Page 32 of Playboy Husband
MAISIE
The house was too quiet when I woke up. For a second, my heart jolted, sharp panic rushing through me like ice water had been injected straight into my heart. I threw the covers back and padded into the hallway, my hair still tangled from sleep and my pulse slamming.
I burst into Brody’s room, but it was empty. So was the couch downstairs, the blankets I’d given Callum last night folded neatly on top of the cushions.
Standing there on the landing, my stomach lurched like it always did when I lost track of Brody, but the sight of those blankets reminded me that Callum had slept over here. Again.
They haven’t vanished. They’re just golfing.
I let out a breath that was half laugh, half groan, pressing my hands to my chest. I headed further down the stairs. After that first night Callum had slept over, I’d found a note as well as breakfast ready in the kitchen.
He’d taken Brody to the driving range that morning, but on their way home, apparently he’d promised to take him golfing today. Naturally, that had meant Brody had begged me to let Callum sleep over again last night.
Bleary-eyed and back to being half asleep now that I’d remembered this had been their plan—that I’d consented to—I padded to the kitchen and fixed myself a cup of coffee. From the pot that had already been made.
I wasn’t used to this, a quiet Saturday morning that allowed me to sleep in. I wasn’t used to already made coffee or someone running interference with Brody either, taking him out to burn off all that endless energy.
Normally, it was just me, but not anymore.
It was going to take some getting used to, letting Callum shoulder some of the weight of the responsibility of parenting. He’d stepped in without even being asked, and Brody was thriving under his attention.
I’d noticed it recently, ever since that first time Brody and I had gone golfing with Callum.
It was happening slowly, almost too slowly to notice at first, but my son was flourishing.
His shoulders squared a little more when Callum was around.
He rattled off stories and asked questions about absolutely everything from school to superheroes because he knew Callum was actually listening.
His laugh was a little louder and a little freer, and now here they were, off at sunrise with their golf clubs in tow, leaving me to sleep in. I sipped my coffee, but something fluttery and soft settled low in my chest.
This was what it felt like to have help. To not do it all alone. I wasn’t angry about it. Not even close.
Carrying my coffee to the window, I peeked out between the curtains on the off chance I’d catch them coming back, but instead, I saw that the whole cul-de-sac looked like Halloween had exploded overnight.
Orange and purple streamers crisscrossed porches, inflatable ghosts and grinning pumpkins bobbed in the breeze, and someone had gone all out with a fog machine that they were testing.
Kids were already darting around in their costumes, experimenting with their plastic swords while the girls ran around with fluttering fairy wings behind them. I smiled beside myself, letting the curtains drop back into place just as I heard my mom’s voice behind me.
“They’re not back yet?” she asked.
I spun around and shook my head, that smile still on my lips. I motioned to the kitchen. “No, not yet. Can I make you some coffee?”
“I think what you mean is, can you pour me some of the coffee Callum’s already made?” she teased but nodded and followed me. “I heard them earlier, you know. They were talking before they headed out.”
“Yeah?” I reached for a mug and filled it, then added cream and sugar before I handed it over. “Were they saying anything interesting?”
“Yep.” Mom was already dressed for the day, her eyes lined with a bit of coal and her graying hair pulled up into a ponytail that told me she was ready to get to work.
I just didn’t know at what. “They seem to be getting along like a house on fire, honey. It was really sweet, listening to Callum give Brody advice on his swing and telling him more about his family.”
“Callum told me Brody’s been asking a lot of questions about them,” I admitted. “I’m starting to think Brody’s going to like being part of that family after we get married.”
Mom’s lips pursed. “He already is part of that family.”
I opened my mouth to explain—again—why I hadn’t told Callum the truth the other night, but she waved me off. “It’s alright, baby. I know how hard this must be for you. Let’s talk about Halloween instead.”
“Uh, okay,” I said slowly. “What about it?”
She arched an eyebrow at me and took a pointed look around. “I don’t see any decorations, that’s what. You should enjoy that coffee because, when it’s done, you and I are turning this place into a haunted house for the kids.”
My eyes widened. “What?”
