by Margaret Way
‘What do we do, Gideon?’ Her question came from deep down, and it was maybe about more than the threat to her life.
‘We wait until I’m sure you’re safe.’ Something inside Gideon’s chest softened, tightened. ‘Then I want you to come back to Melbourne with me. I’ll get you a management job in one of my hotels there, where it’s not isolated.’
‘I can’t do that. It’s kind of you, but I already have a job, Gid. I don’t belong with you. I belong here.’
There were barriers in her face and in her eyes. Barriers she’d put up to protect herself—not from this worrying situation, but from him.
Gideon wanted to take those barriers down and get to the woman behind them. He wanted to kiss her senseless and make love to her until everything melted away. Everything except the two of them. He wanted to insist she let him keep her safe. He thought maybe he wanted her to let him in, and how could he want that?
‘Callie—’
‘We should settle in, if this is going to take a while.’ She gestured towards the living area.
So practical. So determined not to show her fear or, in this moment at least, her emotions.
Does that remind you of anyone else you know, Deveraux?
But in his case he didn’t have the depth of emotion to bring to her in the first place.
No? And yet the protective instincts he battled right now seemed to suggest otherwise. He’d always had those feelings for Callie. Today she’d set him free from them, said the debt was paid, but it wasn’t like that. He needed to keep her safe—for himself. For what it did for him.
Gideon tried to understand what that meant.
A shout sounded outside.
Moments later his mobile phone rang. Gideon released Callie reluctantly and answered the call. It was a short discussion, but he gave a nod of satisfaction when it ended.
‘They got him, Callie. Mission accomplished. A task force is sweeping the island now, to make sure he had no accomplices, but we’ll be able to leave here soon, and then we’ll talk with them about what happens next. I’m still favouring taking you back to Melbourne.’
Callie wanted to argue, but other things took over. The meeting with the special task force, and phone calls with Mac and Mary, who were relieved but shaken, and determined to get back so they could check on Callie in person.
‘We’re organising flights to Melbourne now, Callie. We’ll boat out to the island straight away from there.’
Mary’s voice had been so worried that Callie had compromised, and agreed to go to Melbourne with Gideon.
For now—just to check in with Mary and Mac.
Once they were packed and on Gideon’s small boat—which was a state-of-the-art small boat, Callie noted, with a measure of seafaring appreciation—Gideon took her aside quietly and met her gaze with his own.
‘I’m glad it’s all over, Callie, but I will make sure you’re completely safe before you come back to the island. Even if that means employing security personnel for a time.’
‘Oh, I’m sure that won’t be needed—’ she began, but he waved a hand.
‘Whatever’s necessary to keep you safe, my dear.’
The endearment washed through her, and as the silence stretched his gaze became even more serious.
‘I don’t know what to say to you about last night, Callie.’ His voice was low, tight. Regretful and concerned, and perhaps…confused? ‘There are no words. I shouldn’t have let it happen and yet I did, and I’m finding it hard to regret…’
‘You can regret it if you want to.’ Her chin came up and she met his gaze without flinching, made herself do it. ‘I said last night I’m not prepared to regret what we shared. There was something between us that had been there for a long time, whether you want to admit that or not. As far as I’m concerned it’s a braver move to address it, do something about it, than go on trying to deny or ignore it. So…I’m glad. I’m glad we visited that. It’s not the end of the world. It’s happened. We can put an end to all those questions now and go our separate ways. This doesn’t have to be complicated.’
‘Doesn’t it?’ Why couldn’t he believe that?
‘Let’s just get to Melbourne, see Mary and reassure her.’ Callie turned her gaze to the land mass before them. ‘Doing that is what matters now.’
CHAPTER EIGHT
‘MARY—you shouldn’t have interrupted your honeymoon for this. I promise you I’m quite fine.’ Callie murmured the words, and a moment later she and Mary were hugging fiercely.
They were inside Gideon’s Melbourne penthouse apartment. Mary and Mac had spoken with the task force before making their way here.
