Chapter Fifteen #2
The corner of his grin hitched. “It’s not like a missile hit us during breakfast. Speaking of which, I’m starving.” He stood up and offered a hand. “Let’s get changed and grab some grub. We’ll pick up something for Alicia, too.”
“Cal, you’re acting like this is not a big deal.”
“No, I’m acting like we need to fuel our bodies, because today is going to be a fuckin’ headache.”
Okay, well, that made sense. “It’s not normal, how calm you are.”
“Just another day at the office.”
They changed out of their pajamas, and he drove them to a diner that served breakfast, lunch, and dinner twenty-four hours a day. The packed parking lot promised good food and strong coffee. Exactly what they needed.
They slid into a booth, and a minute later, a waitress popped over, pulled a pen from behind her ear, and, without missing a beat, tossed out oversized menus. “I’m Mauve. What can I get you?”
“Coffee,” they said simultaneously.
“That kind of morning, huh? Got it. What else?”
“Bacon, hash browns, two eggs over easy, and a side of sausage.” Callum flipped the menu over. “Are the desserts any good?”
“The pie’s better than the brownies. Get the potapple.”
“What’s potapple?” she asked.
“Potapple pie. Think if sweet potato pie and apple pie had a baby pie. Potapple. It started as an experiment when Eddie, back in the kitchen, had a little bit of filling left from each but not enough to make a whole pie. Bam. Potapple. Bestseller.”
“I’ll have that too. But first…” She stared at all the choices and ran smack into decision paralysis. “How about…”
“Don’t want what your man’s having?”
Did they really look like they belonged together? “He’s not my man.”
“Matter of time.” Mauve shrugged. “I’d fall over dead from clogged arteries if I ate that at once, but he looks like he can handle it.”
“I’ll have the whole-wheat pancakes and fruit salad.”
Mauve snickered. “Gotta balance him out. Got it. All right. Give me a minute, and I’ll bring over a fresh pot of coffee.”
“Awfully quick to say I’m not your man,” he said when they were alone.
Grace’s chin shot up. “You’re not.”
“Didn’t say I was. Just noting your light-speed-like clarification. Especially considering what we were on our way to do before we were interrupted.”
She could already feel her cheeks heating. “Interrupted? We were attacked.” Though it astounded her how casually he could discuss them when she couldn’t even wrap her head around him wanting to kiss her. “Besides, sex doesn’t make you my man.”
He looked like she’d issued him a challenge. “Doesn’t it?” He winked. “It sure as fuck would make you my woman.”
A full-body shiver ran from her head to her toes and left her speechless.
Mauve returned with their coffees.
Grace shut her jaw after realizing it was hanging open. She needed coffee before replaying what he had just said. Callum was offering everything she ever wanted, and she simply couldn’t process it.
Mauve brought the syrup and broke the trance Callum had on Grace.
She took a sobering breath and tried to pivot the conversation. “Why don’t you think Dominic did it?”
He flicked a sugar packet back and forth between his fingers without opening it. “I didn’t say that.”
“You said if it was his people. Who else would it be?”
“That’s one hell of a question. Got any ideas?”
“No.” She tugged on the long-sleeved shirt that covered her cat scratches. “Do you?”
He slowly shook his head as if someone else might actually be behind the fire. “Vivian found Alicia a nice rental house that will take the dogs and Sherlock.”
“That’s what you were doing on the phone?”
He nodded. “Amongst other things, but yeah. She needed something better than the local pet-friendly motel. Something to take the edge off of what’s going to be a huge pain in the ass to fix, but not too far from her job and community.”
He’d thought of all that? Her heart squeezed. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“I know.”
“I’ll pick up the cost,” she insisted.
He flicked the packet again. “It’s already taken care of.”
“I have a bunch of Dominic’s money sitting in a trust. I can use—”
“It’s taken care of.”
His expression showed no willingness to negotiate. Appreciation swelled in her chest. She reached across the table and grabbed his hand. “Thank you.”
“We need to go to my office to debrief. After we get Alicia squared away, we can hit the road.”
“What happens after we talk at your office?”
“They’ll have a safehouse ready for us by then.”
A glimmer of excitement and nerves spun in her belly. “Who will be there with us?”
His eyes narrowed. “Is there someone you want to bring along?”
