Chapter Eighteen
The rough trail that leads to the barn is jammed with cars and people.
At first, I think Nush has organized another one of her protests, but she’s standing off to the side when I arrive, a small frown on her face as she takes in the scene.
The men who were here yesterday are here again today but, instead of going about their job, they’re standing in clumps along with the locals, laughing and joking among themselves.
“He’s been here for hours,” Nush says, when I approach with Gemma and Noah.
“Who?”
“Callum.”
“Callum’s here?” I look back to the barn and suddenly see him and another man carrying a large piece concrete out of the ruins. “What are they doing?”
“They’re putting it back together,” she says, a grudging note of respect in her voice. “I think he roped in a few of the guys from the site to help.”
“But…why?” I ask, bewildered. “They can’t put it back together. They half knocked it down.”
“I know. I think he’s making a point.”
A point? I glance back as Callum directs a digger forward, filling up one of the giant holes that they created yesterday.
“Surely he’s going to get into trouble for that?”
“I think that’s part of the point.”
“But why is he…” I trail off as Callum turns around, catching sight of me.
“Oh boy,” Gemma mutters, as he starts toward us.
A traitorous lick of heat swipes through me at the sight of him.
Nush says he’s been out here for hours and at the sight of him, I believe it.
He’s filthy. And sweaty. He discarded his jacket at some point and his T-shirt sticks to his skin in a way that—
“Hey!”
My visual appreciation is cut off as he grabs my hand, tugging me into the woods.
“Callum!”
He doesn’t answer, and Gemma just shrugs when I glance back at her. Nush is already directing the others to keep working, leaving me on my own.
He doesn’t go far, just deep enough that no one can see us when he lets me go, rounding on me with a determined look that I should not find as attractive as I do in this moment.
“I should have told you about Jack,” he says, before I can snap at him.
“That’s on me, and I’m sorry. It was a mistake.
And yeah, I can pretend it’s because that’s how it is with everyone, but really, it’s because I knew once you found out, you’d probably never speak to me again.
And I didn’t want that, so I didn’t tell you.
And you were right. What you said yesterday about how it doesn’t matter if I want to see you?
You were right. It doesn’t matter if my actions don’t back it up.
So I made a decision. And my decision is you. I choose you.”
I blink at him, my brain trying to grapple with everything that’s happening today. “You chose me?”
He nods, his eyes bright with purpose and possibly an energy drink or two. “I quit my job.”
“You can’t do that!”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s your job .”
“I’ve been thinking about doing it for a while,” he says, using his arm to wipe the sweat from his brow. “A long while actually. I don’t like these big projects. I was doing it for Jack. Because it’s always been easier to say yes to him. Because it’s what I’ve always done. But I wasn’t happy.”
“But what about money?”
“I’ve got savings.”
“But what about—”
“It might not have been the best timing, but it was the right decision, Katie. Believe me.”
I do believe him. How can I not when he’s practically vibrating just from making it. Like a weight has been lifted from his chest. Like he’s never been surer of anything in his life.
All the despair I felt yesterday has vanished after this morning, and all the anger before that has faded into a childish sulkiness, one that eases the longer he looks at me.
“You really weren’t trying to seduce me?”
“Only for my own gains,” he says, and I almost smile. Almost.
“You and Jack have more in common than you realize,” he continues. “You both say things in the heat of the moment. And you both regret it.”
I don’t answer that. I can’t picture Jack regretting anything.
“He did ask me to find out what I could about the festival, and I told him no,” he adds at my narrowed eyes. “He wanted me to keep an ear out in case you guys were planning some giant march and we had to delay some work. That was it. And again, I told him no. Said I had better things to do.”
“And the barn?” I ask.
“His version of nipping this in the bud. I didn’t know what you guys were doing out here.
If I did, I would have told you it was on the list to be demolished.
But we weren’t supposed to start work out here for weeks.
And this morning…” He grimaces a little.
“It was supposed to be a grand gesture. To prove myself. Or to apologize or something. But we’ve been working for hours, and I don’t think it’s salvageable. Seemed like a great idea last night.”
“Some men buy flowers,” I say weakly, and he nods like that was his backup plan.
“Look, this doesn’t have to be…” He trails off, and I can almost see him searching for the right word.
