“Hello, gorgeous,” he says as he walks toward me.
“Hello, yourself, handsome.”
Callum doesn’t hesitate. He wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me tight to his front, and his other arm slides up, wrapping around the back of my neck as he brings his lips to mine.
It’s one of those kisses in a movie. Where the girl goes limp in his arms, but he holds her tightly, ensuring she won’t fall. It’s filled with magic and that big sigh because, with him, she’s safe.
Just like I am.
Fucking hell, this is so not in the plan.
His mouth molds to mine, and there goes my damn dreamy sigh.
Far too soon, he pulls back.
“If I stay like that, we’ll be rather late because you’ll be under me while I’m deep inside you.”
“Well, then, let’s be late,” I say with a grin.
He chuckles. “I would love to, but I’d like your friends to approve of me. I think it’ll help when the contract is final and signed.”
I shake my head. “It won’t.”
“Ah, I have faith.”
“I’m telling you, Cal, it won’t. I have rules, and since you’ve found some loophole and I happen to think you’re a very sexy man with a giant dick”—I rest my hand on his chest—“I’m letting it happen. Once the contract is signed, there’s no loophole.”
Callum leans in for another kiss. “We’ll see.”
Stupid stubborn British sex stud. We’ll see is damn right.
“Underestimating me is a very bad thing.”
His lips turn up into the most dazzling smile. “Whatever you say, Nic.”
I slap his chest playfully. “Ass.”
“Are you ready to go or do you need to use the loo?”
“Loo?”
“Sorry, toilet,” he says the word with difficulty.
I freaking love his accent and strange words.
“No, I’m good. Do you need to use the little boy’s room?” I ask while batting my eyelashes.
“If I step foot in your apartment, love, we won’t be coming back out. Especially if I remove my trousers.”
“Promises. Promises.” I grip his hand. “Let’s go before I take you up on the no-pants offer.”
We get into the car, and my nerves start to go crazy again. I’m starting to think someone has messed with my damn mind. My friends, men, and sex don’t make me nervous, yet when I’m around Callum, I’m nothing but a ball of chaotic nerves and hormone-driven lust.
On the ride there, I’m quiet and focus on not running us off the side of the road. I think about how my friends will react to him. What if they don’t like him? Do I really care? Why do I care at all when, in a few days, he’ll just be my damn client?
Oh, because I’m lying to myself. That’s why.
I pull up and Callum looks at me. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine.”
“You act as though you’re about to feed me to the wolves.” He laughs.
I shift in my seat. “No, they’re actually all really great, it’s me who is the wolf.”
He laughs loudly and shakes his head. “Well, love.” He moves in so our lips are barely touching. “I’ll be happy to eat you tonight.”
Jesus, I love dirty talk. I go to bring my lips to his, but he jerks back and opens the door.
“Bastard,” I mutter, and the sound of his chuckle comes through the car, letting me know he heard me.
Here goes nothing.
He takes my hand, but when I try to pull away, his grip tightens. Okay, then, we’re going in as a couple. That won’t backfire on me.
Danielle opens the door before we make it up the stairs. “Damn.” She sighs. “I was hoping to catch you making out in the car so I had something to give you shit about.”
I roll my eyes. “Sorry to disappoint you. Callum plans to go down on me tonight, maybe we can video it for you?”
He chokes, and Danni laughs. “I’ll be sure to let Peter know you offered.”
Callum’s eyes meet mine with a mix of horror and awe.
I shrug. “We have no boundaries. Be prepared.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Callum,” Danielle says with her hand extended.
“Wonderful to meet you as well.”
We enter, and my jackass friends come rushing forward. “Hey, I’m Heather.”
“Hello.”
“I’m Kristin.” She smiles warmly and then winks at me. Glad to see he passed her hot guy gauge. “This is Noah . . .”
“Frasier,” Callum finishes, extending a hand to Kristin’s boyfriend. “Big fan.”
