He closed the door and followed the three women into his kitchen. Callie was surrounded and looked up at him with a deer-caught-in-the-headlights look in her eyes. He pushed past Pax who, as usual, looked like she’d stepped off the catwalk runway and stood behind Callie, his hand on her hip, making it clear to the women who Callie was to him.
“Callie this is Pax, Evelyn, and Roz. They’re going to keep you company while I’m gone.”
Callie had a cute look of confusion her face when she looked at him. “But I thought you’d asked someone over to protect me?”
Roz snorted, and Reid looked at the beautiful but deadly woman in warning. “Be nice,” he warned.
Roz held up her hands. “I am nice.”
He looked back at Callie. “Roz, Evelyn, and Pax are more than capable of handling anything that comes your way.”
“Oh.”
“The clothes I ordered for you will be arriving soon, so once we get them sorted, you can tell us all about yourself and how you know this one?” Pax said with a tilt of her head to him.
Reid smiled, knowing Callie would be fine. “Walk me out.”
He moved to the door, leaving the other three women in the kitchen, raiding his cupboards by the sounds of it, and stopped by the front door.
He faced the woman who was on his mind all the time, their bodies almost touching. He cupped the back of her neck with his palm, tilting her head, so her eyes were on him. “Listen to me, sunshine. I would never put you at risk, so trust me when I say these women are as deadly as any of the Eidolon men. They’ll keep you safe. You mean too much to me and I wouldn’t risk your safety like that.”
Her eyes softened, and she leaned into him, placing her hands on his chest. “I trust you, Reid.”
Her words meant more to him than any compliment or medal he’d ever received. “Thank you, sunshine.”
She grinned at him. “You’re welcome, Reid.”
He dropped a kiss on her lips that lasted longer than expected when she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. He pulled back on a groan as he placed his hands on her hips and moved her away so he could go, hating every second of it.
“I gotta go. Try and call your brother today.” The need to straighten this out with Clay before they moved forward was growing more desperate with every second he spent with this woman.
She offered him a seductive little smile that he felt in his dick. “I’ll call him. Now go, do your thing. I’ll be fine. I’ve faced worse than these three.”
Reid raised an eyebrow but said nothing, dropping one last kiss on her nose before he left for his meeting with the Eidolon team.
Taking a deep calming breath and throwing her shoulders back, Callie prepared to face the three women in Reid’s kitchen. Three stunningly beautiful women at that. Usually, that wouldn’t bother her. She’d spent her entire adult life around outrageously beautiful women, but these three were different.
If what Reid said was true, and she had no reason to suspect he would lie to her, then these women were not only gorgeous but deadly, and that was a combination she wasn’t used too. Forcing her feet to move, she ignored the knot in her belly and forged ahead.
The women looked up from their cereal bowls as she entered. They all had a guilty look on their faces.
Callie moved forward. “Are those Reece’s Puffs?”
Pax chewed and swallowed a mouthful while nodding. “Yep, his mom sends them over for him.”
Callie grabbed a bowl from the cupboard poured herself some before taking a seat at the island next to Evelyn, who seemed the least scary of the three. “I haven’t had these in years. My agent would literally die if he saw me now.”
They ate in silence, the only sound for several minutes were the groans of appreciation until, eventually, Pax spoke. “So, tell us about yourself.”
Callie looked at the three expectant faces. All three were so different. Pax was a stunning redhead with long wavy hair and hazel eyes, dressed as if she was about to go shopping in Milan, not eat cereal with her friends.
Then there was Evelyn, who was on the shorter side compared to them but who had long dark hair, brown eyes, and the sultry curves of a Latina sex bomb that had her jealous with envy.
Finally there was Roz, who made her the most nervous. She had short, silky black hair, tattoos on both arms, and the solid build of a woman who got her exercise from fighting, rather than yoga.
She was wearing skinny black jeans, a white tank top, and a black leather jacket with scuffed military-style boots. But it wasn’t her look that screamed danger, it was the calm vibe she gave off that was difficult to explain.
What made them all the same, was the look she saw in their eyes. They had seen things, possibly even done things that nobody else but small group of people had ever done or gone through. It was that which made her trust them.
“Well, I’ve been modelling since high school. I travel a lot. I eat like a rabbit which I hate, and I rarely see my family. That kind of sounds ungrateful. What I mean is, I’m lucky. I have more money than I need, I see the world, and I wear the best designer clothes.”
“No, you meant the first one. The other was bullshit you roll out, so you don’t come across as a bitch.”
“Roz!” Pax and Evelyn both admonished her with a hard look.
“What? I just call it as I see it.”
Callie watched the three, and it hit her for the first time this stranger was right. She did say those things, so she didn’t sound ungrateful, but the truth was, she did hate salad, she wanted to stay in one place for more than two weeks, and to see her parents for Christmas.
“No, she’s right. I do say those things, so I don’t look like a bitch.”
“Why hide how you feel?” Pax asked gently.
“I have the life girls dream of. I’ve watched girls literally starve themselves to death to get where I am, and yet for me, it came easy.”
“But you don’t like it now?”
Evelyn handed her a mug of coffee as they moved to the couches. Callie sat and thought about the question. Did she still like modelling? It allowed her opportunities that she would never have had otherwise but did she love it? The answer was no. She was tired and ready to do something else. For the first time, she wanted to share her secret project with these three women she’d just met, and yet who seemed to know her already.
“No, I’m tired of travelling. I want to eat bacon sandwiches and cupcakes when I like without the glare of those around me or the paparazzi taking pictures and judging my food belly. I want to do something for someone else other than me.”
“Firstly, I don’t believe you only do things for you. Reid has excellent taste and wouldn’t be so taken with you if you were a selfish bitch.”
Evelyn nodded as Pax spoke.
“Second, it doesn’t make you a bitch to want something different. We’ve all been there, and life isn’t that simple. What you’re going through with this stalker means you’re re-evaluating things and what’s important.”
“I guess,” Callie replied.
“No, Pax is right. You get one life, and you need to make it count. I spent too long believing I didn’t deserve a good life and I nearly lost the one good thing I ever had. Don’t do the same.” Roz’s eyes were passionate as she spoke, and Callie could see the pain behind her words.