***
Callie stared at her silent cell phone. She didn’t even want to know how many times she’d done it that night.
You’re pathetic. She couldn’t keep the derogatory thought from her mind.
Dylan said he’d call tonight, and here she sat by the phone like a lovesick teenager. She sighed at the thought of the word love. She couldn’t deny it. She was falling in love with Dylan Talbot. Callie didn’t know when it had started to happen, not that it really mattered. The only thing that mattered was what she planned to do now.
Telling him was not an option. He hadn’t given any indication that he felt the same way. Maybe that made her a coward, but she still had no intentions of telling him.
Lauren suggested she just enjoy herself and see where things went. That didn’t seem like a great idea either. In the end, she would be the one with the broken heart, not Dylan or Lauren.
“Be glad you’re a dog.” Callie scratched Lucky behind the ears.
The classic rock lyrics coming from her cell phone caused her heart to beat faster, and she silently cursed herself. She hated how she had so little self-control where Dylan was concerned.
“Hello.” Man, she wished she didn’t sound so eager.
“Hi. I hope I didn’t wake you,” Dylan said. “I just got in from dinner with Warren and my mum.”
“No, I’m just watching some television.” Or at least trying. The television was on, yet she didn’t know what was happening even though it was one of her favorite shows.
“I won’t keep you. I just wanted to say hello, and tell you I should be up on Saturday. There’s no way I can get out of the city before then.”
“You can stay here if you want,” Callie said before she even had a chance to really think about it.
As soon as the words passed through her lips, she wanted to snatch them back. Was she coming off as too clingy? Was she pushing things too far too fast? Callie felt so out of her element with this man who kept inching his way into her heart.
More like bulldozing.
“If you don’t want to...” she added, wishing she could turn the clock back a few seconds.
“There’s no place I’d rather stay, especially if it means more of your apple cinnamon pancakes for breakfast. Preferably served to me in bed by you naked, but I’m flexible.”
Callie pushed away the mental image his words evoked. “Don’t count on it. I have a rule about not eating in bed, so unless you’re on your death bed, it’s not happening.”
His sexy laugh came over the line. “Like I said, I’m flexible. If you want to serve them to me in the kitchen while you’re naked, that’s fine too.”
Callie rolled her eyes. The man was impossible. “I still wouldn’t count on it.”
“Sounds like a challenge to me. One I look forward to undertaking this weekend.”