On Loverose Lane (Return to Dublin Street #1)

50. Beth

CHAPTER FIFTY

BETH

I ain Erstwhile had delegated the marketing head at Pennington’s Edinburgh to work with me. I didn’t take it personally. Now that romance was off the table, it made sense for him to set me up to coordinate with the Edinburgh store team. I was just ecstatic to have them as a client. And Callan was relieved to hear I wouldn’t be spending time with Iain directly. He still wasn’t quite over the sting of seeing me climb into the back of that limo. I got that. It had been an emotional night for both of us.

I left the offices above the department store, feeling good about our strategy discussions and was in the middle of emailing my team to update them when a notification dropped on the screen. Stopping in the middle of the store, I tapped it and my belly flipped.

Callan had tagged me in a photo on social media.

The photo was from a few weeks ago when we’d taken a Saturday walk up Calton Hill. We had the view as our background and I was in Callan’s arms, laughing at the camera because he’d said something filthy. But it was the way Callan was looking down at me that made the photo so special. He looked at me like he adored me. His caption read: Worth the wait, but I knew you would be. 3

Tears of happiness filled my eyes. He was right. I think my young heart knew Callan was the one back when we were teens. And he was so worth the freaking wait.

My thumbs flew over my screen as I commented: Yours then, yours now, yours always. 3

I stared at the photo a little longer, giddiness, relief, a wee bit of smugness for having finally found “the one” keeping me there, completely unaware of anything else around me.

Then I saw Callan had commented immediately with the blowing-kiss emoji. I was about to send one back when my phone rang.

Callan.

I grinned, finally lifting my head up to take in my surroundings as I answered. Thankfully, no one was paying a bit of attention to my goofiness. “Hullo, Captain.”

“Guess we’re Instagram official,” Callan said dryly.

“You made me cry.”

“In a good way, though?” His voice was gruff.

“In the best way.”

He was quiet a moment. Then, “What you said … you really mean that?”

“That I’m yours always?” I moved out of the way of a shopper and found a quiet corner to lean against the wall. My heart pounded. But I replied, “You’re the one, Callan. I know it. It’s always been you.”

“Fuck.” He exhaled heavily. “I wish you were here right now.”

“Where are you?”

“At the flat.”

“I’ll be there in fifteen.”

“Aren’t you working?”

“I can take a break to show my boyfriend how much I appreciate him.”

“Well then, hurry the fuck up,” he teased.

It was true. Since dating Callan, I’d gotten better at prioritizing my work/life balance. It didn’t feel so scary or overwhelming. I think having him and my parents reassure me that I hadn’t failed Amanda had affected me on every level. If my business failed, I knew with certainty that the people I loved would not see me as a failure. They’d be there for me. They’d encourage me. And I knew myself enough to know that I’d dust myself off and get back up again, no matter how hard it was, no matter how many panic attacks I had in the meantime.

Losing Social Queens wouldn’t be the end of the world. There were worse things to lose.

So yeah, I was getting better at prioritizing my personal life.

Striding hurriedly to Loverose Lane, however, my mood deflated somewhat as I found myself scrolling through the comments on Callan’s photo of us.

Who the fuck is she?

Another b*tch WAG wannabe

She ugly AF

There were girls dropping sobbing emojis all over the post. People saying they were disappointed in him because I was either ugly or too pretty. Other comments were sexual in nature, telling him to dump me because they’d be better in bed.

What was wrong with people?

As a social media manager, of course, I knew this was part of the territory, but sometimes people en masse were so disappointingly gross, it was hard to deal with. Then my eyes caught another comment. It was from Baird.

BairdMcMillOfficial: That girl is the best thing that’s ever happened to you. Happy for you, mate.

My heavy heart lightened. I loved Baird.

And beneath his comment were some sweet ones from strangers telling Callan he looked so happy and they were glad for him. One person wrote that she wished she could find someone to look at her the way he looked at me. My faith in humanity was a tad restored.

I let myself into Callan’s flat and strolled in to find him reading a book.

Why was that so sexy?

He dropped it, turning to smile at me. “Hi, princess.”

I put my handbag and phone on his island and then strutted toward the bedroom. “Are you coming, Captain?”

Laughter bubbled out of my lips at the sound of him stumbling over the coffee table in his rush to get to me.

“I have an hour break!” I called to him as I shrugged out of my coat. “Make it—” My squeal cut off my words as I found myself picked up and thrown onto the bed.

Callan grinned as he came down over me. “I can do a lot in an hour.”

I already knew that. Stretching my arms above my head and widening my legs, I whispered hotly, “Show me.”

He groaned, arousal darkening his eyes. “Have I mentioned lately that I love you?”

“Aye. But I never tire of hearing it.”

And so he made love to me all the while murmuring sex and love words in my ear as he gave me the best lunch hour I’d ever freaking had.