Page 146 of Falling for the Wife

Stella glared at me before quickly apologizing for my ill-mannered behavior. With a fierce look, she pinned me on the spot. “There’s nothing to talk about. Please, let’s leave it as is… I don’t want to drag this out.”

“Well, I do. We have to talk. You can leave afterwards, but either way, we’re talking. Get out of the cab, Stella.” There were horns honking and some expletive words flung towards us, but I was unperturbed. “You’re holding up traffic.”

With her chest heaving, her eyes ready to spit fire and her skin aglow, she had never looked more radiantly gorgeous than at this very moment. “Damn you, Kensington!” Stella hissed as she exited the cab.

She only had a large tote with her, so it didn’t take that much effort to pluck it out of the seat. Expressing a relieved sigh, I dug in my pocket and handed the cabbie his due. He was more than grateful when he saw it was three hundred quid in his hands. “Cheers mate!” he bid me goodbye as I nodded towards him, slamming the door shut.

It was starting to rain with light showers. Summer time in London wouldn’t be the same without these showers. I used to like it, but right now, since I hadn’t donned a shirt, I wasn’t that appreciative.

Was I surprised to find Stella pouting as she stared at my running car? Not really. “Get in,” I commanded as I tightened my grip on her purse and strode towards her.

She shook her head, stubborn as a goose. “No. I don’t want to, Cal.”

“Get inside!”

“Callum. I. Said. No.”

She was testing my limits and I was about to explode like a ticking time bomb if she decided to play stubborn. “Don’t defy me, Stella!” I roared, yanking the door open, past caring that she was fuming and throwing curse words at me. I ignored her and shoved her purse inside the car. The road was starting to get wet, but I was beyond caring about my underdressed state as I failingly tried to act calm. Holding the door wider this time, I directed her again for the umpteenth time. “Get inside, Stella.”

“You have no right to manhandle me. No. Right. Do you hear?” She screamed, unmoving.

In normal circumstances, I wouldn’t be so brutish, but this wasn’t one of them. Planting both of my hands around her sides, I lifted and carried her before gently dumping her tenacious self on the seat. Ignoring her hisses and growls, I securely placed the seatbelt across her tensed body and then slammed the door shut then went to the driver’s side.

Stella was furious, but she was unbending. What else was there to do? All I cared about was for her to get in the goddamned vehicle and drive back to my home so we could sort this out rationally. No matter what happened after this, I couldn’t for the life of me let her leave in this condition.

This was Stella… Richard’s sister… the woman I vowed to take care of, which I wasn’t doing exceptionally well in that department.

CHAPTER63

Callum

My immediate planwas to drive back to my home and talk there, but noting how we both were still so pumped with anger, I decided to take us for a spin about town.

Still simmering from Stella’s little stint, I broke the silence. “I told you we would talk after I showered. Why the hell would you even think about leaving when we haven’t discussed anything?”

Her gray eyes flashed at me, hard as crystals. “What the hell is there to discuss, huh?” she stormed. “Are we supposed to hug each other and say, ‘Oh it was wonderful being shagged by you for the past weeks. Thank you, dear Callum. We should have lunch sometime.’ Is that what you’re looking for here? Because if it is, well, THANK YOU! You can stop the car, so I can get back to my life.”

“We aren’t through yet!” I yelled as I gunned the engine and parked behind a private garden. I had no clue where we were, but that didn’t even faze me a bit.

“You need to get back to Zara,” she bit out, fetching her purse as she tried to yank the door open, but found it securely locked. “Fuck!”

“I don’t like the thought of you leaving. I feel like I should do something, but I don’t know what, Stella.” I shined on a little of what I was going through. I respected Stella, but for some reason her immediate want to leave made me feel like I had failed her. I know I shouldn’t because it wasn’t making any sense, however it was what I was feeling.

She sighed.

Her back sagged a bit, defeated somehow. When she twisted to face me, there was something in her eyes that I couldn’t understand; yet when I sought it out, she lowered her gaze, staring at the interior. “Cal, we shouldn’t even be fighting about this. I realized that since your life is pretty hectic, and so is mine, that it would be better to just go back home. Besides, I didn’t want to be in the way with Zara. We started this whole thing with no expectations. I want to simply leave it at that. I know I should’ve told you that I was moving back into my place, but I thought that it would be better this way, since you have so much on your plate as it is. I didn’t want to be a burden.”

“I apologize.”For neglecting and forgetting you, I silently added because it was true. I did somehow forget about Stella. “I hope you’ll forgive me someday.”

Stella brought her face to mine, smiling brightly with a hint of sadness in her eyes. “For what? You had so much going on. You didn’t even have to reach out to me this way. I understand, Cal. So if you’re worried about letting me down, you shouldn’t. You always thought well of me, even if you were a mere stranger. You’re a great man, Callum. Don’t try to tell yourself otherwise.” She then moved closer, wrapping her arms around me, her heavenly scent annihilating my senses.

Her gesture certainly surprised me, but when her arms wrapped around my neck with her intoxicating smell blanketing my nostrils, it dawned on me that this might be the last time I could hold her. When that entered my mind, I felt somehow rattled and incredibly uneasy about it.

“Thank you, for all you’ve done for me. I may seem like a spoilt woman at times, but I do appreciate everything you have done for me, Cal,” Stella whispered into my ear and then she brushed her lips against my cheek and kissed it gently. “Please take care of yourself. If you need a friend, I’m a phone call away.”

I swallowed, a tad shaken by this small exchange. What was going on here? The pitted ache in my stomach now lashed harder. “Stella…”

She shook her head, stopping me from saying anything. When she asked me to unlock the door, I obediently did so. I came out of the car, opening her door. I knew she didn’t need me to do it, but I simply wanted to.