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“I’ll look forward to it, Red. Tell them I have plenty of room at my house for all of them, and their dogs if they want to bring them.”
“I will.” I hesitated. “Callan, can we switch to a call?” I didn’t want to see his reaction as I offered to step away. The idea was killing me dead, and I didn’t want to see the relief that was sure to be on his face.
Naomi scooped up Frank. “Come on, blue eyes. Time for us to rustle up a travelling bag for you.” She nodded at me, then mouthed,“You got this”before she hurried from the room.
Callan switched the format to a call. “Hang on, Red.” He murmured something to James and I heard boots stomping across the hardwood floor. “We’re clear. Catie, this isn’t your fault. It’s no one’s fault. We’ll get through it. Bad Dog has a crack PR team, and—”
I cut him off. “I’ll back away. Maybe they’ll stop trying to figure out who I am if I’m not in your life.” Breath snagged on the lump in my throat, but I forged ahead. “Seeing you with someone else will throw them off.” And yeah, Callan moving on with another woman would hurt worse than finding out that Steve had fucked a co-worker and left me for her ass. “It’s probably for the best, anyway. I mean, where were we going? We’re really just co-workers.”
Callan’s sigh was heavy over the phone. “Red, I say this with all the sincere apologies… But shut the fuck up.”
“Callan—”
“Nope,” he cut me off sharply. “You listen to me. I believe you and me might be long term. I mean likeuntil death do us partlong term. I’m sure as hell not going to let the media fuck this up for me.”
Long term, as in married? My heart leaped, but then crashed back lower than before. “We’ve only just met. You can’t be serious.”
“As a heart attack.” He paused, then rushed on. “My dad always told me when you know, you know. And what I know is that I’m definitely falling for you. This isn’t how I envisioned telling you. Roses and romance would have been a better way to go.” He laughed. “I’ll make that up to you. I promise. But we are not letting a bunch of media buzzards determine our lives.Ourlives, Catie.”
Tears prickled my eyes, and a broken sob worked itself free.
“Honey, I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
“I know,” I blubbered.
“I need you here, with me. Safe in my house and my arms. We’ll sort it all out. I’m not going to get all high-handed with you and tell you to do what I say because I have the experience dealing with these swamp clowns. But I am going to ask you to stick to the plan Asher and Carrie have come up with to get you here. All the rest of it, we’ll deal with as shit comes up.”
“O—Okay,” I gulped. Callan Wilder, a man I was falling in love with, was asking me to have confidence in his ability to navigate this shitty hand we’d been dealt. “I trust you.”
“Pack enough clothes for two weeks. Bring whatever you and Frank need to stay with me for the duration. Forever is what I prefer, but I’ll bide my time.” He laughed.
For the first time since Naomi broke the news that I’d become an internet sensation, I laughed as well. With this man next to me, I was pretty sure I could face anything. Even seeing that awful revenge porn video. I sobered as a new worry bloomed. “Callan, promise me that you won’t watch that video if the opportunity arises.”
“Red, I don’t need any damn video. I have the real thing in my bed. And I’d like to keep you there.”
“There’s nowhere else I want to be,” I assured him.
My doorbell rang, and Naomi’s tennis shoes slapped the wood floors as she raced to peer out the sidelight window. “Can I help you?” she hollered through the closed door.
“Catie, tell her not to open it,” Callan warned.
“Naomi—”
Naomi looked up and caught me shaking my head. She looked at me like she thought I thought she had shit for brains. “I’m not opening the damn door. Chill out!”
“It’s Barry. Uh…with DoorDash?” came the visitor’s muffled reply.
“Naomi, it’s okay. Let him in.” I returned my attention to Callan. “It’s Barry.”
The fresh-faced kid wearing tight jeans tucked into a fancy pair of cowboy boots and a plaid short-sleeved shirt buttoned up to the throat stepped into my foyer. “Uh, I’m here to um…pick up a delivery.” His expression was uncertain as he glanced from Naomi to me.
“That’s me. I’m the delivery.” I rose from the sofa, swiping lingering tears from my cheeks. “Callan, I’m going to finish packing. I’ll be there soon.”
“Holding you to that, Catie-belle. Just like I’m going to hold you close the minute you walk through my door. Let me talk to Barry for a second. Got some last-minute instructions for him.”
I handed the phone off to the kid and hurried to my room to pack.
* * *
