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CALLIE
The little girl stared up at me with huge green eyes, then she lifted a hand to her mouth and started toying with her lower lip.
“Hi.”
“Hello,” I repeated. I lifted my head and glanced around but there was no one around in the room or in the hallway. How did a random child end up in my cubicle?
“Who are you?” I asked, growing nervous that I was about to have my very own Shining moment. “Are your parents around?”
“I’m Marie!” She gave me a very toothy grin, then pulled herself up onto her knees and clung to the back of my chair as she yelled “Dad!”
“What is it, sweetheart?”
Out of Sawyer’s office stepped an incredibly handsome man and for a moment, my breath caught in my throat. With golden skin, thick back hair, and striking green eyes, the man hurried toward Marie and flashed me a dazzling smile of white teeth that softly crinkled the corner of his eyes. A few strands of hair swept across his forehead as he scooped Marie up, wrinkling his gray shirt in the process.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t think anyone would be here this early.”
Hearing his warm, slightly scratchy voice dragged me out of my oh no he’s hot stupor and I smiled. “You’re Liam, right? Liam Hall?”
He looked incredible. So different from the last time I saw him well over a year ago. Back then he was a little thinner, more gaunt from a wild life of partying and drinking with little care for those around him. Last I’d heard, he was trying to turn his life and from the looks of things, he’d been successful.
“Yes, that’s right,” Liam replied, shamelessly glancing me up and down with an appreciative smile. “And you are?”
Warmth flooded my cheeks and I straightened my posture slightly as I shrugged off my coat. “Callie?—”
“Callie!” Liam exclaimed. “That’s right! It’s so good to see you. You look fantastic.”
There was no hiding the blush from my cheeks, not when it swept down my throat, and this early in the morning, I couldn’t even blame the heat of the office.
“Thanks. So do you.” And he did.
“I’m here for Sawyer. He sent me an email about looking over papers and signing things so of course I flew back here as soon as I could. And this adorable thing comes with me everywhere.” Liam’s attention shifted to Marie who sat silently in his arms, staring at me curiously.
“She’s adorable,” I smiled. “How old is she?”
“I’m eight,” Marie replied immediately, catching me off guard. Given her height, I’d presumed she was a lot younger and the surprise must have been evident on my face given how Liam laughed.
“Yeah, we get that a lot. She plays into it sometimes. The number of free meals for under-5s we’ve gotten away with is kind of insane.”
“Enjoy it while you can,” I chuckled. “I was a tiny kid for years as well, then as soon as I became a teenager I sprouted.”
“I can tell,” Laim remarked with an appreciative glance. “Puberty was kind.”
My cheeks turned to fire at that remark so I quickly turned away to my desk. Not that it helped. Liam’s gaze burned into me even with my back turned.
“Sawyer won’t be here for another twenty minutes I’m afraid, unless you arranged to meet earlier?”
“No, I just turned up,” Liam replied. “The security guard at the front didn’t believe I was me so I had to go through a hundred security checks just to get in here. Was it always this intense?”
A few buttons presses and my computer blinked into life. “It’s gotten stronger in recent months, but you do look very different from the last time you were here.” I turned back and smiled. “He probably just wanted to be careful.”
“He asked Daddy if he was a spy,” Marie giggled as Liam set her down back in the chair.
“Was it Walt?” I asked. “Older guy with a mustache?”
“Yeah,” Liam grinned. “Is he security crazy?”
“You could say that. Last Christmas, someone sent a Secret Santa gift but the label had fallen off so Walt made us evacuate under safety concerns, and it turned out just to be a box of gingerbread cookies. I think since then he’s been trying to make up for it by being extra secure.”
