Page 5 of Bitten By Desire (Crooked Point #1)

Thursday

Callum wasn’t dressed in jeans and a T-shirt this time. He didn’t look like a student at all. He was wearing a fitted suit that was perfectly tailored to make him look even more devastatingly handsome.

“Callum…it’s…me…”

He lowered his eyebrows even more. That sulking expression that was seared into my brain.

“Emma,” I added. “You don’t remember?”

“I’m sorry,” he said. “You must have the wrong person.”

What? “Callum…”

“That’s not my name.”

I just stared at him. Of course it was. “Callum Walsh.”

He stared back at me like I was insane.

“Coach Walsh. You coached the Wildcat's soccer team. Ten years ago,” I added when there was zero recognition on his face.

He cleared his throat. “I must just have one of those faces.”

Was he kidding? He did not have a face like anyone else I’d ever met. He was…perfect. Beautiful. But why was he staring at me like I was crazy?

“I’m sorry…Ellen was it?”

“Emma.” Now he was just pissing me off .

“I have no idea who Callum is. Or what the Wildcats are. And I’m late for a meeting. If you’ll excuse me…”

“No.” The word just tumbled out of me. I hadn’t waited ten years to see him again for him to walk away. Just like he had last time. When he’d walked out of my life without another glance. “Callum, you…”

“My name is Theo Gold. I’m sorry, you must be confused.”

I wanted to slap him. But I just stood frozen in place. Staring at the ghost that haunted my dreams.

He glanced down at the camera around my neck.

For a second, I thought he was going to say something. That maybe the camera would make him remember.

But then his eyes trailed back up to meet mine. “I really must be going, Emma.” He said my name just like he had ten years ago when he’d told me how to pose. When he’d taken pictures of my exposed skin. When he’d thrust deep inside of me.

I touched the side of my neck where he’d sucked on my skin so hard that it bruised. I could practically still feel his lips.

But he didn’t drop his gaze to my neck. Instead, he turned and walked away. But this time he glanced over his shoulder once. To see me still staring.

That was not Theo Gold. That was Callum freaking Walsh. I was sure of it.

He climbed into a sleek black sedan and drove away.

I lifted my camera and snapped a picture of his license plate. He wasn’t going to get away from me so easily this time .

I ran into the market and looked around for Zoey. It only took me a minute to find her comparing the size of two cucumbers.

“Zoey!” I ran up to her.

“Oh, no,” she said. “Bennett had a micro penis after all?” She shook her head. “I was a little worried about his energy. What a bust.”

So she did think he had a small dick? Why had she set me up with him?! “No. I didn’t sleep with him after just meeting him. I didn’t meet him at all.”

“What?” She put the larger cucumber in her grocery basket. “Why would you stand him up? I take back what I said about his energy. I think he’s probably the size of…that cucumber.” She pointed to the smaller one that she’d discarded. Which was still huge.

I ignored everything she just said. “I saw Callum.”

“Coach Walsh?”

“What other Callum would I be talking about?”

She shook her head and grabbed an eggplant. “I think you probably thought you saw him. But it was definitely just in your head. Like when we went to that party senior year and you ran up to that guy who was most definitely not him.”

That happened one time! “It wasn’t in my head. I just ran into Callum outside. Literally.”

She walked over to a banana stand and grabbed several. Did she only eat penis shaped food now?

“Zoey, I’m serious. Why don’t you believe me?”

“Because I’ve been living in this town for two years. You don’t think I would have told you if I had run into the mysterious Callum Walsh? He doesn’t live here.”

“But I just saw him!” I grabbed her arm to pull her out of the store. As if showing her the empty parking space his car had been in would help. It wouldn’t. She thought I was nuts.

“Hold up one second, I need my produce.”

“Is that all you’re getting?” The only things in her basket were a cucumber, an eggplant, the bananas, a bag of carrots, and a very thick zucchini.

“Mhm.” She pulled out her wallet to pay for her phallic purchases.

I really didn’t want to know what she was going to use those for. And it took her forever to check out because she was flirting with the cashier.

“Okay,” she said as we headed out the door. “Let’s go meet Bennett. I never meant to crash your date, but I’ll be the awkward third wheel if it means you’ll talk to him.”

I ignored her. “Callum was right here,” I said and pointed to the spot where I’d run into him. “And he climbed into a black car over there.” The parking spot was no longer empty.

“That’s a white minivan.”

“I’m not blind. He drove off. Someone took his spot. Look.” I showed her the picture of the car on my phone.

“So you saw a hot guy in a black car…”

“Not just any hot guy. Callum Walsh. Do you have any friends in local law enforcement? Maybe we can get one of them to run the plates.”

“We’re not stalking some poor guy you mistook for that coach. It was definitely just some guy that kind of looked like him or something.”

“He had gold eyes. How many people have you met with that color eyes?”

She shrugged .

“And the same nose. And lips.” I stared at her. “I know him.” I’d know him anywhere. He’d haunted my dreams for ten years.

She sighed. “One of my clients works at the station. I’ll call him after you meet Bennett.” She pointed to the door of the coffee shop.

“Seriously? We have to go while the lead is hot.”

“While the lead is hot? You’re not a private investigator. You’re a photographer. A photographer who has an overactive imagination. Get in the coffee shop right now,” she said sternly, like she was talking to a child.

Maybe the suburban moms were rubbing off on her after all.

“You swear we can go to the police right after I say hi to micro dick?”

“I’ll call my client after we talk to Bennett for half an hour.”

Half an hour? Was she kidding me? But I didn’t really have a choice.

If she had a contact at the station, she’d get the information.

