Callum (Blue Halo Book 7)

Fiona’s heart sped up at the knock on the door. That was Callum. For a date. Because she was going on her first official date with the man.

Oh, God.

Four days had passed since she’d gone to his office, and in that time, she hadn’t seen him once, not during the day or evening, so yeah, her nights had been cold and lonely. They were supposed to get breakfast together yesterday, but he’d canceled last minute. She shouldn’t have been as disappointed as she had been.

With a quick breath, she grabbed her phone and keys. The second the door was open, her breath caught in her throat, because there in front of her was a very tall, very nice-smelling Callum in a crisp white dress shirt. It was untucked and the top button undone, showing off just a tease of his muscular chest. Even through the black pants, she could make out his powerful thighs. But the thing that really got her heart stumbling to a new rhythm was his eyes. Brown and intense and beautiful.

“Hey,” she said quietly, her voice almost getting stuck in her tight chest.

The corner of his mouth lifted. “Hey, gorgeous.”

He stepped forward, wrapped his arms around her waist, and kissed her. The kiss was long and deep, his tongue sweeping into her mouth and tangling with hers. She lost herself in that kiss. Let herself be swept away, not caring if she was ever found. When he lifted his head, it was too soon.

She groaned, and in response, he chuckled. “Let me feed you, woman, then we can keep kissing.”

Who needed food with kisses like that?

“Fine,” she grumbled, not missing the way his smile widened.

She was about to step out, when Callum glanced at her new alarm system. “Have you switched it on?”

Dang it. She’d almost forgotten. It had only been installed today while she’d been at work. Carefully, she fingered in the code, almost breathing a sigh of relief when she got it right and there were no blaring alarms or sirens. “I did it!”

He touched the small of her back. “You did.”

She pulled the door closed and stepped out into the cool evening. “When I got home today, they were just finishing the installation. The guy showed me how it works, then wanted me to do it myself. I like to think of myself as a brave person, but in that moment, there was just a bit of a shake in my fingers.”

“I’m sure he gets that all the time. The alarm is loud when it goes off.” His arm slid from her back, moving around her waist as he led her to the car.

“Uh, yeah. He showed me that too. I thought my eardrums were going to burst, and my poor neighbors probably had aneurysms.” She waited until they were driving to ask, “So, where are we going on this first date?”

“I thought we could try the Cedar Inn. Apparently, they do great lamb shanks. We can then grab some ice cream and Oreos on the way home for dessert.”

Her heart gave a little kick at him remembering her favorite foods, something her ex never did, because Freddie only ever thought about Freddie. “Sounds great.”

When he reached over and took her hand, she worked hard to silence the sharp inhale of air that slipped through her teeth.

“Now, I need to admit something to you that I don’t think you’re going to like.”

Her belly dropped. Oh God, had he finally realized he was miles out of her league? That he belonged with a model who could also speak three languages and owned an empire? “Okay.”

“I may have been reading my library book while I was eating dinner last night and got some marinara sauce on a couple of pages.”

She laughed. “Just a couple of pages?”

“Yeah.” He cringed. “I thought it was best to come forward now, rather than surprise you with it at the library.”

“I thought you were past this hurting-library-books thing?”

“Me too, but all it takes is one slip.”

“Two slips. You said there were two damaged pages.”

He shook his head. “Nah, just one drop. The sauce went through the page. But to be fair, I was distracted.”

“By what?”

“Thinking about you.”

She tried to bite back the smile, but it was impossible. “I guess I’ll let it slide.”

“Thank God. I’ve been stressing about it all day.”

She was still smiling when he pulled into the lot of the restaurant. He slipped his hand into hers again as they headed inside. His touch had become so familiar already, it was almost scary how quickly they’d slotted together, weaving into each other’s lives.

The waitress sat them at a table by the window and took their drink orders, then it was just them again.

“So what have I missed in the life of Fiona these last few days?”

She grinned. “Very little. Although, when I asked for the bill from the security company, they got suspiciously quiet.”

Callum’s face remained unchanged. “We have an account with them at Blue Halo.”

“So you guys will bill me instead?”

“Sure.”

Why did that sound unconvincing? “Callum, I don’t want you or your company footing the bill for my home security because we’re…you know.”

One side of his mouth lifted. “Because we’re what?”

“We’re…well, dating.”

His grin turned into a full-fledged smile. “I like hearing you say that.”

