Page 18 of Playboy Husband

MAISIE

Istared at the sleek Mercedes sprinter van with the blacked-out windows idling in my driveway, convinced I must’ve woken up in the wrong dimension. That thing looked like it belonged to a professional sports team, not like it should’ve been anywhere near me or my life.

It wasn’t just the van, either. There was also Callum, tall, broad, and maddeningly composed as he loaded Brody’s hockey bag into the back like it weighed nothing.

He kept sneaking glances at me, a cat-like smirk on his lips.

I had to actively work at stopping myself from rolling my eyes, but deep inside?

God, this feels good. All of it. Him showing up.

Looking at me like that. Loading up Brody’s stuff.

Yesterday, when he’d told me not to worry about my car, I’d very nearly laughed. Don’t worry?

I had no idea how to do that. Worrying had been at least half of my existence ever since I’d moved to San Francisco last year. Worrying, planning, juggling, and making sure Brody had what he needed while I figured out how to stand on my own two feet.

I didn’t rely on anyone. I hadn’t since we’d moved away from my parents, but even before that, I’d tried to handle as much as I could by myself.

The closest I came was the occasional night when Jace watched Brody so I could attend parent-teacher conferences at school or go on a quick date, but someone showing up for me? Handling things on my behalf or sorting something out when I was struggling?

That wasn’t my life. Or at least, it hadn’t been until this morning.

I crossed my arms, narrowing my eyes at Callum when he glanced at me again. “So you just show up at seven in the morning with—”

The growl of another engine coming up the drive cut me off. A tow truck pulled in, already backing up to hook my SUV up to it. The driver didn’t even hesitate before he was hopping out, sending Callum an easy wave and getting to work like this had been on the calendar for weeks.

My mouth fell open. “What the heck is going on?”

Callum turned toward me, completely unbothered by my shock as that same infuriating smile ghosted across his face. “What does it look like? Your car’s going to the shop. It should be good as new by the time we’re back from Chico.”

I blinked at him, trying to piece together how he’d pulled all this off without me even knowing about. “You… you arranged this? When?”

“Yesterday.” He shrugged, like calling in a tow and reserving a luxury van were as about as big a deal as ordering pizza. “I told you not to worry, didn’t I?”

My brain scrambled for a comeback. I wanted to tell him that he was overstepping. That I didn’t need him swooping in with all his confidence, money, and charm like he was saving some damsel in distress.

That was the story I’d been telling myself for at least the past year—that I didn’t need anyone.

But the truth was, standing here in the early morning sunshine with Brody bouncing on his toes, thrilled by the van, and the tow truck already hauling my car down the street, I felt something I hadn’t really felt in a long time—relief.

Real, bone-deep relief.

“You can’t just—” I started again, but my protest lacked any real fire and I knew it, so I just stopped talking.

Callum’s smirk deepened. He stepped closer to me, lowering his voice like he was sharing a secret as those sparkling blue eyes locked on mine. When he looked at me like that, he made me feel like the only girl in the world, and as much as it slayed me to admit it, I really liked it.

“I can, Maisie. More importantly, I did, so go grab your coffee because we’re leaving in ten.”

I opened my mouth, ready to argue, but Brody shouted from the passenger side of the van, “Mom, this thing has reclining seats!”

He was grinning from ear to ear, and just like that, any protest I might’ve cooked up fizzed out and died before it had even reached my brain. I shot Callum one last glare, but my pulse betrayed me, fluttering with both annoyance and something else.

Something I absolutely refused to name—even to myself. Relief. That was all it is. At least, that’s what I’m going to keep telling myself.

I tugged my jacket tighter around me, still trying to process the fact that a fancy van was parked in my driveway. Brody was buzzing with excitement, zipping in and out of the van like he’d just discovered Disneyland on wheels.

After I went to grab two thermoses of coffee, I cleared my throat and handed one over to Callum. “Let me at least write a check for half the rent on this thing. It couldn’t have been cheap.”

He frowned. “Rent?”

“Yes. Rent.” I gestured at the van. “Unless you stole it from a rock band who happens to be in town.”

His mouth quirked into that smirk again, and it made my blood heat even if I also really just wanted to shove him. “I don’t rent anything. Ever. I certainly didn’t rent this.”

It took me a second to process that he was completely serious. “So what, then? You bought it? Or is there really a rock band in town who is going to wake up to find out that they’ve misplaced one of their vans?”

“No rock bands were harmed in the making of this road trip,” he said solemnly, then winked. “I bought it, Maisie. Jeez. Why would I steal it?”

He said it so casually, like he really thought it should’ve been obvious. Like he just acquired luxury vans as lightly as I bought groceries. “It makes more sense than throwing money away on a rental every time I need one.”

Of course, it made sense to him. He was a billionaire. He didn’t think in terms of saving pennies, stretching paychecks, or deciding whether to buy Brody new skates this month or push it another few weeks.

To him, this was nothing. “Just how often have you needed a van?”

He smiled. “Not so often, actually. Otherwise, this one wouldn’t have been brand new, but hey. I’m about to be a stepdad, right? This isn’t going to be the only away game and I don’t plan on missing any if I can help it.”

I swallowed hard, fighting the emotion rising like a sob in my throat. Brody, thankfully, hadn’t heard what Callum had said and was completely unaware that anything had happened at all. He bounded out of the van with his cheeks flushed and his eyes bright.

