Page 93 of Callum
One more kiss, then reluctantly, she moved away. Wow. She’d actually gotten a kiss in without Rick popping out from the crowd and berating her.
Once this was over, she’d reach out to the Ketchum Library and see if there were any available positions. She’d be sad about leaving Jenny, but honestly, there was only so much Rick she could take.
She helped a few more people find seats, passed a couple of the librarians who looked as excited as the visitors, then reached Jenny again, who blew out a breath.
“Christ, I didn’t know this many women lived in Cradle Mountain.”
“I know, it’s like they magically materialized just for today.”
Jenny was just opening her mouth to respond when an exasperated sigh sounded to her right.
Good God, was he just watching them? Waiting for them to find their way back to each other?
“Seeing as you two are stuck at the hip,” he said, “I need you to get more paper plates. People are eating more snacks than I thought.”
Fiona’s gaze swung to the table, and sure enough, all the plates were gone.Crap.“I don’t think we have any more, Rick. Everything we bought was put out.”
He opened his mouth, presumably to chew her head off, when Jenny linked their arms and quickly said, “It’s okay. I think I saw some in storage.”
Her friend pulled her through the crowd toward the back. Fiona lowered her head and whispered, “Storage?”
Once they were in Rick’s office, Jenny moved to his desk and opened the top drawer, pulling out a small key. “Yeah, Rick keeps a few things down there. He’s made me get stuff before. It’s like I’m his slave some days.”
Jenny moved to a door at the side of the office, a door that was always kept locked.
“Uh, I’ve never seen that opened.” Granted, she didn’t go into Rick’s office much, but still…
“Like I said, Jenny equals slave.” She laughed and unlocked the door before stepping forward. Fiona craned her neck and saw… Holy heck, a staircase. There was abasementdown there?
Jenny moved confidently down the stairs, and Fiona followed into the dark basement.
* * *
Callum wasready for this to be over. Hell, he’d been ready all damn day. There were too many people, and the crowd made him anxious as hell. The author was done with her reading and seemed to be at the tail end of signing books.
His gaze found Fiona for what had to be the hundredth time that day. She was smiling and helping some readers in the line. When she caught Callum’s gaze, her features softened. Rick moved over to her, and Callum’s muscles tightened. He fucking hated that guy.
Fiona nodded at something he said, then moved toward the staff room just as his cell rang. He tugged his phone out, watching as Fiona left the staff room with her bag, surprised as hell that Rick was actually letting her leave.
He answered the call. “Logan. Hey.”
His friend had gone down to the lodge today to check that Freddie had left.
When Fiona reached him, he touched a hand to the small of her back and led her outside, nodding at Tyler as he went. Tyler would also let Liam know they were done.
“I’m just leaving the lodge,” Logan said.
Callum scanned the lot as he walked, not wanting any surprises. When he reached the car, he opened the passenger door and guided Fiona inside. He waited until the door was closed to respond. “Was he there?”
“Nope. Room is empty and he’s checked out.”
Thank fuck. The asshole was finally getting the damn picture. He slid into the car. “Thanks for checking for me.”
“You got it.”
He hung up and started the car. “Happy with how it went?”
“Yes,” she said with a smile, pulling her seat belt across her body. “It was great. And even better that it’s done now.”
