Complete Me (The Trust Me Series Book 4) Read online

  We made it to the barn, and we climbed up the haystacks to the very top. The barn smelled of stale grass, the tangy, earthy smell agitated my senses, but we sat watching the chickens roam around the barn floor. They pecked at the feed old-man Harris had scattered that morning, and it made for entertaining viewing as they fought against each other for their food. Callie was always in awe of the baby chicks and the way she smiled whenever the new ones would hatch.

  It melted my heart.

  We were lying on the hay looking up at the wooden ceiling, talking about how Niall and her have grown up together and how he’s kind of like a big brother. She held my hand, and as her thumb slid across the back of my hand, it sent a shiver up my spine. Callie did things to me emotionally and physically—she made me feel and believe in a life I never thought possible. She didn’t care that I came from a poor background. All she cared about was that I was there with her.

  I already knew by that stage I wanted to marry her, but at that moment, I felt perhaps she wanted that too. The chemistry was undeniable, and I’m sure we could have set that haystack on fire with the sparks emanating from us.

  I rolled on my side so I could look at her. She was so beautiful, and it took every ounce of my strength not to lean in and kiss her. Callie rolled too, so we were facing each other, then she looked into my eyes and my stomach flipped. I’d never felt about anyone the way I felt about Callie. I couldn’t stop myself from touching her, so I swallowed hard and pushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear and then stopped to caress her cheek. Callie smiled at me, and I swear I exploded—the way she made me feel from a simple gorgeous smile astounded me. Every. Single. Time.

  “Callie, you’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen,” I said, and she smiled again. I wanted to kiss her so badly, but I’d never kissed a woman before, and had no idea what to do or even how to do it.

  Callie was willing me with her eyes, and she looked so delightful. I wanted to smother her with my lips. Mine parted slightly as she licked hers inadvertently, then she moved in closer to me, so close I could smell her beautiful lavender-scented hair. My hand caressed her cheek, and I pulled her slowly toward me. I had intended on stopping and asking her if she wanted me to kiss her, but she didn’t give me the opportunity. Instead, she pushed me back down on the hay, leaned over me, and her soft, supple lips met mine for the first time.

  Damn, it was like the Fourth of July!

  My lips were tingling, and my heart was thudding in my chest. Her mouth opened, and my tongue found hers, and despite it being the first kiss either of us had ever had, it was monumentally perfect. I don’t know how long we kissed for, all I knew was the sun was setting in a cacophony of brilliant colors, and I needed to take her home. Otherwise, Bernard would have my kidneys for dinner and trust me, you didn’t want to mess with Callie’s father.

  Slowly I pulled away from her, and it took everything in me to do so. I was breathing heavily, and I wanted her so badly, but I restrained myself. With a girl like Callie, you didn’t go in all guns-a-blazing and take her straight away. I needed to woo her and make her see why I was the right man for her—not Doug and certainly not Niall—but me.

  “I’d better get you home,” I whispered against her lips as we both remained so close, touching each other in every possible way. She frowned, causing me to frown.

  Was she unhappy with our first kiss?

  Was I too into it and turned her off?

  “Hey, did I do something wrong?” I asked.

  She shook her head emphatically. “God, no, Mike, you’re perfect. This is perfect... I simply wish it didn’t have to end. Niall will come back tomorrow, and we can’t be this way around him. It would crush him. I have no idea when I’ll be able to be like this again with you,” she lamented, cuddling into my side.

  I wrapped my arm around her and held her to me tightly. “Don’t worry, we’ll find a way if it’s what you want.”

  Callie looked up at me with desperation in her eyes. “Is it what you want?” she asked, and I couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped me.

  Her face contorted with hurt, and I shook my head while taking her hands in mine. “Callie, I’ve never wanted anything more in my entire life. Since the moment I saw you at the park, I’ve been waiting for our first kiss, and it was perfect in every way. Just like you are,” I told her, meaning absolutely every word. Callie smiled brightly, igniting me inside, and I pulled her to me in a solid embrace. She pulled back and kissed me again, lightly and slowly, teasing me with her caresses.

