The Plan (41 page)

“Claire,” Callum said.

“What I'm saying,” Claire said, “is that I'm not perfect, either. My body isn't how I'd like it to be. I have scars, I weigh more than I sometimes
like. I have stretch marks and, dare I say it, cellulite on my ass.” She slapped her butt for emphasis.

“Claire, you're perfect. Just perfect,” Callum said, running his hand down the side of her body.

“And so are you,” she whispered. “Perfect for me.”

She kissed him again. Intensely, with more passion than she'd ever known. She wanted him. Needed him. And, more importantly, she needed Callum to need her.

Claire hadn't been touched, intimately, since Jack. She craved Callum's touch, his hand on her body. She needed him inside of her and the desire to become one with him overwhelmed her.

“Make love to me,” she whispered to him. “I need you to make love to me.”

And love her he did. Claire had never felt so desired, so needed, so satisfied as she did with Callum. She'd been loved before. She'd made love before. But not like this.

Never like this.

They had sex right there on the living room floor. There was a brief discussion about moving it into Callum's bedroom, until they both realized they were too impatient to wait even one more minute for what they'd both been desiring for so long.

Claire removed Callum's shirt and his pants. The tattoo, which she'd seen in bits and pieces, was glorious. It wrapped around his muscular chest and Claire thought she'd never before seen anything so sexy.

All of Callum's concerns regarding how Claire would feel about him once she viewed his entire body were for naught. Claire loved his body. Every inch of it. And she made sure to touch every edge and angle, with her hands, her mouth and the length of her nakedness.

What she and Callum shared was so special, so unique. Claire envisioned their relationship as a delicate butterfly in her hand. There
was a desire to surround it, protect it from all harm, cherish it, but mostly, watch it soar. The way she knew their love would continue to soar as their bodies rose together.

“I love you, Claire,” he breathed into her ear, as he entered her.

But he hadn't needed to say the words. Claire knew. She felt it as the rhythm of their bodies became one.

And she ravenously took it.

•  •  •

“Well, that wasn't so bad,” Callum said, resting his head back on the floor, sweat still on his brow.

“Excuse me? Wasn't
so bad?”
Claire asked in disbelief. “Have you had better?”

Callum laughed. “Not lately.”

Claire huffed and started to turn away from him, but he caught her and pulled her back close.

“Come here, silly. I'm not letting you go.”

“Not tonight, huh? You're not going to kick me out?” Claire asked.

“I'm never going to let you go.”

Claire smiled and rested her head on Callum's still bare chest. Sex, with Callum, hadn't been all that different from sex with a man with all his limbs. It took them a moment or two to figure out positioning, at times, but those were mere pauses in what was one of the most amazing experiences of Claire's life.

“So, were you okay with everything?” Callum asked. There was a slight catch in his voice. “You know, with me and all?”

“Are you asking me if you're good in bed?”

“Not exactly,” Callum said, his voice cocky. “I'm sure that part works
exceptionally
well. I mean, you know…” He once again gestured to his body, the unspoken way they'd both come to refer to his disability.

“You know what I learned, in the middle of our escapades tonight?”
Claire asked coyly, running her hand along the length of his tattoo once again.

“What?”

“All those extra limbs. I didn't realize it before, but they tend to get in the way,” she said, a playful grin spreading across her face.

Callum laughed and pulled her closer to him. Claire laughed, too.

She didn't need a man with all those limbs. She just needed Callum.

And she had the feeling he needed her, too.

“Listen,” Claire said, into the phone. “Don't worry about not seeing me tonight. I have a ton I need to do—bills, emails, phone calls I need to return. I've let a bunch go lately.”

“Spending too much time with me?” Callum asked.

“Well, I wouldn't call it too
much
time, but, yes. Too much time.” Claire chuckled. She was sitting, cross-legged, on the chair by her desk, scrolling through her email account. She had at least fifty emails she hadn't even opened yet. “At least, too much time to get other things done. And, though I'm not living in my house in Florida at the moment, the bank, apparently, still expects me to pay the mortgage and the lawn people want money for mowing my grass. Do you believe it?”

“The nerve,” Callum said. “Okay, good then. I'm glad you'll be busy. Mitch, Frank and I really want to take Wyatt out tonight. He's been really down since, you know, his mom…”

Callum didn't complete the thought, but Claire understood. Wyatt's mom had passed away two weeks earlier. He'd flown back to Texas to plan and attend the funeral and then stayed another week to try and get some of her affairs in order. They all knew that his mom passing was a blessing in many ways. None of them would've wanted to live that way, in a constant state of confusion, but losing a parent was still never easy. Fortunately, for Callum, he hadn't had to experience that yet, but Claire had. She knew it hurt, no matter what age you were.

“No, I totally get it. Take him out. Get him drunk. It'll be good for him.”

“I'll miss you.”

“I know. If I were you, I'd miss me, too,” Claire said.

“You think you're so funny. Why do I put up with you?”

“Because you love me.”

“Well, yes. There's that,” Callum said. “Okay, then. I'll call you when I get home. Or, if it's too late, I'll text you; okay?”

“Sure,” Claire said, distracted. An email from Gia popped up on her screen and Claire opened it. Quickly skimming it, she grinned.

“You're not going to believe what Gia just sent me. A link to videos of you online. I think she Googled you.”

Claire clicked on the link and it opened a YouTube channel.

“There must be hundreds here.”

“Alison recently hired some video guy to create that page for me. She thinks it'll be good PR if there are videos available online of me speaking and being interviewed and such. I haven't even seen what's on there yet. I know a lot of videos have been filmed over the years, but I've never looked at any of them. They've kind of just gone in the can.”

“Lost in the vast electronic world?”

“Exactly.”

