Chapter 27 - Callum
TWENTY-SEVEN
Callum
Manny
I decided to ignore that dig at me being late. First, I was hardly ever late.
Second, and far more importantly, what? Who the hell told Manny he could move the damn deadline like that?
A jolt of sudden panic seized me. It was Friday, and we were home. Zandra and I had been at the brewery that morning, then came back here for some lunch and to take care of household stuff before we returned to the brewery later for the dinner rush.
Also for a midday roll in the sheets, because we couldn’t help ourselves. With Zandra around being gorgeous all the time, I needed orgasms with her twice a day if I could get them. And luckily, she seemed to feel the same.
With every day that counted down toward Manny’s decision, I’d been getting more restless.
Yet I wouldn’t have brought that deadline forward for anything.
Because that could mean an end to everything Zandra and I had right now.
An end to our perfect arrangement—living together, working together, sharing meals, sex, cuddling…
Not cool, Manny. Not cool.
This meant I had to move up my other plans too.
I went into Zandra’s room. Her door was cracked open, so I knocked, pushing it without waiting for a response. She was sitting on the bed with Chloe in her lap and her phone in her hand, looking so cozy that I was halfway across her room before I stopped myself.
A soreness started in my chest, and I resisted the urge to rub at it.
“Did you get Manny’s text?” I asked.
“Just did.” Her expression was unreadable. “He wants to see us Monday.”
“Think it’s a good sign your grandpa decided early? Or a bad one?”
She scooped up Chloe in her arms and got off the bed, approaching me. “For you or for me?”
Somehow, I found my smile and my cocky attitude. “Obviously for you. I’m not worried.”
“Bringing the smack talk late in the game? You’re not the one who’s been smuggling my grandfather nuggets and treats this whole time.”
“But I’m cuter,” I said breezily. “That counts for a lot.”
“And there’s the typical Callum O’Neal overconfidence.”
We were joking around like usual, but it seemed forced. Like we were both acting out our roles. Friends who gave each other shit, but didn’t want anything deeper. Coworkers whose biggest concern was the end of Manny’s trial period.
I couldn’t believe that almost two months ago, a promotion was the only thing I was stressing over.
A few days had passed since Ian turned up in Silver Ridge and we’d had that confrontation with him and Z’s parents. I knew Zandra was feeling a lot of ways about all of that, so I’d been trying to keep things light and easy.
Even though this restless, unsettled feeling in me was anything but.
Zandra also knew about my run-in with Tommy, at least the part where Tommy had denied harassing her. Both Zandra and I weren’t so quick to believe him. Without some kind of evidence beyond pure suspicion though, we had nothing to prove Tommy had targeted her or vandalized Hearthstone.
If he kept staying away from her, that would be enough for me. So long as I could keep her close.
Now this.
I scratched beneath Chloe’s chin, and she rumbled with a purr. “Hey, no matter what happens, you’re welcome to stay here. The guys like you. And we’re all adoptive dads to Chloe now, so if you move out, you’d have visitation to deal with.”
Zandra snickered. “Living here has been a good setup.”
“It’s a perfect setup. It doesn’t have to change.”
“Callum.” Her dark eyes were sad, aiming at the rug. “How can it not?”
Because I’m going to figure out a way around that, I thought.
“Think about it. If you move out, I’ll have to stake out your new place to make sure you’re safe, and I’ll end up being late for work all the time.
Which as the boss, of course I could get away with, but it’s not the best example to set. ”
She was covering a smirk. “Mmhmm. You’ve thought this out.”
I tapped my forehead. “That’s me. This machine is always working.”
I wasn’t kidding though. And really, that had nothing to do with convenience or concern over her safety.
With every day that I came closer to the possibility of losing her, I was just more convinced that I couldn’t let it happen.
Truth was, the shit Pickering had said to me the other night had gotten under my skin. That I’d been trying to convince people to love me my entire life. That I was just a bartender, and everyone including Zandra knew she was too good for me.
Hell, I agreed. She was too good for me.
But that just meant I had to figure out how to be good enough for her too.
She set down Chloe and stretched. “We’ll have to get ready for work soon, so if you want to do anything else first…”
Chloe dashed out of the room in search of other entertainment.
“I can think of a few things.” I shut the door with my foot, walking Zandra over to her bed. We started kissing, going from lukewarm to surface of the sun hot in moments. We stretched out on the mattress.
But I also had a plan to put into action. And that made me stop kissing her, propping on my elbow to look down at her.
“What is it?” she asked.
“We never got that dinner like we were talking about the other night. Do you remember? We were talking about it before your mom texted, and the whole Ian debacle.”
“I definitely remember.”
Once again, I had no idea how to read that expression Z was giving me. It was kind of like when Chloe gave me her cat-stare, and I had no idea if she was going to hiss or jump in my lap to cuddle. Nothing to do but forge ahead.
“I was thinking we could try again. I’ve been wanting to take you to the new gluten-free brewery in Pine Creek,” I continued, watching as she seemed to deflate, though I had no idea if it was from relief or some kind of disappointment.
“This would be a work-related dinner?” she asked neutrally. “Scoping out the competition?”
I hadn’t thought of it that way, but sure.
That could be a side benefit. “It could be relevant to Hearthstone, if we decide to start carrying gluten-free beer. But not entirely work-related.” I shifted to lie on my side next to her, playing with her hair.