  “Okay, we really better be going, I don’t want you to be late,” I said while standing and putting out my hand for Callie to take. I helped her, and she rubbed down her dress.

  “Mike O’Leary, are you scared of my father?” she asked, smirking, and I smirked right back.

  “Callie, have you met your father? I’m not scared of him… I am one hundred percent petrified of him.”

  She laughed, and I smiled while taking her hand. We walked toward the edge of the haystack.

  “Well, at least you’re always honest with me, Mike. I can always count on you to tell me the truth,” she said, making me wonder why she would say something like that.

  I guess Niall does make up some pretty outrageous stories. I mean, the guy was all right to hang around with, but he’s definitely pompous, and I wouldn’t be friends with him if it weren’t for Callie.

  Climbing down the haystack, I made it to the bottom. She followed down after me, and I averted my eyes when she laughed.

  “Mike, keep your eyes down. Don’t you dare look up my dress, mister,” she chided, making me chuckle.

  So I turned around and waited for her to jump off the last step. Callie wrapped her arm around my waist, and I turned to look at her. She was glowing, practically radiating beauty, and I couldn’t believe my luck.

  “We should make this our place. Where we come… just you and me. No Niall, no parents telling us who we need to be and what we must be doing. This is our place where we can do what we want and be together. Deal?”

  I contorted my face, trying to trick Callie into thinking I was having a hard time thinking about the decision.

  As if.

  She saw right through me and slapped me on the chest. “Michael O’Leary, if you don’t want to be with me, then you’d better get walking right now, mister. Otherwise, it’s you and me for eternity. You got it?”

  The goofy smile was back on my face. I took out my pocketknife and walked over to the barn door. Callie’s eyes lit up when she ran up behind me as I started to sculpt a heart in the frame of the door. With my knife, I etched an M + C inside the heart. I even went as far as to engrave little swirls around it—the perks of being a carpenter’s son. I didn’t get to see Callie’s face while I was carving, but I knew she was impressed by the way she stayed wrapped around me looking over my shoulder the entire time.

  “Do you mean it, Mike?” she whispered in my ear as I stood back and admired my handiwork.

  I turned my face to meet hers, and her eyes were brimming with tears, which caused me to swallow a lump that formed in my throat. My hands reached out, and I held her face while looking into her eyes. “Callie Anne King, of course I mean it. You and me for eternity. And whenever we come here, this symbol will remind us of our first kiss.”

  A single tear fell down her cheek as she smiled brightly. I wiped it away with my thumb and leaned in kissing her again tenderly.

  We walked home that day, hand in hand, knowing tomorrow would be different. Niall would be back and continuing on his quest to woo her. Their parents would make sure they were together, and I would have to watch from the sidelines.

  But I had her heart.

  And deep down, I knew I always would.

  No matter the outcome.

  Over the next two years, our threesome grew strong. Even though I knew Niall was a complete dick, somehow, he grew on me, and we became close. It was hard for Callie and me to keep things going the way we wanted because Nia
ll was always with us, so our moments together were few and far between. But when I could steal a sly kiss, I’d take the opportunity every single time.

  Niall was smart, he knew something was happening between Callie and me even though we both denied it. We would have come clean at some stage, but I was worried about what Bernard would say regarding his only daughter going steady with a lowly carpenter’s son. Bernard was a tough man, but fair, and in those days, class meant everything. He was nice enough and let me be friends with Callie and Niall, but if he got a whiff that Callie and I were locking lips every chance we could get, he would have me hightailed out of there so fast I wouldn’t know what hit me, and I absolutely could not afford for that to happen.

  Niall’s parents, Patty and Eleanor, were always lovely. They, just like Bernard, treated me kindly, and we spent most of our time at the O’Connell mansion. Patty had to go out of town for a weekend, and Eleanor was making us some afternoon tea when her oven had broken down. I stepped in and figured out how to fix it—Niall was useless with anything that involved manual labor.