‘I’m so glad you’re safe, Callie. If I’d known what might happen—’ Mary broke off on a sob.
‘It’s my fault. I should never have thought I could ignore my past.’ Mac stepped closer to rub Mary’s back with the flat of his hand.
Gideon overrode all of it. ‘The threat is completely taken care of. From all accounts this man was nothing more nor less than psychotic. Your brother did nothing to aggravate him, during his term of incarceration or afterwards. The police are glad to have apprehended him, and the matter is done with now.’ Gideon drew a breath. ‘Most of all, Callie’s safe. That’s all that matters.’
Mac and Mary accepted his reassurances. Eventually.
They all spent a little time together then, before the older couple made their way to the hotel they’d booked for the night, with Callie’s stern words no doubt ringing in their ears.
‘You’re to go back to your honeymoon in the morning!’
Gideon smiled at the thought as he watched Callie’s gaze rove his home. ‘What are you finding of interest, Callie?’
Callie’s gaze shifted to Gideon’s face and she gave a wry smile. ‘I’m just impressed. It’s a lovely apartment. Nicer even than the one you had on your family’s estate.’
And Callie admitted it really was. Striking. Beautiful. And a home. That showed in the scatter of Gideon’s things all over the place. Cufflinks tossed on the coffee table beside a pile of newspapers. Towers of hardback and paperback books.
‘I like the russet and cream colour scheme.’
He shoved his hands in his pockets and glanced at his home as though seeing it through new eyes. ‘I didn’t realise I’d matched the colours to your—’ He broke off. Shook his head.
And they were there again. That simply.
He drew a deep breath. ‘I’m glad you weren’t hurt today, Callie. I…I don’t think I could have borne that.’
For the first time she saw the depth of his care for her and, oh, her heart ached—because what if he could really, truly care, deep down inside, in a way that matched the way she felt about him? Care even beyond his need to keep her safe? That had no doubt started when he’d felt responsible for a young girl, but she was all grown-up now.
Callie wanted to hope—and that was a truly terrifying feeling, because all her life she had stopped herself from hoping, from letting herself need others in more than the barest minimum of ways.
Yes, she had loved Gideon for a long time, but even in that she had allowed him to push her away, send her away. Deep inside she had known that by doing that she was protecting her heart.
She had to protect it now, too, because Gideon’s feelings weren’t the same as hers. His protectiveness was simply that.
‘I need to go back. To the island. Go home.’ That was what she needed to do. Go back, regroup, put these feelings behind her and hope they evaporated as time went on.
It didn’t matter that they hadn’t evaporated in seven years. Things had changed now. She had to move on now. Surely she could move on now? Callie prayed it would prove to be the case.
‘You can go first thing tomorrow morning.’ Gideon hesitated. ‘Or stay longer—go shopping or something before you head back…’
‘No. I’m fine. I need to get back.’ She needed it for her sanity—and, indeed, wouldn’t it be better to go right now? ‘I could ca
ll Joe and ask—’
‘Call him—but arrange it for morning.’ Gideon’s shoulders tightened beneath his shirt. ‘I don’t want you out at sea at night. Although at least they’ve contacted Heather Stiller, and we know her only interest in passing on those photos was spite.’
‘I’m glad you gave her a second chance—positioned her into another job under a very watchful senior eye.’ Callie rubbed between her brows, where the effects of a headache had begun to take hold. ‘That was kind. From the sound of her, when you had her on speaker phone earlier, she truly appreciated the seriousness of what she’d done and regretted it. Almost capsizing in the storm in that boat she hired to get her off the island must have frightened her, too. Her time there can’t have been pleasant.’
‘She’s fortunate she’s not in a lot more trouble.’ He watched the movement of Callie’s fingers against her brow. ‘Let me get you some paracetamol for that.’ He rummaged in a high cupboard in his kitchen and came back to her with a glass of water and two white pills.
