To Have A Heart (A New Adventure Begins - Star Elite 7)

“I don’t want you to think that you have to be with me because I rescued you,” Callum muttered awkwardly.

“What has your rescuing me got to do with our kissing? Do you think that was gratitude? Just how easy do you think I am?”

Mallory was annoyed.

Callum mentally winced because the last thing he wanted was to offend her.

“I don’t think you are easy.”

“What is wrong with enjoying something like that just for the moment? We have both faced danger in the last few hours, or have you forgotten? We faced death, Callum. Isn’t it normal to want to reaffirm that we have life left within us?”

“Well, yes, but that is my point. I don’t want you to see me as a hero or anything, or someone y

ou feel grateful to.”

Callum scratched his ear and tried not to shift uncomfortably from one foot to the other. He hated feeling so damned awkward, but what could he do? He had to be honest with her. What he said just sounded wrong even though it was the right thing to say.

“I have faced death. I had no idea if they were going to kill me, especially after what they did to Jemima. I heard her screams. While I had no idea what they did to her in the hours before she died, I know she suffered. It was a stark reminder that while I stayed in that house, I faced the same fate whenever they chose to kill me. There was little I could do about it. I have no parents. Life has not been kind to me. While I would have been happy just rushing off to work, worrying about the little things in life, after what I have been through, those little things are just not worth worrying about now. Don’t you think I should be able to enjoy what life I have left? Don’t you think that I am strong enough and capable enough to decide if I want to share a few kisses with a handsome man if the occasion arose? I don’t expect you to offer for me or anything.”

“I don’t think it is a wise idea for you to go around kissing just any man,” Callum blustered.

“I am not that kind of woman,” she snapped. “However, I am single. I don’t intend to send the rest of my life on my own. I want to get married, eventually. What is wrong with that?”

“Just not now.” Callum stared hard at her. For some reason that irked him.

“No. Not right now.”

“Then maybe you shouldn’t have kissed me.”

This time, Mallory scratched her head. It was then that she realised her hair was flowing loose about her shoulders still. She looked down but the ground was encased in darkness. It was impossible to find her pins.

“I see no reason why I should not marry eventually,” she muttered.

Callum could sense an argument brewing but had no idea what had started it or how to vanquish it before Mallory lost her temper with him completely.

“I don’t object to you getting married. How could I?”

“Just not to you. Well, can I remind you that at no point during our – acquaintance – have I ever mentioned to you that I expect you to ask me to be your wife? At no point have I ever placed any demands upon you. You have rescued me. You have chosen to do what you have done. While I am grateful for it, I do not expect you to sacrifice the rest of your life to look after me. I, Callum, am perfectly capable of looking after myself.”

With a somewhat pompous sniff, Mallory spun on her heel and stalked toward the house. She had no idea what she was going to do when she got there because she had no idea if there was a bed chamber for her to use for the night. But what she wasn’t going to do was stay outside and indulge in any more kisses, or arguments, with Callum.

He has kissed me. I enjoyed it. I like him. He is handsome. That was the most magical experience of my entire life. He doesn’t want to get married. Right now, neither do I. There is no reason why anything must change.

But as Mallory settled into her temporary bed chamber ten minutes later, she knew that her life had changed, completely, permanently, and she wasn’t going to be at all sorry for it.

“Over the last few months I have learnt that I am capable of far more than I ever realised. I am stronger that I believed, and really do want to marry. I want my future husband to be someone like Callum.”

When she rolled over in bed, and stared blankly out of the window, Mallory was faced with the realisation that her one hope for the future wasn’t at all possible. She doubted she would ever be lucky enough to meet two men like Callum.

“As soon as he leaves my life, Callum is going to take my hopes and dreams with him.”

That was enough to make Mallory cry because it rendered her more miserable than anything that had ever happened in her life thus far.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The following morning, Mallory stood in the doorway of the kitchen in the safe house and looked at the sombre men gathered about the battered kitchen table.

“Well?”