Page 50 of Sunkissed Colorado

“Yeah?”

“If you might come with me.”

He shrugged, as if this was a simple request and not a subject that had been plaguing me for weeks. “Yeah. Yeah, of course. I should’ve gone to see Mrs. Mackenzie a long time ago too.”

“You weren’t close with Jessa or her family. No one would’ve expected you to.”

“But as you said, it’s the right thing to do. Name the date and time, and I’m there.”

I exhaled. “Thanks, Callum. This really means a lot.”

“You got it.” He plopped back down in his seat. “But you have to order lunch. And serve it to me and call me Mr. Charming, as inPrinceCharming, because I really fucking am.”

“No.”

He leaned back in the chair. “That’s the deal.”

I made a frustrated noise. “But you realize ‘Prince’ is the title, right? So it should just bePrince Charming, no mister.”

“I don’t think so. Prince is his first name in those old movies.”

I blinked at Callum. He was serious.

This. Man.

There really was no use fighting it. “Fine. What can I get you for lunch,Mr. Charming?”

“Don’t say it like that. Sounds like in your head, you’re calling me Mr. Asshat or something.”

A smirk teased my lips. “Gee, I wonder why.”

“You know you love me.”

My cheeks heated as blood rushed to my face. Love was seriously overstating it. But I was quite possibly inlikewith him.

So help me, I really was.

THIRTEEN

Zandra

Callum gaveme a once-over as I climbed into his truck. “I thought your entire wardrobe was business casual and designer jeans.”

“It’s my day off.” I was wearing my favorite worn-in cut-off jean shorts and an oversized sweatshirt that fell off one shoulder.

The interior of Callum’s truck was surprisingly tidy. Clean dashboard, no random papers or fast-food wrappers cluttering the console. The seats were worn leather, comfortable beneath me as I climbed into the passenger seat, holding a potted plant in my lap.

“You may notice, I mixed it up too.” He pointed at his hat. “Wearing my ball cap facing forward.”

“Almost didn’t recognize you,” I deadpanned. “Mr. Charming.”

He grinned. “And there it is.”

Over the last few days, we’d kept up a low level of flirtation while working together. Essentially, Callum making ridiculous little requests and me protesting before giving in. But our ongoing banter, silly as it was, had made this trip to see Mrs. Mackenzie feel less intimidating.

“You got the address?” Callum asked.

It hadn’t been hard to track down Mrs. Makenzie’s numberthrough the Silver Ridge grapevine. When I called, she’d told me Monday,today, would be good to stop by. Which was perfect, since Callum and I had the day off.