“I was also thinking of inviting my brother and sister and their significant others. I don’t think you’ve met them yet, unless it was back in high school, but Ashford was older and Grace was a lot younger. ”
“Do you want me to meet them?”
“Of course I do. And after the brewery,” I added, my voice rougher than I intended, “I want to take you somewhere else special. But it’s a surprise.”
“I don’t like surprises.”
“Yes, you do. When they’re from me.” I leaned down and kissed her nose. “Let me take you out. Promise it’ll be fun.”
“Okay,” she said breathily.
We were staring at each other for a bit too long, the air between us thick with everything we weren’t saying. I was fairly certain there was a question in her eyes. The same one that had been bouncing around in my head for days now.
She’d said yes to tomorrow night, and that was just step one of my strategic plan. I already knew we would be incredible together. She knew it too. How could she not? It was obvious that I had to keep this good thing going.
But I wasn’t going to mess around with arguments, letting Zandra talk her way out of this with that clever mind of hers.
I was just going to have to show her.
“Now, where were we?” I asked.
“Callum.” She laughed as I kept kissing her, rolling her onto her back again. Then she surrendered to the kiss, pulling at my clothes.
In the past, the thought of being someone’s boyfriend had been a foreign concept.
But it was like I’d just been waiting around for Zandra to get here.
If being her boyfriend meant spending time with her every day, her in my bed every night, and the rest of the world knowing what she meant to me, then sign me up.
While I had a competitive streak, I’d never been the type to obsess over the outcome of every little game. I still sucked at playing backgammon with Manny. But being victorious wasn’t always the point.
When it came to Zandra, though, winning and losing meant everything. But it wasn’t about competing for the job anymore.
It was about winning her.
I spotted Dane’s fancy-ass SUV as we drove up to the brewery, which meant my sister was already here. I wanted tonight to go exactly right, and having people arrive on time was a decent start.
I was maybe a tad bit nervous. Where was that overconfidence Zandra liked to complain about?
“Are we getting out?” she asked. “Or is this like a drive-in brewery? Can’t imagine that’s legal.”
“Your jokes are almost as cute as your scowls,” I said.
“I haven’t scowled once today.”
I pretended to study her. “I know. It’s slightly unnerving.”
“I’ve been making an effort. Don’t want to be all grumpy in front of your family, and then they don’t like me. I mean, it’s probably not that important that they like me, but—”
Fuck, it was adorable when she rambled. Was she nervous too? I loved that.
I reached over and touched her hand. “It’s very important. But they will like you, I promise. You’re extremely likable.”
“Have you met me?”
Laughing, I parked the truck.
There’d been something new in our interactions since she’d said yes to this outing yesterday. Like we were both dancing around each other, feeling this sense of anticipation. I wanted tonight to be perfect for her. For us.
“So here’s the deal about my family,” I said, turning to face her. “They do well with grumpiness. Ashford is impossible most of the time, but he means well. His wife Emma softened him up a lot. They’ll probably have my niece Maisie with them.”
“I can’t wait to meet her.”
“Maisie’s going to love you.” A warm feeling spread through my chest. “Ollie too. Piper will be here with him, and Ollie-dude is nine years old and already a fan of any pretty girl. Then there’s Grace and Dane.
My sister can seem quiet at times, but don’t let that fool you.
Once you get her going, she won’t shut up.
Trust me. And Dane—you never know what’s going to come out of his mouth.
But it’s probably going to be something about how incredible Grace is. ”
“That’s sweet.”
“Theoretically.”
“Never knowing what’s going to come out of his mouth.” She tapped her chin. “How can you stand that? He’s like, your exact opposite.”
“Ha, ha. He kind of is. He’s a billionaire business owner and I’m…me.” I gestured at myself.
She smoothed a hand down my shirt. “Right. Just a guy everyone adores, who volunteers his time to fight fires and who served his country, who does kind things for people without them even asking. And he’s also far smarter than he gives himself credit for.
As smart as anyone I went to business school with, even without any expensive degrees. Not impressive at all.”
I shrugged nonchalantly. “Feel free to talk about me as much as Dane talks about Grace.”
She got an odd look on her face. “Do they know about us, though?”
“I haven’t told any of them specifically. But is it a bad thing if they know about us?” Without letting her answer, I jumped out of the truck, rounding it to open her door. “Let’s go. We need to scope out the beer menu.”
But as I stood there, waiting for her to jump out, she glared at me.
“Callum, I told myself I wouldn’t make a big deal out of this, because we’re meeting with my grandpa on Monday anyway, but now you’re talking like this is… And it’s starting to freak me out, not knowing…”
“Not knowing what?”
“Is this a date?” she demanded.
I grabbed her hands, gently pulling her out of the truck. “Would I invite my family if this brewery thing was a date?”
“That’s not an answer. You said you’re surprising me with something later.”
My thumb brushed over her lower lip. “Let’s worry about that when it happens. Later. Right now, I want to take you in there and introduce you to the people I’m closest to. I want them to get to know you. Because you’re important to me, Sunflower.”
I kissed her then, soft and sweet, then held out my hand. But my Zandra rarely backed down from me. So I should’ve known she wasn’t done.
“I need to know how to act. Are we supposed to be together in front of your family or not?”
“Z, I don’t intend to hide from my family. I want them to know about us. But even more than that, I’m trying to show you how great things could be. You’re big on data and all that. So I’m giving you more data. Enough to convince you.”
“How great it would be if what?”
“If you were really mine.”