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I was way out of my depth; that had to be obvious to everyone, but CeCe had already left. I couldn’t chase her out the door without looking pathetic.
Slowly, I swivelled back around to face my new companion. His eyes danced with amusement.
“I can go away if you want,” he said. “But you’re alone and I’m alone, so we could have a drink together.”
My glance shifted across the room to the table he’d been sitting at before. A young couple had taken the place of him and his friend.
“Weren’t you with someone earlier?”
“I was. My mate, Guy. He had a… thing too.”
The smirk was back, and I allowed myself to return his smile. “Fine. One drink. But you’d better tell me your name before this gets awkward.”
“Callum. Cal to my mates.”
“Callum.” I let his name roll off my tongue. It suited him. “I’m Shannen.”
He held his hand out to me, and I shook it, sealing my decision to stay a little longer. The friction from the rough skin on his palm sent a shot of warmth bolting up my arm, making me wonder how it would feel if he touched other parts of me.
As he released me from his grip, I reached for my wine and downed half of it like a chav at a hen party. Christ. I’d need a few more of those if I wanted to get through the rest of the evening.
“What can I do to make you less nervous?” he asked.
“I’m not nervous,” I answered a little too quickly.
I was never a good liar, and when Callum laughed, my cheeks flushed again.
“Okay, fine. I’m nervous. You make me nervous.”
That grin of his is going to kill me and he’s only been here for ten seconds. “Why? Because I look like the guy your mother warned you about?”
Swallowing, I said, “No. Because you look like the man who taught the guy my mother warned me about everything he knows.”
“Well,” Callum said, leaning in towards me a little, his face just a few inches from mine, “maybe you’re right. But…” He smirked and leaned back in his seat again, “…you won’t know that if you run away from me. We might have loads of things in common.”
His eyebrow hooked upwards, and this time it was me who laughed. “Do you enjoy foreign films, sushi, and long walks in the countryside?”
“No. But you do?”
I shook my head, laughing “I’m just messing with you. I like comedies, Chinese takeaways, and the only reason I’d be taking a walk in the countryside is if there was a cake shop at the end of the route.”
Callum’s shoulders unhunched, and he took a swig of his beer. “Thank fuck for that.”
“So, what are you interested in, Callum?”
He raised his eyebrows as if he hadn’t expected a question. After a moment, he said, “I’m interested in fun, Shannen.”
I felt a shiver as he said my name. I wanted to hear him say it again. A lot. Preferably while we were both naked and he touched me in bad places.
My hand twitched with the desire to slap myself across the face. Where were these thoughts coming from? I’d been hit on by good-looking men before and I’d never once thought about getting naked with them until we’d been out on an appropriate number of dates. Yet Callum was melting my knicker elastic every time he spoke.
“Fun,” I repeated. “I think I remember what that is.”
“Well if you ever need a reminder…”
“I don’t know about that,” I said, though I was still smiling. “I usually like to get to know a man before I have ‘fun’ with him.”
He shrugged. “So, stay and get to know me.”
