He studied her expression as she got closer. She seemed anxious, as if she had a lot on her mind.
“Callum,” she said and smiled.
“Gemma. Thanks for agreeing to see me,” he said as he took her oustretched hand.
“No problem,” she said, sitting down once he released her hand. “You said something about meeting to discuss a business proposition.”
“Yes, but first how about us grabbing something to eat. I’m starving.”
“Sure.”
As if on cue, a waitress strolled over with menus and placed glasses of water in front of them. “I hope this place is acceptable,” Callum said, moments later after taking a sip of his water.
“Trust me, it is,” Gemma said smiling. “It’s one of my favorites. The salads here are fabulous.”
He chuckled. “Are they?”
“Yes.”
“That might very well be, but I’m not a salad man. I prefer something a lot heavier. Like a steak and the French fries I hear this place is famous for.”
“No wonder you and Ramsey get along. Now that he’s married to Chloe, I’ll bet he’s in hog heaven with all those different meals she likes to prepare.”
“I’m sure he is. It’s hard to believe he’s married,” Callum said.
“Yes, four months tomorrow and I don’t recall my brother ever being happier.”
“And his men are happy, too, now that Nellie’s been replaced as cook,” he said. “She never could get her act together and it worked out well for everyone when she decided to move closer to her sister when her marriage fell apart.”
Gemma nodded. “I hear the new cook is working out wonderfully, although most of the guys still prefer Chloe’s cooking. But she is happy just being Ramsey’s wife and a mother-in-waiting. She doesn’t have long now and I’m excited about becoming an aunt.
“Are you an uncle yet?”
It was his turn to smile. “Yes. My two older brothers and one sister are married with a child each. I’m used to being around kids. And I also have a goddaughter who will be celebrating her first birthday soon.”
At that moment the waitress returned. Callum resented the interruption.
Gemma appreciated the interruption. Although she had been around Callum plenty of times, she’d never noticed just how powerfully built he was. Her brothers and male cousins were all big men, but Callum was so much more manly.
And she had to listen carefully to what he said and stop paying so much attention to how he said it. His thick Australian accent did things to her. It sent a warm, sensual caress across her skin every time he opened his mouth to speak. Then there were his looks, which made her understand perfectly why Jackie Barnes and quite a number of other women had gone bonkers over him. In addition to being tall, with a raw, masculine build, he had thick chestnut-brown hair that fell to his shoulders. Most days he wore it pulled back into a ponytail. He’d made today an exception and it cascaded around his shoulders.
Gemma had once overheard him mention to her sister, Megan, that his full lips and dark hair came from his African-American mother and his green eyes and his square jaw from his father. She’d also heard him say that his parents had met on an airplane. His mother had been a flight attendant on his father’s flight from the United States back to Australia. He’d told Megan it had been love at first sight, which made her wonder if he believed in such nonsense. She knew there was no such thing.
“So what do you think of Dillon and Pamela’s news?”
Callum’s question cut into her thoughts and she glanced up to meet his green eyes. She swallowed. Was there a hint of blue in their depths. And then there was his dimpled smile that took her breath away.
“I think it’s wonderful,” she said, suddenly feeling the need to take a sip of cold water. “There haven’t been babies in our family in a long time. With Chloe expecting and now Pamela, that’s two babies to spoil and I can’t wait.”
“You like children?”
She chuckled. “Yes, unfortunately, I’m one of those people who take to the precious darlings a little too much. That’s why my friends call on me more often than not to babysit for them.”