“Good morning, Jessa.” I smiled at her. Her eyes skittered back and forth between Xander and me a few times before her shoulders relaxed slightly and she offered me a little grin back.
“Morning, Miss Lewis.”
“Calista, please.”
“Umm, okay.” She shifted in her seat nervously. “I have some paperwork for you to fill out.” She dug through a stack of folders on her desk, almost knocking them over before Xander grew impatient and went to the filing cabinet behind her to yank open a drawer. He pulled out a manila file and handed it to her. She shoved it towards me like she thought it was going to explode in her hands or something. “If you could get most of it back to me by tomorrow, that would be great. But I’d like the contact information this morning, if that’s okay.”
“Sure, but I’ll have to change most of it soon since I’m going apartment hunting this weekend.”
“Oh, okay. That’s fine, I guess.” Her gaze darted down at the folder and then back up to my face. “My grandmother lives in a great neighborhood, and the house next door to her just went up for sale. It’s super convenient to work, too.”
“It’s sweet of you to mention it, but I don’t want the hassle of a house. I’m not used to being around to do maintenance stuff because I used to travel a lot for work, so I never needed to learn how to do that stuff. An apartment or condo will work better for me.”
“There are a couple of open units in my building,” the dark-haired guy offered, having made his way down the hall and into the reception area. His eyes scanned up and down my body as he offered me a cocky smile. “Or if you’re looking for a roommate, you could just move in with me.”
“Shut the fuck up, Reid. And go put on some real clothes, dammit,” Xander growled at him. I felt his fingers wrap around my upper arm, and Jessa looked like she was about to have a panic attack as she stared at us with wide eyes. I let him lead me into his office without putting up a fight. He might have won the little battle on the mat the day before, but that didn’t mean he was going to win all of them. But he didn’t have to know that. Not yet, anyway.
“That’s not quite how I pictured this morning going,” I sighed after he shut the door behind us.
“Fuck,” he groaned, running his hands through his dark hair and making it look like he’d just rolled out of bed. “This is going to be a lot harder than I thought. There’s no fucking way I’m going to be able to stand by and watch as my guys flirt with you. Not even on my best day, which today most definitely isn’t because I barely slept last night. It only took one damn night for me to get used to having you in my arms.”
“I didn’t sleep well, either,” I admitted softly.
He moved behind me and wrapped his arms around me. “I should have done it.”
“Done what?” I leaned against him, feeling myself relax for the first time since I walked out yesterday.
“It took everything I had in me not to break into your hotel room last night. If I’d known you needed me, I wouldn’t have held back. But with the way you stormed out of here yesterday, I figured you needed a little time to adjust.”
“I did,” I sighed.
His arms tightened. “I understand, or at least I’m trying to. But never again, Calista. If we have a problem, we’re going to hash it the fuck out right away. There won’t be any going to bed angry, or without each other, in this relationship.”
“I wasn’t angry when I went to bed.” Even though he couldn’t see my face, I closed my eyes as I opened myself up to him. I might be a badass when it came to my job, but not so much when it came to being emotionally vulnerable. “It was guilt for how I reacted. For what I said to you. I’m so sorry.”
“Calista. Baby,” he sighed, turning me in his arms and cupping my jaw in his palms to turn my face up. “Open those fucking gorgeous brown eyes and look at me.”
I did as he asked, and the soft look on his face made me want to cry. “I’m not going to ask the doctor for the morning after pill,” I blurted out. “I’m going to go in and see her, though. If we’re going to keep on doing this, then I need to do something about birth control. For the future. In case I’m not already pregnant.”
“There’s no if about it, Calista. We’re definitely going to keep having sex." My lips parted, but he didn’t give me the chance to argue before he swooped down and claimed my mouth in a demanding kiss. One that left me almost breathless by the time he lifted his head again. “Often.”