Read [4 Seasons 01] Seducing Summer Online
Authors: Serenity Woods
[4 Seasons 01] Seducing Summer (25 page)
Inside, everyone cheered. But Callie
ignored them all and kissed him back.
“A kids’ Easter egg hunt,” Callie said. “I
cannot believe we got talked into this. Whose daft idea was it again?”
It was about a month later, and Callie was
helping out with a large group of other friends at a kid’s birthday party in
the middle of Wellington. The party was in a local play den that consisted of a
large area devoted to ball pits, bouncy toys, miniature climbing frames,
slides, and lots of other things for kids to play on. There was a small café
attached where parents could get a drink and a snack and have a well-deserved
break while their children ran off some energy. The adults had hidden hundreds
of tiny chocolate eggs all across the play den, and the place filled with
excited screams every time one of them was found.
“It’s complicated,” Rowan said. “You
remember Rhett?”
Neve stared at Rowan. Rhett had been the
best man at Willow and Liam’s wedding, and he and Neve had had a brief fling
five years ago.
“What?” Neve demanded, her face like stone.
“Um, well, Rhett’s got a sister, Ginny, and
she’s got three kids, and the eldest is six today. The thing is, Ginny’s
husband left her at Christmas, so she’s on her own. She wanted to give Tom, the
boy, a party, but she needed some help, so I volunteered us.”
“Without telling me Rhett was going to be
here?” Neve said fiercely. “Rowan!”
“You can’t go now,” Rowan said desperately.
“Think of Ginny.”
Neve gritted her teeth. “I’ll stay,” she
conceded, as Callie had known she would. “But don’t think I’ll forgive you
easily for being so flipping sneaky about it.” She walked off, in the opposite
direction to where the guys were playing with some kids in the ball pit. Rhett,
who’d been watching her, shrugged and turned away.
Rowan stuck her tongue out at Neve’s back.
Callie chuckled. “I do wonder what happened between her and Rhett. Clearly he
got under her skin.”
“I expect she scared him off,” Rowan
grumbled. She sighed and brought her gaze back to Callie. “Anyway, how are you?
How’s the shoulder?”
A week ago, Callie had moved out of the
house they shared and in with Gene. It seemed silly not to when they were
spending every spare moment they could together, and neither of them wanted to
go home at night.
“Good.” Callie rotated her arm and winced.
“Well, about eighty percent better. Not quite there yet, but on the mend.”
“Getting plenty of exercise?” Rowan said
airily.
Callie smiled wryly. “A bit.” Then she
giggled. “Okay, a lot. The man’s insatiable.”
Rowan gave an envious sigh. “I am so
jealous. I haven’t had any for soooo long.”
“You have to get out a bit,” Callie said.
“You said yourself that you won’t meet Mr. Right sitting in your living room.”
“Yeah, I suppose.” Rowan’s smile faded and
she looked away, across at the kids having fun.
Callie frowned. She decided she’d have to
make the effort to try to get Rowan to go out. She had no doubt that Neve would
eventually meet someone who’d knock her socks off, and Bridget was far too nice
to never settle down, but Rowan was clueless when it came to men. She had no
idea what made them tick, and the relationships she’d been in had all ended
with a whimper rather than a bang, with no man being the romantic hero that
Rowan dreamed of.
Callie glanced around, suddenly missing
Gene. “Where are the guys?”
“They’re all in the ball pit,” Rowan said,
amused. “Look at them. Men never grow up, really, do they?”
Callie followed her gaze to the ball pit,
and started to laugh. Gene, Hitch, Rhett, and several others were up to their
necks in colored balls, surrounded by kids who appeared to think that burying
the guys was the most fun thing they’d ever done in their life.
Gene caught her eye and got to his feet,
picked up Tom—the birthday boy—and carried him like a rugby ball to the edge of
the ball pit, where he gently tossed him back into the plastic balls, the boy
screaming with laughter all the way. He began to walk over to Callie, but
paused to pick up a tiny girl who’d fallen over, setting her back on her feet
and making sure she was all right before he carried on.
“Well, well,” Callie said with amusement.
“You seem to be enjoying yourself.”
He gave a nonchalant shrug. “Well, you have
to help out, don’t you?” His teasing smile told her how much fun he was having.
“Hitch!” Rowan shrieked. “Put him down!”
