her eyes.“Want to see my cover so far?”
His body jumped at the chance to sit next to her, and if he hadn’t realized he was already gone for this woman, that would’ve been a bright sign.
He joined her on the couch.Grace scooted closer, brushing her hair off her shoulder as she removed the crucial inches between them.The crocheted blanket still covered her legs; her hands were on her computer, arms covered by the long sleeves.
“How are the cat scratches?”
She glanced at them.“Not bothering me since you gave me a couple of orgasms.”
His jaw fell before he caught it.Callum tipped his head back and laughed.She didn’t tiptoe aroundanything.That had been how they had been years ago.She always told him what was on her mind—except for that crucial part that he’d also been hiding—and he loved to see it again.More and more of her shone through.“Good to know that’s a cure for pain.”
She snuggled next to him.“Look.This is the cover.I love it.”
He put his arm around her.
“It’s a fantasy novel with fairies and wood nymphs.Lush greenery and stars that are visible during the day.”She zoomed the screen into the sky where she’d painted the tiniest details.A constellation reflected the vivid green trees.The minutiae wouldn’t be apparent when she zoomed out again.
Grace scrolled down and tapped the screen with her stylus.“This is my favorite fairy.I haven’t read the story, obviously, but I’ve named her Evangelina.That sounds like a fairy’s name, doesn’t it?”She tipped her chin up and offered a gentle expression that held more of his attention than her book cover.
Callum nodded.His chest tightened as if invisible hands pressed against his lungs.The way she looked up made him ache to be closer.He wasn’t sure he could wait until after dinner to undress her.The next time he made her come, it would be with his tongue and then his cock.
Her attention returned to the screen, unaware that she was screaming his name in his mind, and zoomed in on the screen again.“I gave Evangelina a flower bracelet that no one will ever notice, but that I’m obsessed with.”
