Page 1 of Callum
CHAPTER1
Amanda: I’m doing the stationery for the wedding and need the name of your date.
Fiona’s fingers tightened around her cell, each word in the text from her sister glaring at her. She’d known it was coming. Hell, she’d actually been expecting it earlier, seeing as the wedding was less than a month away. Yet, here she was, feeling completely unprepared for it.
Oh, man. A date. She’d told her sister she had a real, living, breathing date for her wedding. And now, not only did her sister expect her to bring said date, her entirefamilydid too.
It was official, she was screwed. Completely and utterly screwed.
She massaged her temple as the beginnings of a headache pricked the backs of her eyes. The lie had just kind of slipped out at the last family dinner, somewhere between talk of flower arrangements and you’re-going-to-die-alone looks.
And now she was paying the price.
She started typing out a response but quickly deleted the words. Then she started typing again. Same thing. Argh. This was dumb. She had to just tell her sister there was no date.
Her phone vibrated while she was midway through text attempt number three.
Amanda: If there’s no boyfriend, it would be best to just admit the truth.
Her jaw clicked and her spine straightened.
Excuse me?It was one thing for her to be a lonely liar, but another for her sister to call her out on it with no proof.
Maybe moving an hour and a half away from the woman wasn’t enough. Maybe she should have tried for another time zone. Or better yet, another galaxy.
“Fiona Lock!”
She jumped at the use of her full name and spun to find her library manager, not only in the same aisle as her but marching toward her with a beet-red face. Great. Just what her morning needed.
“How many times have I told younotto use your phone at work?”
Uh, zero? Not that she’d be admitting that to a man who could win an award for biggest ass of a boss. Actually, no. He wasn’t always an ass. Sometimes he was ridiculously nice to the point she almost felt like he was coming on to her. But as soon as she didn’t reciprocate that…hello, asshole again.
“Sorry, Rick.”
His cheeks reddened further, something she hadn’t thought possible a moment earlier, and he shoved his glasses up his nose. He was a tall, thin man and kind of reminded her of Kevin Bacon…only a much less likable version. Not that she’d met Kevin Bacon. She just assumed he wasn’t a grumpy middle-aged man who gave people whiplash with his mood changes.
Rick huffed. “That will come out of your break time. You have ten minutes left.”
Yep, definitely in the running for that ass award.
She plastered a phony smile to her mouth while holding in the slew of curses she wanted to throw his way. “Sure.”
She moved out of the aisle, almost surprised when he didn’t call after her with some other problem. Maybe her knee-length skirt was somehow inappropriate for work. Or she’d filed a book incorrectly. He’d been fine with her when she was hired eight months ago, almost always teetering more on the flirtatious side. But over the last few weeks, he’d done a complete flip on her. What she’d done to piss the man off, she had no idea.
She stepped into the shared staff room to find Jenny, the only librarian close to her age, dropping her bag into a locker. The woman had only started working here a month ago, but God, she’d saved Fiona from a lonely existence. She was on the shy side but always friendly.
When Jenny’s gaze hit hers, the woman’s smile slipped. “Hey. You okay?”
Not only did the woman have the cutest bangs and bob Fiona had ever seen, she also had big red-rimmed glasses and a cute mole on her cheek. There was a small scar beside her right eye, but it didn’t detract from how pretty she was. She fit “librarian” to a T.
“Yep, just Rick being Rick again.”
Jenny gave a sympathetic smile. “I know you think you’re the only one he picks on, but trust me, you’re not. Today he told me I was late when I got in at nine oh one. Nine oh one! That’s basically early. The man has a serious stick up his ass.”
Yeah, Jenny wasn’t wrong. “Let’s not say it too loud. He’s probably bugged the place and is wearing a hidden earpiece to listen to these kinds of exchanges.”
“Let him hear us. I’d like him to try and find more librarians. Everyone else is on retirement row.” She squeezed Fiona’s arm before walking out of the staff room.