“You heard me.” She smiled. “We can’t have Brody spending even one of the maybe twelve proper Halloweens he’s going to have as a kid in a sad, undecorated house.”
I chuckled. “You chose the perfect time to swoop in, then, Craft Queen.”
She winked at me over the rim of her mug, her eyes sparkling with joy. “Why do you think I booked my flight when I did?”
Less than an hour later, she’d managed to turn my tidy little home into a work in progress.
Tissue-paper cobwebs stretched across the railing of the porch stairs, a half-finished cardboard graveyard sat in the front yard, and a shopping bag spilling over with dollar-store cauldrons and glow sticks was lying on the floor.
During that same time, I’d strung up two bats I’d made in the doorway. Mom sighed when she saw them. “I love you, Mais, but that’s pathetic.”
I laughed. “It’s not my fault you didn’t pass along any of your creative genes to me. You didn’t need to give me all of them. Just a few would’ve been fine.”
“My bad,” she joked, inclining her chin as if in apology before she grinned. “Even so, those aren’t going to work.”
With only a few hours left before the trick-or-treaters descended, Mom was in full project-manager mode, muttering about black lights and hot glue guns, already envisioning everything she still wanted to get done. She helped me fix the bats I thought had been fine to begin with.
A little while later, the front door swung open and Callum and Brody strode in. Brody’s cheeks were flushed from the cold, but he launched straight into a play-by-play about how many golf balls he’d hit, his voice climbing higher with each detail.
Callum looked different too, relaxed in a way I wasn’t used to seeing on him. His hand was still on Brody’s shoulder like it belonged there, but those beautiful blue eyes were locked on mine. “Good morning. You two look like you’ve been busy.”
“You’re back just in time,” Mom announced while I tried not to swoon under his stare. She held up a bundle of fake spiderwebs. “You’re on ladder duty.”
“Uh, sure.” Callum arched an eyebrow at me, then glanced around at the chaos overtaking my living room. “What exactly did we walk into?”
“A haunted house,” Mom replied, matter of fact, thrusting the spiderwebs toward him. “Chop-chop. We don’t have much time.”
Brody spun toward Callum like he was our last hope. “You have to help. We need it super spooky, like, movie spooky.”
Callum shook his head, chuckling as he ruffled Brody’s hair. “Well, I guess you’d better consider me recruited, then.”
I knew he was supposed to go to this big, exclusive Halloween party his family’s company hosted every year.
He’d told me he had to get suited up to schmooze with investors and board members alike, the whole nine yards, but he set his keys on the counter and rolled up his sleeves like there was no place else he’d rather be.
Mom put Brody to work with dozens of tiny, fake spiders.
“You can go if you need to,” I said quietly, stepping closer to Callum. “I know you have other commitments.”
That gaze swept across mine like he was mentally cataloging every last inch of my features, his handsome face not betraying a hint of hurry or remorse.
“Nah, I’ll go later. If Brody wants this place movie scary, we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us.
Besides, the party is later tonight. I’ve got time. ”
The faint scent of him enveloped me. Standing close enough that I could feel the heat he radiated after spending the morning on the golf course, I felt that thing again. The thing that only happened when I was with him and it was like we were in our own little bubble.
The corners of his mouth hooked into a slight grin before he nudged his elbow with mine, his voice soft and just a little bit husky. “Let’s get to work, shall we?”
I jerked my head in a nod and returned his smile, butterflies in my tummy.
I went back to the dining table where Mom had laid out the projects yet to be done.
Watching Callum here with us, stepping into the mess without hesitation and letting my mom boss him around while Brody practically bounced with excitement, I felt something settle inside me.
Something dangerous and sweet all at once. All because this, us, was starting to look a heck of a lot like a family.
By the time the sun dipped low in the sky, the whole neighborhood had come alive.
Porch lights glowed orange and kids darted from house to house like living embodiments of the words “sugar rush.” Candy clattered in plastic buckets, the air filled with the faint scent of pumpkin candles and damp earth.
Mom had the house fully decked out, fielding the first wave of tiny ghosts and princesses with a cackle that sent Brody into fits of giggles. She shooed us out the door. “Go, go. I’ll hold the fort here. You three go get us as much candy as you can.”
