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He stared at her with that blank expression.
Isobel swallowed hard. “I-I had a pink camouflage dress o-once.”
Still blank.
“Not m-much use for p-pink in the army, though…” She forced a laugh, and it morphed into something quite hysterical that she had to work hard to stop. “So.” She cleared her throat. “I thought, maybe, y-you’d like to c-come to my house and h-have tea and talk about army s-stuff.” She looked at him hopefully. Desperately.
Callum’s chin jerked upwards as though she’d struck him. His cheeks coloured with what she knew was rage.
“You’re one of those women, then,” he said. “The kind that thinks combat is sexy. Do you get hot hearing battle stories? Are you hoping I’ll show you my scars? You’re out of luck, lady. I don’t sleep with army groupies. You want to get off with a soldier, look elsewhere.”
Isobel felt like she’d been slapped. “What? No!”
Callum shook his head. “Clear out before I lose my temper.” He turned his back on her.
Isobel rushed forward, but her top snagged in the bush, holding her back.
“It’s not like that. That’s not why I’m here.”
He strode into the house, ignoring her.
Isobel panicked and did what she always did under pressure: she blurted the truth.
“There’s a dead body in my freezer and I don’t know what to do with it!”
CHAPTER 4
CALLUM STOPPED DEAD IN HIS tracks and slowly turned to face Isobel. She was frozen in place, her cheeks a deep red and her green eyes so wide that they almost took over her face. She looked as though she’d been caught naked on stage, with the spotlight firmly on her. In three long strides, Callum was at her side. She tensed, ready to run. He reached out, wrapped his fingers around her wrist and held her in place. Firmly, but gently.
“Explain.” He used the same tone he’d used when he’d been in charge of an SAS operation. It demanded nothing but compliance.
“Um…” She blinked up at him, as the colour started to drain from her face.
He could almost read her thoughts. They were scrolling over her incredibly expressive face. He watched intently as he saw regret—presumably at blurting out her secret—fear, probably over the worry that he would use it against her, and desperation—most likely to disappear and forget their encounter had ever happened. Well, it was too late for that. Isobel Sinclair was neck-deep in a situation that Callum couldn’t ignore. A situation she obviously wasn’t equipped to handle.
“Talk, Isobel.”
Her name was smooth on his tongue. It was almost as though he could taste her. He clenched his jaw and forced his thoughts from places they shouldn’t go—not with this woman. Isobel had the words permanent relationship written all over her. She wasn’t the kind of woman Callum could take to bed without repercussions. And standing close enough to breathe her in, Callum could admit that he very much wanted to take her to bed.
“Why is there a body in your freezer? What happened to it?” His voice dropped an octave. “Did you kill him?”
He didn’t believe for one second she was capable of killing a man, but possibilities were racing through his head. An accident? Self-defence? He studied her wide eyes and saw only panic. He knew he was looming over her, but there was nothing he could do about his size or his intense personality. She’d come to him with her crazy confession and she’d just have to deal with him.
“Breathe,” he ordered. Her lips were beginning to turn blue, and she was shaking so hard her teeth were chattering. “You’re going to pass out if you don’t take in some air. You need to breathe. Damn it, woman, I’m not going to hurt you. I just want some information. Take a breath and talk. Do as I tell you!”
She didn’t do as she was told.
Callum tightened his hold on her wrist. “Breathe. Now.”
Her eyes became wider and began to lose focus. She was going to faint. Callum felt a surge of panic at the thought. Give him a terrorist armed with a bomb over a fainting woman any day.
“Snap out of it, woman, take a breath!” He felt her knees begin to crumple and quickly wrapped an arm around her waist to keep her upright. Her eyes held his. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish on dry land. But nothing happened. Callum cursed and did the only thing he could think of to shock her out of her panicked state without harming her.
He kissed her.
It was a mistake.
As soon as Callum’s lips touched hers, he knew there was no going back. The only thing
