Chapter Fourteen #3
‘Here’s what I think,’ Jason says. ‘You like to tell yourself you want to be on your own, but you really want the opposite. That’s why you’re here.
You wanted a second chance with Callum. You wouldn’t have said yes to him otherwise, I don’t care what else was on the table, if you didn’t want to see him, you would have said no.
There’s a connection between the two of you, and if I can see it, then I know you can feel it.
He gets you and you get him and you’re both secretly crazy about each other.
Actually, not that secretly. Every touch, every smile, even every grumpy frown. You’re both so obvious, Holly.’
I playfully whack him on the arm. ‘I thought you were an architect, not a psychoanalyst.’
‘I’m multi-skilled.’ He yawns and stretches. ‘Have you told Cal how Celeste’s death affected you?’
‘Nope. Apparently, I only share that kind of thing with men I hardly know.’
We both laugh.
‘Can’t you trust him?’ Jason says.
That’s the billion-dollar question, isn’t it? Can I let myself trust Callum again? I hope so. Because I want to, I realise.
Jason pats my knee, not waiting for my answer.
‘Sometimes you need to take a risk. A leap of faith. That’s what humans do.
We risk everything for the people we care about.
It’s part of life – the really good part.
’ He stands, shaking out his lanky legs.
‘You should talk to Callum. He deserves to know where he stands. He thinks you think he’s a massive jerk. ’
I stare up at him. ‘Well…’
He chuckles. ‘I know you care about him. But you have to stop trying to save everyone. Trust that Callum can take care of himself. You deserve a shot at happiness as much as everyone else.’
When I get back to my room, there’s a flicker of light spilling through the cracks around the adjoining door.
I put my things down and tap lightly. ‘Are you awake in there?’
‘Yep,’ Callum calls. ‘Come in.’
He’s propped against the headboard, reading the book I bought him. His comforter is bunched around him, and the glow from the muted television plays out a series of colours across his beautiful face.
My heart skips so many beats my head gets light, and for once I let myself enjoy the sensation.
‘Anything interesting?’ I ask.
‘Well, if you believe this guy, Long Island is the world centre for weirdness. But there is one thing. A missing person story from 1883. A young woman named Annie Payne disappeared from Mill Pond, which isn’t far from here.
She was believed to have run away, chasing a beau to California.
But when the family tracked the man down, she wasn’t with him.
No one saw her ever again.’ He lifts his brows at me.
‘Are you thinking she might be our second ghost?’
‘Timing fits. Could be worth digging into. Another mystery to add to the list.’ He closes the book. ‘Do you feel like watching something with me?’ he asks, hope tinging his voice.
I shake my head. ‘I just wanted to apologise for worrying you today, twice. I should have let you know we were going to see Richard. I’m just not used to involving anyone else in my decisions. I’m barely used to talking to anyone.’ I smile and shrug.
He rolls onto his side to face me, propping himself up on an elbow, his T-shirt pulling tight around his bicep.
‘Holly, you don’t have to report to me. But maybe don’t disappear on me without leaving a note when we’re in the middle of investigating a violent haunting.’
I laugh. ‘Fair.’
‘So… you like Jason?’
‘I really do. He’s lovely.’
Callum’s eyes narrow. ‘How lovely are we talking?’
‘Hmm.’ I scrunch my mouth to the side, tapping a finger to my chin. Then I grin. ‘Not that lovely.’
‘Good to hear.’ His voice rumbles through his smile, his eyes boring into mine.
I shuffle from foot to foot, my cheeks burning under the fierceness of his gaze.
I want to kiss him. I want to know how he tastes.
I want to march across the room and crawl into his bed.
Slip my hand under his T-shirt. Feel his smooth skin warm beneath my touch.
For his breath to hitch and a groan to growl from his throat.
I want to put my mouth to his so badly. To feel his arms tight around me.
To have him press against me, hard and urgent as he kisses me back over and over. I want Callum so much I ache.
I shift my hips, heat stirring between my thighs. He watches me intently, his teeth worrying at his bottom lip. Then a gentle smile curves on his mouth, and it’s so real and soft, that all the fears I’d only just been talking about, all the fears holding me back, seem to melt away.
‘How’s your side feeling?’ I ask, because I have to say something before I actually do all those wordless things to him.
‘Better,’ he says, stretching his arms above his head. His T-shirt rides up, revealing hip bones and stomach and that teasing strip of hair. ‘See?’ He cocks a brow. ‘I’d say I’m firing at about eighty per cent. Pretty soon, I’ll be back to one hundred, and then, Ms Daniels, you better watch out.’