Claiming Callie: Part one (9 page)

Dean’s jaw drops and he stares at her like she’s stupid.

A flare of irritation shoots up Callie’s spine.
I am so sick of him treating me like a child
.

She fists her hands by her side and says, “What? Is that so hard to believe? A guy can’t be pining away for me? An attractive, rich guy? Why is that so far-fetched?”

“Good one, Dean,” Jinny murmurs from behind them. “Now she’s pissed.”

Dean flinches. “N-n-no… It’s just—”

“Well, I’ll have you know that a lot of men find me quite attractive.” Callie moves toward him, pointing a finger at his chest. She pokes him once. Then again, right in the sternum.

“I may be doing this escort thing, but that doesn’t mean I’m not a normal woman. And I may not care about his money, but I happen to like an attractive man who knows what he wants, even if it took this…thing I’m doing to give him the courage to ask me out.” Straightening, Callie lowers her hand, letting the heat of anger recede. “And I happen to think it’s sweet.”

“Sweet? Ahh!” Dean presses his face into his hands for a moment, still holding his beer. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” His head whips toward Todd and he shoves his free hand into his thick, dark hair. “Come on, man. You’ve got to know what I’m saying. Tell them what you think. This guy…he sounds phony. Bad news. I mean, what kind of guy pays five hundred fucking dollars to go on a date?”

Todd’s eyes dart from Dean to Jinny. “Um. I don’t know,” he mumbles.

“Dude…” Dean says, desperation clear in his voice.

“Listen, I’m not sure…It does sound kind of weird.” Jinny and Callie both shoot Todd a warning glare, and he quickly adds, “But I’m sure Callie knows what she’s doing. She can take care of herself.”

“There. See?” Callie crosses her arms over her chest. “It’s fine.”

Dean turns to her, and the despair on his face is palpable. Callie knows he’s been overprotective of her since she lost her parents. The pain she went through was unlike anything she’d experienced before—something she hoped to never experience again—and Dean and Jinny had witnessed it all. They were there to see her through her darkest moments. They helped her through her grief. But it’s time he starts seeing her as a twenty-two-year-old woman, not a distraught, grieving teenager. She realizes he’s only doing what he thinks is right in trying to protect her, but…

She drops her arms, softening her stance. “I truly don’t think you need to worry.”

But his expression remains unconvinced, and a thought dawns on her. Something that would reassure him and get him off her back. “Hey, you know the guy, actually.” She smiles. “I almost forgot, but you should know him fairly well. He plays basketball, too. In fact, I’ve seen you hang out with him before. That’s probably how he knows who I am.”

Dean cocks his head. “Who is it?”

CHAPTER SIX

DEAN

The moment the words leave Callie’s mouth, all the wind is knocked out of him. He can’t breathe. He can’t speak. He’s frozen. His mind is the only thing moving, and it’s galloping like a racehorse at full speed, picturing Jason’s cocky face in his head. The face Dean would like to smash into a million pieces. The one he just saw that morning. And all he can hear is Jason’s voice in his head, loud as gunfire.
I’ll win the next one. And this time the stakes will be higher.

Fuck. No…no…no… He couldn’t have meant Callie, could he? Even Jason isn’t that much of a prick.

Hell, who am I kidding? Of course he is.

Anger flashes through him, white hot, and he recalls what Callie said about it. That she thought his phony crush was sweet. Not only is he going out on this date with her to get back at Dean, but he’s selling her
his
story—the one he must’ve overheard in the coffee shop. Or a twisted version of it, anyway.

“No,” Dean growls. He steps forward and grabs Callie’s arms. “There’s no way in hell you’re going out with that ass-hat.”

“What the—get off me,” Callie says, shaking his arms off her. “Seriously? What is your problem? I really think you’ve gone postal. You’re on some weird overprotective-psycho-brother overdrive.”

Jinny stands up and moves to Callie’s side. “I agree. You need to back off now, Dean.” Her eyes flash a warning, but Dean doesn’t care. Maybe he has finally lost it.

“You don’t understand!”
Dean shakes his head.

I have to get her to call off the date. She can’t go out with Jason.

“He’s a self-serving, cocky, rich asshole who thinks he can get anything he wants. He—”

“Wow. Sounds just like you,
minus
the rich part,” Jinny spits.

Dean grits his teeth and stares down his sister.

I’ve had about enough of you not taking my side! Just because you’re two years older doesn’t make you smarter. Clearly.

Callie raises her hand, breaking through his thoughts, her expression eerily calm.

Dean stops looking daggers at his sister so he can hear what she has to say, in the hopes that she’ll finally come to her senses.

“Listen, I know your intentions are good, but I have a shot to put a good chunk of money on my debt. In one night.
And
to go out with someone I actually
want
to date. So what if it took paying for a date to get him to finally ask me out. He
likes
me. I’m sorry if you don’t approve, but I had a father once. He’s gone. And I don’t need a replacement.”