  Callie was smiling at me the whole time, and I noticed Eleanor watching Callie and how she was interacting with me. I think that’s when things started to fall apart. Eleanor began asking if I could help her with a few odd jobs around the house, and she would pay me to do them, kind of like a handyman. It would take time away from being with Callie and Niall, but I would have money, and I’d be able to save to buy something pretty for Callie. So, I agreed to work for Niall’s parents and save, so I could prove that maybe I was in Callie’s league.

  When Patty returned, he saw all the work I’d done, which he was suitably impressed by, and agreed to keep me on full-time for not only work around the house but his many businesses as well. Most of my time was taken working, and damn hard too. Callie would pop into the garage and see me when I’d be fixing Patty’s rust-bucket which, for some strange reason, he wanted restored. She couldn’t stay for long, but it was long enough for a quick kiss before Niall would take her off for another picnic or trip to the theater.

  Years blend together, and before I knew it, we were eighteen, and even though I couldn’t afford a car, Patty taught me how to drive the old rust-bucket I was fixing for him. He was a nice man, a little grumpy at times, and definitely not going to win any husband-of-the-year contests, but he was kind enough, or at least I thought so.

  One day, I came to work early and was in the garage when I heard him laying into Niall. He was beating him with a belt and yelling about how ungrateful Niall was, and that he was doing him a favor by employing me. He told him that it would give Niall and Callie more time to be together, and eventually, she’d stop talking and thinking about me.

  I was shocked.

  The people I was employed by, the man who I had grown closer to, only wanted me working for him to keep me away from Callie, so their son would have a better chance with her. My vision clouded, and my throat went dry from my rushed breathing. Adrenaline surged through me, and I wanted to quit immediately, but I thought better of it. Instead, I would double my efforts, working harder and longer, so I could be paid more. If I worked longer then, in the long run, it would be less because I could leave with Callie sooner. And, with a lot more money, I could buy her the house she deserved and all the things she would need to make her house a home.

  Everything I did, I did it for Callie.

  But my plan backfired.

  Callie’s visits to see me were becoming fewer and fewer. I was working hard to get the money together for us to start our lives, but she was spending all her time with Niall. I needed to make things right with her, so I asked for the night off. Lucky for me, they let me take the time and even allowed me take the rust-bucket. I knew there was a dinner-dance being held at old-man Harris’ farm that night, and I thought it would be the perfect place to take Callie.

  I drove over to her house to pick her up. She had absolutely no idea I was even coming. I even wore a cheap suit that my mom had altered for me. I knocked on her door, and she answered wearing a cute little summer dress.

  “Mike? What are you doing here?” she asked, with a look of complete shock, which was overshadowed by joy moments later.

  She melts my damn heart.

  “I’m here to take my lady to the dinner-dance at old-man Harris’ farm. That is… if she wants to go with me?” I pulled the flowers I’d picked from her front yard around from their hiding place behind my back and handed them to her.

  Callie smiled and bit her bottom lip. “Oh, Mike, you did all this for me?”

  “Of course. I’m working so I can save enough to make myself worthy of you,” I told Callie, and she threw her arms around my neck and giggled.

  “You’re already worthy of me, Mike, in every way. I thought you didn’t want me anymore, and your work was more important than being with me.”

  My heart sank. “Callie, no. I’m working hard so I can buy us a house… so we can be happy together, and then I can give you everything you deserve. So, how ‘bout it? Wanna dance with me?”

  Callie leaned in and kissed me on the front porch of her house. “I wouldn’t want to dance with anyone else,” she said and took my hand.

  The old rust-bucket was parked and waiting, so I walked her over and held the door open. The smile never left her face for the entire drive to the farm, even though it wasn’t that far from Callie’s place. We could have walked there in thirty minutes, but I loved driving, especially with my girl in the car.

