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She looked at Callum, who was having trouble suppressing a smile. ‘Over my dead body,’ she muttered under her breath, levering herself into a sitting position. She reached for the closest article of clothing that lay strewn on the carpet and plucked it up, shoving it back in a bag.
‘Here, let me help you,’ Callum said, also reaching for the spilled contents. His hand fell on a black lace bra and knicker set. The fabric felt cool beneath his touch and he couldn’t help but wonder how it would look adorning her as he passed it to her.
Hailey met his gaze and saw the flare of heat in his eyes. She snatched it from him, annoyed at the tremor of lust that coursed through her body just like the night on the balcony. ‘I can manage, thank you,’ she said primly.
She gathered the stuff quickly, very aware of Callum and Tom watching her. ‘What are you doing here anyway?’ She repeated her unanswered question from earlier as she shoved the last garment back into its bag.
‘I live here,’ Callum stated. ‘Three doors down.’
Hailey looked at him sharply. He lived here? Was there some conspiracy out there that she didn’t know about? ‘I’ve never seen you here before.’ Not that she was that up to date on the comings and goings in the complex. Shift work made it difficult to keep tabs on anything. ‘When did you move in?’
‘Two weeks ago.’
Two weeks? They’d been here for a fortnight? She searched back in her mind. She’d been on a run of nights then.
‘What are you doing here? Are you visiting someone?’
Callum’s question cut into her thoughts. ‘I live here, too,’ she said miserably. She pointed to her door three down in the opposite direction.
Callum looked at the door, the full implications dawning. ‘So we’re neighbours?’
‘It would appear so,’ Hailey admitted, her heart beating a little too fast at the thought.
‘Oh, goody, Daddy. Hooray! Hailey is our neighbour!’
Tom jumped up and down excitedly while Callum tried not to think about black lace underwear. She looked sexy enough in her strappy, clingy sundress. The last thing he wanted was temptation living down the corridor.
They looked at each other for a few moments, both unhappy about the unexpected development. Hailey broke eye contact first.
‘Anyway, sorry to have intruded on your day. I’ll be going now.’ She grabbed the railing and hoisted herself into a standing position, gritting her teeth at the jab of pain.
‘Whoa,’ Callum chided as Hailey swayed and he placed a steadying hand on her shoulder. ‘Careful. Let me help you.’
‘I’m fine,’ she said, ignoring the proffered arm and gingerly putting her sore foot to the floor. It was probably only ten metres to her door but it suddenly seemed ten kilometres as her ankle protested the movement.
Callum rolled his eyes at the obvious wince on Hailey’s face. ‘Lean on me,’ he ordered, putting an arm around her waist.
‘I’m fine,’ she reiterated, even though she knew it was going to take some time to cover the distance.
‘Or I could pick you up,’ Callum said, exasperated. ‘Your choice.’
‘You’d better be prepared to get your fingers broken if you do,’ she threatened, looking all the way up into his face.
‘Taught you that in your self-defence class too, huh?’
She nodded. ‘That, and how to break planks with my bare hands.’
Callum threw back his head and laughed. ‘I’ll bear that in mind. Come on, just lean on me. Think of it as neighbourly.’
Except it didn’t feel neighbourly as she acquiesced. She was excruciatingly aware of the rub of his hip against her side, the brush of his arm around her waist. It even managed to obliterate the slow, steady throb in her ankle.
Tom followed them, laden with the shopping bags, and Hailey’s handbag. He fished through it for Hailey’s keys and passed them to his father. Within a minute Hailey was ensconced on her lounge.
‘Thank you,’ she said, looking up at Callum. From her reclining position he looked even further up. He was wearing his work clothes but his tie had been removed and his top buttons undone and his sleeves rolled up to his elbow. He looked relaxed and utterly at home in her unit.
Leave now.
‘Have you got a first-aid kit? I’ll strap it. And put ice on it. That should reduce the swelling. What about painkillers? I have some at my place if you haven’t got anything.’
‘That won’t be necessary,’ Hailey dismissed, smiling at Tom as he shone his torch on the inflammation around her ankle. It didn’t look too awful and the pain had settled to a dull throb. It didn’t look like a bad sprain.
