by Maddie Wade
A smile creased her face as she stepped into the living space and saw Reid folding the sheets in nothing but his jeans. His bare was back to her, showcasing the ripped, lean muscle and colourful ink on his back and lats.
He turned at hearing her and glanced at her quickly. “Morning, sunshine.”
“Morning.” Callie felt a thud in her chest at the endearment.
It was more than likely something he used on everyone, but she still liked how it made her feel. She moved past him to the kitchen and stole a look at the front of him and had to brace her legs from the flutter the sight gave her. His front was more impressive than his back, and his back was fucking marvellous.
Angel wings wrapped around his throat, and as her eyes moved down, she saw an eagle on his solid chest that would have the male models she worked with weeping with envy. Her perusal of his body moved lower, taking in the large roses on each carved hip bone and the panther across his eight-pack belly. But it was the v of muscle that slid into his low-slung jeans that had her drooling. She saw the muscle tense and her eyes shot up and landed on his which gave nothing away.
They stayed like that for a fraction of a second until he looked away. “You need to get moving if you want to make it to the docks and get some food in you.” He slid his shirt over his head and down his belly, blocking the delicious view.
“I can go now. I don’t eat before a shoot anyway.”
He looked up sharply as he tucked his phone in his back pocket. “Why the fuck not?” He looked angry as he prowled towards her, stopping on the other side of the large island and laying his hands on the surface so he could lean into her. Callie felt her breathing hitch at the feel of him so close. “Callie,” he called, and she felt herself start from the trance of looking at him.
“If I eat my stomach isn’t as flat, and it’s a swimwear shoot, so I need it flat.”
“Are you fucking serious?”
“I never joke about my job,” she replied with a touch of fire at his tone.
“Fine, get your shit together and let’s go. We can talk in the car.”
Callie watched him stalk to the door and felt irritation prickle her skin. What the fuck was up with his moody ass? Grabbing her bag and phone along with her glasses, she dropped a kiss on Bono’s nose and followed Reid out the door.
“Ain’t you gonna feed the dog?”
Callie looked at his face and bristled at the accusing tone. “Tina, my housekeeper, will do it when she comes in.”
“Of course, she will,” he deadpanned.
Callie stopped as they reached the elevator, crossed her arms. “I’m sorry, have I done something to upset you?” She’d never believed in beating around the bush.
Reid turned to her his eyes cool. “Not a damn thing.”
The elevator doors opened, and they stepped in. “Any reason you’re being an asshole then, or is this normal behaviour for you?” Her arms were crossed over her chest, her bag hanging from the crook of her elbow.
Reid turned to her fully and leaned in close, so their faces were almost touching. “Just don’t want a little girl getting the idea in her head that I’m gonna fuck her, that’s all.”
Callie could feel his breath on her lips, smell the scent of his skin in her nose, her heart rate increased and then cold water in the form of his crass words washed over her. “I wouldn’t let you fuck me if you were the last man on earth,” she bit back.
For some reason this made the edges of his lips tip up, his eyes crinkle slightly at the edges. “Liar.”
“I am not,” she huffed haughtily and swung her face away from him to study the numbers as they descended.
“Yeah, so if I were to run my hand along the hot lips of your pussy, I wouldn’t find you wet for me?”
Callie sucked in an outraged breath as she felt her cheeks heat at his words.
Reid smirked. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”
“Jerk.”
The doors opened, and she and Reid walked in silence towards the exit and the car that would take her to her shoot. Instead of moving to it though, Reid grasped her elbow and pulled her towards a black Land Rover with tinted windows.
“What are you doing?” she demanded as she struggled to get away from his firm grip on her arm.
He looked at her like he was explaining things to an idiot. “I’m driving you to your shoot.”
“But my car is there.”
Reid opened the door and ushered her in the passenger side, leaning over her body to clip the seat belt in place. “I’m driving you,” he stated again and then slammed the door closed.
She watched working up a good head of steam as he crossed the front of the car and got in beside her. Callie clamped her lips together, not trusting herself to speak lest she say something she would regret.
They were halfway to the docks when he looked at her. “Finished sulking?”
Her eyes darted to him. “I’m not sulking, I just have nothing to say to you right now.”
“Good, now listen up. I need the names of all your boyfriends, current and ex. Even causal ones or fuck buddies. I also need a list of your commitments over the next month so we can plan things, and a spare key so Mitch and Liam can give your security a thorough inspection.”
“Fine. But just so you know, I think this is going a bit over the top. It was a one-off incident, nothing more.”
“It was an escalating stalker is what it was. Your fucking protection team should have flagged this months ago. My bet is you’ve been having things happen for a while, only now it’s been noticed.”
Callie felt the blood drain from her face. “A stalker,” she murmured quietly.
He glanced at her and then bit out a curse before pulling to the curb. He unfastened his belt and turned to her. “Callie, I won’t let anyone hurt you, I promise. This is a real threat, but I won’t leave you until it’s sorted.”
“Okay.”
Reid was genuine, he wouldn’t leave her alone and unprotected. She could sense he was a good man. She could recognise a good man because her father and brother were both good men.
