He tried to focus.Honest to God, he did.The idea that he couldn’t sit next to her without dirty fucking thoughts was ludicrous.“You’re really talented.”
She repositioned the illustration.“If you zoom below this tree, you can see a little kid fairy trying out their wings for the first time.Honestly, no one will ever see it, but I’ll know it’s there.”
She shifted against him.Her loose hair tickled his skin, and his cock twitched for more.The air between them was too warm.She didn’t seem to notice as she continued to point out invisible details.
Callum locked his attention on the illustration’s complexity.If he looked up, he’d kiss her.The timer beeped for the pot pie, and he jumped.
With a tilt of her head and a lift of her eyebrows, she laughed.“Wow, I really sucked you into the fairy’s world.”She swiped the screen, smiling and proud of her work.“It really is one of my favorites.”
He still had a lot to learn about her.Tech savvy.A talented artist.As he put physical distance between them, he wondered what else.Peeling back her layers gave him a new perspective on a woman he thought he already knew.
Callum checked their dinner.Smelled good, but he would have thought it should have been bubbling through the steam vents in the pie crust.He shoved it back into the oven.“Not ready.”
“How much longer?”Grace walked into the kitchen as she stretched.Her fitted shirt lifted and exposed the soft stomach that his hands had been all over.She was trying to kill him.
He punched another round on the timer again.“Not too much longer.”
She leaned against the counter.“Did your office have an update?”
“Kinda.”
“Well?”she prompted, assessing him.“Any news on Dominic?”
He hated Marino’s name on her lips.“Dean tapped into Marino’s communication channels, and he’s upset that someone put you in danger.”
Lines tightened at the corners of her eyes.Her arms crossed, and her lips pursed as though she’d sucked on a lemon.Gone was the relaxed woman on the couch.Her walls were going up before his very eyes.“I don’t understand.”
“I don’t either, but they’ll figure it out.”
She pressed her fingers to her temples as if fighting off a headache.“I just want to be rid of him.”
Empathizing could only go so far.She needed a distraction.Hell, he did too.They couldn’t sit around with nothing to do while waiting for dinner, or Grace would work herself up when all Callum wanted was for her to completely let go.
Should he ask her about the book cover again?He scanned the well-lived-in house.Board games and puzzles were stacked on the lower layer of the coffee table.A flat-screen television hung on the wall between the mounted bass and trout.Come nightfall, there was a fire pit to sit around, though he wasn’t sure how much fun she would find in poking a fire with a stick.
Or he could just take her to bed.
Callum wrapped her in his arms and let her meld to his chest.Everything about holding her felt right.Apprehensions evaporated.Vivian’s disproven theory disappeared.This was the woman he was meant to hold.He dropped his lips to the top of her head.
“I need this,” she whispered against his chest.“You.”
He lowered his mouth to hers, and like a balm to a burn, she soothed parts of him that vibrated.Her lips fit on his as though they’d been born to kiss.Every part of him needed to be with her.
Callum swept her into his arms and returned to the couch, cradling her in his lap, his hand sliding up her thigh.Her mouth moved to his neck and set the world on fire—and he froze.
Her languid body tightened.“What?”
He focused on a stuffed fish on the wall, its head facing the living room, watching, and he remembered exactly why they were there in the first place.“Give me a second.”
“No.”
“Trust me.”There was a not-small chance of a live feed streaming into Dean’s office that very moment.Fucking Wes and Rhys would have popcorn by now.“There are security cameras.”
Her eyes went wide.
“It was just a kiss.”He brushed her hair off her cheeks.“We didn’t put on a show.”
Grace straightened and stared about the room.“Who’s watching?”
