Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 100202 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 501(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100202 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 501(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
Reed drove off and I headed inside. Callie was nowhere to be seen, so I got out of my winter gear, put it away, and set the coffee mugs in the sink. They could wait.
“Hey,” she said, skipping down the steps. Her cheeks looked a little blotchy, but she was smiling.
“Everything okay?” I met her at the base of the steps and palmed her waist.
“Everything is great,” she promised. “Especially since we have another two hours before Sutton gets home.” She rose on her toes and kissed the hell out of me.
My thoughts scattered.
15
Callie
* * *
Christmas came and went. We spent New Year’s Eve at home, and it was absolutely perfect. That was the only way to describe the last six weeks since Weston and I had gotten together.
Well, except for the fact that he’d made it perfectly clear he wasn’t going to fall in love with me, and I was falling harder for him every day. That part sucked.
But the rest? It was easier than breathing. There was no pressure with Weston. I didn’t have to be perfect. Didn’t have to rush to see if my makeup was fresh. Didn’t have to coordinate my outfit to see him. The man had seen me at my actual worst and hadn’t batted an eye.
He also saw me every single day.
I finished editing my last batch of pictures I’d taken on this morning’s heli-skiing trip and uploaded them to Weston’s portion of the Madigan site so the guests could download. My butt was going to be numb if I spent much more time at the dining room table. Turned out that people would pay top dollar for photos of themselves hurtling down a mountain, dodging trees, and risking their necks on twenty-foot drops. Reed had hired another photographer, bringing our team up to three, and I’d spent most of my mornings on the helicopter this last month. To be honest, once I swallowed past the anxiety that threatened to eat me alive whenever it was Weston doing the hurtling, I had to admit that the pictures came out pretty cool.
The man had no sense of caution, at least not that I could tell, and Theo was just as bad.
I opened the last picture I’d taken of Theo and shook my head. The shot itself was gorgeous—he was mid-flip off one of the bigger cliffs, and I’d positioned myself somewhat to the side and beneath him, capturing not only the jagged, exposed rock of one outcropping but the pristine fall of new snow spraying against the crystal blue sky as Theo rotated midair. Gorgeous picture.
Reckless stunt.
“That’s a good one,” Weston said, looking over my shoulder and kissing me on the cheek quickly. Kisses were never slow until Sutton went to bed. Then all bets were off. His hair was damp, and he smelled like bodywash and shampoo, fresh out of the shower. “Is Sutton still out on the slopes?” He glanced over at the clock.
It was a little after four.
“Nope. She said she had to stay after school for some project, but she’s due home any second. She asked Halley to bring her home.”
“Halley?”
“She, Ava, and Raven are the closest she has to aunts, so I stay out of their way. With my luck, she’ll come home with pink streaks in her hair.” I grinned at the thought. Sutton would look pretty fierce with pink streaks.
“Well, since she’s not here…” He leaned in and kissed me, long, slow, and thorough. It was enough to send heat racing through every one of my veins, and I wasn’t nearly satisfied when he pulled back. “Was that yesterday?” He motioned to my laptop screen.
I blinked and tried to pull my head out of his pants. The man had some serious skills. “A couple days before.” I pulled my knee to my chest and studied the photo. It was the first picture I’d taken out there where I didn’t immediately think of something I would have done better. It was the perfect picture to submit to the gallery…once I was brave enough to chance rejection again.
“It’s really incredible.” He stood. “You could enter it in that internship competition, you know.”
I tilted my head and really examined the photo. Was it good enough to enter in something that big? What if it was? What if I won? My stomach sank. I’d have to choose between doing what I wanted and doing what was best for Sutton.
And Sutton would always win. Choice made.
“Callie?” Weston asked, his hand on my shoulder.
“I’ll think about it,” I answered. Maybe next year, or the year after, or when Sutton turned eighteen.
“Did you get any new shots of our girl?” He walked to the refrigerator and pulled out two sports drinks.
I loved that he called her our girl when he talked about her skiing. It was only because he was the one coaching her, I knew that, but the word still took my heart and blew it up another size.