Page 87 of He Loves Me Knot
And just like that, we’re right back at the same dynamic we’ve had from the beginning. He dishes out actions or words that cut deeply and shrugs his shoulders, claiming it isn’t personal.
But it was personal to me.
That kiss had been the definition of personal. Intimate.
And apparently, she was just one more woman who he kissed and had zero interest in.
Liddy drew a sharp breath. “Mir, I’ve got to go.”
“Oh . . . are you all right?”
No, I’m not.
“Fine. I’m fine.” She was mostly trying to convince herself. “I mean, it’s nothing. We had some deep conversations, and I thought I had seen another side of him. But I was obviously wrong.”
“I’m honestly shocked the bastard tried something like this on you. But don’t feel badly. Callum is persuasive. That’s why he’s so good at his job. He finds weaknesses and exploits them.”
Liddy shook her head, thinking of their kiss in the hot springs. “He told me I was beautiful,” she whispered, her heart clenching. “Said that he wanted to find anyone who’d ever made me feel like I was less and punch them.”
Miranda was silent for a few beats. “Wow, he really said that?” Miranda’s voice grew angrier. “He’s such a sod, Liddy. I’m sorry.”
“I really have to go.” Liddy said another goodbye, then hung up, holding the phone to her chest.
I should have known Callum was nothing more than a manipulative faker.
. . . but then why had it felt so real?
ChapterTwenty-One
Latin music pouredthrough the office as Callum opened the door and he slipped through. Through the open doorway that led to the back room, he saw his mum sweeping the floor of the kitchenette that they used to make the morning breakfasts. Sophia sat near the counter, eating from a plate ofgallo pinto.
They both stopped quickly as Callum came through the doorway to the back room.
Mum set the broom against the wall and smiled. “Callum. You’re not at the party?”
“Obviously not.”
Sophia rolled her eyes. “Same old Callum.” She nodded toward a plastic food storage container on the counter. “Gallo pinto? We have a lot left over that your mum made this morning.”
The thought unsettled him. “They didn’t tell you they were doing this breakfast instead of the included one?”
“Ah, not until this morning,” Mum said and smiled pleasantly, nonetheless. “Not that I blame them. The breakfast looks beautiful.Muy elegante.”
“You know the Camdens, Mum. They like their posh creature comforts.”Which is why agreeing to help Liddy with this plan feels foolish and pointless.
“It’s been so long since I visited their house . . .” Mum shook her head, blinking away the memories. “That feels like a different lifetime.”
“It was probably twenty years ago.” Callum scanned his mum’s face.
He knew little about his parents’ divorce or why they had fallen apart as a family. He’d long suspected his American stepmother had played a role—Dad had quickly moved to Connecticut after the divorce—but Callum had never cared to ask. But his parents were good at co-parenting and hadn’t spoken disparagingly about each other, and given his mother’s Latina tendency to speak her mind, he probably would know about it by now if it had been an affair.
“Listen, Liddy wants me to see if I can find some tours and a bus that might come today and pick up all the wedding guests.” He checked his watch. “In two hours.”
“In two hours?” Sophia exchanged a look with Mum. “I don’t know if that’s possible. What’s the rush?”
Callum hooked his thumbs into the belt loops of his shorts. “It’s Liddy’s last-ditch effort to help everyone here have a ‘magical and fun time’ and stop the Camdens from moving the whole wedding to The Four Seasons tomorrow.”
Mum gasped. “They’re leaving?”