“Well, this is a date so…”

“You’re right. This is a date, so we’re dating.”

She liked hearing him say it, too.

The server returned for their orders. Fiona didn’t miss the interest the woman showed in Callum, but to his credit, he barely looked at her. In fact, Fiona seemed to take up his entire attention—right until the restaurant door opened and his gaze caught something over her shoulder. She didn’t need to look, because a second later, Kasey stopped at their table.

And Lord, the woman looked beautiful tonight. Her long blond hair fell over her bare shoulders in soft waves, her makeup was perfect, and she wore the most stunning short blue dress that pushed up her ample breasts and emphasized her perfectly proportioned hips.

“Callum, hi, fancy seeing you here.”

“Hey, Kase.”

Kase? The sexy neighbor had a nickname?

Kasey turned to Fiona and gave her a wide smile. A wide, fake smile. “Hi.”

Fiona hadn’t even returned the woman’s greeting when Kasey was already looking back to Callum. Her smile turned sultry. “I’m just here with Gretchen. She’s making sure I get out of the house.”

“That’s nice of her. Have a good evening.”

Her smile turned strained. Because Callum’s words were kind of dismissive? That brought Fiona more joy than it probably should.

Fiona waited until the woman was out of earshot and sitting across the restaurant to tilt her head. “So you’re sure there’s—”

“Nothing going on,” he finished before she could. “Yes, I’m sure. And the only woman I want to think about tonight is you.”

What about other nights? the insecure voice in her head whispered.

Throughout dinner, the man made her smile and laugh more times than she could count. Every so often, she felt eyes on her, but Fiona made an effort to not look Kasey’s way.

“How are your lamb shanks?” Callum asked when she was halfway through.

“Amazing. I can’t believe I’ve been living here for eight months and never tried this place.” Probably because it was dimly lit and all kinds of romantic, but hell, if Kasey could eat here with a girlfriend, why couldn’t she? Maybe she’d bring Jenny, or even Stacey, the next time her cousin was in town.

She looked at Callum’s bison steak. “How’s yours?”

“Perfect. Everything about tonight is perfect.”

Oh, man, this guy… He just had all the right words.

“Any more texts?” he asked, the lightness slipping from his voice.

“Just one yesterday.” She’d almost started to believe the perp had forgotten about her. Apparently not.

Callum’s eyes narrowed.

When she was well and truly full, she pushed back from the table. “I’m just going to the bathroom.”

Even as she walked across the restaurant, she felt Kasey’s eyes on her. Was it possible she’d known Callum was coming here? It seemed suspicious the woman had come tonight, while she and Callum were here, and looking as hot as she did.

It was when Fiona was coming out of the stall that the door opened and none other than Kasey herself walked in. Fiona bit back the groan. Instead of walking into a cubicle, Kasey stopped at the basin beside her and began to reapply some makeup. A pointless endeavor. Her face looked perfect.

“You and Callum seem cozy.”

Fiona kept her voice even. “He’s a great guy.”

She grabbed some paper towels to dry her hands with, her gut telling her to get the hell away from this woman.

“I heard Callum accompanied you to your sister’s wedding.”

Fiona stilled, then turned, watching the other woman in the reflection. “He told you that?”

“Oh, yeah. Over breakfast yesterday. You didn’t have a date to the wedding, right? And he felt sorry for you and didn’t want you to go alone.”

Her lips separated. Yesterday morning? That was when he’d canceled their breakfast.

Kasey swiped lipstick across her thick lips. “Do yourself a favor, Fiona. Don’t get too attached. You’ll just get hurt.”

Her breath hitched. She turned to leave, but before stepping out, turned. No way was she just going to leave, letting the woman get the last word. “In the name of doing favors, maybe you could do yourself one and stop following Callum around like a lost puppy dog. It’s a bit pathetic.”

Even though her words had some bite in them, and she’d loved leaving an open-mouthed Kasey, she couldn’t quite meet Callum’s gaze when she sat. He’d had breakfast with Kasey yesterday instead of her. Then why take her out tonight?

She felt his eyes on her before he spoke. “Everything okay?”

“Yes.” Shit. Her answer came too quickly and was too curt. She met his gaze for a fleeting second before pushing her seat back. “Should we go?”

“Fiona—”

Whatever he’d been about to say was cut off by the beep of her phone. She pulled it out and gasped, face paling.

