While he’d been taking meetings and doing whatever security people did, she’d planted herself in his theatre room and had spent the time catching up on the shows she’d missed while in hospital.
But she was bored.
There was only so much television she could watch, and she’d reached her limit. She needed to do something productive. Something that engaged her mind.
Grabbing her phone, she called her company,something she should’ve done when she’d first arrived at Andy’s house. The doctor had told her that she couldn’t return to work until she was a bit more mobile, but he didn’t say she couldn’t work for home.
Why she hadn’t thought of that until now, shocked her. There had been times in the past when she’d worked from home.
Her manager answered with a bright, cheery welcome. “Narelle! It’s good to hear from you. How are you doing?”
“Hi, Tina, I’m good, getting better with every day that passes. But I’m also going out of my mind with boredom. I was thinking that I could work from home until I’ve been given the all clear from the doctor.”
“I’m sure something can be arranged. Let me get back to you. Everything is being handled well here. Camille has taken up the slack and is doing a good job.”
While Narelle wasn’t worried her co-worker could replace her, she was surprised that Camille had stepped up and taken on more responsibility. In the past, the other woman had been more interested in gossiping with everyone else than doing her job.
Maybe she’d misjudged Camille, and all she’d needed was an opportunity for a little more responsibility to shine. “That’s good.”
“Don’t be concerned that your job is in jeopardy. You’re invaluable to us,” Tina reassured her.
“Thanks for saying that. It’s always nice to hear.”
“I see you replacing me one day, Narelle. I think when I leave, the department will be in good hands.”
Was Tina hinting that she was leaving soon? Or was she just reinforcing what she’d stated earlier?
Either way, she couldn’t help but feel flattered that her direct manager thought she was executive level material. “Thank you. I hope you’re not leaving anytime soon, though.”
Tina laughed. “Not yet, but you know you never grow if you remain in the same position. I’m looking at options.”
Okay, this was not how Narelle expected their conversation to go. “Right. Well, you can trust me to keep this to myself until you’re ready to move on.”
“I know I can trust you. That’s why I had no problems saying what I did. Now, I’ve got a meeting in five minutes, but I’ll look into arranging to get your laptop to you and go from there.”
“Thanks, Tina. I’ll email you the address of where I’m staying.”
“Excellent. Talk soon.”
Narelle disconnected the call and stared at her phone, still not quite believing what transpired over the last five minutes. Before she forgot, she quickly sent Tina an email with Andy’s address details.
“Hey, Bug, you doing okay?”
She looked up and found Andy standing in the doorway, leaning against it in that sexy, carefree way of his. “Bug?”
He sauntered toward her, a small smile ghosting his lips. “Yeah.”
“Is that supposed to be a term of endearment, because I fail to see how it could be.” Did Andy think she was a bug, one that sucked the joy of people’s afternoons or evenings by constantly annoying them? Or landing in their food.
The only decent bug was a ladybug. She’d collected them as a kid and had a tattoo of one on her left shoulder, which Andy would’ve seen during their night together. Well, he should’ve, but maybe he hadn’t, which was why he’d never said anything to her.
His finger traced a circle on the shoulder where her tattoo was, her skin coming to life at the simpletouch. Her shirt had slipped down, exposing it. A second later, she felt the light brush of his lips over it.
She couldn’t do anything to stop the fully body shiver from rippling out.
“I’d forgotten you had that,” he murmured, his mouth still close to her skin.
Whatever annoyance she had with the nickname he’d given her, it disappeared as his mouth trailed across her shoulder and up her neck.
