“I don’t sexually harass anyone.”
“No, but you have to stop hiring women who will fall into your bed easily. In fact, maybe you should stop hiring women altogether.”
“Let’s not go crazy,” he says with a smirk.
“If you fuck them, they start expecting special treatment. And when that doesn’t happen, they quit.” I know I’ve hit my mark when he glances down and frowns.
“I didn’t have that issue before because you and I were exclusive,” he says.
“I know. But now you’re messing around, and enjoying it. But stop pulling from your staff, Keith. Because they won’t respect you, or be loyal to you, after you’ve gotten them naked.”
“Point taken.”
“You’ll be fine. You’re a smart man; you’ll turn it around.”
“I’m obviously an idiot for letting you get away so easily.”
“Well, that goes without saying,” I reply with a smile. “We all make mistakes.”
“Yes. We do. You’re mine.” His face sobers. “I was wrong, about a lot of things.” He steps toward me, and just when I think I’m going to have to kick him in the neck for coming on to me after telling him no, he simply folds me into his arms and hugs me tightly, gently rocking back and forth. “I was so wrong to tell you I’d never fall in love with you. I did fall in love with you, Callie. And I’m sorry if I ever hurt you.”
With that, he kisses my forehead, and pulls back.
“Thank you for that,” I say, smiling up at him. “You were an important part of my life for a long time, and I won’t forget that.”
He smiles, brushes his lips over my cheek, and turns to leave. As he moves away, I see Declan standing in the doorway, his eyes hard and trained on me. His whole body, usually loose and calm, is tight, every muscle on high alert, as Keith brushes past him.
“Sorry, man, she’s all yours,” Keith says, having no idea who he’s talking to. He looks back at me, “Take care, sweetheart.”
And with that, he’s gone, and I’m left squaring off with the man I’m hopelessly in love with. I have nothing to feel guilty for. I’m not the one who was out at dinner with someone new.
Neither of us says anything. We simply look at each other, both of our faces completely impassive, not giving away what the other is thinking.
I’ll be fucking damned if I let him see me cry. Hell no.
I simply fold my arms over my chest and wait. And after what feels like forever, Declan simply shakes his head and walks away.
Chapter Seventeen
~Declan~
“So what’s your news?” I ask Beth. She’s sitting across from me at Café Amalie, decked out in a red dress that shows off her curves and her long blond hair. She smiles slyly and leans an elbow on the table.
“We’ll get to that. First, how are you?”
“Great.” I’m short with her on purpose. I don’t want to be here. I want to be with Callie. I haven’t seen her in days.
“Okay, I see how this is going to go,” she says with a sigh. “Look, Dec, I know you weren’t thrilled to be stuck with me when Laura retired and left the firm.”
“I’ve never made that a secret,” I reply, agreeing whole-heartedly.
“I’m a good agent,” she stresses.
“You’re a decent agent, and if I hadn’t been under contract to stay with the firm, I would have left immediately. That contract is up in six months.”
“I know.” She nods and sips her drink. “But I’ve managed to keep you busy with work—”
“I’ve kept me busy with work,” I reply coldly. “You’re too busy trying to get in my pants.”
She blushes and looks at the candle flickering on the table. “Okay, let’s talk about that. Why not me?”
“Excuse me?”
“Oh come on, Declan, we all know your reputation.” She reaches out to touch me, but I catch her wrist in my fist.
“Don’t touch me.”
“I’ve made it clear that I’d like to sleep with you, and you never once took the bait. Why?”
“Two reasons. Because I’m not stupid enough to mix business with pleasure, Beth, and I’m not attracted to you.”
Shock, dismay, then indignation cross her face, but before she can speak, I continue.
“If you think I’m stupid enough to have a very brief affair with someone I do business with, you don’t know me very well. I am an artist, but I also come from an influential business family, and I’m a smart man, Beth. It’s your job to get me work, not get me off.”
She clears her throat. “I see.”
“Finally.”
“What in the bloody hell?” I glance up and see Kate stomping to our table, her furious face firmly in place.
“Oh, is this the flavor of the week?” Beth asks.
“Shut up,” Kate snaps at her. “I want to speak to you without the bimbo listening in.”
“Hey, who are you calling a bimbo, sister?” Beth demands, ready to go to war.
“Stop.” My voice is firm and clipped. “I’ll be back.”
I stand and escort Kate out of the restaurant and to the sidewalk outside. “What the hell, Kate?”
“Oh no, you don’t get to be mad at me,” she says, shaking her finger at me. “What are you doing out on a date with someone other than Callie?”
“I’m not on a date. Beth is my agent.”
Kate frowns, and then her shoulders deflate as she lets out a sigh. “Oh.”
“It’s okay. Say you’re sorry for biting my head off. Where’s Eli?”
“Eli isn’t here,” she says, worry suddenly settling over her. “I was here with Callie.”
And now dread settles over me. “Oh, God.”
“Yeah, I asked her out to dinner because Eli’s out of town tonight, and we were in the middle of talking about you being an idiot when she glanced over and saw you getting all cozy with Beth the agent.” She props her hands on her hips.
