Chapter 22
CALLUM – PAST MEETS PRESENT
As we walk into the grand ballroom, I walk a few steps behind Everlee, which is a problem.
That dress. Damn. The way it hugs all of her curves.
The way the back swoops down and sits just above her ass.
She is hands down the most beautiful woman here tonight, and what’s wild to me is she doesn’t know it.
I think that’s one of the things I find so attractive.
We stop at the seating chart near the entrance to find our assigned number, then weave through the crowded tables to reach our spot.
Most people still aren’t here yet or are out front getting drinks or taking pictures, so the dining hall is fairly empty.
A few are trickling in or sitting at the tables, but for the most part, it’s just us.
The room looks amazing. The ceiling has large pieces of pink and white fabric draped between golden rods nestled in between enormous chandeliers.
There are twenty or thirty large round tables which seat ten people, covered in white tablecloths with a pink or red accent stripe down the middle.
The centerpieces are large glass cylinders filled with white, red, and pink pebbled hearts coupled with golden arrows sticking up the middle, and the place settings are brushed gold chargers underneath white porcelain plates with a golden rim.
They’ve really done up the Valentine’s theme, but it’s elegant, not gaudy.
Sitting down, I twirl the half-empty glass in a circle on the table.
Everlee is quiet, like something is weighing on her, and while I want to ask her what it is, I feel like I already know.
In some ways, I feel the same. Even though we haven’t been on an official date, we have done a lot of date-like things, and she has stayed the night twice.
Nothing about her is like the times we’ve spent with the other women.
She’s been different from the start, and I don’t know if I want this to end at the end when our contract does, but I don’t know how it can continue.
We tried that once already, and it didn’t work out.
I thought we were going to lose Knox, and I don’t want to go through that again.
I will protect my family.
“You know,” Everlee starts, then stops. “That was really nice what you did earlier. The donation. It’s not why I invited you.”
I offer a coy smile, gentle and teasing at the edges. “I know why you invited me.”
“Because I seem to have a problem attracting decent men who want to stick around?”
With a subtle tilt of my head, I convey my disapproval.
She pulls her face, then smiles. “And your cock, of course.”
“With a filthy mouth like yours.” My thumb pads over her chin, “I don’t see how you don’t have guys lining up.”
“Callum?” a woman’s voice with a soft accent chimes behind us.
My stomach drops for a moment as my eyes lock on Everlee’s. When my muscles remember how to move, I slowly turn in my seat and my eyes nearly pop out of my head.
“Callum. It is you.” Sophie’s gaze quickly flits to Everlee, then back to me.
“Sophie.” I’m in complete shock as I stand to give her a hug. “Everlee mentioned a highly sought-after French chef was being brought in, and I wondered if it was you.”
Everlee’s head tilts in my periphery.
She holds her hands out, smiling, the same warm smile she’s always had, with the dimple on her left cheek more pronounced than on her right. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised you’d be at an event supporting children. I know how much these organizations mean to you.”
Everlee shifts uneasily in her chair, and I want so badly to reach across the table and take her in my arms and tell her not to worry. Sophie is my past, and Everlee is what? My future? I don’t know what she is, but I know she is my right now.
“Yes, they do.” I turn to look at Everlee. “Sophie, this is Everlee.”
“Your date, I presume?” Her eyes catch mine and I know what she’s thinking. She knows our rules because she is the reason we have them.
Nodding my head slightly, I look at Sophie, and she pumps her brows once before she looks at Everlee, eyes widening in awe.
“You look absolutely stunning,” she whispers, her voice a warm, genuine compliment.
She takes hold of Everlee's hands and plants a delicate kiss on each side of her cheek. She looks back at me, hands still holding Everlee’s. “How is Emmett? I miss him. All of you, really.”
“Emmett’s doing good. He recently opened his own restaurant here in town. Bo La Vie.”
She chuckles, clasping her hands together. “Good life. Yes. I suppose you all live the good life, don’t you?” Her words fall off.
“You should come by. The guys would love to see you.”
“I’m only in town for a few days.”
“Perfect! You can come by our club one of those nights.”
“A club with you and the boys?” She smiles. “Could be trouble.”
“So that’s a yes?”
“Oui. Now I have to get backstage and get ready to wow you all with my expert culinary skills. Enjoy your dinner!” She leans over and gives me a kiss on the cheek. “Ta- ta. And nice to meet you, Everlee!”
I watch her walk away, nerves twisting in my chest, keeping my gaze from drifting to Everlee.
She’s going to have questions, and I don’t know how to answer them.
Honesty is the obvious choice because I won’t lie to her, but I don’t know how I can get her to believe that Sophie is a friend and in the past. I don’t know much about Everlee’s past, but I know that whatever it was, it seems to have destroyed her confidence, which makes me feel things it shouldn’t.
Namely, destroying the piece of shit that made her feel like that.
When I look at her, I lift my hand to cup her cheek. “Everlee.” My words are soft as I read every emotion flitting across her face.
“She was one of your…” her words fall off, voice shaky.
“Yes. But it was a long time ago. She has since moved on and has a wonderful husband and three beautiful children. We get a Christmas card every year from them.”
“It’s fine,” she says, and I know she’s not fine, and this feeling I’m not used to creeps in, moving under skin like a snake in the grass. Damn it. I want to console her, give her confidence, give her that fire in her eyes that I’ve grown accustomed to seeing. Needing.
Stepping forward, so my elbow brushes along her chest while my hand still cups her cheek, I gaze down at her. “Your pussy is the only pussy I want my tongue in, my fingers in, and my cock in. No one else's.”
“Until when? This week and then I’m gone? Time to move on to the next woman?” She holds her hand up. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I knew what I was getting into when I signed the contract.”
Taking a deep breath, I grab her hand and bring it to my lips.
“I don’t know what our future holds. But I don’t want the could be to get in the way of the right now.
If you’ve changed your mind and don’t want to come over tonight, I’ll understand.
No hard feelings.” Lies. I’ve been looking forward to tonight and the feel of her pussy.
It’s a need that ravages me like a fire within.
And I’ve not been much of a voyeur, but something about wanting to watch the guys fuck her turns me on more than anything.
“No. I want to come over.”
“Let’s have fun here, and then we’ll see what happens. Okay?”
She nods. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to run to the ladies' room.”
“I can walk with you.”
“No. I’m okay.” She gives me a half-smile and walks towards the main hall.
I lower myself into the chair, watching her retreat, and I’m torn between the urge to chase her and pull her into a hallway and show her exactly how I feel about her, and the quieter instinct to stay put and give her the space she needs to sort through her feelings.
I pull out my phone and shoot a quick text to the boys.
Damn it!