“Well. No,” Callum says and Greer and I look at each other, both of us confused as fuck. Wasn’t he telling us to not get involved with her, along with calling us dumbasses?
“She seemed different when she came back,” Greer says. “Did anything else happen that would have upset her or have her acting this way?”
Callum scratches the back of his neck and paces. “It was confusing, okay? She’s beautiful and different from who I thought she was. When she kissed me, it felt right, and I missed touch so much. I knew I should have pushed her away when she’s leaving town soon, I know that, but I didn’t.”
“You knotted her?” I say too loudly and over dramatically.
“No. I just, how is this any of your business what we did? We both freaked out after. The drive was awkward. She got a call for a job offer on the way home and immediately after said she felt sick.”
“So…you like her too?” I confirm.
“Yes. But is there even a fucking point? God, we’re all going to be so fucked up when she leaves, even worse than before,” Callum says while he continues to pace.
“I think she wants to stay,” Greer says, the most confident of each of us.
“She told you that?”
“I asked her to extend her trip, and she seemed a little scared of the idea, but open,” Greer says.
“She’s usually a planner. This is overwhelming for her,” Callum agrees, showing a side of himself I haven’t seen in ages. He actually cares about her and doesn’t that solve at least a quarter of our problems?
“We need a plan, then. Show her we’ve thought this through, that it’s not some flash in a pan Highland romance, that it’s real.” I’m nearly pleading with them, because I need Maisie to stay more than I need my next breath.
“We all want the same thing, then?” Greer says, both of us facing Callum.
His hands are on his hips as he looks back at the two of us.
“Yes, okay. Fucking yes, I want her to stay,” he says it in such a pissy tone before walking back down to the kitchen, but I know Callum, he’s just mad that he was proven wrong.
“Tell me you have a plan?” I ask Greer.
“I think I do. Have you talked to Graham or Arran about how things are going with her sister?”
“Besides catching them fucking at the farm, no.” Greer rolls his eyes at that.
“Check in with them and see how they’re feeling. I’ll get started on the PowerPoint,” Greer says.
“PowerPoint?”
“It’s Maisie’s language. We need to be transparent of how we see things working—what life would be like if she stayed with us.”
I nod along with his logic, because it’s actually really sound. “Is there anything else I should do?”
“Maybe pick up the spare room so we can show her we’re serious that she has a place here.”
“What about the nest?”
“We cleared that out forever ago. We leave it as is so if she agrees to stay she can do whatever she wants with it,” he says.
“This is why you’re pack Alpha,” I say with a grin, smacking his ass before making my way out of the office. “What do you think she smells like?” I say as I hold on to the door frame.
Greer looks up from his laptop at me and smiles. “I don’t know, but I imagine it’s something that perfectly suits her.”
I leave the office with that thought.
Maybe I’m full of too much hope and I need to be more realistic about everything, but a part of me knew when I saw her on the side of the road that she was going to be something special. The first time I kissed her, I wanted her to be someone important to me.
She’s being exceptionally vulnerable, letting us scent her, and I don’t want her to feel like that trust is misplaced.
