Series: Shifter Ops Series by Renee Rose
Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 65371 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 327(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 218(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65371 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 327(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 218(@300wpm)
She’s eaten some slices of cheese and half the bottle of olives, my wolf notes with satisfaction. He wants to feed her up.
I swing open the door and deliberately scuff my feet on the mat, so she’ll hear me.
She glances up at me and holds up a hand. The person on the other end of the line squawks, and Julia rubs her forehead. “Yes, the last available transcript–”
I hear the sharp tones of some irritated administrator on the other end giving her hassle. “I don’t have any Sanchez in the system.”
“My last name is Sanchez. His last name is Armstrong. A-R-M-S-T-R-O-N-G.”
Julia’s work phone starts ringing. She pulls it out of her back pocket and glares at the screen.
“Let me.” I hold out my hand for the phone with the school administrator.
She backs away with a little shake of her head, clutching both phones in her hand.
I hate that she’s stressed. That she has the weight of the world on her shoulders with no one to give her a break. I hate that it’s my fault. My wolf wants to pull her into the circle of my arms and comfort her. But she’d never allow that.
I advance with shifter speed and pluck the phone right from her hand.
Julia
One second, I’m getting the runaround from a school administrator with a voice like a Brillo pad. The next, I'm talking to air.
I answer the call from Kim, the opposing counsel on an acquisition my boss is attempting, while half-listening to Channing.
“Hello, there, who am I speaking to?” Channing holds the phone to his ear. He winks at me, flashing that dimpled grin that probably gets him into every woman’s pants. “Hi, Barbara. How are you?” Channing purrs, his voice silky smooth. “I know you’re busy today, but let me say, you have a beautiful voice.”
I roll my eyes but turn away, confident he can handle Barbara. “Mr. van den Berg is not willing to budge on any of those items. There may be wiggle room on the severance packages, but that’s it,” I tell Kim. “I will take a look at your mark-ups, but I can already tell you, it’s non-negotiable.”
I hear Channing charming Barbara into sending the transcript without delay. “I appreciate that, Barbara. Send it to…” he glances at me, and I point to Woodman Prep’s address listed on the forms I set on the counter.
He’s using that aw shucks tilt of his head. It works, even over the phone. Damn.
Kim tells me she will go back to her boss again.
“Great. If you think it would help to schedule a sit-down with the major players and hammer this out in person, van den Berg and I can probably come out to New York next week.” I can’t believe I’m offering to travel for this. I hate traveling because of all the pre-arranging it takes to make sure Geo’s covered, but some negotiations just don’t happen between lawyers. You have to get the players in the room together.
I end the call with Kim at the same time Channing ends the call with Brillo Barbara and blasts me with his dimples.
I shake my head. “Another woman bedazzled by your charm.”
“I’m here to help.” Channing invades my space, taking my work phone and placing it on the countertop before backing me into it. He’s shirtless, and the scent of his sweat, clean and manly, makes my core throb.
“It doesn’t work on me,” I lie.
“You sure about that?” His low rumble goes straight to my core.
I turn away, but now I’m trapped between the kitchen cabinets and his body. Worse, I don’t want to move.
“I was handling that just fine without your help.”
“I know what your problem is,” he purrs in my ear. Why have I let him get so close? His hands come to my shoulders, kneading them. It feels so good, I bite back a moan. “You have control issues.”
Of course, he’s right. Most lawyers are type A. Organized. Controlling. “I’m a single mom. I have to be on top of things.” My argument is weakened by the way my head lolls on my neck, blissfully accepting his massage.
“You need to relax. I can help you with that.”
“You're a pain in the ass,” I grumble.
“I can be a pain in your ass.”
My eyes fly open. His cock is digging into my ass. “What?” I face him, and he looks so innocent.
“What?”
“Back off.” I risk putting my hand to his chest to push him away. His skin sears my palm. He takes the tiniest step back. “I don’t want your help.”
“I’m sorry.” He holds up both hands. “I know you’ve been running the show all by yourself all these years. I totally left you in the lurch. You’ve done an amazing job. But I’m here now and want to help. But wouldn’t it be nice to relax and let someone else take over?” I close my eyes to put some space between us, but his deep voice rumbles through me. “It’d be so easy. Just lie back and let me do all the work.”