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“Of course I’m not. We need to talk properly!” I glance towards Titty McTitterson, who is watching us intensely. Callie whirls round to face her bedmate. It was obvious what they’d been up to when they fell out of the door. My jealousy spikes and I want to punch the woman in the throat. Yes, I know she didn’t do anything wrong, but my irrational anger is just that—irrational.
Callie squeezes her hand and speaks, then she leans in and kisses her on her cheek. I have to look away before I commit murder. I could get away with it too, I’m sure of it.Alright, psycho, rein it in. I step back and wait until Callie walks over to me. The woman is still watching us. I clearly interrupted their goodbye, and she’s pissed. Tough shit, lady.
We walk towards the hotel. There is still a way to go, plenty of time to chat. Callie puts her hand on my arm and stops us. The waves lap gently on our feet. How I wish we were here under different circumstances. “It was you in Sweden?” Her eyes are shining in the light as she looks at me.
“Yes, I found you.”
“Why the hell didn’t you show yourself? I thought one of the nephews had found me.” Her hands are moving furiously. She’s getting worked up.
“I panicked. I thought you would think I was with B! Then I realised I made a mistake and by that time you’d figured out someone was following you and left on that scooter.”
“Cilla.”
I laugh out loud. I knew it! She grins at me because she knows that I figured it out. “After that, I was able to track you.” She’s staring again. I feel her eyes roaming every part of me. She draws me into another hug. This is why no other woman has ever compared. With Callie it feels like I’m coming home. The moment she touches me, I’m hers, unequivocally.
“I’m in the hotel just over there.”
“I know, I have a room, too. There is a lot we need to talk about.”
I should go back to my own room, get some sleep and then meet up with her again in the morning once we’re both rested. I can’t do it though. Now she’s here, in front of me, I can’t let her out of my sight. “Uh, I have a guest staying with me.” She looks nervous, telling me. The rational part of my brain concludes it must be the young man she met in Barcelona. The other, uglier part of me is grimacing at the idea that she has another woman waiting in the room, in her bed.
I nod. If it’s a woman, I will force myself to leave her again. I cannot stomach watching someone else kiss her. I’m being ridiculous. Callie literally just left a woman she’d clearly fucked. There’s no way she would have done that with a woman waiting for her in her room, right? Honestly, I don’t know. The Callie of today is very different from the Callie of ten years ago.It’s as if she can read my mind because she quickly tells me it isn’t a woman.
The light in her room is on. Callie steps aside to let me in. The young man she met in Barcelona jumps to his feet. His laid-back chill has been replaced with panic. I can see it in his eyes. I wonder if Callie has told him about me? Callie places a hand on his shoulder. She turns to me and smiles. There is nothing more beautiful on this planet than Callie Compton’s smile.
“Chris, this is Daisy.” It only takes him a second before his panic is replaced with a warm smile. He’s looking at me now as if we are old friends. To my utter astonishment, he slowly signs his name. He looks from me to Callie, checking that he did it right. She is beaming at him and I am beaming at her. After all this time, I have still been on her mind. Enough so that she told a stranger about me and taught him sign.
I reciprocate. “Hello, Chris, it’s nice to meet you.” I smile as he scratches his head. He didn’t catch everything I said and doesn’t want to say. This time I use my voice. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Chris.” His smile becomes wide again. I can see why Callie has taken a shine to him. He has this little brother vibe going on.
“I’m sorry, that’s all the sign I know.”
My heart is melting and thudding at the same time. I need to keep myself under control. There is a right time to be mushy and sentimental, and this isn’t it. Callie needs to know what’s going on. “Do you want a drink?” Callie has already opened a bottle of beer for herself. I nod. I could do with several drinks to be honest. Chris settles back on his bed. I settle on the little couch with Callie.
Half the bottle of beer is gone in the first swig. I don’t want Callie to panic when I tell her that technically Betty did send me. I take a deep breath and brace myself. “As I said, I never stopped looking for you. But Betty does have something to do with why I’m here now. Before you get the wrong end of the stick, hear me out.” I glare at her with one of my most penetrating stares. Something else I used to do when we were younger to make sure Callie knew I was being dead serious.
“Okay, I’m listening.”
“Betty called me in a few weeks ago. I haven’t laid eyes on her since I left for university. She told me I was to find you. Daniel, the absolute douche canoe, informed her that I’m good at solving things. She’s obviously desperate to find you and the thing you took. She wants it back, Callie. To make sure I do what she wants, she has dear old dad holding Daniel hostage, gun included.”
Callie’s face pales. “Shit, shit, shit. Is that why you’re here then, to take me back?” Her eyes have gone cold. I’m more than a little hurt. She thinks I would trade her in. Daniel is my brother, but he knew what he was signing up for. I tried so many times to get him to leave that village. Fucking moron.
“Callie, do you honestly think that’s why I’m here?” I need to know that there is still some of the Callie I know left in her. I understand her life has been hard, probably very lonely and that can have a lasting effect, but I hope to god she knows deep down I would never betray her like that. She studies me and then her shoulders slump. Her hand lands on my knee and I inhale sharply. I’ve made an involuntary noise because her eyes snap up to mine.
“Sorry,” she says, moving her hand. Bugger, I made her retreat when all I want is her hand touching me, but not on my knee. “I’m sorry Daisy. I…”
“It’s okay. I’m here to warn you and hopefully work with you.” My hand lands on her knee this time, and I give it a little squeeze. Chris is adorable, but I wish to high heaven he wasn’t here right now. I want to tell Callie how I feel, how I’ve missed her. Then it dawns on me. Less than an hour ago she was probably face deep in another woman.
Yes, Callie Compton has thought of me over the years—that’s evident in her talking to Chris about me—but that doesn’t mean she likes me in that way, she never has, otherwise she would have told me all those years ago, right?. I need to get that through my thick skull once and for all.
Chapter 7
Callie
Holy shit! Daisy Simpson is here, in my room, in front of me, looking like a goddess and she has her hand on my knee. She also caught me coming out of the house of that lovely Spanish woman I had just fucked for a couple of hours.
I am trying with all my might to keep my head on straight, so to speak. My brain is screaming at me to be cautious. I haven’t seen Daisy in a decade and all of a sudden she’s here with a story about her brother and Betty. I want to believe her completely, but surely that would be idiotic. I know how much Betty wants that book and I know the lengths she would go to. Queen B would absolutely use someone’s family to get what she wants.
Would Daisy sell me out, though? Ten years ago, the answer would have been no. I wouldn’t have ever questioned her, but now? How can I really know? I have no idea what she’s been doing with herself for all this time. It’s unlikely but possible that Daisy has been working for “the family.” My gut is twisting because even as I think it, I know it can’t be true. Fuck, my brain is scrambled. And what does she mean she’s here to work with me?
