wants,” he said. “Tonight she flirted with Callum. It was good for both of us. Why ruin it when there’s only going to be one more date?”
Beth merely nodded, looking so tired. He sensed a surrender, as if she had no idea what to say to him anymore.
But she might as well have been telling him that Carla wouldn’t have known who he was. His wife wouldn’t have recognized Adam in the guise of Callum at all.
As he and Beth said good-night and ended their connection, Adam tried to get his mind back on work, but it never quite got there. He couldn’t stop thinking about tomorrow night, when Leigh would come again.
And when he would go back to being the man he wasn’t.
4
T HE LIMOUSINE DROPPED Leigh off near a gate at the foot of the driveway that led to Callum’s rented seaside mansion, and she donned her white sweater just before she got out of the backseat.
The uniformed driver beat her to the door. She was an older woman in a suit, her hair pulled back in a gray bun and light pink lipstick her only note of color. As Leigh got out, the driver handed her a phone.
Probably a disposable one, knowing the lengths Callum went to in order to maintain his privacy.
“From your host,” the woman said, nodding in farewell. “You have a good night, miss.”
Leigh squashed the urge to ask if the driver knew who’d hired her, but she was sure Beth Dahrling would’ve kept her boss’s identity private just like everything else.
“Thank you,” she said, accepting the phone. No doubt Callum was going to call her to tell her what would come next. All she’d been told by Beth last night was that she’d be picked up in a limo at the hotel and then she needed to wait on the beach.
But Leigh didn’t mind the lack of information. It made this brief game she and Callum were playing that much more interesting. And, hell, when she went back to her ho-hum real life, she’d be grateful for “interesting.”
Going to work, coming home or to whatever hotel she was staying at for the show, going over scripts, going back to work... She hadn’t known how much she’d been missing out on until she’d had a glimpse of something much different last night.
The driver gestured toward the bougainvillea-lined beach gate, and Leigh went through it, walking on a path that brought her to a quiet stretch of sand and the murmuring of waves.
As she headed toward the water, she pulled her sweater tighter. The mild November evening wasn’t that cold, though. So why was she shivering deep in her belly?
Because she was excited. Nervous. Just as worked up as a girl on her first date—one who had no idea what to expect from a guy. She hadn’t slept last night because she’d kept reliving their date over and over, smiling as she lay in bed, hearing Callum’s sexy voice echo through the mansion and through her, too. Even now her arms got goose bumps as she remembered his low, mysterious tone, just as thick and sinful as the honey she’d used to make dinner for him.
But everything about him was darker than honey. So much darker. And it was almost as if last night’s date had never ended, wrapping itself into this one.
They’d had their foreplay. Bring on whatever came next.
The sun almost looked like honey as it set over the rolling ocean, drizzling down the sky in shades of gold, blue and orange. A few seagulls winged overhead toward the craggy cliff. Up above, she recognized the graceful stone exterior of Callum’s rental mansion, and she wondered if he was at a window watching for her. Wondered if his hair really would be black, as she’d imagined. Or if his eyes were that Irish-blue she’d pictured. If he was tall and muscled, or maybe—
The phone rang, and she stopped in her tracks, staring at the cell as the vibrations of sound danced up her arm. It was him.
Whoever “him” really was.
Looking up at his mansion, she took a deep breath, making sure he didn’t see how anxious she was, then answered the call.
Beth merely nodded, looking so tired. He sensed a surrender, as if she had no idea what to say to him anymore.
But she might as well have been telling him that Carla wouldn’t have known who he was. His wife wouldn’t have recognized Adam in the guise of Callum at all.
As he and Beth said good-night and ended their connection, Adam tried to get his mind back on work, but it never quite got there. He couldn’t stop thinking about tomorrow night, when Leigh would come again.
And when he would go back to being the man he wasn’t.
4
T HE LIMOUSINE DROPPED Leigh off near a gate at the foot of the driveway that led to Callum’s rented seaside mansion, and she donned her white sweater just before she got out of the backseat.
The uniformed driver beat her to the door. She was an older woman in a suit, her hair pulled back in a gray bun and light pink lipstick her only note of color. As Leigh got out, the driver handed her a phone.
Probably a disposable one, knowing the lengths Callum went to in order to maintain his privacy.
“From your host,” the woman said, nodding in farewell. “You have a good night, miss.”
Leigh squashed the urge to ask if the driver knew who’d hired her, but she was sure Beth Dahrling would’ve kept her boss’s identity private just like everything else.
“Thank you,” she said, accepting the phone. No doubt Callum was going to call her to tell her what would come next. All she’d been told by Beth last night was that she’d be picked up in a limo at the hotel and then she needed to wait on the beach.
But Leigh didn’t mind the lack of information. It made this brief game she and Callum were playing that much more interesting. And, hell, when she went back to her ho-hum real life, she’d be grateful for “interesting.”
Going to work, coming home or to whatever hotel she was staying at for the show, going over scripts, going back to work... She hadn’t known how much she’d been missing out on until she’d had a glimpse of something much different last night.
The driver gestured toward the bougainvillea-lined beach gate, and Leigh went through it, walking on a path that brought her to a quiet stretch of sand and the murmuring of waves.
As she headed toward the water, she pulled her sweater tighter. The mild November evening wasn’t that cold, though. So why was she shivering deep in her belly?
Because she was excited. Nervous. Just as worked up as a girl on her first date—one who had no idea what to expect from a guy. She hadn’t slept last night because she’d kept reliving their date over and over, smiling as she lay in bed, hearing Callum’s sexy voice echo through the mansion and through her, too. Even now her arms got goose bumps as she remembered his low, mysterious tone, just as thick and sinful as the honey she’d used to make dinner for him.
But everything about him was darker than honey. So much darker. And it was almost as if last night’s date had never ended, wrapping itself into this one.
They’d had their foreplay. Bring on whatever came next.
The sun almost looked like honey as it set over the rolling ocean, drizzling down the sky in shades of gold, blue and orange. A few seagulls winged overhead toward the craggy cliff. Up above, she recognized the graceful stone exterior of Callum’s rental mansion, and she wondered if he was at a window watching for her. Wondered if his hair really would be black, as she’d imagined. Or if his eyes were that Irish-blue she’d pictured. If he was tall and muscled, or maybe—
The phone rang, and she stopped in her tracks, staring at the cell as the vibrations of sound danced up her arm. It was him.
Whoever “him” really was.
Looking up at his mansion, she took a deep breath, making sure he didn’t see how anxious she was, then answered the call.
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