new bed.
She liked Finn’s house, Callie decided, liked the openness and the space. And the view was one of the best she’d seen. But the lack of anything personal surprised her; Finn was a world traveller—surely he would have picked up a memento here and there? Art? Pottery? Photographs?
Nothing in the house suggested that he’d lived here on an ongoing and permanent basis with his fiancée. Which was weird—weren’t houses supposed to be shared? Granted, she wasn’t an expert on co-habiting, but shouldn’t the house be a place of compromise? Shouldn’t there be a photograph of his family … his brothers? A trophy? A flat screen TV? Books …? Something that suggested that this was his house as much as hers?
For Finn’s sake she hoped that his ex hadn’t been an ‘everything that’s mine is mine and what’s yours is mine too’ type of woman. Maybe his priorities were a big screen TV and an internet connection—she’d dated more than a few men like that. Or maybe he simply wasn’t a sentimental, collect-mementos-along-the-way type of guy.
Callie turned when she heard his footsteps behind her and saw that Finn had showered and dressed in a pair of black athletic shorts and a plain red T-shirt.
He ran his hands over his wet curls and sent her a small smile. ‘Did you get some wine?’
‘I didn’t get that far.’ Callie followed him into the kitchen and stood on the other side of a granite counter as he opened a cupboard door to pull out a glass. ‘You look very fit—do you go to the gym?
Finn pulled a face. ‘No. Martial arts.’ He opened the fridge and she saw that it held nothing but a bottle of unopened wine, a mouldy block of cheese and some eggs. Someone hadn’t been cooking or had been living on take-out.
Not healthy.
‘What type of martial arts?’ she asked, resisting the urge to mention his lack of food. Even if she was going to be his ‘wife’, she wasn’t in a position to nag him about eating properly and taking care of himself. But, damn, she wanted to.
‘Pretty much everything, actually. But I concentrate on Taekwondo and jiu-jitsu, occasionally taking a side trip into Krav Maga—’
‘Notoriously difficult—out of the Israeli army.’ She saw the surprise flicker in his eyes at her even knowing about Krav Maga—but, hey, she read. A lot. ‘Are you ranked?’
‘You are the nosiest woman I’ve ever met,’ Finn complained—not for the first and, she knew, not for the last time.
‘And—I’ll say it again—you’re one of the few men who don’t like talking about themselves.’
‘So why do you keep asking?’
‘‘Cos you’re fascinating,’ Callie replied, shoving her tongue into her cheek.
‘Flirt.’
Callie dropped into a quick curtsy. ‘Thank you, sir. So, what’s your rank?’
Same question, phrased another way. His quick smile and the elaborate roll of his eyes told her that he was enjoying their banter. It would do him good to laugh, to smile.
‘I’m ranked highly.’
She sighed dramatically at his answer. ‘Trying to get information out of you is like trying to get blood out of a stone.’ Callie took her glass of wine and sipped. ‘Why don’t you buy mementos of the places you’ve been?’
He blinked at the change of subject as he twisted the top off a bottle of beer. ‘What? Like tourist tat?’
Callie sent him a patient look. ‘Come on, Finn. Like you, I travel a lot and I know what is tat and what is art. And everybody sees something along the way that calls to them. I picked up a stunning vase in Murano that I treasure, a piece of street art in Rome. What do you buy?’ She gestured to the soulless house. ‘This is your house—why isn’t there anything of you in it?’
Finn took a long sip of beer. ‘You’re going to nag me until I tell you, aren’t you?’
‘Actually, if it’s a touchy or personal subject I won’t. I know that I’m relentless, and curious, but I do respect your right not to talk. Just say pass and we’ll move on.’ Callie shook her head and caught his look of surprise. ‘This agreement we have doesn’t include sharing our secrets. Well, you’re welcome to share yours but I’m not sharing mine.’
Finn raised the bottle to his lips again and shook his head looking bewildered. That was okay, Callie thought. Bewildered she could live with. Annoyed or bored would make her think that she’d overstepped the mark.
‘So why is there nothing personal in your house?’ Callie grinned at his exasperation. ‘What? You didn’t say pass!’
‘You are going to drive me crazy—I can just tell.’ Finn closed his eyes and scratched the spot between his eyebrows. ‘When I bought the house Liz moved in. She travelled as well, but she spent six weeks away and then a month at home. Her schedule was set but I could be away for two months, home for a week and gone again. She asked me time and time again to help her decorate the house—but, hell, I’m a guy. I’d rather watch sport or … watch paint dry. So one day she dumped all my stuff and all her stuff in the middle of the lounge—right over there—in front of the TV. There was a rugby match I wanted to watch so we had to sort through it. The whole process made me realize …’
‘Pray tell?’ Callie’s lips quirked when he paused for dramatic effect.
‘… that I buy crap and shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near art galleries or home décor shops. If it’s cheap and nasty, tasteless and fake, I will buy it.’
Callie’s laughed bounced off the walls, and she was still chuckling when Finn led the way to the veranda, where Callie took a seat on an antique bench that had been converted into a swing.
‘It’s really better for everyone if I just hand over my credit card. Nobody gets hurt that way.’
Finn took a seat on a cane chair and propped his feet up on the coffee table. After a minute of comfortable silence he spoke again.
‘So, you said that there were things we needed to discuss?’
‘I did.’ Callie kicked off her sandals and felt comfortable enough to tuck her feet under her bottom on the denim fabric of the swing. ‘I put in for a month’s holiday today, and I also managed to organise it so that I don’t have to fly to Paris this week. So I am, in the most virginal sense, all yours until we go.’
‘That makes it easier, because there are a couple of things we need to sort out before we go.’
‘Like?’
‘Like the lawyers for the magazine would like you to sign an indemnity form, and they’d also like you to go for a full medical—just to cover their legal asses.’
Callie wrinkled her nose. ‘What a pain.’
‘I use the same travel clinic all the time. I’ll make an appointment for you.’ Finn rested his beer bottle on his flat stomach. ‘You’ll need clothes that are suitable for five and six-star resorts—’
Callie