“This is a business meeting, Kate.”
“I know that now, but it didn’t look like that. Let me put it this way: remember when you picked me up to take me to the airport when it was time for me to return to Denver last year?”
“Yeah.”
“And we saw Cindy leaving Eli’s house, and I was devastated because I thought he’d spent the night with her?”
“I hate Cindy,” I mutter.
“Yeah, well, that’s what it looked like to Callie.”
I rub my hand over my mouth, dread settling in my belly. “Look, I have to finish this dinner, but I’ll talk to Callie tonight and clear it up.”
“You’d better,” she says. “And you’d also better explain to her why you’ve been a douche bag lately.”
“I’ve been a douche?” I ask, completely thrown. “I haven’t even seen her in days.”
“Exactly,” she says. “Fix it.” And with that she turns on her heel and walks away. Jesus, what a shit show. Women confuse the hell out of me. How could I have screwed up? I’ve barely spoken to Callie.
I walk back to the table and find a pouting Beth when I get there.
“Jealous?” she asks.
“Cut the bullshit, Beth, and tell me what you need to tell me. I don’t want to be here all night.”
“I’m leaving the firm,” she says, and my heart bursts with joy, but I keep my face and voice passive.
“Good luck to you, but you could have told me this via email. There was no reason to blow my phone up and demand a meeting.”
“Well, I was hoping that once I told you, you’d want to go home with me.”
She leans on the table, showing off her cleavage, and I just stare at her face. “If you don’t have any other business to talk about this evening, I’m leaving. Right now. I’ve told you I’m not interested. I can’t make that any more clear.”
“Fine. A girl can ask,” she says irritably. “I do have some business to talk about. There’s some recording work coming up in Memphis you might be interested in, and some song
writing requests came in last week.”
It takes an hour to discuss all of the business details. Honestly, when Beth is in professional mode, I don’t hate her. But I take a deep breath when the meeting is over and I can head straight over to The Odyssey to see Callie and straighten all of this out.
When I walk through the door, the place is mostly empty. Adam is behind the bar.
“Hey,” I say as I approach. “Where’s Callie?”
“In the office, but—”
“Thanks,” I say, cutting him off and hurry to the back of the bar, then stop short when I open the door and find another fucking man with his hands on my girl.
He’s pulling away from her, as if he just kissed her. I can’t see Callie because the dude’s back is to me, completely concealing her.
When he does move to turn away, she’s smiling up at him in the special way that she smiles at me, and it sets my teeth on edge.
Tall, Blond and Handsome bushes past me. “Sorry man, she’s all yours.” Damn right she’s all mine.
And just when I think he’s going to leave, he turns back to her. “Take care, sweetheart.”
I should punch him, just out of principle, but I can’t take my eyes off of Callie. God, she’s a sight for sore eyes. I’ve had a shitty few days, and all I want is to pull her in my arms and hold on tight, but her eyes are emotionless as she stares back at me. She crosses her arms and cocks a brow, and I read her loud and clear.
Fuck off, Declan.
She’s mad at me, and I don’t even know what I did wrong, but I can see anger and frustration written all over her. So I’m going to leave her be, let her cool down, and then she and I are going to have a coming to Jesus about who’s allowed to put their fucking lips on her.
Because I’m the only one on that list.
I shake my head and walk away, through the bar and to the street, when Adam catches up with me.
“Hey!” he yells. “What the fuck, man? Were you really out with another woman tonight?”
“It was a business meeting,” I reply in frustration.
“So things are good with you and Callie?”
“She’s upset,” I reply, shaking my head. “She needs to calm down, so I’m going to give her some space.”
“Knowing Callie, that’s probably a good idea,” Adam says with a nod. “Just don’t make me regret trusting you with her.”
“It’s a misunderstanding,” I reply and clap him on the shoulder. “We’ll figure it out.”
***
Someone is leaning on my doorbell, making it go off over and over again. I stumble out of the music room where I spent the night writing songs for the job Beth gave me last night and open the door.
“What’s wrong with you?” I ask Savannah, glaring at her.
“You didn’t hear it the first three times,” she says, breezing past me and into the kitchen, where she proceeds to brew a cup of coffee, then glances over at me. “You look like shit.”
“Thanks.” I slide onto a stool, longing for a cup of that coffee. “Didn’t sleep much.”
“Kate called me,” she says, eyeing me over her mug. “Did you get it all straightened out with Callie?”
“Not really,” I reply and scratch my head. “I saw her, but she was pissed, and I decided to give her time to cool down.”
“You’re an idiot.”
“Wait. What?”
“She’s upset, thinks you’ve been out with another woman, and you walk away to let her cool off? You’re such a man.”
“First of all, I don’t like the way you call me a man like it’s a bad thing.”
“It can be,” she says, but I keep going.
“Second, I know Callie pretty well by now, and I think she needed some space.”
“How much space are you going to give her?” Van asks.
“A day,” I reply. “I miss her.”
Van barks out a laugh, rinses her mug, and turns back to me. “If you miss her, go see her. You know, women aren’t as difficult as men believe. Hug us, tell us we’re pretty, and we’re happy.”