Brody charged ahead in his pirate costume, plastic sword bouncing at his side.
Callum and I strolled behind, matching his pace just enough to make sure he didn’t disappear into the pack.
It was easier than I might’ve thought it would be, doing family-type things with him, a lot more natural and fun in a way I hadn’t realized I’d been missing.
Until we hit a house where the guy at the door dropped a single, bite-sized chocolate into Brody’s bucket, muttering about “kids these days being greedy.”
I felt my hackles rise, but Callum was faster, immediately stepping up to bat for Brody. He crouched down to Brody’s level, his voice carrying just enough for the man to hear. “Hey, champ. You worked hard on this costume, didn’t you? And you’ve been polite all night?”
Brody nodded, his eyes wide.
“Then you deserve better than one measly piece of candy,” Callum said, straightening up with his gaze fixed on the other man. “Halloween is about fun. If you can’t get behind that, maybe you should turn your lights off.”
The guy grumbled something under his breath, but he dumped a handful of extra candy into Brody’s bucket before he shut the door. My little boy shot Callum a blinding grin, bouncing on his toes as he peered into the bucket.
“You’re the best, Callum.”
I couldn’t exactly disagree. What Callum had done had impressed the heck out of me and I gave him a smile of my own as we strode back to the sidewalk. “That was awesome. I think you missed your calling as Halloween bouncer for kids against stingy grownups.”
He chuckled, bumping his hip playfully into mine as we walked. “Your mom sent us on a mission to get as much candy as we could. I’m only following orders.”
By the time we circled back home, Brody’s sword was dragging from exhaustion and his bucket was overflowing as a result of how intently Callum had followed said orders.
Our porch lights were still glowing when we got back, the neighbor’s fog machine in full swing next door lending a creepy feel to our cardboard graveyard as well.
Mom was handing out candy like she’d been born for it. Callum’s phone had been buzzing incessantly for at least the last twenty minutes, but as we walked into the house, the vibrations felt that much louder.
He sighed and set it down on the counter, the screen lighting up with call after call, his brothers’ names flashing across it. It served as a stark reminder of the fact that the world he came from was still waiting.
In my world, Halloween was just about done. Brody would crash after a very quick shower and Mom would be packing it in soon, too. She and I would lounge on the couches in our pajamas and watch a scary movie, probably both falling asleep not long after the opening credits.
Callum, however, hadn’t even really started yet. I forced a smile I didn’t feel as I looked up at him from across the counter where his phone was still going nuts. “You should go. They’re probably waiting. We’ve kept you from your party for long enough.”
He looked back at me, not seeming any more eager to leave than I was for him to go. “I really should get going, but would you like to come with me? As my date.”
My heart skipped. “I wish I could, but—”
Mom cut in, not missing a beat after she stuffed another handful of candy into a kid’s bucket. “Go with him, honey. You deserve a night out while I’m still here and Brody might even already be asleep after the day he’s had. I’ll watch him. It’ll be no trouble at all.”
A few minutes later, I was upstairs, digging through the back of my closet until my fingers landed on silk and sequins. It was an art-deco gown I’d worn to a party in college, a lifetime ago, but it still fit.
I barely recognized myself after I’d slipped into it and hastily applied some makeup to my face. When I got downstairs, Callum was waiting in full hockey gear—pads, jersey, and all—grinning sheepishly like he hadn’t just stolen the breath right out of me by looking at me the way he did.
“Wow,” he said, his voice low and almost reverent as his gaze dragged along the length of my body. “I thought I’d pulled a rabbit out of my hat with my costume, and it had all been in my gear bag in my car, but you?”
Mom smirked from her candy throne at the door. “Don’t hurry back.”
I swallowed hard, my heart pounding. Callum offered me his arm. The way his eyes swept over me, unguarded and burning, made it impossible to breathe. It was going to kill me, how much I wanted him when he looked at me that way.
God, I want him.
But the secret I carried sat like a stone in my chest, eating me alive. Because if he knew the truth—if he knew that Brody was his—would he still be looking at me the same way, or would he never look at me again at all?