Chapter 7
SEVEN
COME, WOMAN, GET ON A PLANE WITH ME
Mathilda
Monday morning marked the eleventh month of me being an event manager.
I’d joined Halcyon Days in their marketing department straight after I’d finished my degree, but pitching concepts and drumming up business left me cold.
My bosses liked me because I was diplomatic and calm, but that was only on the surface.
Inside, I yearned for the buzz and pressure of the events side of the business, and when a year’s promotion opportunity came up, I’d leapt on it.
The only tiny complaint I had was the work of swanky corporate dinners and presentation days had become repetitive and underwhelming. The large companies that employed us generally had a reasonable budget and didn’t bring any drama.
I wanted more. I wanted my work to matter.
Over the next month, I needed to decide where to take my career. The promotion was coming to an end, but going back to my old job wasn’t an option. I had another idea in mind, one that had my heart racing with excitement.
One weekend, I’d gone out with a former colleague who ran a wedding planning business—my dream career.
Caitlin knew I had an interest in the field and invited me to shadow her preparations, including meeting the bride and groom and helping out at the rehearsal dinner.
The day had been a joy, and I’d ended up volunteering to help at the wedding itself, too.
I loved meeting a demanding person’s needs.
To see them happy with what I’d achieved, and to feel appreciated, like I’d delivered something of real value.
It’s what had attracted me to Callum McRae, the man who’d kept on asking, who’d been all bark and no bite, and who I hadn’t stopped thinking about in a month. His card was pinned to the notice board in my kitchen, his undialed number saved in my phone.
To make matters worse, last night, Beth and I had watched Seven Brides for Seven Brothers again, and midway through the opening scenes, my friend had had an epiphany.
“That big Scottish guy is your Adam!” She’d named the main character in the musical as she’d leapt up from the other end of the gold couch. Beth seldom sat still long enough to watch a whole film anyway, so I was used to pausing whatever we watched until she settled again.
“What are you talking about?”
“An oversized mountain man with a family of brothers living in the back of beyond. Callum is an Adam. You found your fantasy man!” She’d crowed in delight. “Did he have rough manners and offer to whisk you away to his castle? Wait, did he propose within ten minutes of knowing you?”
“Adam didn’t have a castle.” I’d rolled my eyes, wondering exactly how open I’d been with my innermost thoughts. “Besides, Callum isn’t rough.” He swore frequently and his hands had been like sandpaper from hard work, but other than that he’d been a gentleman.
“But the parallels are there. Hey, can we role reverse this and go steal the men away in the middle of the night? I’d like to take his jumpy friend for a ride. Work out what his problem is with my driving.”
Handsome men aside, it wouldn’t be easy to change my job, but I had to try.
While I waited for my weekend’s worth of email to open on my computer, my first coffee of the day sending up tendrils of steam, Beth’s joke haunted me.
Because she was right. Adam from the outdated movie wasn’t exactly my fantasy man, but Callum McRae had been.
At least he looked like he could’ve been.
And I’d walked away without trying to work around the problem.
Dominic Hanswick had given me a date by which to accept his proposal. He needed to be married by the annual shareholder’s ball in May as, after this, he’d be requesting further investment. The timing was optimal.
He assumed I’d say yes.
It was nearing the end of March now, and I knew from Dad that Dominic was still losing investments. But all I’d had from him was an email containing his terms and conditions, his available dates for the ceremony. I hadn’t replied.
Things with my sister had calmed—she was still in school, hadn’t been arrested, and her messages sounded upbeat—so deciding had gone by the wayside with work and life in general.
I had done one thing. I’d looked up the politician with whom Dominic had the affair.
She was the mother of two small children.
A boy and a girl. But her husband had forgiven her for the sake of the family, and her career had recovered.
Reading the article left a sour taste in my mouth, and I only hoped they were healing as a family.
“Mattie?” Charlie, the office PA, stuck his head around the door, neatly missing the large fern installed by the office’s previous occupant.
Traffic sounds and roadworks rumbled behind him, care of the busy city centre road outside.
I never opened the windows because of the noise and the pollution.
“Your first appointment is here. Can I send him in?”
