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1
CALLIE
If I closed my eyes and prayed really hard, was there any chance the world could open up a giant hold and suck me right down into it?
Lying flat on my back, all the papers I’d carefully carried in my arms rained down around me in slow motion. Perfectly stapled documents, neatly stacked expense reports, and the brochures my boss had asked for became nothing more than confetti.
I’d walked in here so completely proud and confident of the work I’d put into everything, only to trip over an obnoxiously out-of-place chair leg and face plant onto the floor of my boss’s office.
My incredibly attractive boss.
Papers drifted down around me while I forced a slow breath. Heat flared across my cheeks, and when I curled my toes, a soft carpet rose to greet me. I lost my shoe somewhere during my fall. As warmth spread from the tips of my ears down to the hollow of my neck, I contemplated exactly how this could go.
Maybe he didn’t notice. Maybe he was so involved in a business call or some important deal that he didn’t see me enter or hear the undignified screech that flew past my lips the moment I lost my footing.
That was option one.
Option two was the desperate hope that he was somehow in the very best of moods and would see the funny side of things. Sawyer Crane had quite the reputation of being a hard ass. Most of the time, he looked ready to lecture someone, and despite his incredibly handsome good looks, there was a sternness to his features that never softened.
Ever.
The rumor mill always churns about the rich and popular but even within Sawyers's own building, people would gossip about how he was only hungry for power and so money-focused that he slept on dollar bills.
I knew differently. As his personal assistant, I saw the side of him that no one else saw. I saw the man who gave Linda from accounting a month off - paid - after her mother passed away. I saw the boss who ensures the parking across the street is free for employees and that no one does overtime - if they do, then they must be paid double.
Small things that fell under the radar of most people, good deeds that no one ever repeated. Honestly, that was how my attraction to him started—other than the fact that he was insanely hot and drop-dead gorgeous.
Speaking of – I finally opened my eyes with a soft groan and peered up through the paper confetti to the man who often consumed my thoughts standing above me.
“Callie,” Sawyer said in his rough, deep, throaty voice. “What on earth are you doing?”
From this angle, a few soft strands of brown hair slip down from the rest of his head. They tickle across his forehead for a moment, distracting me almost as much as his gorgeous blue eyes. It wasn’t until he sharply cleared his throat that his question registered.
“Uh…” I had nothing. No excuse. No reason. “The chair leg. I just uh?—”
Sawyer reached for me as I spoke, but when I clasped his warm hand, I wasn’t at all prepared for the sudden show of strength. I’ve always been curvy, but Sawyer helped me up so swiftly that I might as well have weighed less than a single sheet of rice paper.
Back on two legs, I hurriedly smoothed down my pencil skirt and tucked what loose strands of hair I could catch back into my pinned updo.
“Are you hurt?” Sawyer held my gaze and my hand for a few long moments.
Flashing him a smile, I continued to dust myself down. “Yes, yes, I’m fine. I’m so sorry about the mess.”
Sawyer released my hand and strode away with the tail ends of his suit jacket fluttering about him as he moved. He settled into the plush leather seat by his desk while I retrieved my missing shoe. It had rolled under the chair, so I had to return to my hands and knees to retrieve it but being out of Sawyer’s line of sight gave me a few seconds of respite.
I couldn’t believe I did that.
I fell on my face right in front of him. The way he picked me up so easily almost made the humiliation worth it. Down on my knees, I retrieved my shoe and several of the fallen papers then I stood and tucked the chair in against the table so that there wouldn’t be a repeat.
“If you’re quite ready.” Sawyer’s voice was teetering on bored, a hint that he was growing impatient and if I wasn’t careful, he’d send me away. Then my inbox would flood with countless emails two hours later.
“Yes. Sorry.”
Sawyer’s gaze dropped slowly on me when I approached his desk, dragging the heat of my embarrassment with him. I glanced down at myself once more in case I’d missed something—a piece of floor lint, perhaps. There was nothing.
Ignoring my flaming cheeks, I set the skewed papers down on his desk and plastered my best smile across my lips.
“Kane will be arriving soon,” Sawyer said, his attention dropping to the black binder in front of him. “Is everything prepared?”