“Not true,” I reply, shaking my head. “Y’all are complicated as fuck. Trust me, she’s not hurt; she’s pissed. I know what I’m doing. I want to see her, but I’m respecting her space.”
“Whatever,” she says. “There was a reason I stopped by.”
“Aside from giving me awesome relationship advice? Great.”
“Smart ass.” She glares at me. “I have a hearing for the divorce next week.”
“I’m there,” I say immediately. Van will never have to be in a room with that asshole alone ever again. She nods and fights tears, and I stand, circle to her and pull her in for a hug. “It’s going to be okay, you know.”
“Why is it taking so long?” she asks. “It was supposed to be over long ago, but he keeps appealing everything.”
“His lawyer is a dick, but ours are better,” I assure her, rocking her back and forth. “He can legally appeal all he wants, but it’ll eventually lead to a court date and it’ll be over.”
“It could take a long time,” she says and sniffs.
“It’s okay. It’s all going to be okay.” I’m not sure who I’m trying to convince, her or me, as I rock us both back and forth.
***
She won’t take my calls or answer my texts, and the last time I tried to call, I went straight to voice mail.
She turned her damn phone off.
It’s been a good thirty-six hours since I last saw Callie in her office, and I’m done giving her space. I need to see her, hold her, and put this whole mess behind us.
But I can’t find her. She won’t answer the phone, and she’s not at the bar. She has to be at Adam’s.
I surprise Adam when I burst into the apartment. He’s in the kitchen, eating cereal dry and out of the box.
“Hello,” he says mildly and tosses some Lucky Charms in his mouth.
“Where’s Callie?” I ask on my way to her room, then return to the kitchen when I don’t find her.
“I don’t know,” he replies with a frown. “I assumed she was with you.”
“I haven’t seen her since the other night.”
The frown turns into a scowl as he glares at me. “What the fuck, man? You said you were going to give her space, not disappear!”
“A day and a half is space.”
“Two hours is space,” he argues and tosses the cereal on the counter. “She hasn’t been here since yesterday morning.”
“Well, where is she?”
Adam shrugs. “She hasn’t even mentioned your name. I assumed y’all kissed and made up and were fucking like rabbits at your place.”
“Did you tell her I was giving her a chance to cool down the other night?”
“Now, why would that be my job?” Adam asks. “You didn’t tell me to relay a message.”
“I just figured you would!”
“Well, I didn’t know I was supposed to be Dr. fucking Phil this week,” he shouts, just as frustrated as I am. “She didn’t come to work last night.”
“Great.” I pace the living room. “I don’t know where she would have gone.”
“You know, I should deck you. I trusted you with her, especially after we had the talk where you assured me that you love her and want to be with her forever.”
“I meant every word of that.”
“But you hurt her, and then you walked away without a word.”
“I didn’t walk away for good. I walked away in the moment. I’m not interested in anyone but Callie, damn it. If I can just find her, I’ll explain everything and fix this.”
“Well, I don’t know where she would be,” he replies. “Keith’s probably left town by now.”
“Who the fuck is Keith?”
“Her old boss from Denver. The guy who was in the office with her the other night.”
“He was from Denver?”
“Oh, right, you left without talking, so you don’t know what went down there. He wanted h
er to come back to Denver.” Adam’s eyes widen as mine narrow. “She wouldn’t have gone back to Denver without telling me.”
“No, but would she be staying in some hotel with the fucker?” I ask, fury at the very thought running through my veins.
“No,” he says, shaking his head. “Definitely not. She’s too hung up on you to fall back in bed with Keith.”
“Back in bed?”
“They were a thing, but that’s been over since she moved home.”
We stare at each other for a long time. “Call him.”
“I don’t have his number.”
“Find it.”
“I know the name of his club in Denver that Callie used to manage,” he says, waking his laptop up and loading Google. He finds the number to the club and calls, but curses when they’re closed. “It’s morning. No one’s there.”
“What’s his name?”
“Keith Marron,” he replies, “but I won’t be able to find a cell number for him. We’ll have to wait for the club to open.”
“Damn it,” I mutter, the very idea of her being with him now eating a hole in my stomach. But then I remember her, in my arms, telling me she loves me, and everything in me just… calms. “You know what? She’s not with him.”
“She’s not?” Adam asks.
“No. I know her better than that. Damn it, Adam, I love her. She may be pissed at me, but she’s not fucking some other dude.”
“You’re right.”
“So where is she?”
“Fuck if I know.”
***
As night falls, I’m exhausted and worried out of my mind. Adam and I looked everywhere we could think of for Callie, and couldn’t find her. She obviously doesn’t want to be found.
And that just pisses me off. It’s not fair for her to worry us this way. Even a text to let me know she’s okay is all I need.
My phone rings in my hand and I answer before it can ring a second time. “Yeah.”
“It’s Charly,” my sister says. “What are you doing?”
“I just got home. I’ve been looking for Callie.”
“Can’t find her?” she asks.
“No, and I’m really worried. Do you know where she is?”