Page 65 of He Loves Me Knot
“I think I could plow my way through a fruit fest this morning,” she said with a smile.
That feels like a lifetime ago somehow. Maybe it’s the combination of jet lag and how long yesterday was.Going to the farmers’ market had been her favorite part of the day—not that there was really a contest for anything else.
“Can I ask you a question?” Callum said, dropping back and sitting on the edge of the bed.
She sipped the coffee, the warmth of it making her feel instantly at ease. “Sure.”
Callum lifted his phone, which was still plugged into an outlet. He’d snagged an iPhone charger from the hotel’s lost and found at the front desk. Apparently, phone chargers were high on the list of forgotten items.
“Did you see my sister’s texts come in yesterday while you were searching for hits on Sergio? They’re time-stamped from around that time.”
Liddy froze in place.Oh crap.
He’d caught her.
Shit, he’s going to think I was snooping.She nodded, wordlessly.
“Why didn’t you say something?” he asked flatly.
“Because . . .” Liddy took a deep breath. “Because I already knew you hated me, Callum. We never tried to pretend we liked each other—until maybe yesterday—and it’s just too complicated, really. I don’twantyou to pretend you like me. I’d rather just lay things on the table and be honest with each other. Things are going to change between us when we get back to London, I’m sure. There’s no way to go through what we’ve gone through without it changing the dynamic in some ways, but?—”
“I don’t hate you, Liddy.” Callum clasped his hands, leaning forward.
She furrowed her brow. “But?—”
“Isla and I haven’t discussed what’s happened since I arrived.” He drew a sharp breath. “Look, she called me yesterday while we were at the church. My mum told her I’d brought a girlfriend—Quinn’s sister-in-law—and she was a bit confused. She’s my sister and one of the few people I talk to about personal things, so she knows I don’t have a girlfriend. I made some offhanded comment about how you’d probably believed I hated you before this trip. But I don’t hate you. Especially not . . . after the past couple of days.”
Wow.
I can’t believe he brought this up.
Yet he seemed sincere.Honest.
She sipped her coffee, holding the mug in both her hands, her elbows tight to her sides as though she was protecting her chest with the cup. “So . . . what? You like me now?” She raised one brow.
“Yes, I like you.” Callum smirked. “Even though you can be a pain in the arse. We almost ended up sleeping in a broken-down car on the side of the road because of your ideas yesterday.”
“That isnotentirely my fault.”
“You should have seen your face last night when I told you I was giving up and going to sleep.”
Instead, he pushed the car over a quarter of a mile for me. To get us to a hotel.
When he was already exhausted.
Liddy was amazed at the difference in the man in front of her. He wasn’t the jerk she had believed him to be.
“I like you, too, Callum,” she admitted, smiling behind her coffee cup. “Maybe against my better judgment. But still, I like you.”
“So long as you also haven’t fought against your family’s expectations and the inferiority of my birth by rank to come to that conclusion.” Callum tilted his head to the side, giving her a once-over.
He’s teasing me.
And I know that line . . .
“Pride and Prejudice,” he filled in, since she was clearly struggling.
“Oh! Right.” She laughed loudly. “Except in this case, that would make me Darcy.”