higher. “Then, yes, I should very much like to call you Reese.”
His name came from low in her throat, and sounded really quite wonderful, as if she’d been meant to say his name, just that way, all her life.
She sighed. “Was that all you wished to say to me?”
“No.” He rubbed a hand across his forehead. “Forgive me for not getting to the point sooner. I’ve spent the majority of the afternoon pouring over legal briefs and my mind is still half on the pages.”
His confession softened her guard and Callie found herself feeling a moment of deep affection for this man. “My brother is much the same way,” she said. “After a long day of pouring over contracts, Garrett is the worst conversationalist imaginable.”
Reese visibly relaxed at this. “Then you understand my abruptness earlier.”
“Indeed I do.”
A shadow of a smile played across his lips.
Callie responded in kind.
For that one moment, everything felt right between them, comfortable even, a solidarity that went beyond words.
But then...
Reese’s brow creased in thought. His brow often creased in thought, she realized, rather liking the result. The studious look made him appear half as stern as usual, twice as appealing. And so very, very handsome.
“You mentioned that Mrs. Singletary sent you over to retrieve a package from me.” His brows pulled tighter together, making him appear more confused than thoughtful. “Do you know what package she meant?”
“She didn’t give me any details.” Callie tried to shrug off her own bafflement. “She merely said that you would be expecting me before the end of business today.”
Frowning now, he glanced at his desk.
Callie followed the direction of his gaze, but saw no package, only several piles of papers, a cup of writing utensils, countless ledgers of assorted sizes and an ink pot.
“She must have meant the revised contracts.” Making a sound deep in his throat, Reese moved around to the other side of his desk. Instead of reaching for one of the larger stacks, he placed his hand over a single piece of paper. Folded from top to bottom, it looked more like a letter than a legal brief.
Shaking his head, he muttered something under his breath. Callie didn’t catch all of what he said, but she thought she might have heard something about meddlesome, interfering woman.
“Mr. Bennett...I mean, Reese,” she amended when he looked up sharply. “Is something the matter?”
He drummed his fingers atop the letter. “No.” He drew in a slow, careful breath. “Everything is in order.”
His tone said otherwise.
“You are certain?”
For a span of three breaths, he said nothing, merely held her gaze. Then, he gave a single nod of his head. “Yes.”
He looked back down at his desk, reached out and stuffed one of the smaller stacks into a leather satchel.
He started to flip over the lid then paused.
His gaze shifted to where the folded piece of paper still sat. A moment’s hesitation and, with a swift move, he picked up the letter and placed that inside the satchel, as well.
His lips were twisted at a wry angle as he came back around his desk. “Here you are. The package Mrs. Singletary sent you to retrieve.”
“Thank you.”
Their fingers briefly touched as he transferred the satchel into her care. Callie smothered a gasp as her heartbeat picked up speed. Her mouth went dry.
Every muscle in her body tensed.
Her strong, inexplicable, tangible reaction over a light brush of their hands mortified her.
Hiding her reaction beneath lowered lashes, she turned to go.
Reese’s voice stopped her at the threshold of his office. “Callie.”
She paused, looked over her shoulder. “Yes?”
“I still have more to say to you.”
Glory. That sounded ominous.
His footsteps struck the wood floor as he approached her from behind. Closer. Closer. He reached around her, grabbed the door as if to shut it, then quickly dropped his hand and stepped back.
Callie felt a cold rush of air sweep over her.
“I prefer not to speak to your back.”
She turned around to face him.
He leaned toward her, a mere fraction closer. “I wanted to tell you...” His words trailed off as he considered her through slightly narrowed eyes. “That is, have a nice day.”
Have a nice day? Reese had asked her to face him so he could tell her to have a nice day?
Perplexed, she gave up all pretense of control and gaped at the confounding man. If she was wise, she would turn around again and walk out the door. After, of course, she issued the same nonsensical platitude he’d just given her.
Or...
She could be a little more daring. She could tap in to the woman she’d been long ago, before a secret scandal had nearly ruined her.
“No, Reese.” She took a step toward him. “I will not have a nice day.”
A single, winged eyebrow lifted in surprise. “I beg your pardon?”
“I have five brothers,” she said in way of explanation. “Three older and two younger.”
Now both eyebrows rose.
It was a very intimidating look. Dark, brooding, slightly dangerous. Most women would be cowed. Callie was not. “I know precisely when a man is skirting around the truth.”
“Did you just call me out for lying?”
At the sound of his masculine outrage, mutiny swept through her, making her bolder than she’d been in a very long time.
“Take it however you will. But I’m not leaving this office until you tell me exactly why you really asked to speak with me—” she closed the distance between them and pinned him with her gaze “—and why you requested to do so in private.”
* * *
Reese’s chest felt odd. His pulse quickened in his veins. His throat tightened. All because this woman, a woman he’d known for years, had morphed into a completely different creature than the docile, overly polite, levelheaded wallflower she presented to the world.
The transformation had nothing to do with the clothes she wore. And everything
