Page 14 of Callum

"Just let me know when your brother has left. I will send the car for you."

They lingered over goodbyes, and finally, she could tear herself away from him.

*****

She was drawn into the conversation and the preparation while still mooning about the two days she had spent with a man who had swept her completely off her feet. The numerous packages were stowed inside her large walk-through closet, just waiting for her to rip through them.

But she had come home last night and fell into a deep sleep, waking up just in time to start making the eggnog and wait for her brother to come by. Her house, and as soon as she had started making some decent money, she had invested in a ranch-type place on a large parcel of land where she had hired a landscaper to take care of the ground.

The living room was spacious, and she had spent hours at flea markets and antique stores all over the country decorating it with the eclectic style that suited her.

"Hey."

"Hey." She forced herself to concentrate on the conversation. The tree was twinkling prettily in the corner of the room, and they had decided to eat here instead of in the dining room. Outside, it was gray, and darkness was already falling.

"Have you heard a word I just said?"

"You said something about the witness you were interviewing." She said calmly, reaching for some mac and cheese. "And I thought we decided not to talk about work."

He blew out a breath and reached for his glass of wine. "How was your date?"

"What?" Her hand jerked as she stared at him.

His eyebrows lifted. "That good?"

"It was not a date. It was-" She took a sip, more like a gulp of the Cabernet, and almost choked. "He took me to Paris."

Jason simply stared at her, the glass arrested halfway to his mouth. "As in France?"

She nodded and passed a hand over her hair. "He wanted to shop for his sister. He has a younger sister, a doctor, and she has a different surname. And God, I am babbling. I spent two nights with him and -" She breathed. "He wants a relationship."

"I see." Jason put his glass down carefully. "he said that specifically."

"Yes. I tried to talk him out of the madness - which it is." She picked up the glass again and sipped slowly this time. "He is like a damn tornado and -" She closed her eyes. "I am sucked in, Jace. And I have no idea what to do."

"In two days, you have been with this guy; no wonder I could not get you. Where is he now?"

"Spending Christmas with his sister, or so he says."

"You have reason to disbelieve him?"

She uttered a laugh. "You sound like a damn lawyer."

"That's because I am." He eyed her and felt a tug of something inside his chest. She was his sister, and he was accustomed to looking out for her, even though she did not need it.

But men like Callum Hammond, and there were not too damn many of them with that kind of resources! Men like him had women crawling all over him. He could have his pick. He knew his sister was beautiful, classy, and incredibly talented; he had seen her on the stage too many times to argue that.

"What's his endgame?"

"What?"

"What does he want?"

"Me, apparently. I don't want a relationship or did not want one. I am concentrating on my career and finally going places and getting somewhere. He is overpowering and accustomed to getting whatever the hell he wants."

"And now he wants you."

"Yes. I don't know what to do."

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