“I owe your brother more than that.”
Callie tried not to feel deflated by that comment. He was here because of Clay and anyway, she wasn’t interested in a crude, mean asshole. Even if he was a hot, protective asshole that made her want to rip his clothes off and see if he had ink everywhere.
Reid must have decided he’d gotten through to her because he re-buckled and got back on the road. She took out a piece of paper and started a list like he’d asked. The boyfriend side was short, kind of pathetic looking really, with just three names on it and she’d only slept with two of them.
They pulled up to the shoot, and she saw Sophia pacing as she spoke on the phone. Reid got out and walked with her to the trailers they’d be using for hair, make-up, and clothing changes. The agent’s eyes moved to her and then swept over Reid.
“Hello, handsome, and who are you signed with?” she practically purred.
Callie would usually laugh, but today she wanted to claw her friend’s eyes out for the comment.
“Don’t have an agent, Ma’am. Where is Callie’s trailer?” he asked briskly.
“Did he just call me Ma’am? Oh, be still my beating heart and body. I like it.”
“Soph, stop. Reid is my brother’s friend and he’s helping me out with something.”
“Trailer,” he barked again more forcefully.
Sophia recognised the harsh tone of voice and quickly snapped into professional mode. “Follow me. Callie, Claude has been asking where you are, and Pierce is already here and in make-up.”
Callie barely suppressed the groan. Claude was a model she regularly worked with and had been bugging her to have lunch with him. She’d made the mistake of sharing brunch with him as friends, and he’d ultimately got the wrong end of the stick. Pierce, though, was sweet and a total dream to work with.
When they got the trailer, Reid went in first and then deemed it safe
for her to enter. Briar and Flynn came bustling in minutes later and almost got themselves pinned to the ground by Reid until she screamed at him to stop. He apologised to them both, and the grin he gave the two women almost made her squirm in her chair it was so hot.
The pair now eyed Reid, who was sitting on the small chair at the end of the trailer and typing on his phone, like candy.
“What the hell is going on, Callie?” Sophie stage whispered and Reid glanced over at them, clearly taking an interest in their conversation.
“I had an incident last night with a man accessing my roof terrace. I panicked and told my brother, who called Reid. Reid thinks it might be a stalker.”
“I don’t think, I know,” he said firmly before going back to his phone.
“Oh my God, why didn’t you call me?” Sophia said sitting and crossing her legs, the skirt of her electric blue dress riding up her thigh.
Sophia could have been a model, she was beautiful in the way that only Mediterranean woman could be, with a sensualness that seemed bred into her bones.
“I just did.”
“We need to call A1 and have them take a look, then I need to call your publicist and make sure they have something ready in case it comes out.”
Callie stayed quiet as Sophia went off on one of her tangents. She was exhausted and hungry and would probably commit mass murder for a big greasy burger about now.
Halfway through hair and make-up, a knock at the door came, and it opened to Mitch and Liam.
“Hey, babe,” Liam greeted her, and Mitch nodded.
“Holy cow, there are more of them? Did you go to a hot guy convention without me?” Briar almost swooned.
Callie laughed, and Liam winked at Briar. The woman was a doll, mid-thirties and a true curvy girl with hips and ass, that made her jealous. She always said she’d never be a model, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t have fun. The sad thing was, Briar didn’t see how beautiful she was and continuously got involved with assholes who didn’t appreciate what an amazingly sexy, kind woman she was.
She felt Reid bend beside her, so he was eye level with her, his scent enveloping her. “You stay in here while I go speak with Mitch and Liam. I won’t be long.”
“Yes, sir.” She saluted but regretted it when she watched his eyes flare for the briefest second with heat she felt down to her toes before he banked it and stepped outside.
“Girl, the heat between you two is melting this make-up off quicker than I can apply it,” Flynn said.
“Yeah, well, unfortunately, it isn’t going to happen.”
Flynn raised her eyebrows. “We’ll see.”
Callie wished she was right. A tumble in the sheets would probably rank as the high point of her sexual life, but then again, she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to just have sex with a man like Kirk Reid. No, she had a feeling it would be more of a religious experience. One that would make her a lifetime convert, but as he’d made it perfectly clear he wasn’t going to go there, it was a moot point anyway.
Chapter Five
Three fucking hours in hair and make-up for Callie to come out looking exactly as she had that morning, which was fucking beautiful. She had on a blue robe as she moved towards the set in flip flops, with Briar and Flynn fussing behind her.
Reid knew he’d been a complete dick to her that morning, but when he’d seen her looking at him like she wanted to taste him all over, he’d been seconds away from saying screw Clay and fucking her against her kitchen island.
Scaring her in the car had been a step too far though and one he felt bad about, but he needed to keep her at a distance. She was just too damn appealing, with her gorgeous face and cute expressions and the love she showed that damn dog.
He’d been ready to throw the hair and make-up ladies out and kiss her until she was breathless when Mitch knocked on the door. He’d never been so glad to see him. When he’d bent down to speak with her and heard her tummy grumble, he’d fought the desire to go find her a burger and chips and make her eat, but it wasn’t his concern he kept reminding himself. Then she’d called him sir, and he was fighting a desire of whole different kind as he imagined her taking his dick from behind as he slowly fucked her, holding onto her hair while she called him sir.