“What?” Callum asked.

“It’s the new alarm on my house.” She clicked a few keys on her phone to bring up the camera. “Oh my God. Someone just used a key to enter my home!”

Callum fought for calm as he pressed his foot to the gas. It was damn hard. Someone had been in Fiona’s house. Someone had a fucking key to her house. That meant the other night, there could have been someone in her house while she’d been alone. Unprotected.

Fuck.

He parked in the drive to find the police already out front. He climbed out of the car, moving straight over to Fiona’s side. Neither of them had spoken a word the entire drive, Callum too damn angry and Fiona too worried.

Two officers stood on the lawn outside the house, talking.

“Fiona Lock?” one of them asked.

“That’s me,” she said quietly. Callum wrapped an arm around her waist.

“I’m Officer Hage, and this is Officer Pellet. We got here five minutes ago. The door was unlocked and open, but no one was inside.”

She nodded. They both knew that already, because they’d watched the security footage on the way here. The second the alarm went off, the prick had run.

“They drop anything on the lawn on their way out?” Callum asked.

Hage shook his head. “Didn’t find anything, although we’d like to watch that security footage.”

Callum led them inside. Over the next few minutes, the officers watched the footage and wrote down some notes. “Who has a key to your home, Miss Lock?”

“No one,” she said quickly, before shaking her head. “Well, no one that I know of except me and my cousin Stacey. But she lives in Twin Falls.”

The officer nodded. “How long have you been living here?”

“Eight months.”

“Did you change the locks when you moved in?”

She shook her head.

“We’ll look into the previous owners. Anyone you can think of who would want access to your home?”

“No,” she said quickly. “Although…”

She took a breath before telling them about the texts she’d been receiving.

“Okay, I’d recommend you get your locks changed as soon as possible,” Officer Hage said, closing his book.

Callum was already planning on it.

When the officers left, he closed and locked the door, not that that would do much good. Then he turned to see Fiona’s eyes darting around the space, like her mind was working overtime.

He stepped in front of her and touched her hip. “Talk to me, Fi. You okay?”

She stepped back, causing his hands to drop. His brows slashed together.

“Yeah, but I think I should stay somewhere else tonight. I might call Jenny and see if I can crash with her.”

Her words fell like blows to the gut. Hell no. He didn’t intend for the woman to leave his sight. “I’ll stay over. You’ll be safe with me.”

He was better than any locked doors anyway.

He stepped closer, but again she moved back, shaking her head, her voice quiet. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

What the hell was going on?

Suddenly, he remembered her face when she’d left the bathroom in the restaurant. He also recalled Kasey exiting the restroom after Fiona.

“What did she say to you?” he asked quietly. He wanted to lash out, but it wasn’t Fiona he was upset with.

Her eyes flashed up. “Who?”

“Kasey. She followed you into the bathroom. What did she say?”

She straightened. “She told me about your breakfast yesterday.”

He cursed under his breath. He should have told her about that. “She came over just as I was about to leave. Said her ex had come over in a rage and done some damage to her living room. She didn’t feel safe waiting for the police on her own, so I waited with her and made her something to eat.”

Fiona frowned. “Oh. She didn’t tell me that. Just that you had breakfast.”

“I did it out of duty, not anything romantic.”

She seemed to think about that for a moment. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I should have. But I know you’ve been burned before, and I didn’t want to say anything to make you question us.” He took a small step forward, testing the waters, relieved as hell when she didn’t back away. “If it ever happens again, I promise, I’ll tell you.” He’d made a mistake that he wouldn’t be repeating.

She gave a slow nod.

“You thought I’d blow you off for her?”

“It’s not hard to believe. She’s beautiful.”

He could have laughed. “No…you’re beautiful.” She was the fucking definition of the word. At her silence, he raised a brow. “You don’t believe me?”

She lifted a shoulder. “I think my self-confidence is a bit low since Freddie.”

What he wouldn’t do to be able to hit that guy just once. Although, once probably wouldn’t be enough.

He took another small step forward, this time grabbing her hips. “Freddie is an asshole and didn’t deserve you. I know how lucky I am to have you, and I sure as hell wouldn’t do anything to risk losing you.”

“Really?”

Did the woman truly not see what he saw? She blew every other woman out of the damn water. “Yeah, honey. Really.”

Her chest rose and fell, then she reached for his head and tugged him down to her lips.