Chapter Sixteen
Trey
Trey winced as the sound of Callie’s sandals slapping the floor all the way down the hall.
“Nice going, numb nuts.”
He turned to glare at Alex, who was glaring right back.
“I don’t understand why she’s so mad,” Trey snapped in exasperation. “Everybody on this damn island has been giving keys to Will Sumner, and his dad before him, since before you and I were even born.”
“Damn, LeBlanc, I knew you were an idiot with women but I didn’t realize you were this bad.
” Alex’s expression was a mix of disgust, and worse to Trey’s mind, pity.
“She told you—you didn’t even think to tell her—or better yet, ask her—if it was OK with her.
You don’t own this place anymore. And neither does Khaki, God rest her soul.
You basically treated Callie like an outsider who had no say in what goes on around here. ”
Trey thrust a hand into his hair, wanting to tear at it.
“But that’s not how I meant it. I’ve been taking care of the renovations and stuff in here for the past two months she’s been here.
I didn’t even think about it. And when I showed her the renovations on the roof-deck tonight, she was happy about that. So why is the key different?”
“Maybe because giving the key to the plumber ended up letting those little punks get in here and scare the hell out of her, and you, and her cat.” Alex had always liked hassling him, ever since they were kids. And Trey was about tired of it.
“Since you’ve lived on this island even longer than I have,” Trey shot back, “then why didn’t you think about the fact that everybody around here has given most of the tradesmen on the island a key? You’re supposed to be the one who’s figuring this stuff out.”
“I didn’t think about it either,” Alex responded without remorse. “Like you said, it’s one of those things that we take for granted. But because I am the detective here, I’ll give you a clue.”
Trey didn’t bother trying to conceal how hard he rolled his eyes at his friend’s attempt at wit. “Please, Mr. Holmes, do tell.”
“When I came in here tonight, she was looking at you like you hung the damn moon, boy.” Alex shrugged.
“You been moping around here since your divorce. How long’s it been?
A year? Whatever she’s pissed about, you need to talk to her and get it worked out.
Because women like that don’t show up around these parts every day. ”
Trey wasn’t sure which part of Alex’s statement he wanted to object to first. Had he been moping around since his divorce became final?
Maybe, but his wife had run off with his business partner—effectively wrecking both his personal life and his career.
He’d been entitled to some time to lick his wounds.
And though Alex was right about women like Callie being rare around here, he was trying to be a gentleman by not rushing Callie into anything before she was ready.
The woman had left everything she knew and moved to a part of the country she wasn’t familiar with. She needed time, damn it.
What he said, however, was, “When I need your help, Autry, I’ll ask for it.”
The look Autry shot him was definitely one of pity now. “Don’t say I never gave you nothin’,” the detective said, raising both hands in a gesture that said, “I’m done.”
He clapped Alex on the shoulder. “Look, I appreciate the thought. But you gotta let me go at my own pace. Or maybe, more importantly, at whatever pace Callie wants.”
Though when he thought back to their time tonight on the roof, he remembered that moment when he’d begun to think Callie might be ready to act on this attraction between them. Of course, that had been before he blew it by overstepping.
“Man, I have three sisters,” Alex told him with a speaking look. “I know what female indifference looks like. And that was not it.”
Before Trey could object again, he raised a hand. “I saw what I saw. But I’m not gonna argue with you.”
Glancing down the hall toward Callie’s room, the detective added, “I’ll keep y’all posted on the hunt for evidence in the kids’ houses.”
He walked Alex to the main doors of the library and, once he was gone, locked them. When that was done, he proceeded to walk the interior perimeter of the building, making sure every door and every window was secure.
When he got back to the main hallway of the living quarters, he saw that the light under Callie’s door was still on, and he took a deep breath.
Squaring his shoulders, he approached her door and gave it a brisk knock.
On the other side of the door, he heard Stella meowing and the sound of drawers opening and shutting.
Then, before he felt the need to knock again, the door to Callie’s suite opened inward, and as the cat burst out to twine herself around his legs, Trey looked up to see Callie—her eyes red rimmed from tears—watching him cautiously.
He’d done that, he realized—made her cry. And he felt like the world’s biggest jerk for it.
Determined to make it right, he asked, “Can I come in for a minute?”
She bit her lip, drawing his gaze to her mouth, but after taking a deep breath, she opened the door wider and stepped back so that he could come inside.
Her bedside lamp bathed the room in a warm glow. The light gave the bed they’d sat side by side on earlier in the day—had it really only been a few hours ago?—a cozy appeal that made him consider what they could get up to here if Callie was willing and he was ready to take the leap.
Almost as if she could read his thoughts, Callie chose to sit on the delicate chair covered in floral chintz that had been among the things she’d brought with her from Cincinnati.
It suited her. The flowery fabric—which Khaki had also been a fan of—reminding him of how much he appreciated the feminine energy she’d brought to this place since her arrival.
“Look,” he began, fighting the urge to shuffle his feet and run a hand over the back of his neck in agitation, “I was way out of line not telling you about the key. It honestly didn’t occur to me to tell you because it’s just something we’ve done, like, always.
One of my first memories of this place was riding with Remy over to Willie Sumner Sr.’s shop not long after he bought the library for Khaki, to give him the key so he could work on the place while they were in New Orleans for a few months. ”
Callie nodded, and Trey took that as permission to continue. “And I’m sorry I usurped your authority somehow. It wasn’t intentional. I know this place belongs to you now. I’m not trying to take over or hold on to control or anything.”
Her eyes luminous in the lamplight, Callie nodded again, and just when he felt like he was going to have to start talking again, she saved him by saying, “I know. I shouldn’t have gotten so upset. It wasn’t really about you. It was more about me.”
