Page 105 of Sunkissed Colorado

Callum grabbed Ian’s wrist. Twisted it behind his back. Ian made a small, high-pitched keen as Callum marched him toward the front door and opened it.

With his eyes watering, Ian stormed off, passing my mother in the entryway, who looked shocked and bewildered. I wondered how much of that she’d heard. We hadn’t been quiet.

“You’re going, Ian?” Mom asked, and he didn’t even respond. Just scurried toward his Maclaren, slammed the door, and gunned the oversized engine.

“We’re leaving too,” I said. Callum was right behind me, his hand resting on my back.

Mom reached for me. “Zandra, please don’t go like this. I didn’t know?—”

I couldn’t even look at her. “Mom, I can’t right now.”

“You can try calling her later, Eliza,” Callum said in a soothing yet firm voice. “It’s up to Zandra if she decides to answer.”

Outside, my fingers shook as I tried to unlock my car. Callum took the keys from my hand. “Ride with me. We can come back for your car later.”

My heart was going a thousand miles an hour as we drove away.

A couple miles from my parents’ house, Callum pulled onto a quiet dirt road and parked. When he switched the headlights off, the night closed in around us, quiet and comfortable. “Wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

I was probably supposed to sayyes. Shrug off what had just happened and make a joke. Callum wasn’t my boyfriend. When this benefits thing ended, we’d still have to work together. No matter how wonderful he’d been to me, we didn’t have a future as anything more.

But I couldn’t hide what I was feeling. I wiped my face roughly as a tear escaped down my cheek.

“Sunflower,” he whispered. “I hate to see you cry, baby.”

Fuck it. Crawling over his center console, I climbed into Callum’s lap and threw my arms around his neck. “Thank you for coming to get me. I should’ve been able to deal with them myself, but?—”

“No, I’m glad you texted me. Anytime you need me, I’m there.”

“Because that’s what friends do?”

“Yeah,” he said softly. “But I think we gave away that we’re sleeping together. It could get back to your grandfather.”

“Maybe Grandpa wouldn’t care that much. He’s never been a traditional thinker.”

“Wouldn’t care that I’m boning his beloved granddaughter? I doubt that very much.”

“Well, definitely don’t describe it asboning.”

But he was right. This could hurt Callum’s chances to get the job, and I would never want to be the cause of that.

I cared about Hearthstone. But after weeks of doing this job together, it was hard to imagine one of us doing it alone. One of us “winning,” and the other “losing.”

Callum was nothing like Ian. But money and competition had a tendency to get in the way of friendships.

“I don’t care what Ian or my parents think about us. I’m just embarrassed I gave so much to him in the past.” I rubbed my eyes again. “I can’t believe my mother tricked me into coming over there.”

He cupped my face with both hands. “None of them deserve you.”

“Why are you so good to me?” The words just slipped out. Couldn’t hold them back. But I didn’t think I was ready to actually hear the answer.

So I kissed him.

This man who’d come for me exactly when I needed him. Who always stood up for me, at least when I let him get close enough.

The kiss turned heated in seconds. Tongues clashing. Hands roving. “When you walked into the room earlier, I was tempted to jump you right then,” I said.

“Would’ve been a nice show for Ian.”