Chapter 5
GEMMA
I checked the mirror again. For the third time. Okay…the fifth.
I wasn’t even wearing anything fancy. Just the same tight pair of jeans that did amazing things for my butt and a cropped sweater in a shade of soft gray that matched my mood.
I’d changed shirts twice already before settling on this one.
It was comfortable and didn’t scream that I was trying too hard but still looked good on me.
Maybe Callum would just assume I’d gotten cold and changed for that reason.
April in Tennessee was known for having unpredictable weather.
I’d put my nervous energy to good use in the few hours since Lainie had dropped me off at my house so she could go visit her brother.
My house was probably cleaner than it had ever been.
I wiped down the kitchen counter again even though it didn’t need it, then adjusted a framed photo on the wall.
It was one of the many nature shots I’d taken before I got into boudoir.
My house wasn’t much. Two bedrooms, one bath. But it was mine, and Callum was about to see it for the first time.
I wanted my home to make a good impression on him, and I’d done all that I could by the time he knocked on the door.
I wiped my hands on my jeans—a nervous habit I needed to break around him—and tried not to look like I was about to pass out as I crossed to the door. But when I opened it, all my carefully rehearsed calm evaporated.
He was taller than I remembered. And bigger, somehow. Maybe it was because he was dressed in all black, from his fitted T-shirt that clung to thick biceps to his dark jeans that hugged his thighs like a second skin.
That dark scruff still shadowed his jaw, and I wondered if he had to shave twice a day to keep it at bay.
The stray thought flew out of my head when his dark brown eyes locked onto mine.
Heat bloomed low in my belly, but it was the other feeling he sparked that rattled me more. Safety.
I barely knew Callum, but he made me feel like nothing could touch me as long as he stood there. And that scared me almost as much as the messed-up situation he was helping me with.
“Hey,” I managed, my voice too breathy for my liking.
He gave a short nod. “Gemma.”
“Come in.” I stepped back, hoping he couldn’t tell how nervous I was.
He moved past me with the grace of a stalking panther, his gaze sweeping the entryway and living room, lingering longest on the windows.
“You don’t have to do a full tactical sweep,” I joked, trying to break the tension. “I swear the plants haven’t turned against me yet.”
He didn’t even smile. “Where’s your breaker box?”
I blinked. “Um, in the garage. Which is my studio space now.”
He nodded once. “We’ll head out there after I do that tactical sweep, which is very much necessary.”
Pausing by the window, he tapped the trim. “No sensor. I’ll add magnetic contacts here and here. Glass break detectors, too.”
I blinked. “You’re planning to install stuff yourself?”
He glanced over his shoulder at me. “Absolutely.”
Butterflies swirled in my belly as he moved on, muttering about sightlines, exterior exposure, and interference shielding. I trailed him but did not understand at least half of what he said.
When we walked to the kitchen, he scanned the back door and the small window above the sink. “Deadbolt’s decent. I’ll upgrade the strike plate. Add a motion sensor on the exterior light. And a silent alarm pad behind the pantry door that only you and I will know about.”
My eyes kept getting wider. “Is this the part where you tell me I should sleep with a knife under my pillow?”
“No,” he said without missing a beat. “Because I’m installing a panic button near your bed.”
I stopped in the middle of the room. “Wait, what?”
Callum finally turned to face me, arms crossed over his broad chest, his expression carved from stone. “You said someone accessed your encrypted system and sent you a threat. That makes this a targeted breach, not a random hack.”
“I know,” I whispered.
“I take targeted threats seriously.”
“Okay, but…” I gestured vaguely around us. “Don’t you think this is a little over the top?”
“Not even close.”
His voice held no hesitation. No room for argument. He wasn’t doing this halfway.
My pulse fluttered in my throat as I realized this might not just be a job for him.
He didn’t have to be this thorough. He didn’t have to walk through my house like he was cataloging every weakness, every vulnerability. He didn’t have to install sensors himself or rig panic buttons.
But he was doing it anyway. For me.
No. I mentally shook my head, scattering that train of thought. For Lainie.
But even though that was the most likely reason, I couldn’t help but hope he felt the pull between us as strongly as I did.
“Need to check out the studio and that breaker box.”
I hadn’t realized how tightly wound I was until we left the house.
We stepped out into the sunlight, and I immediately felt like I could breathe again.
The air was cool and crisp, and the narrow path between the house and garage gave me something to focus on besides the towering man walking beside me.
My heart was still racing from the panic button comment. From his eyes. And from the way he hadn’t even blinked when I’d asked if this was too much.
“I converted the garage as soon as I moved in,” I said, just to fill the silence. “It was kind of a mess when I bought the place, but I knew right away that I could turn it into a real studio.”
Callum nodded once but didn’t say anything. Still, I couldn’t seem to stop.
“I got into photography after my parents died.” The words came out softly. “I needed something to help me make sense of everything. That let me escape for a while.”
His gaze flicked toward me at that, his expression sharp and unreadable.
“I started with nature stuff. Landscapes, plants, things that didn’t move too much. Then I did a headshot for a friend, and I realized I was kind of good at it. People opened up for me. They trusted me. And that mattered more than I expected.”
The gravel crunched under our feet as we reached the studio door. I paused before unlocking it, fingers hovering over the key.
“I think that’s why I started doing boudoir.
Women would come in nervous and unsure, and they’d leave with their heads held high like they remembered something about themselves that they’d forgotten.
Most of the time, it isn’t about being sexy for someone else.
It’s about claiming that power for themselves. ”
I glanced over, bracing for the awkward expression I usually got whenever I tried to explain my motivation behind boudoir photography.
Most people assumed these types of photos were all about sex, but that was very rarely the true purpose.
However, the only reaction I got from Callum was a softening of his dark eyes.
“I bet you’re even better than you think at that,” he said finally, his voice low. “Helping people feel seen.”
His approval meant more than I expected, surprising me as I pushed open the studio door and stepped inside.
Soft natural light filtered through sheer curtains I’d pinned just right to catch the glow, and the familiar hush settled around me.
This space was somehow even more mine than the house because it was where my creativity blossomed.
No one had been in here since I discovered the breach. Not even me. I hadn’t let myself come back until today. But with Callum behind me, I didn’t feel afraid.
He didn’t say anything as he entered, but his gaze moved slowly over everything.
The backdrops, chaise, and table where I kept props and fabrics folded neatly in labeled bins.
I wondered what he’d think when he spotted the ornate bed with the iron posts on the wall across the room.
But his attention didn’t feel judgmental. Just focused.
And the silence didn’t bother me anymore because I realized that Callum was a quiet man.
But every time his eyes came back to me, my breath caught.
The way he watched me reminded me of how I studied a client before I began taking photos. It was as though he was memorizing every detail. Every line of my body, even fully clothed. Every move I made.
I turned away before I climbed him like a tree. “I’ll make sure the studio’s clear tomorrow when you start installing the security stuff.”
He didn’t respond right away, and I wasn’t sure he’d even heard me until he said, “Lock up tight tonight. I’ll be here at eight.”
I walked him around the side of the house, heart already thudding again with each step.
He paused in my driveway, his dark eyes holding mine for one long, impossible moment. Then he nodded and walked away.
I watched until he reached his bike, forcing myself to turn away from the sheer sexiness of him throwing one long leg over the seat. But it didn’t stop me from thinking about how much I wanted him to stay.