With Everything I Am(127)

Sonia stifled her sigh, dashed milk (not skim but also not full fat, thank God) into her coffee and started to head to Callum’s study but stopped when Maraleena called out to her.

Sonia watched as Maraleena pulled down another sweep-lined, earth brown mug with turquoise interior and poured in coffee and milk.

She handed it to Sonia who took it in her free hand.

“For Cal,” she muttered and grinned. “He’ll like that you’re looking after him even though you chose for us to do the, um… bulk of it.”

Sonia nodded and smiled her gratitude to Maraleena but on the way to his study she had a mind to throw his coffee mug out the window. She liked the mug too much, so she didn’t.

He was sitting behind his big desk when she appeared in the door and his handsome, dark head came up instantly.

Somehow from yesterday to today his desk had become covered in strewn and stacked papers and files, mounds of post and an open laptop.

She gazed at the mess on his desk and couldn’t stop herself from asking in all jest, “Are you planning another war?”

He burst out laughing and her body jerked then stilled at the rich sound.

She’d made him grin. She’d made him smile. She’d made him chuckle. She’d heard him laugh, even at her. But she’d never purposefully made him laugh and doing it made her feel like she’d planted her flag at the top of world’s most treacherous mountain.

“No,” he replied after he got control of his humor. “This is what it normally looks like.”

“You need an assistant,” she informed him, walking forward trying to get control of herself and sound curt and not doing a very good job of it (because she wasn’t a curt-sounding person).

“I have four, Ryon, Calder, Caleb and Drogan. None of them are good with paperwork,” Callum told her on a grin.

Sonia figured that was the truth. None of those men seemed the paperwork kind.

She stopped on the opposite side of the desk and reached over it, trying to find a safe place to lay his mug. Then she scooted some papers aside to expose the blotter and put the mug down because he hardly could have a system going that she would mess up in that clutter.

“You brought me coffee,” he stated and his voice was soft and warm.

She looked at him not wanting him to get any ideas. “Maraleena thought you might like a cup.”

“I do,” he replied. “Would you like to know what I’d like more?”

No, she wouldn’t.

“Callum –” she began but he interrupted her.

“What I’d like is to know why you’re standing over there?”

She straightened her shoulders, deciding the time had finally come and declared, “Because we need to talk.”

“You can talk in my lap.”

“I’d rather talk from over here.”

His voice was firm but still soft and warm when he ordered, “Sonia, come here.”

That voice did weird things to her system. Weird things such as setting the urge upon her. Weird things such as making her want to sit in his lap and put her mouth on him. Anywhere. Everywhere.

Yes, just his voice.

She fought the urge back.

“No, Callum, I –” she stopped speaking because he stood up.

Then she stared at him as he rounded his desk.

She began retreating too late.

He grabbed one of her wrists, pulled the coffee cup out of her other hand, set it on some papers on his desk and, as she tried to twist her wrist free, he yanked her to him. Then she was in his arms. He walked back around the desk and sat down with her in his lap. He calmly leaned forward, nabbed her cup and handed it to her then nabbed his.

Finally, his attention came to her and he invited, “Now, baby doll, what’s on your mind?”

Nothing.

Nothing was on her mind except for the fact that she was again in his lap where she’d told him she didn’t want to be.

“Sonia?”

She blinked at him, wanting to cry and scream at the same time (not to mention scratch his eyes out).

He waited.

She didn’t speak. There were too many words to say and she couldn’t put even two of them together.

“I see this is one of those times,” he muttered mysteriously, not sounding irritated or angry about whatever one of those times was, but amused. “All right, little one, this is what we’re going to do today,” he told her softly. “We’re going to go upstairs, I’m going to give you your injection then we’re going to go into town.”

She wasn’t keeping up. Her mind was churning but her body was registering the fact that she liked the safe, comfort of him so close.

“To town?” she asked.

“To town,” he answered. “Then we’re going to come home and you’re going to take it easy the rest of the day,” he finished. “Agreed?”