“I’ll admit, I wasn’t really thinking when I first met you.
There was a lot of ‘she’s over there, so now I want to be over there’ going on.
But the more time I spent here, the more I liked it here.
I like the people. I like your pub. I like you.
I like you a lot. And I don’t want you to hate me.
I don’t want you to be sad or disappointed or angry because of me.
So I chose you.” He blows out a breath. “And now my brother will probably kill me.”
I can’t tell if he’s being dramatic or not.
“You didn’t have to quit,” I tell him, but he just smiles at me.
“Solves a lot of problems, though.”
It does.
“So what now?”
“Well, I’d really like to kiss you again,” he says. “If you want me to, that is.”
That’s not what I meant, and he knows it. But I don’t think he cares. I don’t think I do either.
There’s a faint ringing in my ears like I’ve been thrown underwater, and when I step forward, closing the gap between us, the forest around us fades, leaving just him and me, and that look in eyes like he’s been waiting for me his whole life.
He raises a hand to my face, fingers skimming my jaw before they curl around the back of my neck, drawing me closer.
I was expecting something soft, like what we shared outside Kelly’s, but there’s a possessiveness to his touch that I’ve never felt before, a sureness to his hold that sends a feeling like hot wax pooling through me.
It’s a gentle kiss, at first, but there’s nothing gentle about the way he’s holding me, his hand flexing as he massages my neck in a firm grip, the other landing on my hip, making me gasp.
His tongue meets mine in a confident sweep when I do, moving as surely as if we’ve done this a thousand times before, and it’s this strange dichotomy of new and familiar that sends my mind spinning.
He smells like clean sweat and fresh air, and I can’t get enough of it, my hands sliding up the honed muscles of his arms, pulling him down toward me, as all the emotions of the last few days finally release.
I’m probably a little too eager, but it only seems to spur him on as he wraps an arm around my waist, and draws me into him until the full length of our bodies are pressed together.
And then he takes complete control.
My back arches as he crowds me in the best possible way until I’m positive the only reason I’m still standing is that he’s keeping me upright, his hands confident and sure as they caress me, tugging my shirt up so he can feel the skin of my stomach, the curve of my waist. His lips press harder, tongue delving deeper, and I try and keep up with him, matching him stroke for stroke, determined not to be left behind as I come alive.
It’s the only way to describe it. I mean, I’ve been kissed before. I’ve felt wanted before. But this? This skin-humming, blood-heating, heart-thrashing sensation sweeping through my body? It’s like a whole new world. A whole new me.
We stay like that for a long minute, our kisses dragging and deep until I have no thoughts in my head except for thoughts of him.
Of Callum. Callum and his hands on my skin and his mouth on mine, until eventually I even forget how to breathe and have to pull away, even as I keep my death grip on him.
He doesn’t seem to mind, sounds just as breathless as he presses his forehead against mine.
“Where’d you learn to kiss like that?” he asks, and I huff.
“Where did you?” I ask haughtily, but only because I’m trying to hide the fact that my heart is still racing. Though the way his finger rubs along my pulse point makes me think he’s well aware.
“Are you okay?” he asks quietly. “About the video?”
“The one that made me a roaring success?”
“The one I’m guessing was posted without your consent?” He’s back to serious Callum now, and the concern I see in his gaze sobers me up pretty quickly. “It must have been a shock for everyone to see you like that,” he continues.
Some of the nastier comments I saw flash through my mind, but I take a breath, trying not to dwell on them.
“It was,” I admit. “It’s a lot. But I’m okay. If that’s what works, then that’s what works. The festival is more important than a few anonymous idiots on the internet.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes,” I say, and he smiles. It’s a gorgeous smile. A handsome, lights-up-his-face smile that has me reaching for him again before I realize we’re no longer alone.
“As romantic as this all is,” Gemma says from where she stands a few feet away. (Seriously, such a creeper.) “We still can’t use the barn.”
Callum pulls away from me, but doesn’t go far, grabbing my hand as though challenging her to say something about it. Gemma doesn’t even blink.
“Is it completely unusable?” I ask him.
“They stopped before it was gone completely, but it would be a lot of work to get something built in time.”
“Well, maybe if we see what the damage is, we can—”