“I’m looking forward to it,” Gemma replied warmly.
While everyone began heading inside the house, Callum touched Gemma’s arm to hold her back. “Is something wrong?” He looked at her with concern in his green eyes. “I saw the way you looked at me when I called you over to meet everyone.”
Gemma quickly looked ahead at his family, who were disappearing into the house and then back at Callum. “You didn’t tell your family why I’m here.”
“I didn’t have to. They know why you’re here.” He studied her features for a moment. “What’s going on in that head of yours, Gemma Westmoreland? What’s bothering you?”
She shrugged, suddenly feeling silly for even bringing it up. “Nothing. I just remember what you insinuated with Meredith and hoped you weren’t going to give your family the same impression.”
“That you and I have something going on?”
“Yes.”
He watched her for a moment and then touched her arm gently. “Hey, relax. My family knows the real deal between us, trust me. I thought you understood why I pulled that stunt with Meredith.”
“I do. Look, let’s forget I brought it up. It’s just that your family is so nice.”
He chuckled and pulled her to him. “We’re Aussies, eight originals and one convert. We can’t help but be nice.”
She tossed him a grin before easing away. “So you say.” She then looked over at the car as she headed up the steps to the house. “Do you need help getting our luggage?”
“No. We aren’t staying here.”
She turned around so quickly she missed her step and he caught her before she tumbled. “Be careful, Gemma.”
She shook her head, trying to ignore how close they were standing and why she suddenly felt all kinds of sensations flooding her insides. “I’m okay. But why did you say we’re not staying here?”
“Because we’re not.”
She went completely still. “But—but you said we were staying at your home.”
He caught her chin in his fingers and met her gaze. “We are. This is not my home. This is my parents’ home.”
She swallowed, confused. “I thought your home is what I’m decorating. Isn’t it empty?”
“That house is, but I also own a condo on the beach. That’s where we’re staying while we’re here. Do you have a problem with that, Gemma?”
Gemma forced herself to breathe when it became clear that she and Callum would be sharing living space while she was here. Why did the thought of that bother her?
She had to admit for the first time she was noticing things about him she’d never noticed before. And she was experiencing things around him that she hadn’t experienced before. Like the way she was swept up in heated desire and the sensuous tickling in the pit of her stomach whenever he was within a few feet of her, like now…
“Gemma?”
She swallowed again as she met his gaze and the green eyes were holding hers with an intensity that she wasn’t used to. She gave her head a mental shake. His family had to be wondering why they were still outside. She had to get real. She was here to do a job and she would do it without having these crazy thoughts that Callum was after her body, just because she’d begun having crazy fantasies about him.
“No, I don’t have a problem with that.” She pulled away from him and smiled. “Come on, your parents are probably wondering why we’re still out here,” she said, moving ahead and making an attempt to walk up the steps again.
She succeeded and kept walking toward the door, fully aware that he was watching every step she took.
Callum glanced around his parents’ kitchen and drew in a deep breath. So far, things were going just as he’d hoped. From the masked smiles and nods he’d gotten from his family, he knew they agreed with his assessment of Gemma—that she was a precious gem. Even his three nephews, ages six, eight and ten, who were usually shy with strangers, had warmed up to her.
He knew that, for a brief moment, she had been confused as to why his family had taken so readily to her. What he’d told her hadn’t been a lie. They knew the reason she was here and decorating that house he had built was only part of it. In fact, a minor part.