She shook her head. Alone in a house with Callum? With nothing to do except wait for a meeting. “No one else.”
Mauve arrived with their food, and they thanked her. Callum dug into his overflowing plate. The quiet didn’t keep her mind from sprinting through what was to come. No distractions. No roommates. No reason to ignore what they’d started. She couldn’t wait until they were alone.
Except… he terrified her.
She did not know where his supposed long-term interest had come from.
He might not realize this was nothing more than a curiosity or an itch that needed scratching.
He’d been the one sharing. She was the one who had always wanted him, and when—if?
—this all came crashing down, he’d walk away unscathed, and she’d be more shattered than from anything Dominic had put her through.
But Callum wouldn’t hurt her. And if he said they had a future, even if she couldn’t see how it would work, then she should trust him enough to give them a chance.
Wait.
He hadn’t said they had a future now, only that they would have if the past were different.
Her subconscious was making promises when none had been given.
They didn’t live in the same places, though she didn’t actually live in any one place.
And her brother would go ballistic if he thought about them together.
But again, she was an adult. He’d get over it. Still, Grace didn’t even understand why Callum had left the Army. There were so many unknowns that idealizing the future was unrealistic.
She cut her pancakes. “Hayden will freak out about the fire.”
“He’ll be fine.” Callum pushed hash browns onto his fork. “Out of everything he can get upset over, a broken window won’t—”
“It was a Molotov cocktail.”
“You’re not hurt. He’ll be interested in why it happened, but he won’t freak out.”
“You know him better than I do, I guess.” Maybe she could ease Callum into the discussion about the Army. “Did you think you’d both get into West Point?”
His eyes narrowed. He chewed the hash browns for a long time. “We didn’t compare stats.”
“What does that mean? You both wanted to join the Army. That was a great way to—”
“Why are you asking?”
She shrugged and stuffed a pancake in her mouth so she couldn’t answer.
“We were both strong candidates. West Point was right to take both of us.”
It took forever to swallow. “What’d you major in?”
“Why?”
“I’m curious.”
“Philosophy.”
Her fork froze mid-bite. “Really?”
“Yeah. Really.”
“I thought West Point would only offer majors like war studies or global law or cyberterrorism.”
“What are you getting at? You don’t care what I majored in. Spit it out.”
Now that he’d said philosophy, she was incredibly interested and wanted to know everything else he might surprise her with. But for now, she had to get down to business. “Why did you leave the Army?”
His expression hardened. “I’m done with the twenty questions.”
“You know everything about me. You’ve asked a thousand questions—”
“First, trust me, I don’t know everything, and second, you’re the one in a situation. Not me.”
Sleeping together was a sort of situation, but she wasn’t ready to point that out. What if he changed his mind because she was too nosy?
His jaw ticked again, but this time, frustration had the muscles twitching. “We should place Alicia’s order.”
Callum caught Mauve’s attention for the to-go order.
Grace crossed her scratched-up arms and ignored the bites of pain. “You’re not going to tell me.”
“I’m not going to talk about it. At all. Got it?”
“Fine.” She saluted him. “Aye, aye, captain.”
“Give me a break.”
Her questions hadn’t been that intrusive. The more he wanted to avoid it, the more she needed to know.
They finished breakfast in an uncomfortable silence. Mauve placed Alicia’s food on the table with their bill. They settled up and returned to his truck. Every minute felt more awkward than the last.
She fastened her seatbelt. “Why don’t you want to talk about the Army?”
Callum tossed her an aggravated look and turned the engine over. “Why didn’t you tell anyone that your ex-husband hit you?”
“Screw you, Callum.”
He backed out of the parking space, threw it in drive, but jerked the wheel into a parking space before he pulled onto the road. He dropped his head back, stared at the ceiling, and then rubbed a hand over his face. “I’m not ready yet. Can you give me that?”
It wasn’t the same thing, but their silence was for the same reason. It hurt too much to admit. She nodded.
His head dropped. He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I won’t throw Marino in your face again. I’m sorry.”
She pulled his hand from his face and linked their fingers together. With her other hand, she unfastened her seatbelt. Grace leaned toward him, wanting to wrap her arms around him and ease whatever ugly scars the Army had left, but Callum gathered her first.
Falling harder and harder for him, maybe he needed her just as much.