I startled from the voice in my ear.
It was one I hadn’t heard in a long time.
I turned to see none other than Callum Brown standing in front of me.
“I thought that was you.” He smiled. “Well, if it wasn’t, I would have whispered something inappropriate in another woman’s ear.” He chuckled.
“Callum?” I chirped. “Oh my God. What are you doing here? How are you here?”
He laughed. “Are we playing a hundred questions?”
I was a little flustered from the shock. He was someone I never thought I’d see again.
“I’m so sorry. I’m really happy to see you.”
“Come here, you.”
He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into his chest. That familiar smell of dark musk hit me, a smell that had been my only comfort for four years.
“You look like you’ve grown,” he joked, pulling away.
“Very funny. Just because you’re like, a giant, being six feet and all.”
“All right, Miss Five Foot Nothing.”
“Five foot five, actually.”
He chuckled to himself. It felt like we hadn’t been away from each other at all. We always used to joke around with each other in Leeds—in private, of course. He never really acknowledged me when other people were around. I knew why he did it; to protect me from Jason. If he’d seen how we truly were with each other, I doubted either of us would be breathing today.
Callum looked different. His dark, chestnut brown hair was now shaved at the sides and short on top, his stubble was a neatly trimmed beard, and his green eyes were as bright as ever. They always reminded me of a fresh spring day.
I held the tie against his black shirt. “This would suit you, actually.”
“Grey’s my favourite colour.” He winked.
I swatted his chest with the tie. “No, it’s not.”
“How much do you want to bet on that?”
“A gambling man now, I see,” I teased.
“Only when it’s a sure win.”
“What are you doing here, anyway? You’re a long way from Leeds.”
“I’m looking to invest in a few businesses here. They weren’t far from Oxford Street, so I thought I’d treat myself to a new tie for the occasion.”
“You were buying ties? I don’t believe you. I was always the one who told you what suited you—you could never quite get it right.”
“Maybe I listened,” he teased. “We should get coffee and catch up. Unless you’re with someone?” He glanced around, then met my eyes again.
“I’m actually by myself.”
“Then it was meant to be. Think I saw a coffee shop a few doors down when I was walking up.”
I went to put the tie back, but Callum took it from me. “What are you doing?”
“You said it would suit me, so I’m buying it. Unless you were making it up?”