Oh, God. I forget that Noah and Eli are big deals in the real world. To me, they’re idiots who make my friends idiots. Noah isn’t some big movie star, he’s . . . Noah. Eli, well, I spent much of my childhood dreaming of that man, but now, he’s just my best friend’s husband. After the first fart, he lost his sex appeal.
“Nice to meet you. God knows you must be a pretty good guy to deal with Nicole,” Noah says before bumping my elbow.
“Watch it, pretty boy. I’ll break your face,” I warn.
“You could try.”
“Whatever.” I snort. “This is Eli Walsh. Yes, my friends seem to have a thing with famous people.”
Callum does the customary greeting and then looks over at me. “You failed to mention all this in our talk about your friends.”
“It’s much more fun this way, don’t you think?”
He kisses my temple, and I melt into his side.
Then I see my friends.
Shit.
“I’m going to steal Nicole,” Kristin says, grabbing my arm. “We need to make the sangria, and she’s the best.”
Liar. Danielle makes the best sangria. This is her thinly veiled excuse to drag me away from Callum so she can ask me a million questions she’s too polite to ask in front of him.
He nods, and the guys all walk over to Peter’s humidor, where I’m sure there is going to be a lot of boring talk about cigars.
When we get through to the kitchen, the three of them turn on me.
“Holy crap!” Kristin says first. “You didn’t mention how hot he was.”
“Umm, I totally did. I also mentioned he’s ridiculously well hung.”
I don’t know why this is something my friends shy away from. If he has a big dick, why aren’t we talking about it? It’s a good thing.
“Keep your voice down,” Danielle chides. “Ava is in that boy-crazy phase, and Peter overheard her talking to her friend about the size of something. I’m pretty sure it was a boy . . .”
“Ohhh,” I say, clasping my hands together. “I’ll totally talk to her about size, circumference, and I’ll make sure she knows that when she touches—”
Heather slaps me. “Dear God! You don’t need to be her dick coach. She needs you to tell her how stupid boys are.”
I scoff. “I’m clearly the bad aunt.”
“Yes,” Danielle agrees. “We know this.”
“Wouldn’t you rather she gets all her sex information from the right person?” I ask. If I had a daughter, I’d hope she had someone reliable instead of another fumbling teenager.
“I would rather she stay a virgin until she’s thirty,” Danni counters.
“Yeah, like you did?”
“Not the point.”
I laugh and roll my eyes. “Yes, Callum is great. I’m sorry I didn’t give you enough details.”
“You must really like him,” Heather says with wistful eyes.
Ever since she got married, she’s been in this perpetually dreamy state. It’s so weird. Eli must be really packing it and using it the right way.
“This is probably the only time you’ll see him. So, get all your mushy, weird moments out of the way now. He found some workaround to us fucking a few times, but once I sign that paperwork, it’s done. I’m not going to screw my client.”
Kristin rolls her eyes. “Why not? I screwed my assignment. If I remember correctly
, you were the one to encourage me to do so . . .”
Again with the words being tossed back in my face. Damn, they’re good at this. “Not the same. You weren’t getting paid by Noah. I’ll be like a high-paid hooker.”
“If the shoe fits . . .” Heather says with a smirk.
“Whatever.”
“You clearly like the guy,” Danielle says. “Plus, the accent is sexy as fuck.”
“No shit! Why do you think I dropped my panties to begin with?”
My friends are not going to help me find excuses to get out of this situation. They’re going to drag me down into all the lame explanations and try to convince me that I’m the crazy person for walking away. I can already see the writing on the wall. They could be right. My telling Callum we need to cool it when I’m clearly hot for him might be dumb, but it’s also my life.
Kristin grabs a glass of wine and hands it to me. “I’m just saying that you like the guy. You don’t usually give enough of a shit about whatever man you have sex with to bring him to our monthly dinner. In fact, you’ve never done it. So, take that for what it’s worth.”