“Well, I'm going to watch them all.”

“I thought you were supposed to be paying your electric bill.”

“I just remembered. They automatically take their fee out of my bank account.”

“Well, then. Have fun. Pop yourself some popcorn.”

“Great idea!” Claire said, clicking on the first video. “I'd better go. It looks like I have hours of viewing ahead of me.”

“Love you.”

“Ditto,” Claire said as she hung up the phone.

The first video began with a montage of Callum partaking in a variety of sporting activities. She watched as he swam, played soccer,
spun a basketball on one finger, and then made a perfect shot. There were images of him riding a horse, fishing and even surfing. Even as well as Claire knew Callum, she still had to marvel at all he was able to do, despite his limitations. She didn't know many people who were adept at both downhill skiing and kayaking, even with all of their limbs. Callum was remarkable. No matter how familiar and comfortable she became with Callum, she never forgot he was unique.

The next video showed him successfully conquering tasks around his house: cooking, getting dressed, tying the laces on his sneakers, typing with lightning speed using only one hand. The images led into one of Callum's speeches. She looked at him, closely, wondering if she'd attended that particular event or if it was from before she'd joined the team. It was hard to tell. She'd heard him speak so many times by now and, unlike if he'd been a woman, there was no change in his haircut in order to help determine a timeframe.

Claire turned her attention to the papers in front of her on the desk. Her electric bill might be automatically withdrawn from her bank account, but not all of her bills were. She needed to change that and set up automatic payments for more items. It'd be slightly time-consuming for the moment, but it would save her a lot of hassle over the long run.

Claire worked for a bit, Callum's voice soothing in the background. She listened to his now-familiar talk as she answered emails on her tablet, keeping his face visible on her laptop next to her. She enjoyed glancing up at him occasionally, and smiled each time, feeling as if he were in the room with her.

When his talk ended, a new video began to play automatically. Claire glanced up when she heard the voice of a popular late-night newscaster. He was introducing Callum and the interview they were about to air. Nothing he said was news to Claire. She knew Callum's story so well by now, she could give it for him.

Claire did, however, stop her work to watch the actual interview with Callum. Though she'd heard him speak a hundred times by now, she'd never actually seen him give an interview. He looked great. He was wearing a bright-blue, button-down shirt that caused his eyes to look even more dazzling than usual. He and the reporter were sitting on a large porch of what seemed like a beach house. Callum was tan and looked incredibly relaxed, as if he was ready for any question that might be thrown his way.

The beginning questions introduced more of who Callum was, how he'd been born with this disability. She listened as Callum discussed what his childhood had been like and how he'd been teased and fallen into a deep depression during his early teen years.

“I learned, though, very early on,” Callum said, “that a lot of things in life can be made better if you have a great personality. If you exude a positive attitude, smile, laugh at your own limitations and mistakes, people will be more embracing of you. You could be the most handsome man on the earth, but if your personality sucks or if you're socially awkward, people have a hard time getting past that.”

“So,” the reporter prodded. “Are you saying that people forget something as big as you missing an arm and two legs if you smile big enough?”

Callum laughed. “That's what the ladies tell me.”

“Good to know,” the reporter joked. “I'll need to remember that on my next date.”

Claire smiled as she looked back down at her checkbook and signed a check for her credit card bill. Callum's response was classic Callum.

“What's the largest crowd you've ever spoken in front of?” the interviewer asked.

“So far, about twenty thousand,” Callum said.

“Did you ever think, as a little boy in Ireland, you'd someday be in front of that many people?”

“Never.”

“So, it was a big dream of yours?”

“No, it never even crossed my mind. I just wanted to survive the playground,” Callum said.

“What, then, is your biggest dream in life?”

Callum paused before responding and Claire looked up at the screen during his silence. She was curious to hear his response. In all their discussions, the two of them had never discussed the future. They did their best to focus on the present. Some days, the present was all Claire could handle. Each day was still, often, a struggle for her. She felt blessed she had Callum to share those days with, but even with him by her side, thinking ahead was still too difficult for her.

“Honestly,” Callum said, beginning to answer the question. “I sometimes dream of the day I'll walk my daughter down the aisle.”

Claire froze and her hand stilled above the checkbook.

“So, having children is a possibility for you?” the reporter asked.

“Oh, absolutely,” Callum said, his grin as wide as his face. “At least, the doctors say they don't see any physical reason why I can't have them. I just need to find the right woman and get started making those babies.”

Claire felt the air rush out of her lungs.

“You'd like a lot of kids?” the reporter asked Callum.

“I'd love a whole houseful,” Callum said. “As many as God sees fit to give us. There's no greater blessing than a child.”

Claire dropped the pen and stopped the video at that point. She couldn't bear to hear any more. She put her hand to her mouth and wondered what, on earth, she was going to do.

•  •  •

Claire waited until she received the text from Callum that he was home from his night out with the guys before she headed over to his house. The last few hours had been agony. After watching the interview,
Claire had been able to do little more than sit at her desk and do her best to remain calm.

Her mind raced with thoughts of what she was going to say to Callum when she finally saw him, how she was going to word it.

If she'd known.
But she hadn't.

And, she realized, he didn't know, either. She'd never been really upfront with him. She hadn't kept anything from him, intentionally. It had simply never come up. It'd never occurred to her it might need to.

But, it did now. Claire knew that for certain. Everything needed to be discussed now. Tonight. She couldn't wait even one more day.

Callum's face registered surprise when he opened his front door and saw Claire standing there. Quickly, though, he broke into a smile.

“Hey, love. Miss me so much you couldn't stay away?” he said, his voice easy as he moved away to let her in the door.

“Did any of them come back here with you?” Claire asked, ignoring Callum's question.