Charming and Awkward

Chapter 24: I Like A Little Crazy

My cheeks heated.

"It doesn't bother me as long as he doesn't disturb your work."

"I won't let him," I clarified. "Don't worry."

"It's not you I'm worried about so much. I know my son."

Ah, I know him too. Quite well. "Well I'll get to work then. Anything you want me to start with?"

Claire pointed to the phone. "For now, just check the messages and write them down. Sort by most important. And after you cleared all the messages, I have some filing you can do for me."

I smiled. "Okay, got it."

She lightly touched my shoulder and went back to her office. Before I sat down, I walked back down the hall to the supply closet. I smiled when I stepped inside, remembering James dragging me in here and kissing me for the third time.

Oh, gosh. It's bad I remember that it was our third kiss.

But I'm not complaining that it was in a supply closet. Something about sneaking around gave me a rush and I was completely enveloped by it. Knowing you could be caught at any moment was kind of a turn on.

What am I turning into?

I mentally shook myself, gathered what I needed from the supply closet, and walked back to my desk. I sat down and arranged everything in an order that suited me and started jotting down the messages.

The phone was filled with messages. Most of them 'Call me as soon as you get this' messages.

My hand was cramping by the time I was finished with the last one. I stretched my fingers out in front of me before arranging them how she wanted. More important first and then the rest after. I used index cards instead of post-its so they didn't stick together.

I rose from my desk to bring them to Claire. After I gave them to her, she gave me a small stack of files to be organized in her filing cabinets across the room. By that time, we were the only ones left in the office and the sun was gone.

It was also the time James showed up with Chinese food and Claire had stepped out for a few minutes to make a fresh pot of coffee. How convenient.

"Hey," He said and sat the bag of food on his mom's desk.

I glanced over my shoulder. "Hey, Stranger." I slipped in a few papers into one of the file folders and closed the second cabinet to open the top one.

James came up behind me, settling a hand on my hip and his lips dangerously close to my neck.

"James," I warned and bit my lower lip. "Your mom's going to be back any minute."

He pressed a long kiss to my cheek and stepped back. "Wouldn't want to get you in trouble on your first day."

I threw him a smirk over my shoulder. "You're taking me home anyway."

"Whose house?"

I barked out a loud laugh and closed the filing cabinet. "You're hilarious, James," I joked and turned around.

Claire came into her office with a fresh cup of coffee and a smile when she saw James. She greeted him with a small kiss on the cheek. "Good to see you're alive. I haven't seen you since Friday."

"Just been busy, Mom." He smiled and sat down in a chair in front of her desk. "Violet, join us."

"No, it's fine. I still have work to do—"