I roll my eyes. “I think you need to stop talking to your advice columnist and dishing out advice. I love you three, I really do, but I’m a smart girl. I have a business to run, and I don’t have a man to catch me if I fall.”
The looks on their faces tell me they get what I’m saying. Heather and Kristin wouldn’t have to blink if they needed money. Not that either of them take from Eli or Noah, but they wouldn’t have to ask. Danielle doesn’t work, but she’s raising Ava and Parker. Their lives are solid because Peter busts his ass as a lawyer.
I don’t have an Eli, Noah, or Peter. I have myself.
“We’ll catch you,” Danielle says.
Heather smiles. “We’ll always catch each other.”
“Always,” Kristin thirds what they said.
We all link hands. “And forever.”
“Are you sure you have to go?” Danielle asks, slurring her words a bit.
I laugh. “We could stay forever!”
Peter wraps his arm around his very drunk wife. “No, honey. You both need to go to bed.”
“But I don’t want to!” She pouts.
“Yeah, me either. Well”—I turn to Callum—“unless you’re going to bed with me. If that’s the case, I’m ready to go right now.”
Peter laughs. “Good night, guys. Callum, if you’re around this week, give me a call. I’d love to have a cigar and maybe some whiskey.”
Callum smiles. “I’d like that. I’ll give you a ring.”
Aww how cute. Callum made a friend.
He hung out with the three guys all night. Except for the few minutes he was in the hallway with me. He pushed me against the wall, kissing me until I was damn near grinding myself against his erection, and then he walked off as if nothing had happened.
“Drive safe!” Danielle calls.
I turn to Callum. “Ever had road head?”
He laughs. “I’m afraid not.”
“Oh.” I giggle. “We’re going to have fun.”
“Every day with you is a bit of fun, isn’t it?”
Too bad that fun is going to end.
No, I’m not going to think about any of that. I’m going to blow this man’s mind while we drive. That is all I’m thinking about.
What’s the saying? Don’t look a cockhorse in the mouth? Or gift horse? Or cock in the hand? Whatever. Doesn’t matter.
“Come on, gorgeous, let’s get you in the car.”
We start to walk toward the sidewalk and Callum’s hand rests on my hip. I lean in, breathing in his sandalwood and bourbon cologne. “You smell good.”
He chuckles. “You do too, love.”
“Why do you call me that?” I ask.
Callum lowers me into the passenger seat and squats down. “Because you’re lovely. You exude love, and I wonder if it’s possible to keep my feelings for you from growing.”
Now, I’m just drunk enough that I’m not one hundred percent sure that this conversation is happening.
“So, you think you could love me?” I ask.
“I think it’s impossible not to.”
I narrow my eyes. “You don’t even know me.”
“I know enough.”
I laugh. “You have no clue how crazy I am. Trust me, I’m a girl not even a father could love.”
Callum’s big hand comes up and tenderly cups my cheek. “Then he’s a fool.”
My eyes close, and I lean my head into his touch. He’s so strong that I wonder if he can carry the burden of being with me. I’m crazy, reckless, and mistrustful.
“Or maybe you are.”
He presses his lips to mine. “I guess we’ll find out.”
Chapter Seventeen
Nicole
I roll over, and when my face hits something hard and warm, I pry my eye open, praying it’s Callum and not some other guy.
I remember nothing after getting into the car. I think we talked, but I’m not sure. There was a lot of giggling, but then I think I closed my eyes and that was it.
He’s looking down at me with a smile. “Good morning.”
Ugh. Morning. “I drank a lot more than I thought,” I croak.
“Yes, but you were adorable.”
Great. “I take it we didn’t have road head?”
He laughs. “No, comatose sex isn’t really my thing.”
“Good to know.”
I look around the room and realize we are not at my apartment. Instead of soft ivory with hints of pink, this room is black with stainless steel everywhere. The floors are concrete and the furniture is extremely masculine. It’s clear a woman has not touched this place.