Guys bent over backward to give Zoey whatever she wanted.

She had a much better chance of getting the car’s registration information than I did.

And I knew it would be registered to Callum Walsh.

Not Theo Gold or whatever weird name Callum had made up on the spot.

“Come on,” Zoey said and grabbed my arm, pulling me into the coffee shop. “Hey, Bennett! Sorry we’re late.” She leaned down and hugged someone.

I saw a few women at another table giving Zoey evil stares. I thought she said the whole town was really nice…

“Bennett, this is my friend Emma.” She stepped to the side to let me see micro dick .

But he wasn’t at all what I was expecting. He stood up, showing off his full six-foot height.

“Emma. The pleasure is all mine,” he said. His voice was low and gravelly. And his blue eyes had the exact same hue as the ocean.

Zoey kicked my shin.

I cleared my throat. “Sorry, what?”

“It’s nice to meet you,” he said with a kind smile.

I realized he had his hand outstretched. I quickly shook it. And his hands were so warm. I hadn’t realized how much the coolness of Callum’s touch had seeped through me. We stood there awkwardly holding hands in the middle of the coffee shop for a beat too long.

“You two sit,” Zoey said. “I’ll grab us some drinks. Do you want anything else, Bennett?”

“No, I’m good. Thanks, Zoey.” He kept his eyes trained on me, even though he was speaking to her. Guys didn’t usually look at me like this when Zoey and I were in a room together. Usually their focus was all on her.

He finally dropped my hand and pulled out my chair for me.

Handsome and a proper gentleman?

He sat down across from me. “Zoey tells me you’re only visiting for a couple of weeks. Do you have anything fun planned?”

“Really just hanging out with her. Is there anything in particular I should see while I’m in Crooked Point?”

“Well, the annual Fall Festival is this weekend. They decorate all of Main Street in cobwebs and the park at the end of the road will have pop-up shops and carnival games. Every year there’s one stand that has the world’s best hot apple cider.

Maybe I can buy you a cup of that, since Zoey is buying your coffee? ”

That was forward. I thought about how Callum always ran away from me. This guy was sitting here already asking me on another date. “That sounds really fun. Although I should warn you, I’m terrible at carnival games.”

“Well…they are rigged.”

I laughed. “I think that’s just what people who are bad at them say.”

“Oh, I bet at the end of the night I’ll have won you the biggest stuffed animal on display.”

Okay, this guy was really charming. And it was easy to get lost in his blue eyes. Almost as easy as it was to get lost in Callum’s golden eyes. I tried to shake away the thought, but I couldn’t dismiss it. I always compared everyone to Callum. What was I even doing here? I needed to go find him.

“Here you go,” Zoey said and plopped down next to me. “What are you guys talking about?”

“The Fall Festival,” Bennett said. “I owe Emma a cup of hot apple cider.”

Zoey smiled at me. “Sounds like a date.” She blew on her cup. “Emma, it is seriously the best hot apple cider in the world. You’re in for a real treat.”

“Well, you should come with us,” I said.

As charming as Bennett was, I couldn’t go on a date with him.

Not when I was in love with Callum. No, obsessed with Callum.

No. Why couldn’t I think of a better word?

I thought about the way Callum had just stared at me, with zero ounce of recognition.

Why was I so hung up on a guy who didn’t even remember me?

Zoey glared at me .

She just said she wanted some cider too. Was that not what she was asking? Besides, I couldn’t be alone with Bennett. I didn’t want to give him the wrong impression.

“Oh, yeah, of course,” Bennett said. “The more the merrier, Zoey.”

Zoey shook her head, but she smiled at Bennett. “Sounds great. Maybe you can pick us up at 7 on Saturday?”

“Sounds like a plan,” he said. “I was just asking Emma what else the two of you have planned for her vacation.”

“Anything and everything I can think of to get her to move in with me,” Zoey said.

Bennett laughed.

“I really can’t stay,” I said. “You know that.”

“I think I can change your mind,” she said. “I can be very persuasive. I mean…I got you both to show up today.”

Wait, Bennett didn’t want to meet me either? I stared at him. I knew that I didn’t want to meet him . But now that it was the other way around I was a little offended.

“I didn’t take that much convincing,” Bennett said.

Zoey laughed. “Oh, please.” She turned to me. “He was convinced you were a troll.”

Bennett spit out the sip he’d just taken. “I did not say that.”

“It was implied by his general refusal to meet you.”

He just gaped at her.

I couldn’t help but laugh. Honestly, I liked that he was apprehensive like me. “It’s fine. Really. I was hesitant too. I figured you had a micro penis. ”

He laughed too. “I mean, it’s small but it’s not micro…”

“What?”

He laughed harder. “I’m joking. It’s like…” he looked over his shoulder at the display of desserts. “Like one of those sharable éclairs.”

“Those look delicious.”

He raised his eyebrow at me.

“I didn’t mean…that wasn’t what I…” my voice trailed off.

But maybe it was what I meant. Because for the first time ever, I wasn’t staring at a guy comparing every inch of him to Callum.

I was just staring at Bennett. With his charming smile.

And his good sense of humor. He wanted to go out with me. He wasn’t running.

A chill ran down my spine and I turned to look out the glass door.

And I saw a glimpse of a man in a fitted suit walking away.

I didn’t know if it was Callum, but it was almost like he’d just reappeared for a second because he knew I hadn’t been thinking about him.

And he wanted to remind me of his presence.

I was pretty sure he’d been ruining my life for the past ten years.

I needed to quit him. Yet…I was so close to getting to confront him about everything.

I held my camera tight in my hand. I was going to see him again. Even if it was just to slap his perfect face.