Page 24 of Callum
She looked good. Sexy. Fresh. She ruffled her hair, which fell to her shoulders in loose waves. So why did she feel nervous as hell about stepping out of this bathroom?
Was it because since arriving, she’d felt unbalanced? She hadn’t even cared about the one-bed situation when they’d stepped into the room, even though she’d done nothingbutstress about it since asking Callum to do this with her.
Seeing Freddie had made her feel more than she’d thought it would. Not good feelings, God no. All bad. The way he’d hurt her. Stomped on their relationship like it was nothing. And now, she’d have to go downstairs and see him with her sister, surrounded by her family. The family may not have known that the man cheated on her, but they knew how long she and Freddie had dated. Would they look at her with pity? That I-feel-sorry-for-you expression people wore when they knew you were in the middle of a personal hell?
She just had to accept it. This was going to be god-awful, and there was nothing she could do about it.
Another tug on her dress. All right. Hiding time was over. With a resigned sigh, she turned and pushed into the room.
Two steps, and her feet stopped.
Holy Jesus… Callum stood by the window, buttons of his shirt undone, six-pack on full display. His chest had looked good earlier today, bare and dripping with sweat, but now, beneath an unbuttoned shirt, he looked distinguished and handsome…yeah,reallyhandsome.
The chest—wait, no, theman—crossed the room, and her gaze met his. Her breath turned sharp as it sucked into her lungs…because his eyes were darker than usual. And so heated, she wondered how she didn’t turn into a puddle on the floor.
He touched her arms, and the burn scorched her skin. Then he lowered his head and his breath brushed her ear. “You look beautiful, Fi.”
Her brain short-circuited. Beautiful? This god of a man was callingherbeautiful?
“Thank you.” The two words tumbled from her mouth.
Callum straightened. He started to button his shirt, and her gaze caught on those muscular hands. The thick, strong fingers.
Up, Fiona. Look up.
Humor danced in his eyes. “Ready to go?”
Slowly, the bronzed skin disappeared, but that did nothing to take away from everything else. The man was right, hedidlook good in a suit, jacket or no jacket. The shirt was form-fitting, and she could see muscles upon muscles cutting through the material.
Far quicker than appropriate, she turned and grabbed her heels, then sat to put them on. She’d just lifted her second shoe when Callum kneeled in front of her and took it from her fingers. He slipped it over her foot, and after he fastened the strap, his fingers ran up her calves.
Her belly dipped at the contact. At the way his hands skirted right up the outside of her thighs to her hips. “Ready?”
She nodded because she was completely out of words. If he was trying to distract her from her nerves about tonight, he was doing a great job.
It worked right up until they reached the bottom floor of the hotel. The wedding reception would be in the hotel function room, but the rehearsal dinner was in the restaurant.
The second they stepped out of the elevator, he slipped an arm around her waist and lowered his head. “Relax.”
Was she as stiff as she felt?
They stepped into the restaurant, and Amanda and Freddie stood right there by the door. Her sister wore a figure-hugging white dress that hit her knees. Her hair was up in a neat bun and her makeup immaculate. She was beautiful, but then, she’d always been stunning.
Amanda gave her a tight smile. “Hi, Fiona. It’s good to see you.”
Was it? Or had her sister been hoping she wouldn’t make it?
Fiona stepped forward and kissed her sister on the cheek. Just like every other time they’d touched in their lives, the embrace was awkward and stilted. She pulled back and gave a fake smile to Freddie. There was no way she was going to touch him again, and certainly not here, in front of a room filled with family.
She turned to Callum. “This is my…boyfriend. Callum.”
God, she needed to stop stumbling over the word boyfriend.Just get the lie out, woman!
Callum was a lot less awkward. For the second time that day, he shook Freddie’s hand, then leaned in and kissed Amanda’s cheek. It was a polite kiss, but there was still a zap of jealousy that shot through Fiona.
“Congratulations to you both,” he said warmly.
If possible, Amanda’s smile grew tighter. “Thank you.”
