“You too,” Callum says, voice warm, relaxed.
Vicky gives me a look. The sort that sayswe’ll talk later, probably over wine, and I’ll want details.
I don’t get a chance to say anything, because Jeremy, who has been circling just close enough, chooses that exact moment to pounce.
“Wait,” he says, tone far too loud for the space he is in. “Wright?”
I don’t move.
“Wright Enterprises?” he continues. “That’s where you work now, isn’t it?”
Callum’s expression doesn’t change, but I feel the subtle shift in his body. Controlled tension.
I take a slow breath, then meet Jeremy’s eyes across the crowd.“How do you know where I work?”
He shrugs, far too pleased with himself. “I asked around.”
Beside me, Callum’s hand curls gently at my waist. Just a touch. Just a warning.
And that’s when Jeremy drops it.
“Well, at least now I see what the deal is,” he says, louder now, enough to draw a few glances. “Shagging the boss. Pathetic, Stella. And a younger boss, at that. You’ve really outdone yourself.”
The words hit like a dropped plate. Not silence, but the kind of quiet that leans in. I feel the weight of half the room prickling across my back.
I can’t speak. Not because I’m afraid, but because I’m stunned. At his gall. At the fact he still thinks he can humiliate me like this and walk away smirking.
I open my mouth, but nothing comes out.
Then Callum steps forward.
He doesn’t raise his voice. Doesn’t shove. Doesn’t posture. He just moves, smoothly, slowly, placing himself between me and Jeremy, taller by a good two inches, broad-shouldered and black-clad, his eyes hard as steel and just as sharp.
Jeremy’s smirk falters for half a breath, long enough for everyone to see it.
“You don’t get to talk to her like that.” Callum’s voice is low. Controlled. Terrifyingly calm.
Jeremy scoffs, trying to reclaim his swagger. “Oh, come on—”
Callum cuts him off. “You want to sneer because she is with me? Then listen closely. Stella is the most competent, intelligent, and fiercely capable person I’ve met in years. She doesn’t just support me, she challenges me, she steadies me. She has more grit and grace than you could handle.”
Jeremy’s smirk wavers.
“And as for being with a younger man?” Callum steps closer, eyes locked. “It’s got nothing to do with age. It’s because she’s the kindest, strongest, most grounded woman I’ve ever met. She makes people better just by being near them. She makes me better. If you couldn’t see that when she was with you, that’s not on her. That’s on you.”
“And if you think any man wouldn’t fall for her,” he finishes, voice dropping half an octave, “then you’ve been blind for a very long time.”
Jeremy shifts, but Callum isn’t done. His voice softens, darker now, meant for everyone to hear but only for me to feel.
“For the record, she is the most breathtaking, sensual woman I have ever touched. The kind of woman who ruins you for anyone else.”
Silence. Proper silence this time. The sort that spreads, heavy and undeniable.
Joan drops her drink. “Oh, bloody hell,” she breathes, fumbling for her paper napkin to fan herself. “That man could melt stone.”
Someone chokes on their mini sausage roll. Someone else says, “Jesus Mary and Joseph,” under their breath.
Heat floods every inch of me, from the top of my scalp to the soles of my feet. I might die.