“Mom! There’s cupholders everywhere in this thing. That means we can drink in it! Can we keep it?”

Callum ruffled his hair, grinning like the cat who had gotten the cream. “We are keeping it, buddy. This is going to be the first road trip of many we’ll do with it.”

When we got to the rink, the van became the star of the show. Brody’s teammates crowded around it, jostling and shoving to see inside. Voices overlapped, everyone calling dibs on seats, practically begging to ride with Callum.

I stood away from the hullabaloo, absolutely astounded as I watched the scene unfolding in front of me. Callum thrived on it, clearly feeding off the boys’ energy and using it to rile them up like he’d been doing this for years.

“It’s quite something, isn’t it?” Gage asked, stepping up beside me with a duffel slung over one shoulder and a wide grin on his lips.

I laughed and slowly turned to face him, my eyebrows arching. “The van or Callum?”

“Both.” His grin softened. “I’ve always wondered why he balked at the idea of settling down. He’d make a great dad. At least this is proof that I was right. As always.”

He gave me a friendly wink, but my throat closed around the words I couldn’t say. The guilt crept in, cold and heavy as it lodged itself under my ribs. I wanted to cave into myself, preferably disappear before anyone could see the truth written all over my face.

“Maisie!” Callum’s voice cut across the noise, warm and sure. He was standing by the driver’s door, one hand lifted in a wave and his smile aimed right at me. “Let’s go! We’re burning daylight.”

My heart skipped. Despite the weight in my chest, my feet carried me toward him. I climbed into the passenger seat of the van, buckled up, and made sure all the boys had done the same. Then we were off, the van leading the convoy out of the parking lot.

Callum was so confident behind the wheel despite the amount of kids he was driving.

My nerves would’ve been shot, but he tossed one-liners over his shoulder that had the boys howling with laughter.

He also didn’t just drive. Weirdly, it was like he was the commander of the van, shifting seamlessly into team dad mode, reminding them to hydrate and threatening that whoever left their gear behind would have to jog to Chico.

I sneaked a glance at my son, not wanting to make it obvious that I was checking on him. Brody sat near the front and he was practically glowing. He usually kept his excitement to himself, masking it with a sarcastic jab or an eye roll when we were in public, but not today.

Today, he was beaming like the sun, soaking in every second of the trip.

Maybe telling him that we’re getting married won’t be catastrophic. Maybe when the truth comes out that Callum and I are about to become more than just friends—in a business sense—Brody won’t feel betrayed. Maybe he’ll even be happy.

Feeling a little more confident about everything, I shoved the guilt away and did my best to be in the moment. Watching Callum and Brody like this was making memories I knew I would want to hold on to. But when we pulled up to the hotel in Chico, the fun came to an abrupt end.

By the time we’d offloaded all the boys and their things, making sure they were safely inside the hotel and comfortable in the waiting area, Gage was at the front desk, his jaw set tight as he listened to the clerk.

“I’m sorry, sir, but again, there’s nothing I can do,” the woman explained. “There’s a massive Halloween festival in town and a few of the rooms have been double-booked.”

“That’s not a few,” he argued. “Half the block of rooms I reserved weeks ago are no longer available. That’s what you’re saying. How is this even possible?”

Parents gathered in the lobby, muttering with their phones out while frantically searching for other hotels within driving distance, but there was nothing. A mom I hadn’t met yet grimaced as she got off a call.

“Everything within thirty miles was packed,” she said. “I had a friend in the travel industry look into it, but he said the festival is really popular and the places get snapped up months in advance.”

Gage groaned, but with no other choice, people began pairing up and devising a plan. The clerk chimed in when she overheard them talking about splitting rooms. “We have extra beds and cots. I can have them sent to the rooms of the guests who are willing to share.”

“We’re way beyond the realm of willing,” Gage ground out but nodded. “Fine, do it.”

He organized the boys into some of the bigger rooms that would be turned into dormitory style spaces with all the extra beds. Brody got put in with a group of his teammates, and Gage paired up with one of the dads. Which left me standing next to Callum.

“Well, I guess we could double up,” Callum said, and my heart stuttered, but then he turned to the clerk. “Actually, if you can point me to a hotel that might be for sale. Even if the owners aren’t interested in selling, I’ll just—”

“Callum.” I caught his arm before he could bulldoze the situation.

His shirt was warm under my palm, his arm so solid that I nearly started drooling, but I glanced up into those ice blue eyes instead, ready to beg if I had to.

“You’ve already done enough buying that van and organizing the tow truck.

Seriously, it’s fine. We can share a room. It’s not a problem, right?”

He blinked a few times, but then the corner of his mouth slowly started rising into a wicked smirk. “Right. Of course, we can share. It’s not a problem at all.”

My stomach flipped.

Suddenly, I wasn’t sure if I was more nervous about Brody’s game tomorrow or about what sharing a room with Callum might mean, but either way, I was in it now. There was no going back, and as our gazes held, I realized that this might not be the worst thing that had ever happened.

At least it means that I’ll get to find out if he snores before I marry him, right? Because that’s all we’re going to be doing in that room tonight. Sleeping. Snoring. There is just absolutely no way I’m letting this turn into something else. No matter how much I might want it to.