He ignored it and murmured, “I’m sorry I worried you, baby doll.”
As a child she was, in his sharp recollection, a living doll. He’d never forgotten her, not a single feature, not a moment.
He had been pleased that morning to hear she hadn’t forgotten him either and more pleased that their meeting had clearly had as profound an effect on her as it had on him. It gave him another sliver of hope that she understood their connection on some level and she might, soon, embrace it (heartily).
On that thought, he pulled her deeper into his body.
She was silent through this.
“Sonia,” he called.
“I’ll accept your apology the minute your man walks through that door.”
“Fair enough,” he agreed.
“Now, take your hands off me,” she demanded.
“No,” he replied.
She went even stiffer.
Callum ignored it again.
“My people are affectionate, Sonia. We touch. We hug. We cuddle.” Amongst other, more pleasurable things he decided it sensible not to share at that moment. “You’re going to need to get used to this.”
“Well, I don’t have any people therefore I’m not used to cuddling, touching and hugging. Especially guys I’ve known for a few hours. Now, take your hands off me!” she snapped.
His response was to pull her closer.
Her response was to go even stiffer.
He decided to change the subject and said, “If you think I’m eating salad for lunch –”
“I’m making you grilled cheese sandwiches. You can have cheese for every meal for all I care. I’m having salad…” His arms got tight at this defiance but she talked right through it. “I had food enough for two meals at breakfast but I’ll need something light before dinner and you are just going to have to force feed me if you want it any different.”
Callum grinned into her hair.
Finally, he was beginning to enjoy this.
Therefore, he agreed, “All right, Sonia.”
“Now, please, would you take your hands off me?”
He rubbed his temple against her hair then slid his lips around the curve of her ear.
He liked her smell. It was human but it was far from unpleasant.
As his lips rounded the curve of her ear, he felt a short tremor shudder through her rigid body before she jerked solid.
Yes, definitely beginning to enjoy this.
He moved his lips to the skin behind her ear and repeated, “All right, Sonia.”
Then he let her go and watched her start to decimate the cucumber while he walked back to his laptop.
He found, twenty minutes later, she made excellent grilled cheese sandwiches.
And, he had to admit, the salad wasn’t bad either.