“Oh, I don’t know,” Lisa answered gleefully. “Deena was just about to tell us about the proposal she’s expecting any day now. He sounds like a catch. What was his name again? Caden? Calvin?”
“We didn’t get a last name,” Alison told Austin in a false conspiratorial tone.
Austin grinned, glancing back at me. His brows jumped when he met my gaze. An invitation.You don’t have to lie to me, his gaze said.Maybe we could pick up where we left off.
“And we didn’t get a picture, either,” Lisa added. “Surely you’ve got tons of pictures of the two of you together! Let’s see one!” She smiled at my mother, her eyes flat and deadly.
The ladies wouldn’t let my mother get a win, and the cost was my dignity. They were happy to make a fool of me in front of Austin and whoever else had wandered over to listen, just to embarrass my mother.
I mostly wanted to get away…but I found myself siding with my mom. I didn’t like her jabs, but I didn’t like other people trying to cut her down, either. It was some sort of latent family loyalty rearing its ugly head. Or maybe I was plain ole embarrassed at being called out for my fibs.
I smiled at the two ladies, marshaling my thoughts. “Callum,” I said. “His name is Callum. Cal. He’s wonderful, actually.” I flicked my gaze at Austin and widened my smile. “We met at the end of last year. He’s a workaholic, but all the best men are, aren’t they?” I laughed delicately and shook my head, flicking my hair over my shoulder. Their narrowed gazes only fueled my fire. I let out a sigh. “He swept me off my feet.”
“Oh?” Alison said, doubt entering her gaze.
Maybe I was telling the truth, she thought. Maybe there was a man waiting for me in the city. Maybe Callum did exist.
And hedid. I took a sip of my vodka cranberry and let out a wistful sigh. “I think I fell for him the moment I saw him. He’s so handsome with the mostamazingeyes. But it’s the way he treats me that really won me over. He knows when to call me on my sh—excuse me, on my crap.” I laughed, putting a hand to my breast. I looked out the open windows at the crashing waves of the sea beyond, as if my emotions for the man were just too much to bear. “But he’s a total romantic at heart. I don’t know where I’d be without him.”
Austin, my mother, and both other ladies had gone silent. I looked at Lisa, then Alison, but neither of them were paying attention to me. Austin had torn his gaze away from my tits and was looking behind me. My mother had followed his gaze, her eyes wide, her throat bobbing with a hard swallow.
My heart gave a violent thump.
Slowly, as if in a dream, I spun on my six-inch stilettos and looked at what had captured everyone’s attention.
Well, not what. Who.
Callum Frost stood before me in a perfectly tailored tuxedo. His hair was pushed back from his face, though one rogue curl flopped onto his forehead. He’d shaved to show off his strong jaw, and his eyes were dancing with laughter.
My mouth opened. Closed. Opened again.
Shock stole my words. It didn’t make sense that he was here. I wondered if someone had slipped something into my drink. Maybe I was hallucinating this whole thing.
But then the hallucination moved, and the warmth of his palm against the side of my neck made me inhale sharply. His thumb stroked up my throat and swept along my jaw. With only the pressure of his thumb on the bottom of my chin, he tilted my head up to meet his pale blue gaze. There was nothing wintry about it now. It was all heat and humor, and I was so mortified I couldn’t feel my face.
I searched my empty mind for something to say, but his hands were on me and he was here. Why was he here? How?
His lips tilted into an amused, almost fond smile, and I swore he could read every thought clanging through my empty skull. Then, in the lowest of murmurs I loved so much, that voice of velvet sin, he said, “Hello, love.”
And then he kissed me.
TEN
CALLUM
Her lips tastedlike vodka cranberry and Deena, and I couldn’t resist the urge to sweep my tongue against hers to get more of it. A tiny, half-suppressed whimper came from the back of her throat, causing a surge of victory to course through me.
I hadn’t meant to kiss her right here in front of the whole room. But then I’d see how the asshole to my left had been staring at her,coveting her, and all logic had fled from my mind. Besides, how could I resist when she was so kissable? And so obviously full of shit—as usual—and afraid I’d call her on it, the little liar.
God, I’d missed her.
We pulled away from each other, but I didn’t remove my hand from her neck. My thumb traced her bottom lip, my gaze following the motion until I couldn’t resist meeting the dazed look in her eyes and admiring the pretty flush on her cheeks.
“How’s that for romantic?” I asked quietly, and the question seemed to snap her back to herself. She wrenched away from me and turned, only to stop short at the sight of three older ladies and the asshole with the wandering eyes.
“Well,” one of the ladies drew out expectantly. She had Deena’s brown eyes and her stubborn chin, so I guessed it was her mother. When she spoke, I recognized her voice: “Deena, honey, aren’t you going to introduce us?”
“No,” Deena said, then shook her head as if to clear it. “I mean?—”
