“What happened?” Callan laughs. “Let me get comfortable for this shitshow of a story.”
“Oh, man. Hit me.”
“I parked in the circular drive; the place looked uninhabited. And it’s fucking bigger than it appears from down here. It has wings.”
Teyler laughs.
“What?”
“Stupid thing popped into my head. That commercial about the woman’s product for that time of the month.”
“Why? Why would you do that?” Callan asks with a gag.
Teyler laughs again then sits back down on the sofa next to Callan to hear his story.
“Anyway, Jordan literally lost her mind, and I’m honestly a little worried she thinks it’s the castle from her fairy-tale dreams.”
“The stained-glass windows depict the events of the curse and after the curse was broken.”
“You mean in the movie? Jordan, this isn’t the same castle,” Callan says.
“I know that. It’s just exciting to think that it is.”
Callan hugs her to his side and kisses her temple. “I missed you and your excitement about life.”
“I missed all your quirkiness.”
“Remind me to tell you a few things I did when we were apart then. You’re sure to love them.”
Jordan smiles at Callan as they make their way up the stairs.
“No one’s home,” Jordan states. “This place is deserted.”
“The grounds are being kept for someone,” Callan counters as he rings the doorbell that is either broke or silent.
“See?” Jordan says. “Try the handle.”
“I’m not entering a house I haven’t been invited into without waiting for the owner to open the door.”
“Callan, think of it as you would his computer. You’d hack the shit into that, right?”
Callan growls. “That is different.”
“Not at all,” Jordan says as she turns the handle of the door and gains them entry into the foyer.
“Christ!”
“The first place when the castle is entered,” Jordan begins in her storyteller’s voice and Callan knows they’re in trouble. “It’s the starting point of all the adventures.”
“There are no enchanted objects or a Beast here. Only the master of the house that is going to want to kick my ass when he finds us snooping around. I swear, if you get my ass shot over this…”
“Oh, stop it. You’ve been shot before and survived.”
Callan rolls his eyes and tries to grab at Jordan’s arm to stop her from entering, but he’s distracted, so now they find themselves inside the gigantic home.
“Jordan!” Callan whisper-scolds as she bolts from him and the entry space and dashes into the house.
Callan catches up with her because she’s frozen in place, looking into the first room she’s come across. “It’s the den where we’ll meet the other enchanted objects. The servants will do their best to make us feel comfortable until the angered Beast bursts through the doors and scolds us for trespassing, then drags us off to the dungeon.”
“If anyone is dragging your ass to a dungeon, it’s going to be me, now let’s go. We’ll have Beckett look into the owner and make an offer.”
“Make an offer,” a loud male voice booms in the space. “For what? Me not having you arrested for trespassing? I don’t welcome strangers into my home, Mr…” He pauses then continues, “Who are you and what are you doing here?”
“So the castle isn’t abandoned?”
“Nope. And none of our women are safe from the guy that lives there.”
Teyler raises both eyebrows.
An imposing man that stands over six and a half feet tall and must weigh in at two hundred fifty pounds, if he’s an ounce, stands in view. The guy is a beast and the last thing Callan is in the mood for is the need for Mac’s cleanup crew so he reminds himself that the man has done nothing wrong and he shouldn’t attempt to treat him as such. If anyone should be in the need of medical attention over this day’s events, it should be Callan.
“Sweet Jesus, have mercy,” Jordan purrs when the man throws his long blond hair over a shoulder and his gray eyes lock on her. Jordan grips Callan’s arm and hides behind him, speaking into his back. “That’s exactly what the Beast asks. We’re going to the dungeon next.”
All brawn or not, Callan clears his throat when the Adonis sweeps those eyes up and down his girl. “Ah, sorry to bother you,” Callan begins.
“No, we’re not,” Jordan says when the man sweeps his long hair into a tie and creates a manbun to marvel the best of them.
Callan groans as the man raises an eyebrow at Jordan’s not so soft voice then Callan shushes her before he continues. “We’re new to the area and my girlfriend has been admiring this place from town. We thought we’d see if anyone lived here, maybe wanted to sell or…”
“Sell?” his deep baritone asks. “Sell what? My family home?”
“Oh, my God! Fuck the house, I have a better idea.”
Callan turns to send Jordan a death glare.
“You’re not welcome here,” the owner of the home states.
While staring at the man, Jordan says, “Well, he doesn’t need to ask what I’m staring at. No way he’s not used to girls checking him out. My God, he’s beautiful.”
“What?”
The man rolls his eyes. “I’m not a beast. I just like my privacy. This home isn’t for sale and things here are the furthest from enchanted as you can get. Please see yourselves out.” And with that, he leaves Callan and Jordan standing in the room alone.
“He really that good-looking? My daughter can use a distraction from that other guy.”
“Hmm,” Callan hums. “Not a bad idea. I mean, if you’re cool with pimping your daughter out to the mountain man.”
Teyler chases Callan off the sofa with his raised fist and Callan jumps over to the safer spot on the chair to finish his story.
“I bitched about her attention toward another man and threatened to take her perfect ass to Elliot’s dungeon for a good spanking as we made our way back to the door.”
“Hey,” Jordan protests when she and Callan make their way back to the door. “Let me look out that window.”
With a huff, Callan relents and follows her to the wall of stained-glass windows mixed with clear glass ones covered by long, heavy drapes.
Jordan pulls one side of the drapes back to reveal the sight from the elevated height of the castle and lo and behold, what do you know? There’s another castle directly across from the one they were in. It’s hidden from the view below, too.
“No! Don’t even think about it. I’ll call Beckett, but we’re not wandering over there next,” Callan warns.
“Spoilsport because another man made me swoon.” Jordan leans into Callan’s side and kisses his neck. “I love that you’re jealous.”
Callan growls. “I’d love to show you just how much right against this window.”
“Maybe on our tour of that one,” Jordan promises then skips out of the room with Callan jogging after her.