Page 80 of At His Beck & Call

Scratching my head, I look over the documents again. I’d used a green highlighter to pick out whenever the charge was listed, but no one else has flagged it. I feel as if I’m makinga mountain out of a molehill, and I’ve probably misunderstood something.

I go outside to ask Adelaide about it, the papers in hand, ready to show her what I’ve discovered, but she’s not at her desk.

Glancing at Oliver’s door, I consider asking him about this. If it is something important, he’ll likely tell me to give it to Noah to handle, and if it isn’t, I’ll look like an idiot.

On the other hand, I haven’t seen him all morning.

Irritated by my own weakness, I set myself up for an inevitable fall and go over to his door. Taking a deep breath, I knock and hear the solid ‘come in’ from inside.

I leave the door cracked open to show I’m not there to disturb him with any ‘after-hours activities’ and walk to his desk.

“I’m sorry to bother you,” I say hurriedly, but Oliver is already turning from his computer, his eyes tracking me as I walk toward him.

“It’s no problem, what is it?”

“I was going to run this by Noah, but he’s been called away. I’m sorry if it’s trivial, but it’s just odd, and I’m trying to figure out if it means anything.”

“The Reynolds case?” he asks, holding out his hand for the papers as I give them to him.

“Yeah, I was looking through the real estate information. They have so many properties that it gets confusing, but the storage charge for their Miami apartment doesn’t make sense. It looks to me as if the fees might be for a duplicate apartment that hasn’t been categorized properly.”

Oliver stands and starts walking around his office while he looks over the paperwork. It’s something I’ve noticed he does a lot. Whenever he’s reading, he prefers to be standing up or pacing around his office. I’ve walked in on him several times, leaning against shelves or his desk, reading on his iPad.

“There’s nearly four thousand dollars of storage fees going out every month,” I say. “It’s exactly the same cost as the HOA on a two-bedroom apartment in the same complex. I looked it up.”

Oliver glances at me, a little smile on his face, his eyes bright and full of humor.

“You looked it up?” he asks.

“Well… yeah. It was annoying me.”

He chuckles, it’s a lovely sound I don’t often hear, and it goes straight to my center.

“You may have just discovered something really important, Lissa,” he murmurs, and my heart swells at the praise. “Thank you. If Reynolds isn’t declaring this apartment, then he might not want his wife to know about it.”

“He wouldn’t actually set up a mistress in the same building he lives in with his wife, though, would he?”

“You haven’t met Richard Reynolds—the man has no scruples whatsoever. I wouldn’t be surprised if he bought the one directly next door. Going down a few floors would be a major inconvenience for him.” He hits the paper with the back of his hand. “Excellent work. Send Noah in when he’s back, and I’ll talk to him about it.”

I smile, turning to leave when strong fingers grip my wrist, and I look back at him. His eyes aren’t on me; they’re on the door, and my heart picks up as he tugs me over to him, his mouth coming down on mine in a molten kiss that has me collapsing against him immediately, unable to stifle the groan of need.

It feels like years since he kissed me, and it was only yesterday.

His tongue moves against mine, his hands proprietary and strong on my back as he explores my mouth, groaning softly before he pulls back slightly, his eyes flicking to the door again.

“Good job,” he murmurs against my lips, before he goes back to his desk and sits down.

He doesn’t look up at me again, and I place the backs of my hands on my hot cheeks, hoping I don’t look as flustered as I feel as I leave the office.

The universe is smiling down on me, however, because Adelaide isn’t outside, and I can go back to my desk without anyone seeing me. It takes me a long time to focus again on my work, thoughts of Oliver looping through my mind.

I can’t believe he kissed me during the workday—and with the door open.

Chapter 28

Oliver

For the remainder of the day, I have one-on-ones scheduled with my team to discuss the cases they’re working on.