Callie took them with a grateful nod, and then wished she hadn’t dipped her head quite so vigorously. ‘Thanks. I guess I got a little more tense today than I realised.’
‘You did really well, Callie.’ He glanced away. ‘Why don’t you get in the hot tub for a while? Let the jets do their thing—get rid of the stress.’
‘That sounds like heaven.’ The only thing she could imagine that would be better would be to share the tub with him. Callie’s face heated as her thoughts registered. ‘A nice solitary soak in the tub,’ she articulated with belated care, ‘sounds nice.’
He took her elbow and guided her forward, down a hallway, until they stood outside a closed door. Gideon opened it and a bathroom was revealed. The tub was sunk into the floor—tiled and definitely beckoning.
Gideon flicked on the jets while she stood at the top of the room. ‘There’s a bathrobe on the back of the door. Take as long as you want, Callie.’ He backed out of the bathroom. ‘I’ll order in some dinner.’
‘Thanks. I think I will enjoy a good soak.’
Callie gave in to her need for the tub, stepped fully into the room and, the moment Gideon closed the door behind himself, started to peel off her clothes.
Callie came out of his bathroom smelling of bath crystals and warm woman. She must have piled her hair on her head before she climbed in the tub, because it was mostly dry, with wispy bits that curled around her neck in damp tendrils.
Gideon’s hands flexed at his sides. For a moment he wasn’t sure if he’d actually stepped forward to touch those tendrils or remained where he was. The slam of desire blindsided him, and when he came back to himself his gaze was locked on Callie’s face and his heart was pounding with something that was desire and emotion mixed.
‘I hope I wasn’t too long in there.’ Callie’s glance went beyond him to the Italian food on the table. Risotto pollo, gourmet pizza made with mozzarella cheese and sundried tomato, fresh bread rolls with rich, creamy butter…
A smile broke across her face. ‘You got Italian for dinner. I haven’t had it for ages.’
‘I remember you used to like it.’ For long moments all he could do was stare at her, while everything inside him told him to keep her here, not to let her leave. Not in the morning, not at all.
This was what was behind his sense of emptiness when he’d woken this morning in the bed they’d shared and felt the coldness of her absence so keenly. He’d developed some kind of feelings for her. Feelings that were deeper than friendship, stronger than care for someone who’d been placed in his charge.
When Callie drew a breath her mouth trembled, and he knew she wasn’t unaffected by whatever had leapt to life between them just now.
‘Shall we eat here at the table?’ Callie brushed her hands across the thighs of her jeans, tugged the cerise blouse into place.
Gideon watched those movements and remembered her legs wrapped around him, remembered kissing his way along rows of freckles…
‘We’ll eat in comfort.’ He growled out the words and led her into the living room.
They ate their meal and talked about nothing. And the awareness between them was a roar in his ears until they’d eaten their fill and he turned to face her.
‘There’s still risotto left.’ She gestured towards it.
‘I’m not hungry…not for more of that.’ He was hungry for Callie. ‘I don’t want “the end” yet, Callie.’ He searched her face and didn’t fully know his own thoughts. Only that he needed more of her. ‘Stay with me longer. Don’t go back in the morning.’
If she stayed, he would lose this feeling of dread and loss that threatened to lodge somewhere deep inside him and refuse to leave.
‘I can’t…’ She tipped her head to the side, studied his face as though she might find insight there.
‘You said we’d explored something and that was the end of it,’ he said. He had thought so, too—until this morning. ‘But it didn’t feel like an ending to me. It didn’t feel like it should be that.’
At Gideon’s words Callie’s heart did a slow roll in her chest. ‘What—what are you saying?’
‘We’re good together. I’m saying…we’re good together.’ He rammed a hand through his hair, but he didn’t take his gaze from her. ‘One night—we could have more than that. Cuddling and companionship, friendship and togetherness. We could keep all that.’
Under the limits of his ability to embrace it.