She went marching off to berate the unfortunate Hitch, who had shouldered Tom
and was galloping around the play den. She scolded him for risking the boy’s
safety, and he lowered the boy to the floor. Rolling her eyes, she turned to
leave. Hitch smacked her backside, sending her on her way. She stopped, her
eyes nearly falling out of her head, then walked on sedately to the café
without looking back.
Gene looked at Callie, and they both burst
out laughing. “He likes her,” Gene said. “A lot.”
“Hmm.” Callie studied Rowan’s scarlet
cheeks as she bought herself a cup of coffee. “Does he now?”
Gene slid his arms around her and turned
her to face him. “You okay?” He kissed her nose.
She kissed him back, snuggling into his
embrace. “I’m fine, thank you. You?”
“I’m having a great time.” He looked across
at the little girl he’d helped up, making sure she was all right. “I want one.”
Callie stared at him. “What?”
He shrugged and looked back at her. “I want
one. A kid. With you. What do you think?”
Her jaw dropped.
“We’d have to get married first,” he said.
“Of course.”
“Gene!” Callie could barely breathe. “Oh my
God!”
“What? Don’t you want to marry me?” He nuzzled
her ear and kissed her neck.
“I… Oh! Is this a proposal?”
He kissed along her jaw to her mouth, then
pressed his lips to hers for a long moment. “Maybe,” he whispered when he
eventually pulled back. “I know you don’t want to rush into anything. I’ll do
it properly when you’re ready. A ring, down on one knee, the whole works. The
urge kind of took me by surprise.” He kissed her again. “I love you, Callie. We
can take our time, because we have the rest of our lives together, but the
point is that I know I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
She had to be careful or she was going to
cry in front of twenty six-year-olds. “I love you too.”
“So when I do ask you to marry me, do you
know what your answer will be?”
She blinked furiously and nodded. “Yes. I
know what my answer will be.”
His lips curved up. “I’m crazy about you,
Callie Summer.”
“I’m crazy about you too,” she whispered
back.
“Gene!” It was Hitch, yelling from the ball
pit. “Put her down and get your butt back in here! I’m under siege!” He
disappeared beneath a mountain of balls poured on his head by a couple of the
kids.
Gene laughed. “I’d better rescue him.” He
kissed her nose. “Love you.”
“Love you too.”
She watched him leap into the ball pit and
disappear beneath the balls, making the kids squeal as he hunted for them
beneath the surface like a shark.
“He’s quite a guy.” It was Rowan, who’d
sidled up with two cups of coffee. She handed one to Callie. “I’m so pleased
for you.”
Callie blinked away her tears and gave a
bright smile. “What about you, Rowan? Have you ever thought about dating
Hitch?”
“Hitch?” Rowan stared at her. “He’s like a
brother.”
“He’s not, though. And he likes you.”
Rowan blew a raspberry. “Yeah, but not in
that way. He’d never be interested in me.” She spoke a little wistfully,
obviously thinking the gorgeous Hitch was out of her league.
Callie just smiled and blew on her cup of
coffee as she watched Gene play with the children, and began to scheme in her
head.
Buy
Tempting Autumn
, The Four Seasons Book 2, Rowan and Hitch’s story
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*
by Serenity Woods
For
an up-to-date list of available books, please visit the
Books
page on my
website.
The Four Seasons
Book
1:
Seducing
Summer
Book
2:
Tempting
Autumn
Book
3:
Bewitching
Winter
Book
4:
Persuading
Spring
*
Treats to Tempt You
Book 1:
Treat with
Caution
Book 2:
Treat her Right
Book 3:
A Rare Treat
Book 4:
Trick or Treat
Book 5:
A Festive Treat
Book 5.5:
No Way
to Treat a Lady
(Novella)
Book 6.5:
A
Taste of Things to Come
(Novella)
*
Between the Sheets
Book 1:
A
Secret Between Friends
Book 2:
An Ocean
Between Us
Books
3-5 coming soon
*
Three Wise Men
Book 1:
The Perfect
Gift
Book 2:
An
Ideal Present
Book
3:
A Secret
Parcel
*
Serenity Woods lives in the
sub-tropical Northland of New Zealand with her wonderful husband and gorgeous
teenage son. She writes hot and sultry contemporary romances with a happy ever
after, and would much rather immerse herself in reading or writing romance than
do the dusting and ironing, which is why it’s not a great idea to pop round if
you have any allergies.
Website:
http://www.serenitywoodsromance.com