Shoot. It was only 8A.M., and I hadn’t checked my diary yet, let alone absorbed my much-needed caffeine. My day had been clear, last I’d checked on Friday. “I didn’t know I was expecting anyone.”
I swigged from my mug, burning my tongue as I cast around for my pen and my journal. Longhand was my preference for taking notes, rather than tapping at a device. It meant my attention was in the right place—on the person in front of me.
“You’re booked out all day. It’s a first-time consultation and site visit for a potential new client.
To be honest,” Charlie leaned a little farther around the door, “he’s scaring half the guys and making the ladies sweat—the guy is flipping huge.
He’s like a big tree. Can I hurry him in here?
I want to take an early lunch, and that will never happen if an outbreak of gossip puts everyone behind. ”
A huge guy… I swallowed and I was right back in make-believe land.
If only that could be Callum, and he’d be my boyfriend coming to pick me up.
Maybe it would be a Friday evening, and we’d be travelling to Scotland for the weekend.
I’d have a bag packed, he’d take my hand in his giant paw, pull me from my chair. No, lift me right out of it…
Whew. Calm, Mathilda.
I waved, glad after all to have a busy day ahead. It would take my mind off the constant, and frankly tiring, fantasising I’d been doing. Charlie’s neat coiffure disappeared and, three long swigs of double-shot latte later, heavy footsteps sounded in the hall.
Then a low Scottish voice thanked the PA, and I nearly dropped my mug as Callum McRae entered my office and closed the door firmly behind him.
For a long moment, time stopped, and a delicious pressure reigned, a tension, as thick and heavy as a city night in summer.
Callum stared at me with an expression both cautious and determined, like he’d overstepped the mark and he didn’t care.
Then he squared his shoulders, advanced forward, and took the visitor seat, stretching out his jean-clad legs.
Callum blew out a breath and with no attempt at subtlety, carried out a quick scan of my hands. “No ring. You’re nae married?”
“Callum, you… How…? No, no wedding. I still haven’t decided.” I stopped my babbling. My memory didn’t do him justice. Too big for my visitor’s chair, his long body took up more space than was his right. “You booked an appointment with me?”
“That I did.” Callum’s lips curled, a small gesture, but it lightened the atmosphere. “When we met, you talked about your work, and I have need of someone who can look at my wee house and give me an opinion.”
“An opinion?” He’d travelled all this way for a real appointment? Disappointment sunk my bubbling joy. What had I thought when he’d walked in? That he was here to whisk me off my feet?
I absolutely had.
“Aye.” He glanced to the window and I ran my gaze over his features.
Then he huffed and abruptly jerked forward, fixing me with a stare.
“I’d intended to play this cool, but I’m no good at it.
You’re a sight for sore eyes, Mathilda. My memory must have been trying to protect me, because God, woman, your face knocks me out. I can’t even make a sentence.”
“It’s not so bad seeing your face, either.” I pressed my lips together, fighting a grin. “Did you really come here for a consultation?”
“Yes and no. Do I want to take you home with me today, show you the place, and have you stretch your expert mind around it? Aye. Did I come here just for that? Not one bit.”
Spring had been slow in arriving in Bristol, but it must have gotten warmer today. My skin flushed hot.
Callum’s gaze intensified. “Whatever else there is to talk about, come, woman, get on a plane with me. It’s a little over an hour to Inverness, and I’ve a car waiting at the airport.
There’s a return flight at four, and you’ll be on it.
If we go now, you can spend the day with me on my estate.
The question is, do you want that? Tell me no, and I’ll go without question.
I’m not here to force an unwilling woman to heed me. ”
I opened and closed my mouth. The option of a glorious day spread out in front of me. The man I’d thought about obsessively over the past month had come to my office, on a Monday morning—team meeting day—and was offering me my fantasy on a plate.
I’d searched for him online. Found a website for his sprawling castle that left me desperate to see it in real life.
It would be a fun day, for sure. I’d just have to convince my mind to check out and let the rest of me enjoy it.
Not think about the reasons why I should be keeping the hundreds of miles of distance and focusing on issues closer to home.
Callum shifted, the silence drawing out. “Right. I’m sorry. The last thing I wanted—”