My reprimand doesn’t even slow him down. “The owner is on the phone and wants to talk to you personally.”
“Shit.” I look over to where Lumi is fussing with one of the branches, “Okay, give me a moment, and I’ll take the call in your office.”
He nods, “I’ll let him know you are on your way.”
I stand and let my little elf do a little more rearranging before I step up and put my hands on her hips. She gasps and turns to me, but I don’t let her go when she makes a move to put space between us.
“I have to step out for just a second. Somethings come up that I can’t put off. I’ll be back soon. Don’t get on that ladder without someone being in here with you.”
She gives me a smile and nods her head, but doesn’t give me a verbal answer. I drop a kiss on her lips before taking a step back, the urge to throw her over my desk too strong for even me to fight against.
“If you need something, just ask John. If you need anything at all. I’ll be back soon, and then we’ll go home.”
Her eyes widen a little, but all I get is another nod. I watch her go back to the tree and bend over to grab a box of tinsel before I leave. My last image of my little Christmas angel is of that gorgeous backside I want my handprints on.
Chapter Fifteen
Lumi
Ifinish most of what I can do without climbing on the ladder, and Luka still isn’t back. He’s been acting odd today. First, not talking to me at all in the car, and then being a little overly touchy on our elevator ride and walk to his office. Then the little kisses he drops on my lips, but stays gone while I’m around, like he can’t stand to be in the same room with me. What am I supposed to think?
I humph to myself as I look around the room. It’s exactly the kind of room I would picture Luka doing business in. I step up to the floor-to-ceiling windows and look out at the city down below. Up this high, it almost looks peaceful and tame, but I know differently. The city can be a scary place when you have no one in it to worry about you or care about whether or not you're dead or alive.
I turn away from the view and busy myself cleaning up as best I can since I’m not done. He mentioned going home after he came back. Did he mean my home or his home? All the decorating is done at his house. There’s nothing more I can do there unless he wants to sit down with me and figure out a shopping list and budget for me to work with.
There aren’t that many days left on his contract, and then I won’t ever see him again. The thought makes me sadder than it should. I shake myself out of my funk and step back over to the tree. It’s stupid that I’m just standing around doing nothing when things need to be done. Even if he doesn’t want me shopping for his mother and sister, I’m sure there is something else that needs to be done, and I can’t move on until this tree gets fixed.
Even though I told him I wouldn’t use the ladder without someone being with me, what could it hurt? I didn’t exactly promise him I wouldn’t, so I wouldn’t be breaking my word to him. Not like I would if I had promised him. I lug the big ass metal thing over to the tree and fix it into place. It’s bigger than the normal ladders I’ve used because the tree is bigger. It should be fairly easy to run up it and finish decorating. It’s just a few little ornaments after all. That way, he doesn’t have to wait for me to finish when he gets back.
The first two or so go just like I plan, and the last one…not so much. I think I have it just right, but it drops. I grab for it, unbalancing myself. I realize the second I’m in big trouble, and the last thing that goes through my head before the ground rushes up to meet me is that Luka is going to gloat so hard about being right when he finds me. The last thing I hear is the ornament breaking on the floor as my world goes dark.
When I come to, it’s to find myself in Luka’s arms with others standing around us. My head throbs, and there's gray at the edges of my vision. Luka calls my name, but it hurts to keep my eyes open for too long, and I find myself sinking back into the darkness that offers some relief.
I can periodically hear little snippets of conversation, but I can’t make out voices or hear anything that would pull me out of my sleep. Nothing except Luka’s voice gently coaxing me to open my eyes. Somehow, in my dreams, I’ve mixed him up with the biker from my apartment building, so he’s not just Luka the businessman who always gets what he wants. Now, he’s making threats and offering to burn the world down if I’m not taken care of. Maybe I should lay off the Mafia romances for a little while.
I slowly open my eyes to see if I’m alone and all of this has been just a big ugly dream brought on by warnings from Luka about the ladders, but quickly realize it wasn’t all a dream. The pain that bursts behind my eyes when I open them is very real, as is the dizziness that comes with it. I raise my hand to touch my head where most of the pain is concentrated, but I'm stopped by someone gently taking my wrist and pulling it down.
“Don’t touch the dressing, baby.”
I look over to find a blurry Luka holding my hand before he entwines our fingers together, bringing mine up so he can brush them against his soft lips. Things don’t really make sense. The pain is real, but surely this has to be a dream. Right?
“Oh, she’s awake.”
My head snaps around, but a massive wave of pain crushes me and causes me to cry out before I see who spoke. My hands come up to touch my head, but Luka doesn’t let go of me, so only one arrives at its destination.
“How are you feeling, Mrs. Frost?”
Is this woman asking how Luka’s mom is doing? Is she here?
“Darling, tell the nurse how you’re feeling?”
Darling?
“Um…my head hurts.”
“I bet. We can do something about that now that you’re awake, thankfully.”
I slowly track the voice and see a pretty blonde in scrubs.
