He lifted an eyebrow. “Time-out?”
She nodded. “Yes, time-out. You lost me between the flight on Thursday and Sydney, Australia. Are you saying this house that you want me to decorate is in Sydney, Australia?”
“Of course. Where else would it be?”
She fought hard not to glare at him; after all, he was a potential client. “I thought possibly in the Denver area,” she said in what she hoped was a neutral tone.
“Why would you think that?”
She couldn’t hold back her glare any longer. “Well, you’ve been in this country for almost three years now.”
“Yes, but I’ve never said or insinuated to anyone that I wouldn’t return home. I was here helping Ramsey out and now that he has the hang of things, I’m no longer needed. Now I can get back home and—”
“Get married,” Gemma supplied.
He chuckled. “As I said earlier, I don’t plan on staying single forever.”
“And when do you plan on marrying her?”
“Her who?”
Gemma wondered why some men suddenly went daft when their girlfriends were mentioned. “The woman waiting for you back in Australia.”
“Umm, I didn’t know there was such a creature.”
Gemma stared at him in disbelief. “Are you saying you don’t have a fiancée or a sweetheart back in Australia?”
He smiled. “That’s exactly what I’m saying. Where did you hear something like that?”
Normally Gemma wouldn’t divulge her sources, but typically, Jackie knew what she was talking about, and that wouldn’t be anything the woman would have made up. “Jackie Barnes. And everyone figured she got the information from you.”
Callum shook his head. “She didn’t get that from me, but I have an idea where it came from. Your brother, Zane. I complained about Jackie making a nuisance of herself and he figured the best way to get rid of a woman like Jackie was just to let her believe I was already taken.”
“Oh.” She could see Zane doing something like that. If for no other reason than to shift Jackie’s interest from Callum to him. Her brother was a womanizer to the nth degree. And Derringer wasn’t any better. It was a blessing that the twins, Adrian and Aidan, were away at college, where the only thing on their minds was making the grade. “I assume Zane’s plan worked.”
“It did.”
“In that case you were lucky,” Gemma decided to say. “Some women would not have cared that you were spoken for. They would have taken it as a challenge to swing your interest their way.”
Callum couldn’t help but think of just where his interest had been for the past three years and knew no one could have succeeded in doing that. The woman sitting across the table was the one he intended to marry.
“And you actually assumed I have someone of interest back home?”
She shrugged. “Hey, that’s what we all heard and I had no reason to assume differently. As far as I knew, you weren’t dating anyone and whenever we had events you always came alone.”
And tried hanging around you every chance I got, he thought.
“You were almost as much of a loner as Ramsey,” Gemma added. “If your goal was to keep the women away, then it evidently worked for you.”
He took a sip of his drink, wondering if the reason she had yet to pick up on his interest in her was because she figured he was already taken.
“Callum, about this trip to Australia?”
He knew where she was about to take the discussion and was prepared with a spiel to reel her in. “What about it? If you’re having second thoughts, I understand. No sweat. I’ve already contacted a backup in case you couldn’t do it. Jeri Holliday at Jeri’s Fashion Designs has indicated she would love the job and will have her bags packed for Australia before I can blink an eye.”
Over my dead body, Gemma thought as she sat up straight in her chair. Jeri Holliday had been trying to steal clients from her for years.
“I think she liked the fact that I’m offering $50,000, and half of that upfront.”