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“That makes sense.”
“It was fairly lucrative,” Callie admitted. “But like I told you before, normally I’d just block anyone who left rude or disparaging comments. These were different. They came a week or so after the hijacking and really freaked me out,” she admitted. “Maybe it was a coincidence, but I just don’t know.”
Wyatt muttered under his breath. “I’m sorry they scared you. I’ll take a look at everything tonight when I come over. I know you’re trying to bury all this for the time being while you’re here in Oahu, but I think it’s better to be safe than sorry.”
“Agreed. It just really startled me to see those shortly after the hijacking. It seemed best to take everything down, even if it wasn’t related. I needed a break anyway after that ordeal and just wanted to escape for a while.”
“I know, and I promise that I’ll keep you safe. I’ll see what I can find out. We’ve got plenty of IT guys who can look into it if necessary, maybe see where this is coming from. Who it’s coming from. It could be nothing, but I’d like to know if it’s in any way related.”
“Me, too. And Wyatt? Thanks for helping me on this.”
“You don’t have to thank me,” he assured her, his voice gruff. Callie could already sense he was going into his protective, alpha male mode. Wyatt was the type of man that wanted to fight the bad guys and solve problems. She didn’t want to burden him with this, but she appreciated his help. Wyatt knew way more than her about the hijacking given his career, and if it was tied to the strange comments in any way, it was better to find out sooner rather than later.
“Well, I think I already did—thank you, that is. I better get started on dinner if you’re coming by soon.”
“I like the sound of that—not that I expect you to cook for me,” he clarified. “But coming over to your place so we can spend some time together? Sign me up,” he joked.
“I’ll pencil you in,” she teased. “See you soon.”
“All right, sweetheart. See you soon,” he echoed.
An hour later, Wyatt was knocking on her front door. Callie smoothed her sundress and padded across her apartment. The place was airy and light, if somewhat sparse, because she’d headed here from California without much. She’d lucked out finding a place that was partially furnished. Callie had picked up a few decorations but mostly had posters on the wall like a college kid. More home furnishings were on her to-do list now that she knew she’d be staying in Hawaii for a while. Of course, first off, she needed a steady income.
She paused at the mirror in her foyer and did a quick once over, making sure she looked presentable. Her cheeks were flushed, and she knew it was because she was excited to see Wyatt. Callie was shocked as she opened the door to see him standing there holding a bouquet of flowers. His lips quirked at her expression, and he looked cute as hell as he handed them over, more boyish than manly at that particular moment.
“Hibiscus? I love them! Oh my gosh, thank you,” she said, taking the bouquet from Wyatt before giving him a big hug. She nearly smushed the flowers on his back as she threw her arms around him but didn’t care.
“You’re welcome,” he said as he released her with a chuckle, stepping inside her place. Wyatt had dropped her off last week but had merely seen her to the door, making sure she got safely inside. Excitement washed over her at having him in her space now. She was always neat and didn’t have much in the way of knickknacks, but she’d quickly straightened up anyway.
“It smells incredible,” he said.
“Stuffed shells,” she said with a smile. “I know you’re probably a meat and potatoes type of guy, but I promise it’s filling, and I’d just picked up the ingredients at the store earlier.”
“It sounds great,” he assured her. “And I love Italian.”
“Awesome. Maybe one day I’ll make my homemade lasagna for you,” she said, turning to head toward the kitchen.
“That sounds incredible, too. Anytime you want to invite me over for dinner is fine,” he said with a laugh. “I’m not picky, and I’ll love whatever you make.”
“You haven’t even tasted it yet,” she protested.
“Like I said, I don’t cook much, and this smells amazing. Lucky me for getting out of work on time.”
“That sucks that you’ve been having such long hours. I guess it comes with the territory, huh?”
“Pretty much. I mean, we don’t get much sleep on ops, so this isn’t bad in comparison. I was just anxious to see you,” he added as she pulled a glass pitcher from her cupboard.
“No vases,” she explained.
“Oh, I didn’t think to get one—”
“It’s fine. I boxed up a lot of things from my apartment in California and put them in storage, along with my furniture. I could’ve had everything shipped over, but when I first came, I wasn’t sure how long I’d stay. It’d be expensive to move it here and back right away.”
“That it would,” he agreed. He glanced around, taking in her place. “It looks pretty lived in for not having brought much.”
“It was partially furnished,” she admitted. “It’s a sublet. The renter was moving in with her boyfriend. She took some of the furniture but didn’t have space for it all. I guess breaking the lease wasn’t a great option for her because of the cost. It worked out in my favor,” she said with a shrug. “I got a great place for a good deal, met a friend—Alexa,” she clarified.
“And then ran into me. Not bad for a month in Hawaii,” he joked. “You look great, by the way,” he added, his gaze taking her in. Callie felt heat washing over her skin. The sundress was more cute than sexy. It wasn’t revealing. That didn’t seem to bother Wyatt in the least given the expression on his face. She’d shown far more skin in her bikini last weekend, but she could tell he loved the dress on her.
