In Safe Hands (Search and Rescue #4)(16)
As his narrow-eyed gaze fixed on her, Daisy took a couple of steps back to put some space between her and the intimidating man.
“Callum!” Apparently, Lou was not at all daunted by the austere figure, judging by the way she grabbed his hand and tried to haul him into the kitchen. “You have to see this home gym. It’s awesome, and there’s even a naked guy in there.”
That seemed to catch his attention, and his piercing gaze moved to Lou.
“I’ve been meaning to put some pants on him.” Daisy wasn’t sure why she was blushing. It wasn’t like Max was anatomically correct. He was an oversized Ken doll. “I’ll need to get some from Chris, since Dad’s pants would be too small for him.”
Callum redirected his attention back to her, making Daisy wish she hadn’t said anything. There was something about the look he was giving her that made her want to prattle. “I’m Daisy.”
“Oops, sorry. I’m being mannerless. Callum, this is Daisy. Daisy, Callum. As you can see, Cal, Daisy is nothing like an Amish grandma.”
“Or a hoarder,” Daisy added.
“Definitely not a hoarder. Come on.” This time, when Lou tugged at Callum’s hand, he followed her into the kitchen. A few steps in, he waved Daisy ahead of them. She hurried to lead the way to the fitness room. Once inside, the first thing her gaze landed on was Max’s Ken-doll-like crotch, and she blushed, vowing to ask Chris for some sweatpants the very next time she talked to him.
“Very nice.” Callum examined the room with careful attention.
“Thank you.” She could feel the babbling trying to break free, and she swallowed down the rush of words with some effort.
“Isn’t this great?” Apparently, Lou was all too willing to pick up the conversational slack. “In Simpson, most of us have to make do with more natural forms of weight training, like carrying firewood and moving rocks. I’d love to learn more self-defense, though. Do you think I could invite myself to train with you and Chris sometime?”
“No,” Callum said before Daisy could even open her mouth to reply. “I’ll teach you self-defense if you want to learn.”
“Um…I don’t think so.” Leaning into his side, Lou gave him a sweet smile. “When you try to teach me anything one-on-one, I end up wanting to kill you. Besides, Chris knows all the cop moves.”
Callum frowned at her. “We do fine in dive training.”
“That’s different. There’s a group of us, so it dilutes my homicidal impulses.”
“I’d rather you not do any…grappling with Jennings.”
“Fine.” She turned to Daisy, who’d been watching their argument like it was a game of Ping-Pong. “Daisy, can Callum join us for our training sessions? That way, we’ll have an even number of grapplers.”
“Uh…sure.” Daisy wasn’t sure how a grappling club had just started in her fitness room, but she blamed the hurricane named Lou. “Let me talk to Chris.”
“You know who else really needs to learn this stuff, especially with Anderson still out and about?” Lou had a thoughtful expression, which made Daisy worry. “Ellie Price. She probably won’t be able to do much for another couple of weeks, since she’s still recovering from getting shot in the chest, but she could definitely benefit from knowing a few self-defense moves.”
“I think Holloway has it covered.” The corner of Callum’s mouth tucked in, like he was holding back a smile.
Lou shook her head. “He can’t watch her twenty-four hours a day.”
“He’s going to try.”
“I’m going to ask her anyway. George can come along, too, so the two of you can both beat your chests in a manly way.”
Callum shot her a look, although he mostly seemed resigned. “Shouldn’t you check with Daisy before you start inviting more people to her house?”
“Sorry, Daisy!” Lou made a face. “I didn’t mean to take over your fitness room. You’ll love Ellie, though. And this is right up Rory’s alley, too.”
“Um…okay?” Even though Daisy felt a little like she’d just been flattened by a runaway semi, there was a fizz of excitement in her stomach at the thought of having a bunch of people at her house for training. It would be the closest thing to a party she’d ever experienced, not counting birthdays when she was a kid.
“Yay! Perfect. This is going to be awesome.” Lou danced over to Max and gave him a hug.
Callum watched, looking equal parts amused and appalled. “I’ll bring pants for…?” He raised an eyebrow at Daisy.
“Max.”
“Right.” An actual smile curled his mouth, and Daisy suddenly understood why Lou could have fallen for him. “I’ll bring pants for Max.”
*
Daisy squinted at the mailing label she’d just printed and realized that the sun had almost disappeared behind the mountains. Before turning on the overhead light, she closed the shades, knowing all too well how easy it was to see into a lit room when the windows were uncovered. The office windows, as well as all the lower-level ones, were covered in metal grates. She knew it was silly to have her house fortified like she lived in the worst slums of a big city when she was actually in sleepy Simpson, but having bare windows on the first floor would have robbed her of what little sleep she managed to get.