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“I need someone to show me around town. I also want to see a few museums.” She pauses for a moment before continuing. “I’ll pay you, of course. I won’t make you do it for free, but you need to tell me why you called me love.”
“Isn’t it obvious?” I chuckle, wanting to lay all my feelings on the line right now, but knowing I can’t.
She doesn’t trust me. I can hear it in her voice. If I spout off at the mouth, proclaiming to love her and want to marry her, she’ll run.
“Not really.”
Images of her in different places in the room fill my mind. Wrapped up in a blanket in the corner with a book and a mug of hot chocolate. Her luscious lips sipping from the edge of the mug before her tongue peeks out and licks them clean. Unable to resist, I’d lean down and lick the chocolate from the corner of her mouth.
“Are you listening to me?”
“Yeah. Yeah. We can meet tomorrow in front of your hotel, and I’ll show you around town.”
I rub the back of my neck in embarrassment. I need to put the brakes on my emotions, or I’ll scare her away. Not only is Ava half my age, but she’s also closed off in a way that will take some time. I may be a little rusty, but she isn’t like anyone I’ve ever met before, and I need to remember that. I’m not used to things working out how I plan, but I will try my hardest to ensure nothing damages my chance with her.
“And you’ll take me to the Scottish National Gallery of Art?” she questions, probably more skeptical of my intentions than before she called.
“I said I’d give you a tour of Edinburgh, not that I’d take you to any museums.”
“But I really want to…” she whines, the sound going straight to my dick.
“Okay, I’ll take you to a museum, but anywhere else I take you is up to me.” I pause to give her a few moments to think it over before I give her my last stipulation. “And I won’t take any money from you.”
“What do you want instead?”
“Dinner. You’ll have dinner with me at my place tomorrow night.”
I smile to myself, planning out the perfect evening for the two of us in my head. One that hopefully lands up right back here in my home and, if I’m lucky, with me buried between her thighs.
“You won’t chop me into tiny bits and feed me to your dog?”
“I don’t have a dog, so no. I just want a chance to get to know you.”
“There’s nothing special about me, Callen.” Her voice drops to barely above a whisper, but I can hear it.
There’s a longing in her voice that calls out to me, burrowing itself deep within my soul. The same longing and sadness that consumed me after Rebecca died. It took me a few years to get even remotely back to normal, but that emptiness was filled the moment I laid eyes on Ava. I just hope I can do the same thing for her that she’s done for me.
“I beg to differ, Ava.” My voice softens, trying to convey the emotion I’m feeling right at this moment in my words. “To me, you’re the most special person in the entire universe.”
She remains silent for a few moments before responding. “I’ll meet you at the Scottish National Gallery at ten o’clock tomorrow.”
“See you then, love,” I respond.
She huffs into the phone loudly before hanging up.
Ava may think she’s won this round, but things have just gotten interesting.
CHAPTERTHREE
AVA
What the hell was I thinking?
I wrap my hand tightly around the coffee cup, relishing the feeling of the heat as it seeps into my fingers.
I don’t know what possessed me to call Callen last night and see if he’d give me a tour of Edinburgh. I’m usually more reserved, needing to plan out everything to the last detail. I’ve always laid my goals out before me in neat order, never deviating from the plan, but something about Callen made me want to throw all my plans out the window and leave things up to chance. Maya and the girls would say that’s a good thing, but I’m terrified.
Ever since my parents died in a car accident when I was twelve years old, I’ve tried to live the life they both missed out on. My mom was getting ready to start her dream job as a curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the city, while my dad had landed a job at the Natural History Museum a few months before. They worked their entire lives to get to that point, and it was all snatched away because of me. The least I can do is fulfill their life’s dream.