Dean freezes. His heart does one giant thud in his chest before it seems to come to a complete halt. Callie’s eyes scan his face, looking as though he’s the most pathetic thing she’s ever seen, before she brushes past him toward her room, and all he wants to do is chase after her. But that’s not his role. And the words she just spoke continue to slice through him.

“Nice,” Jinny says, her eyes hard on his face.

Dean swallows.
Shit.

He screwed up—big time—and the urge to run from the apartment, from Callie’s words, hits him full force. Turning, he moves through the room in three strides, places his half-empty beer on the table, grabs his ball, and leaves.

Closing the door behind him, he leans back on it and raises his gaze to the ceiling. His heart squeezes in his chest and his stomach churns.

Breathe, breathe, breathe…

His breath comes out in ragged puffs, as though he just ran a marathon.

Well, now I know there’s a step down from brother.

He’d take brother any day. Father is way worse.

CHAPTER SEVEN

CALLIE

Callie can’t get Dean’s warnings out of her head. Try as she might, big flashing caution signs go off and on in her head every five minutes—like some flaring beacon, not to be ignored. Now that they’ve left the theater, she finds herself eyeing Jason from the passenger seat of his fancy car, wondering why he, of all people—college jock, gorgeous, rich, and seemingly charming—would want to pay for a date.

Has he really been secretly pining away for me the last couple years?

Callie chews her bottom lip, unsure what to think, and hating that Dean has gotten to her.

Damn you, stupid bestie-brother-stand-in
.

She wants this date to go well. It may be a business transaction, but she hasn’t been out with a cute guy in ages. Not since that dope cheated on her last year. It had hurt Callie far more than she let on. Then again, maybe she hadn’t fooled anyone. At least not Dean. Maybe that’s why he’s acting so protective now.

Yes, that explains it
.

She peers over at Jason, who gives her a sidelong glance and grins. Her stomach twirls.

Who could resist a basketball player with long arms, bulging biceps, and dark eyes that sparkle when he flashes that perfect smile? Not me, that’s who.

“I know I already told you, but God, that dress is killer.” His throaty voice fills the car as his eyes linger over the length of her, then drift back to her face.

Callie blushes and bites back a goofy grin. “So you said.”

 See! You’re just letting Dean make you paranoid.

From this moment on, she is going to relax with Jason and enjoy being out with him. After all, he’s been nothing but a gentleman since he picked her up. He took her to see a musical, and Callie loved every second of it. She hadn’t been to anything like it since high school, and she had forgotten how much fun they were.

Now he’s taking her to Anwar’s—one of the best restaurants in the city, with a waiting list a mile long. She has no idea how he even got a table there. But she doesn’t care. Because this night. Is. Awesome.

There. All thoughts of Dean’s rant, gone.

Jason pulls up to the curb and lets the valet take his car, then escorts Callie into the restaurant. His hand presses into the small of her back as they move, making her stomach dip.

He walks up to the maître d’ while Callie hangs back, waiting for him. In seconds, Jason shoves his hands in his pockets, and she can hear the raised octave of his voice. His face turns red as he speaks—now clearly worked up—and when she moves to his side to see what’s going on, flashbacks of her date with the balding Rick O’Toole come back full throttle.

He turns to her and she shakes the memory of the doomed date away.

“Oh, God,” he says, placing a hand over his face.

What is he shielding himself from?
Embarrassment?

“This is… Well, this is not the way I planned tonight…” He stares at his feet, unable to look her in the eye.

His mortification is palpable, and a stab of sympathy hits her. “We don’t have a reservation, do we?”

He meets her gaze. “No. I, uh… My parents usually secure a table at least once a month, but it turns out they’re using it. Right now, in fact.” He steps forward, his hands fluttering in front of him, as if he’s suddenly unsure of what to do with himself. “I’m sorry. I had no idea. But the only way we’re dining here is if we sit with them.”

Um. Sit with his parents on a first date? One he’s paying me a great deal of money for? AWKWARD!

The idea sits in Callie’s gut like a lead brick. “That’s okay. Really, I don’t mind going somewhere else. It’s no big deal. I’m just enjoying being in your company.”

Is it okay to say that? I am being paid, after all.

His eyes light up. “Yeah?”

Callie nods. “We can go anywhere. Your choice.”

He rubs his jaw and then smirks, and something about the gesture twists Callie’s stomach, and not in a good way—in a weird way she can’t pinpoint.

“I know the perfect place. The atmosphere is more laid-back, and the food’s just as good, in my opinion.” He reaches out and envelops her hand in his.

“Okay, let’s do it, then.”

“If you say so…” He grins and leads her out of the restaurant.

Five minutes later, they pull into the lot of a towering apartment building. Callie glances up at the stone monstrosity and swallows.