Page 28 of He Loves Me Knot

Quinn trailed behind her and gave Callum a jaunty smile. He shook hands with Callum. “You sod. You didn’t breathe a word to me about this.”

“I had no clue you two were together.” Shock was written on Elle’s face as she looked from one to the other.

Callum blinked, trying to catch up. He hadn’t expectedthis.Given how adamant Lydia had been in the car about how much his proposal had disgusted her, he considered, for a split second, giving her away.

Now she wants my help? Fuck that.He wasn’t in the mood to put himself on the line for anyone.

They hadn’t had time to talk any of it through. He hadn’t even given more than half a thought to the potential consequences.

But his mother was right there watching. As was Sophia.

Lesser of two evils.

He recovered as swiftly as he could and slipped his hand into Lydia’s, interlacing their fingers.

A mischievous feeling rose in him despite it all.

She wants to play games . . . so be it.

“We wanted to surprise you, didn’t we, darling?” He tugged Lydia closer. She glanced up, and those full, gorgeous lips parted.

Then he dropped a kiss to her mouth, his free hand curling around her waist.

He’d intended it to be nothing more than a playful peck, a small moment of revenge, but her lips were unexpectedly soft and pliant against his, and a jolt of electricity passed through him as they connected.

Lydia stepped on his toes—hard—leaning her weight against them.

Ouch. Right.

He pulled back, then turned back to see the surprised looks being leveled at him from everyone else in the room.

Then Elle’s open jaw closed and she pulled Lydia into a fierce hug. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me. My sister and Q’s friend? That’s amazing. Why didn’t you say something at Christmas?”

Wow, Elle . . . is surprisingly happy. Is she being sincere?

Lydia’s cheeks had turned pink, and she ran her fingers through her hair, giving Callum a nervous glance. “Yeah—um, well, it all just sort of happened recently.”

“And we didn’t want people at work to know yet, of course,” he added.

Fuck. Work.With Aiden and some of his coworkers here, he couldn’t just make this vanish after the trip. This was going to get overly messy quickly. They needed ground rules. Which was why he would have preferred to discuss this in the car rather than this last-minute show.

“Well, they’re going to find out if you’re staying together here,” Quinn said with a smirk.

Together.

As Lydia’s eyes widened, Callum glanced over at his mother and fought—hard—not to laugh.Or cackle.

This is perfect.

Yes, there was no reason for himnotto be staying with his girlfriend, was there?

“You’re staying with a woman? It’s completely inappropriate,” Mum muttered in Spanish. Callum silenced her with a hard look, and her lips pursed. His mum had an irritating habit of using Spanish to communicate secretly, as though other people couldn’t read body language.

“I think Callum booked his own room, though, just for appearance’s sake,” Lydia was already saying.

Oh no. You wanted to do this. We’re doing this.Liddy wasn’t about to get the benefits without the work.

He squeezed Liddy’s hand. “Actually, it turns out my mother canceled my reservation. But you’re right, Quinn, this would be a good chance to let the cat out of the bag. I can just stay with Lydia.” He turned toward his mum. “Mum, I was going to introduce you later, but since we’re all here together, I want you to meet my girlfriend, Lydia Winnick.”