  We pulled up at the farm, and cars were lining the driveway. I ran around and opened the door for Callie, and she stepped out, then she stood up on her toes and then back down in excitement.

  “Oh, Mike, it’s my first real dance, and I’m so glad it’s with you. I tried to talk Niall into taking me, but he didn’t want to go. But now, it’s worked out even better,” she stated, taking my hand and leading me toward the back of the farmhouse.

  As much as I tried not letting that comment about Niall get to me, the truth is, it did. The fact she had asked him instead of me hurt. A lot. But I guess she thought I cared more about work than her, so maybe I deserved it. I needed to show Callie just how ‘in this’ I was, and how committed to her I felt. She was the reason I existed, and my sole purpose in this life was to make her happy. So, I swallowed my pride and led my girl to her first dance. I had no idea what I was doing, not having danced a day in my life, but I’d do it for her, whether it be bad or not.

  Callie’s eyes were lit so brightly, I’m sure her cheeks must’ve been hurting from the massive grin that fell over her face. We turned the corner, the band was playing, and people were dancing. Her eyes looked over the yard, taking in everything around her. There were lanterns strung out in patterns, giving the dance floor a light and romantic feel. Callie looked up at me, and I could see the excitement in her eyes as they glistened brightly.

  God, I was so in love with her—her energy, her spark, everything about her I adored. I pulled her to my side and walked with her to the dance floor. I could feel how excited she was from the way she was bouncing up and down. With a few steps, we made it to the edge of the makeshift dance floor, and I held her tight. Lucky for me, the music slowed, and I was able to hold and rock her in my arms. I was so grateful for the slow music because at that moment, it gave me time to adjust my body to the rhythm and try to get this dancing thing down pat.

  Callie’s head rested on my shoulder as the band played, and nothing had ever felt better than Callie being in my arms. I loved every second of it. Plus, I guess dancing isn’t so bad—it was not one of my finer moments but not my least favorite either. I gazed at her and noticed her eyes were closed as she nuzzled into my shoulder, so I moved my hand to caress her cheek. Callie’s eyes opened, and she looked directly into mine. It didn’t matter how many times she’s looked at me in the past, every time felt like the first. Her beautiful blue eyes stared up at me lovingly, and it only made me fall for her more.

  “Mike,” Callie said softly. I
smiled and raised my eyebrows waiting for her to continue. “Can you take me to the haystacks?” she asked, then bit her bottom lip.

  Fuck, she’s gorgeous.

  I smiled because I knew it meant she wanted to make out, and believe me, I was more than happy to oblige. Hand in hand, we walked toward old-man Harris’ barn. It wasn’t far from the dance as we could still hear the music, but it was enough distance that no one would be able to hear two teenagers fooling around.

  I was nervous.

  Callie and I hadn’t had a full-on make-out session since our last one in this very barn nearly two years ago. We’d stolen kisses as often as we could, but we were never alone long enough for it to go any further. I opened the barn door to that same woodsy smell, and Callie’s favorite baby chickens were running around. She made that excited noise she always made when she saw the chicks. I couldn’t help but smile. I shut the door behind us, and the barn fell dim with only shards of silver streaks from the full moon shining through the broken cracks of the rickety old wood paneling. I took her hand and led her to the haystack. Callie climbed up first so I could catch her if she fell, and luckily, she didn’t. Soon after, I followed her. Once we were on top of the haystack, I laid down and patted the space beside me. She looked nervous which only made me nervous. We were alone, and no one knew we were in our ‘special place,’ and all I could think about were her lips locked onto mine.

  But I wasn’t going to push her.

  The last thing I wanted to do was scare her off by being too forward and showing her exactly how much I wanted her. Callie moved in beside me and rested her head in the crook of my arm. She fit there perfectly, like every inch of our bodies were meant to be together. My heart was pounding in my chest. I didn’t know whether she wanted me to kiss her or simply cuddle.