Page 63 of Auctioned To Be Mine

We both started laughing at the same time.

I read the caption and shook my head. “They’re saying they met the night of the fire alarm.”

“A terrifying blaze,” Callum said, reading the post. “Wait? This soul mate she told you about. It’s Jack Montana?”

I burst out laughing. “I had no idea. She never told me his name, and he wasn’t tagged in any of her posts.”

“Whoa,” Callum said. “If she isn’t with him just for internet clout, maybe she really does like him.”

I looked at the photo again. Chantilly really did look happy. Not performatively happy, not Instagram happy.

“Your little stunt created a match made in heaven,” I said.

“Maybe for two couples,” Callum said and nudged my shoulder.

I looked up from the phone. He was already looking at me. My breath caught and I could have sworn my heart did an actual somersault.

“Maybe,” I said. My voice came out quieter than I intended.

He took the phone from my hand and slipped it back into his pocket. He winked and it had the intended effect. I was smiling so hard my face hurt.

We spent the rest of the morning wandering without any particular plan. We walked through the park until it opened up near the Bethesda Fountain. We got coffee from a cart near the east side and drank it while we continued to walk through the city.

By early afternoon we were back at Mimi’s. The house had come to life while we’d been gone. Mandy was at the kitchen island with a cup of tea and her laptop. Cleo was somewhere upstairs packing for the flight back.

We said our goodbyes over a late lunch. I didn’t want to leave. I really liked his family and wanted to get to know them even better. Mimi held my hands again when I hugged her goodbye. Her smile was so genuine. The woman was the matriarch of a fashion empire and yet she was so down to earth.

“Come back soon,” she said.

“I’d like that,” I told her.

The flight back was quieter than the one out. Cleo fell asleep almost immediately after takeoff, curled against the window with a travel pillow. Drew had his headphones on and was watching something on his laptop that made him laugh every few minutes.

Callum and I sat across from each other with the small table between us. I had my notebook open but I wasn’t writing anything. He had a drink in his hand but he wasn’t really drinking it. I could feel the tension but it wasn’t an uncomfortable feeling. Our morning together had changed things between us. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I felt it.

“Thank you,” I said quietly, so as not to wake Cleo. “For bringing me along.”

He looked at me and shrugged. “I couldn’t have done it without you,” he said simply. “And everyone loves you.”

“Everyone?” I asked with a smile.

Callum chuckled.

I looked back down at my notebook and drew a small, meaningless line across the corner of the page.

“Callum.”

“Mm.”

“I’m glad Drew pulled that fire alarm.”

He laughed softly. “Don’t ever tell him that. He’ll start doing it all the time.”

It was dark out when we landed in Los Angeles. Drew and Cleo said their goodbyes and I ended up in an SUV with Callum. Neither of us had discussed whose bed I would be sleeping in tonight.

When the driver turned toward the hills instead of toward my place, I didn’t say anything, but a warm feeling spread through me. He and I were a thing. We didn’t need to put a name on it, but we both felt it.

We walked into his house. I left my overnight bag in the entryway and couldn’t resist going to check out the view.