“Oh no,” he said, only half kidding. Was she about to turn him down before he even made a move? “Not the ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ speech.”
She gave a huff of laughter but shook her head.
“No, it’s not that. I just meant that I was reacting more to the way my ex used to behave instead of what you actually did.
He liked to, um, control things, I guess.
And I’d been thinking you were basically three green flags in a trenchcoat, and then it seemed like you were showing your true self. ”
Trey felt his jaw clench at the mention of her ex. What had that guy done to her that something so inconsequential would trigger her like that? “Control things how?” he asked, almost afraid to hear details of what the other guy had done.
She shook her head, “Just making decisions without asking me my opinion, stuff like that. By the time I realized it was happening, I was already in a relationship with him. And it took me some time to extricate myself. I had just broken things off when Khaki came along. Maybe she saw something in me that made her want to help me get away from Cincinnati.”
Thinking about how compassionate his great-aunt had been, Trey guessed that Callie was right about Khaki wanting to help her. That had been Khaki to a tee. Now he felt worse than ever about his first reaction to Callie’s arrival here.
But before he could open his mouth to apologize for that too, she continued. “But honestly, I don’t want to talk about Gabe or my battle scars from that relationship.” She gave a little rueful smile. “I suspect we both have things in our pasts that we’d rather forget about. Don’t we?”
“Definitely,” he agreed. “But just to be clear, I’m sorry I brought that back up for you. It wasn’t my intention. I’ll try to remember to keep you in the loop from now on.”
“I’d appreciate that,” Callie said, standing up and stepping closer to him. “Though I expect there will be some times when you have to make decisions. I mean, you’re the one doing the work on the library and you’re the expert. And I really liked the surprise of the rooftop deck earlier.”
He swallowed, aware of how the light floral scent of her shampoo tickled his senses, along with some indefinable note that was something all her own. “You did?”
“Definitely,” she said softly, her lips shiny with some kind of gloss that made him want to bite them. “It was a good surprise. And I had fun. Drinking mojitos and laughing with you.”
He thought back to their banter and smiled at the memory. “I did too. There are certainly worse things than enjoying the moonlight and flirting with a sexy librarian.”
At his words, she raised a hand to touch his chest lightly. He felt the pressure like a jolt of lightning. “You think I’m sexy?” she asked softly, and the question was a dangerous mix of vulnerability and pure enticement.
“Callie,” he said, reaching up to take the hand pressing on his chest in his.
He watched as her eyes widened in surprise, but she didn’t pull away.
“Come on. You know you’re gorgeous. Do you realize how hard it’s been introducing you to every man on this stupid island and wondering who would be bold enough to ask you out first? I’ve been gnashing my teeth.”
She tilted her head in what looked like amazement. “What? Really?”
“I mean, have you ever looked in a mirror, lady?”
“I thank you for the compliment,” she said with a laugh, “but we’re going to have to agree to disagree. I’m pretty enough but gorgeous is overselling it.”
“I think you’re going to have to let me be the expert about this too,” he said, taking a step closer and letting his hands rest at her waist. “Maybe you don’t see it, but I sure do.
But really, it’s more than your looks. It’s the whole package.
And if I’m being honest, it scares the hell out of me. ”
At that, she looked up at him, a slight frown furrowing her brow. “Why would I scare you? I’m pretty much the least intimidating person on this island.”
He shook his head in disbelief. Man, she really had no clue. Deciding he had better get this out of the way before anything happened between them, he stepped back but grabbed her hand before she could move away.
“You know what happened with my ex-wife,” he said, grateful that she’d brought it up earlier so it wasn’t out of the clear blue. “Well, I know you’re not her. But that doesn’t mean I’m not a little bit hesitant to put my heart on the line again.”
At his words, Callie’s brown eyes softened with sympathy, and—disappointment?
When she began to pull back, he shook his head and held on to her tightly. “No, darlin’, you don’t understand. I’m not saying I’m not willing to take the risk with you. It’s the opposite.”
She stopped her retreat and frowned. “How so?” she asked, confusion evident in her eyes.
“I’m not hesitant to pull the trigger because I’m afraid,” he said, leaning his forehead to touch hers. “Or if I am, it’s not for the reason you think. If I’m scared of anything it’s that a relationship with you has the potential to tow me out into deeper waters than I ever swam in with Monica.”
He wanted to make promises, to tell her he was pretty sure she might be it for him.
But he knew how insane that sounded. They’d only known each other for a couple of months.
Sure, some of the older couples he knew, like Khaki and Remy, had talked about how they’d known from the very first glance, but he’d always thought that was crazy.
He still did, really. But at the same time, there was the evidence standing before him, making his heart beat like a kick drum and tempting him to say things that defied good sense.
Callie looked as if she was facing some of the same doubts if the slight skepticism in her eyes was anything to go by. Still, she didn’t pull away. And when she spoke, it was to say, “I’ve been grappling with some of the same thoughts. I guess it’s good we’re on the same page.”
He almost dropped to his knees in relief at her words. It would have been awful to learn he was alone in all this.
“Callie, I couldn’t be any more on the same page if we were reading from the same book.” Her bright smile lit up her whole face at his words, and he wished there was some way he could bottle how that made him feel so she could understand her own appeal.
She slipped her arms around his neck and met his eyes with hers. “I like it when you talk book-related analogies to me.”
He grinned, feeling as badass as Mr. Darcy when he finally got Elizabeth to say yes. “Thanks. I’ve been spending time with this sexy librarian and—”
“Trey,” she interrupted. “Will you please shut up and kiss me now?”
If possible, he smiled even wider. “Yes,” he said, tipping his head to the side and brushing his lips over hers, “ma’am.”
After that, they didn’t talk for a very long time.