“What do you want?”
“I want you to keep on doing what you do. Drew likes you. I know he’s a little confused right now, but he likes you. I haven’t seen him this happy in a long freaking time. You haven’t been back in town long, but let me explain about the shit that went down with Tilly, it wasn’t good. She was … is … the worst kind of woman.”
Callie kept her lips shut.
Callum was on a roll and she didn’t want him to turn any of his clearly bottled-up anger when it came to his brother on her. She wanted to get out of this unscathed. If that was even possible. He looked like a man ready to hurt, to maim, to conquer, and if she wasn’t careful, she was going to be the one who ended up burned.
Not on her watch. Not ever.
“I want what is best for my brother.”
“If you’d like, I’ll hand in my notice. I have no intention of hurting anyone.”
“If you’d known it was my brother you were going to have to work for, would you have continued?” he asked, taking her by surprise.
“What?”
“My brother. I know your two’s history isn’t the best. I want to know if you’d known from the outset that Drew was the one in need of a nanny, would you have helped him?”
“I honestly don’t know,” she said. “I … I don’t … I hope I would help, yes.” She wanted to always believe she’d be the best kind of person and that meant not holding anyone’s past against them.
She and Drew were complicated. She didn’t exactly know where they stood, only that they were different. She still didn’t know if it was good or bad.
Their food came. She picked up her fork and dived in, eating the chili.
“Do you love my brother?”
She choked on a fry. Grabbing her glass of water, she swallowed it down. “Excuse me?”
“I want to know your feelings with regards to my brother. This conversation is doing the whole older brother protector bit.”
“Okay,” she said. “I get it. Don’t, ugh, I don’t like him half the time. He’s bossy and mean.” She gritted her teeth. “He’s an amazing father. I’ve watched him with Meghan. Asking me if I love your brother is really unfair. I don’t even know him, not really.”
“So it’s just sex?”
She told him to shush as she looked around the diner.
“Are you embarrassed?”
“No, my job is important to me as is my reputation. This conversation is very strange. I don’t think we should talk to each other for a little while. Let’s eat and then we can head back.” She wanted to be in the company of a four-year-old more than this man.
“Fine. I’m going to warn you now, if you hurt my brother, I will make you pay. You will never get a job, ever. No one will touch you. I will make your life a misery. Do I make myself clear?”
“Perfectly.”
“I have to do this. I’m his big brother and I failed him before. I’m not going to fail him again.” He bowed his head.
The depth of his voice. The pain.
She detected it.
Whatever happened between Tilly and Drew, Callum in some way held himself responsible, but why? She didn’t get it. There was a lot about Drew she didn’t understand.
Why did Callum know they had sex? Was it that obvious or had they been talking about her when she turned up?
She finished her food and by the time she arrived back at Drew’s office, he was on the phone while Meghan walked around his office in circles. There was no time to talk, and she was more than happy with the quick and lucky escape.
She’d been an only child, so there was no one to offer Drew the same kind of warning. There was more to Callum’s warning, though. A hint of pain, of regret? Was she reading more into their meeting than was necessary? Either way, she was going to find out.
Chapter Seven
Drew had read the entire book to Meghan, even after she fell asleep. To avoid heading downstairs, he’d read the book a second time. Then for a good ten to twenty, maybe even thirty minutes, he’d watched his little girl sleep.
She looked so peaceful in sleep, charming.
He loved her so much. Without waking her up, he’d kissed her forehead and saw no other reason or excuse to stay far away from the woman who was plaguing his thoughts.
He found her in the kitchen, sitting at the counter, nursing a mug.
“Hot chocolate?” he asked. She always liked to have one at night. They were her weakness.
“Yep, one hot chocolate. How’s Meghan?” she asked.
“Asleep.”
“It took her this long to put her down?”
He was tempted to lie. He didn’t. “No, I was avoiding you.”
“Oh, okay. At least you’re honest.”