He looked up sharply as he tucked his phone in his back pocket. “Why the fuck not?” He looked angry as he prowled towards her, stopping on the other side of the large island and laying his hands on the surface so he could lean into her. Callie felt her breathing hitch at the feel of him so close. “Callie,” he called, and she felt herself start from the trance of looking at him.
“If I eat my stomach isn’t as flat, and it’s a swimwear shoot, so I need it flat.”
“Are you fucking serious?”
“I never joke about my job,” she replied with a touch of fire at his tone.
“Fine, get your shit together and let’s go. We can talk in the car.”
Callie watched him stalk to the door and felt irritation prickle her skin. What the fuck was up with his moody ass? Grabbing her bag and phone along with her glasses, she dropped a kiss on Bono’s nose and followed Reid out the door.
“Ain’t you gonna feed the dog?”
Callie looked at his face and bristled at the accusing tone. “Tina, my housekeeper, will do it when she comes in.”
“Of course, she will,” he deadpanned.
Callie stopped as they reached the elevator, crossed her arms. “I’m sorry, have I done something to upset you?” She’d never believed in beating around the bush.
Reid turned to her his eyes cool. “Not a damn thing.”
The elevator doors opened, and they stepped in. “Any reason you’re being an asshole then, or is this normal behaviour for you?” Her arms were crossed over her chest, her bag hanging from the crook of her elbow.
Reid turned to her fully and leaned in close, so their faces were almost touching. “Just don’t want a little girl getting the idea in her head that I’m gonna fuck her, that’s all.”
Callie could feel his breath on her lips, smell the scent of his skin in her nose, her heart rate increased and then cold water in the form of his crass words washed over her. “I wouldn’t let you fuck me if you were the last man on earth,” she bit back.
For some reason this made the edges of his lips tip up, his eyes crinkle slightly at the edges. “Liar.”
“I am not,” she huffed haughtily and swung her face away from him to study the numbers as they descended.
“Yeah, so if I were to run my hand along the hot lips of your pussy, I wouldn’t find you wet for me?”
Callie sucked in an outraged breath as she felt her cheeks heat at his words.
Reid smirked. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”
“Jerk.”
The doors opened, and she and Reid walked in silence towards the exit and the car that would take her to her shoot. Instead of moving to it though, Reid grasped her elbow and pulled her towards a black Land Rover with tinted windows.
“What are you doing?” she demanded as she struggled to get away from his firm grip on her arm.
He looked at her like he was explaining things to an idiot. “I’m driving you to your shoot.”
“But my car is there.”
Reid opened the door and ushered her in the passenger side, leaning over her body to clip the seat belt in place. “I’m driving you,” he stated again and then slammed the door closed.
She watched working up a good head of steam as he crossed the front of the car and got in beside her. Callie clamped her lips together, not trusting herself to speak lest she say something she would regret.
They were halfway to the docks when he looked at her. “Finished sulking?”
Her eyes darted to him. “I’m not sulking, I just have nothing to say to you right now.”
“Good, now listen up. I need the names of all your boyfriends, current and ex. Even causal ones or fuck buddies. I also need a list of your commitments over the next month so we can plan things, and a spare key so Mitch and Liam can give your security a thorough inspection.”
“Fine. But just so you know, I think this is going a bit over the top. It was a one-off incident, nothing more.”
“It was an escalating stalker is what it was. Your fucking protection team should have flagged this months ago. My bet is you’ve been having things happen for a while, only now it’s been noticed.”
Callie felt the blood drain from her face. “A stalker,” she murmured quietly.
He glanced at her and then bit out a curse before pulling to the curb. He unfastened his belt and turned to her. “Callie, I won’t let anyone hurt you, I promise. This is a real threat, but I won’t leave you until it’s sorted.”
“Okay.”
Reid was genuine, he wouldn’t leave her alone and unprotected. She could sense he was a good man. She could recognise a good man because her father and brother were both good men.
“I owe your brother more than that.”
Callie tried not to feel deflated by that comment. He was here because of Clay and anyway, she wasn’t interested in a crude, mean asshole. Even if he was a hot, protective asshole that made her want to rip his clothes off and see if he had ink everywhere.
Reid must have decided he’d gotten through to her because he re-buckled and got back on the road. She took out a piece of paper and started a list like he’d asked. The boyfriend side was short, kind of pathetic looking really, with just three names on it and she’d only slept with two of them.
They pulled up to the shoot, and she saw Sophia pacing as she spoke on the phone. Reid got out and walked with her to the trailers they’d be using for hair, make-up, and clothing changes. The agent’s eyes moved to her and then swept over Reid.
“Hello, handsome, and who are you signed with?” she practically purred.
Callie would usually laugh, but today she wanted to claw her friend’s eyes out for the comment.
“Don’t have an agent, Ma’am. Where is Callie’s trailer?” he asked briskly.
“Did he just call me Ma’am? Oh, be still my beating heart and body. I like it.”
“Soph, stop. Reid is my brother’s friend and he’s helping me out with something.”
“Trailer,” he barked again more forcefully.
Sophia recognised the harsh tone of voice and quickly snapped into professional mode. “Follow me. Callie, Claude has been asking where you are, and Pierce is already here and in make-up.”
Callie barely suppressed the groan. Claude was a model she regularly worked with and had been bugging her to have lunch with him. She’d made the mistake of sharing brunch with him as friends, and he’d ultimately got the wrong end of the stick. Pierce, though, was sweet and a total dream to work with.
When they got the trailer, Reid went in first and then deemed it safe for her to enter. Briar and Flynn came bustling in minutes later and almost got themselves pinned to the ground by Reid until she screamed at him to stop. He apologised to them both, and the grin he gave the two women almost made her squirm in her chair it was so hot.
The pair now eyed Reid, who was sitting on the small chair at the end of the trailer and typing on his phone, like candy.
“What the hell is going on, Callie?” Sophie stage whispered and Reid glanced over at them, clearly taking an interest in their conversation.
“I had an incident last night with a man accessing my roof terrace. I panicked and told my brother, who called Reid. Reid thinks it might be a stalker.”