Which was why he was in a bad mood now as he went through the list her agent had given him containing her schedule for the month. It was a wonder she wasn’t sick with a programme this demanding. She was in Paris the day after tomorrow, then back to London the same night, then after a twenty-four hour stop, she was in New York for three-days, followed by Ibiza for two days, then home for a week.
How the fuck he could keep her safe in this environment? It was a joke. That didn’t excuse the shitty excuses the owner of A1 had given him when they’d spoken an hour ago. If Reid had been able to get his hands on the jumped-up little fucker, he would’ve squeezed the life out of him for the stupid comments and lacklustre care given to Callie.
How Clay had let his sister end up with a company like that in charge of her protection was anyone’s guess and something they would be discussing as soon as he got a second.
He followed a silent Callie onto the set where he’d been stopped by a pompous ass in a suit who told him it was a closed set. The stupid prick even decided to put his hands on him to make his point.
“I suggest you take your fucking hand away before I break it.”
The growl had made Callie spin around and look at him. “Mel, it’s okay, he’s with me. He’s my…” She looked at him, trying to find the words.
“Bodyguard,” Reid supplied.
Mel looked between the two of them. “I didn’t know you had new security, Callie darling,” he said with a dismissive glare at Reid.
“Yes. Reid, this is Mel Compton, he’s my media manager. Mel, this is Reid.” She offered a forced smile as she introduced them. Callie looped her arm through Mel’s and led him toward the set. “It’s a new development.”
Her words and manner were easy only Reid saw the possessive way Mel-the-pencil-dick wrapped his arm around her tiny waist and pulled her closer. Reid clenched his fists and then forcibly relaxed and pushed the tension away. It was none of his business who touched her. The fact he wasn’t worthy to kiss her boots was irrelevant, what was relevant was that Mel had access to her like he did on set. That made him a suspect as far as he was concerned.
The next two hours were a lesson in patience Reid didn’t know he lacked. Callie had been greeted by a man named Pierce, who was tall, good looking if you liked pretty boys, and who was wearing next to nothing. When Callie had taken her robe off, he’d had to grip his phone so hard to keep from grabbing her that he heard the screen crack. She was wearing the tiniest bikini he had ever seen, with triangle top that barely covered the lush mounds of her tits. His eyes moved over her, coming to a stop on the small string tie bottoms before travelling over her muscular, toned thighs.
To say Callie was a bombshell was to sell her short, the woman was a fucking knockout, and there was no mistaking she was all woman. Every single brotherly thought he’d been valiantly trying to make his brain think went out the window.
His dick was semi-hard just looking at her in a room full of people. How in God’s name was he meant to keep his hands, and mouth for that matter, off a woman who looked like her, who was cute as fuck, and gave him back as good as she got? The answer was he couldn’t. He was in big trouble.
She walked up to him, utterly unaffected by her near nakedness, which was sexy as fuck in itself. “This may be boring for you. I’m safe on set, so if you have things to do, you can go. I should be done about noon.”
“Nope, I’m good right here. I have some calls to make and emails to go over, but I won’t be leaving you alone.”
Callie shrugged. “Okay, suit yourself.”
With that, she turned and walked away, and the back view was as phenomenal as the front, the curves of her ass on show as she swung her hips in a maddening way that made him think of fucking he
r doggy style again.
The safest bet for his piece of mind and his libido was to stick Mitch or Liam on her close protection detail, but he was fucked if he was going to let them see her like this. Granted they could go buy the magazine when it came out, but he didn’t need to know about that.
The next hour was spent watching as the photographer yelled poses at her, sometimes moving to drape her body in just the way he wanted it. The poses were provocative and sexy, and he could see it was damn hard work, harder than he’d realised, and Callie was a God damn professional the entire time.
Towards the end of the shoot the photographer had Pierce, who much to his annoyance was utterly professional, strip his swim shorts off and wear a tiny piece of fabric that covered his junk. The shot made it look like he was naked once he stood behind Callie, with her body the only thing covering his dick. Her arm was up, and around his neck, her head turned as if they were going to kiss. His hands wrapped possessively around her hips.
It was a fucking powerful image and he hated it. Never in his life had he wanted to take up modelling but right then the desire to swap places with that man was a clawing need.
Reid heard the photographer sigh. “This isn’t working. Pierce, you need to look at her like you want to rip her clothes off.”
Reid snorted.
“Difficult for me considering she has the wrong equipment, darling,” Pierce retorted.
Callie walked forward and peered at the digital images, frowning. “I see what you mean.”
Just then the photog turned and pinned Reid with a stare that made his balls want to shrivel up. Give him a raving lunatic with a gun, and he was calm, give him a halo jump at night—still calm. The photographer walking towards him with intent? No thank you.
“You. I see the way you look at her. Come here.”
Reid had no choice but to pony up and walk towards him or look like he was scared, which was never going to happen.
