What a Westmoreland Wants - By Brenda Jackson Page 0,44

relationship all their lives.

Callum’s father had been an only child and so had his father before him. Todd Austell probably would have been content having one child, but Le’Claire had had a say in that. His father had known that marrying the American beauty meant fathering at least three children. Callum chuckled, remembering that, according to his father, his birth had been a surprise. Todd had assumed his daddy days were over, but Le’Claire had had other ideas about that, and Todd had decided to give his wife whatever she wanted. Callum was using that same approach with Gemma. Whatever this particular Westmoreland wanted is what she would get.

After Callum snapped his seat belt in place, he checked his watch. It was a little past three and he would be picking Gemma up around five. He’d wanted to take her to lunch, but she’d declined, saying she had a lot of orders to place if he wanted the house fully decorated and ready for him to move in by November.

He really didn’t care if he was in that house, still living in his condo on the beach or back in Denver. All that mattered to him was that Gemma was with him—wherever he was. And as he turned the ignition to his car, he knew that making that happen was still his top priority.

“Will there be anything else, Ms. Westmoreland?”

Gemma glanced up at the older woman Callum had introduced her to that morning, Kathleen Morgan. “No, Kathleen. That’s it. Thanks for all you did today.”

The woman waved off her words. “I didn’t do anything but make a lot of phone calls to place those orders. I can just imagine how this place is going to look when you finish with it. I think Mr. Austell’s decision to blend European and Western styles will be simply beautiful. One day this house will be a showplace for Mr. Austell and his future wife. Good bye.”

“Goodbye.” Gemma tried letting the woman’s words pass, but couldn’t. The thought of Callum sharing this house with a woman—one he would be married to—bothered her.

She tossed her pencil on the desk and glanced over at the flowers that had been delivered not long after he’d dropped her off here. A dozen red roses. Why had he sent them? The card that accompanied them only had his signature. They were simply beautiful, and the fragrance suffused her office.

Her office.

And that was another mystery. She had assumed she would have an empty room on the main floor of the house with a table and just the bare essentials to operate as a temporary place to order materials and supplies. But when she’d stepped through the door with Callum at her back, she had seen that the empty room had been transformed into a work place, equipped with everything imaginable, including a live administrative assistant.

She pushed her chair back and walked across the room to the vase of flowers she’d placed on a table in front of a window. That way she could pause while working to glance over at them and appreciate their beauty. Unfortunately, seeing them also made her think of the man who’d sent them.

She threw her head back in frustration. She had to stop thinking of Callum and start concentrating on the job he’d hired her to do. Not only had he hired her, he had brought her all the way from Denver to handle her business.

But still, today she’d found herself remembering last night and this morning. True to his word, he had not made love to her again, but he had held her, tasted her lips and given her pleasure another way. Namely with his mouth. He had soothed her body and brought it pleasure at the same time. Amazing.

She turned when her cell phone rang and quickly crossed the room to pick it up. It was her sister, Megan. “Megan, how are you doing?” She missed her sisters.

“I’m fine. I have Bailey here with me and she says hello. We miss you.”

“And I miss you both, too,” she said honestly. “What time is it there?” She placed her cell phone on speaker to put away the files spread all over her desk.

“Close to ten on Monday night. It’s Tuesday there already, right?”

“Yes, Tuesday afternoon around four. Today was my first day on the job. Callum set a room up at the house for me to use as an office. I even have an administrative assistant. And speaking of administrative assistants, has the bank’s