Because this wasn’t a declaration of love. At no time had he told her he loved her—the one vital ingredient any relationship between them could not do without. But that word was missing from Gideon’s vocabulary, and her feelings went deeper than the lack of that word.
The hope that had risen in her heart dissipated. ‘I can’t do what you’re asking of me.’ She turned her face away, forced her body to follow suit. ‘I—I have to go to bed. I’m tired. Please excuse me.’
She walked away before he could say anything. Retired to the guest room he’d allocated to her.
And she knew she would be gone long before he rose from his own bed in the morning.
Gone back to her home and her life. Because Callie did belong somewhere. She wasn’t all alone in the world.
She belonged on the island.
CHAPTER NINE
‘AND if we listen very carefully we may hear them digging down into the sand.’ Callie was on all fours, in jeans and bare feet and a thick fluffy jumper that had seen better days. The sand beneath her was damp and cold, the cave dark but for the light of the single torch in her hand.
Fifteen excited schoolgirls and one somewhat less excited supervising teacher crowded behind her as they made their way through the low, narrow passage that led out of the cave to the shore.
Most of her crab whispering tours fell substantially into the ‘great performance, not much reality’ bracket. But those who signed up for them never seemed to mind. And Callie did enjoy taking tour groups through the warren of caves, sighting the occasional crab there. No one needed to know that was because she fed them here regularly, as well as on the beach.
Yes, she enjoyed the tours, but for the past week she had struggled to find the enjoyment. It was hard to do that when she couldn’t seem to focus her thoughts away from Gideon. Thanks to him sending an expert team of workers, the island was almost restored to normal after the storm. Callie’s equilibrium was taking longer.
What if they could have been together, and he could have come to have deeper feelings for her? What if she’d cut and run without trying hard enough to see if that was an option? Maybe he’d have wanted to continue, and then he might have found those feelings inside him? Maybe he was capable of that…?
‘Crab whispering is a rare art form,’ Callie went on, while the conviction grew inside her that she should have done something more than back away. She should have fought for what she wanted and needed from him. ‘But these exoskeleton creatures can be whispered out if we take enough care.’
‘Is it much further until we get out?’ The teacher whispered the question.
‘Not far at all.’ Callie hoped her distraction hadn’t shown. She shone the torch around the cave and said in her best crab whisperer tone, ‘There’s one of our friendly creatures now.’
The crab received the gift of some of the special feed Callie had brought along. The girls giggled, as girls were wont to do. Lots of shushing followed, and then they were out on the beach. Callie shared the crab feed out, and stood back while her guests enjoyed the sight of dozens of crabs scuttling about in the moonlight on the beach.
Some of the girls started to giggle in earnest, then, and something changed in the atmosphere.
Callie followed the direction of their gazes and her heart stopped.
Gideon.
What was he doing here? And why did her heart have to melt with love for him? That wasn’t fair. She felt the teacher’s gaze on her, and with some part of her she heard the woman’s words.
‘Come along, girls. It was a wonderful tour, but I’m sure Miss Humbold would like an opportunity to…ah…to tidy up after the tour and…and so forth.’
Fifteen curious schoolgirls were hustled away.
A man and a woman were left facing each other across a stretch of beach.
Beyond Gideon, Callie could make out a small array of glass containers on the beach. But she only really had eyes for Gideon.
‘Callie. I came because—’
‘I’d decided to come to you. I’d just now decided—’
‘I needed to see you.’ His words came out in a low murmur. He gestured at the retreating figures of the schoolgirls and the teacher. ‘I can see you’re busy this weekend, but I’m hoping you can spare a few moments for me.’ He hesitated, as though uncertain how to go on.
‘I can spare the time.’ What did he want to say? ‘Why did you come, Gideon?’
It was a cry from deep inside her. Need and guardedness and a wish all rolled into one—because it appeared she couldn’t stop herself from hoping after all. And where did that leave her, if she needed to protect her emotions as she had always protected them, even when she had let herself care about him?
