AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"No," he finally said. "There isn't anyone."
It was all I needed to hear to know that the somersaulting Callie was back in business. I tried not to be too obvious about how happy I was. So instead of jumping up and down like I wanted to, I just smiled knowingly and sipped my wine again.
But I wanted to know more. A man like Blake must have women hanging off him.
"Why not?" I asked casually.
"I guess I'm waiting for the right person," he said softly.
"What would she be like?" I asked, unable to hold back my curiosity.
His eyes narrowed and the corner of his mouth twitched as he eyed me. After a few moments of silence, he finally said, “She’d be around my age, from a small town, maybe a nurse or something.”
Great. That’s just great. Guess I’ll have to change professions.
“Sounds like you have a pretty good chance of meeting the lucky lady in town one of these days,” I replied, trying to mask the disappointment in my voice.
“Maybe.” He chuckled and took a sip from his glass.
“So why are you still single, Callie? I’m sure a beautiful girl like you would have young men lined up, waiting for a date.”
I felt my cheeks flush. “You think I’m beautiful?”
Our eyes locked and time stood still for a moment. His brows furrowed slightly and his jaw twitched.
“Hard not to notice,” he said, his voice gravelly.
I didn’t realize it until then, but both of us were leaning in, our shoulders touching.
He leaned in a little closer and paused, before glancing down at my lips and back at my eyes again. I wanted to kiss him, to taste the whisky from his lips. The tension was thick between us and I knew he felt it too. At least I hoped.
Then he straightened himself abruptly, breaking the moment, and said, “I better call it a night.”
He walked to the sink and drained the rest of his whisky before hurrying up the stairs like the kitchen was on fire. I stared at the stairs long after he left as my heart raced wildly in my chest.
9
BLAKE
I spentthe last few days avoiding Callie as much as I could. After the night in the kitchen, I had to put some space between us. I knew I needed to dial it back.
Spending more time with Callie was making it harder to resist her. I was in danger of reaching a tipping point where I’d be unwilling, or unable, to hold myself back.
But I’d spent enough time thinking about Callie throughout the day that I really needed to work off some of the tension. So I changed into my sweats and went down to the basement to tell Callie I was leaving.
She was sitting on one of the couches, flipping through a magazine. When she looked up to see me at the bottom of the stairs, she smiled. “Hey.”
“Hey. Just wanted to let you know I’m leaving, but I’ll be back in an hour or so.”
“Wait,” she said, hopping up from the couch and putting her hand on my arm before I could leave. “You’re going for a run?”
“Yeah,” I said slowly, hoping she wasn’t going to ask what I thought she was going to ask.
“I really enjoyed my jog the other day…until I didn’t. But if I go with you, I won’t be out there alone.”
Damn it. I was already too tempted just seeing her in passing.
Having her that close to me for that long, sweating and breathing heavily, her body bouncing beside me, or worse, in front of me…But I really had no excuse to give her for why she couldn’t come with me.
