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“Callie.” Sawyer’s deep tones suddenly cut across the conversation, and the entire mood inside the break room shifted. The CEO didn’t often come here other than to offer passing greetings during a staff birthday.
I turned to face him as the tips of my ears warmed. “Sir?”
“I need to see you near the end of your shift if you don’t mind.”
“Of course.” I nodded quickly. Why didn’t he ask me when I was at my desk? Why do it in front of Mavis and the other staff lingering in the break room?
Sawyer cast his eye around the room and left. A pause of silence filled the air in his wake as staff waited to see if he would return. After an ample amount of time, conversation resumed, and I let out the breath trapped in my chest.
“You’re not in trouble, are you chicken?” Mavis asked, her wiry brows pulled together in concern.
“No, of course not,” I assured her, picking up my tea. “We just have the usual expense reports to go over. I guess we’re doing that early this month.”
Despite the worry on her face, I flashed her a warm smile and hurried from the break room with my thoughts spinning over the last couple of days. I wasn’t in trouble… was I?
Luckily, the end of the day came quickly and half an hour before my shift finished, I headed into Sawyer’s office with a light knock on the door. He sat behind his desk with one hand rubbing across his beard, deep in thought.
“Sir?”
Sawyer’s head snapped up immediately, fixing me with an unwavering look. The same look that had flickered into my mind during my fantasy the other night.
“You wanted to see me?”
“Ah. Yes.” Sawyer stood swiftly and as he headed toward the meeting table in the middle of his office, the late sun gleaming in through the windows gave his white shirt a briefly transparent look. I forced myself to keep my eyes on his face even as the curves of muscle revealed themselves in my peripheral vision.
“I wanted to go over the expense reports. I know it’s early, but with the – could you shut the door?”
I did so immediately.
“With this upcoming deal with Kane, I need to make sure everything is in perfect order.”
“Of course!” It was impossible to keep the relief from my voice. Sitting at my desk all afternoon had given my mind time to run with pained ideas of what trouble I might be in with my boss. Luckily, he was just proactive.
“Do you have the numbers from last month?”
“Actually,” I said, hurrying forward. “All the numbers will be viewable in the accounts through the system.” Taking a seat at the desk, I pulled the tablet close to me and quickly logged into the accounts. Sawyer sat next to me, close enough that the warmth from his presence washed over me so suddenly that I typed my passcode in wrong.
Twice.
He didn’t comment, thankfully, and merely grunted when I slid the tablet toward him.
“This is everything?”
“Yes.” My attention bounced between him and the tablet as I angled toward him. “Anything you want to see will be displayed here, and you can view the previous month’s stuff there, too. There are a few predictions for next month and the one after, if you think estimates will help with Kane.”
The next hour was spent pouring over the expenses of the entire company, from staffing costs and profit, to how big of a margin we had in terms of absorbing costs. Sawyer charged me with compiling all the important numbers into a secure document that could be shared with Kane – after the lawyers took a look, of course.
Through it all, Sawyer’s presence next to me was suffocating in the most pleasant way. Heat rolled off him in waves, and every breath I took was filled with the spicy, comforting scent of his cologne. Sparks flicked up my forearms each time our fingers accidentally brushed against one another, not that Sawyer seemed to notice but it was enough for warmth to bead between my legs.
I couldn’t wait to get home.
“What do you think of Kane?” Sawyer asked suddenly, derailing my thoughts on overtime expenses.
“Huh?” I lifted my head and glanced at Sawyer through a few strands of fallen hair.
“What do you think of him?”
“What… what do you mean?”
