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She hugs Dolly, telling her softly that she’ll be back in the morning and to not be scared.
“You’ll be okay out here,” she says as she walks to the door. “I love you.”
We walk out of the stall and I secure everything, feeling Ruby’s eyes on me every step of the way. When we step outside and start walking toward the house, she exhales loudly.
“I was trying to stay silent until we got out here,” she says. “It’s a good sign that Dolly stayed quiet that whole time. If she’d heard me talking, she might’ve put up a stink.” She laughs softly. “You must think I’m crazy…”
“No,” I say.
“Oh, well. You’d be the first then,” she says. “I, uh…I didn’t exactly tell Uncle Pierre that I’d be bringing Dolly with me, so it’s actually really fortunate that I came across your place first. Are you sure she’s okay out there?”
“She’ll be fine.”
“She’s trained better than most dogs,” she says. “As long as she gets her exercise for the day…she’s—I’ll, uh…I’ll stop talking about my emu now. Just…thank you. I don’t know what we would’ve done if you hadn’t shown up when you did.” Her mouth drops when I open the door to my kitchen.
I motion for her to step inside and she does, looking around the kitchen with wide eyes.
“Wow, this is…wow,” she says. “I did not expect—”
I look around my kitchen, wondering how she sees it. I worked hard on this place and it’s better in the daylight when you can see out all the windows, but in my opinion, it’s beautiful in here just about any time of day.
“This is gorgeous, Callum.”
My chest swells with pride. I duck my head, looking down at her wet lacy boots.
“You need socks,” I say abruptly. “And I’ve got any necessities you might need in the guest bathroom. Grinny…my grandma…and my sister Scarlett…they made sure of that.”I motion toward the other room. “I’ll start a fire so you can warm up.” I frown. “How old are you?”
Her brow crinkles. “Twenty-three, why?”
“Wine or beer?”
She grins and giggles. “Uh no. You think I’m chatty now, you’ll never get me to shut up if I have a drink.”
“Hot tea, hot chocolate, or hot rum?” I list quietly.
She laughs. “I was not expecting you to be such a great host either…”
“Pierre’s been good to my family.”
She hums and tugs my coat off of her shoulders and turns to set it on the hook by the door. My eyes drag down her bare back, taking her in, and my mouth goes dry.
The sight of this woman in my house with that wedding dress on…well, it fucks me over a little bit. Not gonna lie.
Twenty-three, I tell myself.Too young, and again, Pierre would kill you. Not to mention, she’s in a fucking wedding dress.
“Actually, hot chocolate sounds amazing,” she says.
The devil on the other shoulder whispers,Nine years younger isn’t that bad.
I grumble and she turns, her eyebrows lifting in question.
I move past her and get the socks and a sweater, bringing them back to the living room, where she’s now walking toward the couch with bare feet, her veil trailing behind her.
“Oh, thank you,” she whispers when she sees what I’m holding.
She’s saidthank youa lot since she’s been here. Polite little thing.
Her hands brush against mine and we both freeze, our eyes flying to each other’s. Her chest rises and falls, and I glance down, my eyes stalling on her peaked nipples under the white lace. Poor girl is cold and I need to think aboutwarming her up in a way that doesn’t involve my hands. I exhale a ragged breath and turn around, curse words flying around in my mind as I turn my focus on building a fire.
