Not over an opportunity with Calum as a backer.
Not quite knowing what to do with myself, I make myself a cup of coffee and start getting dressed. I throw on my favorite pair of pink nylon shorts, a black sports bra, and an oversized blue tank top.
I down my coffee, my mind still swirling. Administrative issues?
It sounds like Calum was right there, directing her as she made the call to me. It does sound just like him to be so controlling.
In my mind, he stands over her, looking so domineering and stubborn, his icy eyes glinting. A chill slides down my spine.
A month ago, I would have called the sensation anticipation.
Grabbing my ancient iPod, I put in headphones and then tuck a key to my apartment in my shoe. I thunder down the stairs, swinging the front door wide.
I see dark-suited Calum stretched out in the doorway a little too late. I’m already in running mode, halfway out the door.
I smack into him hard enough to knock the air from my lungs. He saves me from going sprawling down the stairs by pure muscle strength; grabbing me by the arms, he braces both of us against the hard concrete of my stairs.
I look up at him, shocked. “What are you doing here?”
Calum licks his lips for a moment, the tiniest smirk on his face. He rubs his hands together, his gaze dropping to my body. He cocks his head.
I fold my arms across my body. There’s some possibility that I’ve got enough adrenaline pumping through my veins just now to make my nipples hard.
I don’t want him to think that I am so stupid as to still want him… no matter how good he might seem in that suit right now, looking at me with such a devilish glint in his eyes.
“Fuck off,” I say at last, wrenching myself from his grasp. I step back into my apartment, trying to keep my face neutral.
I definitely don’t want Calum to know that the second I saw him, butterflies burst to life low inside my stomach.
He moves closer, his lips twitching. “I couldn’t stay away. I missed you, beauty.”
I school my expression just to keep my jaw from dropping. My heart skips two beats, stuttering in my chest.
“What?” I say, trying to come off as indignant.
He leans in the doorway, jerking his thumb over his shoulder. “My limousine is waiting to take us wherever you want to go.”
He tries to take my hand. I smack his arm. “Quit that,” I order. “If you think that you’re just going to waltz back in and I will just fall back in bed with you, I think you have another thing coming.”
He bites his lip, reaching out to skate his fingertips up my arm. My whole body visibly shudders. I grow warm all over.
Calum pins me in place with his arctic gaze, smirking. “You have missed me too. I can tell. You’re so tense that you’re about to combust.”
I glare at him. “I am not.”
Clenching my jaw, I try to take another step back. My body is practically begging me to stay, to welcome him to come inside. To fuck his brains out.
But my brain is too smart for that. I haven’t forgotten those words. “We are letting you go, Kaia. I won’t need your services anymore.”.
“You just thought that you would show up here and what… I would be happy to see you?” I ask, shaking my head.
His smirk slides away, replaced by a little frown. “I assumed we would resume as before. I mean, if it’s the contract you want, if it’s money—“
“It’s obviously not money!” I say, my voice rising. “Otherwise I would’ve answered your lawyer’s phone calls.”
He tilts his head, not quite understanding. “Then what? I went to a lot of trouble to fix things so that we could resume our…” He pauses. “Our understanding.”
“Our understanding?” I echo. For a moment, I have the urge to shove him out of the doorway and shut the door in his face. “I’m not one of your bimbos, Calum. I’m not a Barbie doll. I’m a human. Cut me and I’ll bleed. Say that you don’t want me, and I’ll believe it.”
He squints. “Wait, this is about your feelings still?”
Making a frustrated sound, I turn and reach for the door. Calum is too quick for me though. He uses his sheer size to keep the door open.
“I’m sorry. I’m not a machine. You can’t just turn the dials and turn on a sexy, happy song. What you did, what you said… it hurt me.” I thump my fist against my heart. “When I’m trying to fall asleep, I still hear the words you said to me, over and over again.”
His eyebrows lift. “That’s what you have a problem with?”
“Yes!” I cry, feeling emotional.
He screws his face up for a minute. “Jesus, Kaia. I mean… what do you want me to say? I already came here, hat in hand. I told you that I missed you. I asked for you to come back to me…”
I shake my head slowly. My eyes start to mist over. “No. You told me that we could resume our understanding, whatever the fuck that means.” I hug my torso, scowling at him. “I don’t have a lot of self esteem, Calum. But even I want you to call the thing between us a relationship. Even I know that missing me isn’t really enough. What about the next time you decide that you’re done with me?”
That seems to shut him up. He narrows his gaze on my face, considering me.
“This?” He motions between our bodies. “You don’t find this just anywhere, Kaia. We have the right kind of hunger, the right kind of passion, the drive. I’ve been looking for this chemistry for a long fucking time. And I’m not giving it up just because you said no this time.”
I tilt my head and frown at him. “What does that mean?”
He smirks and leans in close, until his lips are nearly touching my ear. “It means that I don’t forget, beauty. I can’t forget how good I can make you feel. You have come for me over and over before; you’ll do it again soon. I’ll be back.”
He kisses my ear ever so lightly, so quickly that I barely have time to register and recoil. He’s already drawing back, that slick smirk on his lips. I see his eyes sparkle once more.
And then he turns and trots down the stairs, leaving me agog.
6
Calum
I cast my gaze around the luxurious apartment, squinting. Every detail must be perfect, every last extravagance seen to. The sleek black furnishings that were here have been replaced by softer-looking crushed pink velvet and teak wood. The bed, once nakedly on display, is now sheltered by screens, peeking coyly out of a white lace canopy. Gone are the stage and pole; in its place is a small dance studio, complete with mirrored walls and a hardwood floor.
This space, once given over to my particular tastes, has now been completely redone to suit Kaia’s needs. A kitchen has been built out in one corner of the vast space. The walls have been repainted in soft pastel colors, reminiscent of those that I noticed in her apartment.
With the late afternoon sun coming in the huge wall of windows, the place is completely transformed. Well, except the wall of sex toys. After the wall was repainted and the shelves swapped out for antique teak ones, a few toys were carefully placed on the wall for display.
Handcuffs, a huge dildo, a jeweled butt plug, and sleek black clitoral vibrator. Just to remind Kaia of what I promise to do to her while she’s here.