I sit up, noting that I’m in my bra and underwear. “Gimme a quick second?”
He nods.
I rush toward the bathroom, hating that I didn’t have time to brush my teeth and make myself look great before he woke up. My friends all think I’m nuts for never letting a man see me before I’ve primped a little, but I don’t care. It’s how I keep my allure. Since that’s gone, I’m up for some damage control—and snooping.
Once I’m done doing my business, I look for any signs that he’s a serial killer.
First, the medicine cabinet.
Advil.
Razors.
Cologne.
Deodorant.
All normal and necessary.
Being as quiet as I can, I close that and open the cabinet below, hoping there’s a damn toothbrush somewhere and no chloroform.
“You okay in there?” Callum’s deep voice scares the shit out of me.
My hand flies over my heart. “I’m good, just . . . do you have an extra toothbrush?”
“I don’t. I wasn’t planning to be here this long, but you can use mine,” he offers.
“Gross!”
I hear his deep, throaty chuckle through the door. “Why? I’ve had my tongue in your mouth as well as other . . . places.”
True, but toothbrushes are a whole other level of closeness. “Still . . .”
“I didn’t expect overnight guests, Nicole. You can use mine if you’d prefer or not.”
Well, damn it. I want to kiss him, but my breath tastes heinous, so I can only imagine how bad it smells.
I stare at his toothbrush and decide I can’t. We aren’t even close to being there yet. God gave me ten fingers, and I believe one was shaped like a toothbrush for this exact moment.
Quickly, I use my finger and scrub my mouth as clean as I can, swish some of the mouthwash I find sitting on the counter, and then head out.
He’s sitting back on the bed in only a pair of lounge pants. Damn, he looks good.
“So, we came to your place?”
“I wasn’t going to leave you at your loft while you were pissed. I thought this was safer.”
“I was mad?” I ask as I climb onto the bed. Shit. I don’t remember that at all.
Callum shakes his head. “Drunk.
Pissed means drunk.”
“Ahh, I didn’t know that. I need a British dictionary.” And then I smirk. I could use something else that’s British and starts with dick. “You know?” I ask with mischief in my tone. “I’m a big fan of morning sex.”
His eyes shift, and he raises a brow. “Are you?”
“Oh, yes. It’s really how we should all start our day, don’t you agree?” I move forward, not really giving him the option. I owe him, and really, my reasons are not completely altruistic.
Callum sits up a little straighter, and I climb on top of him. “I think waking up just like this was perfect.”
“I bet I can make it better,” I promise.
“I don’t doubt that, love.”
Why do I like it so much when he calls me that? Why does the way he says it make me feel cherished even though that’s crazy? I really need to stop the nervous fluttering in my stomach so I can walk away from him until our business arrangement is done.
I have a great way to shut him up. I fuse my lips to his, and he groans. Our tongues duel, and this time, I’m going to stay on top. I need the control because I feel completely out of control in my head.
Using my weight, I shove him against the headboard, and straddle him. His cock is hard and hitting me in the best place. His fingers dig into my ass, and I kiss him harder while reaching behind myself so I can unclip my bra.
One thing that is not missing between us is passion. We have that in spades.
I move back, letting the scrap of material fall between us and his eyes turn to liquid pools of heat. “Nicole.” He moans and then his lips are back on mine.
I reach between us and rub him through his pants.
However, that isn’t what I want.
I slide lower, keeping my mouth in contact with his skin, kissing my way down to the promised land.
My fingers hook under the waistband of his pants, and I pull them down before doing the same to my panties. “I may have missed out on road head, but now you can focus without worrying about crashing,” I say with a smirk.
“You’re a fucking gift from God.”
Damn right I am. “Let’s see if you call out his name when I blow your mind.”
I run my tongue around the rim of his cock, loving the sound that escapes from his throat. Instead of toying with him, I open my mouth and take him as deep as I can.
Not Until You Page 11
