Page 46 of Lesson In Trust
Stretching the kinks out of his shoulders, Evander rose and shoved the laptop into its carry bag, slinging the strap over his shoulder.
They’d return to this suite when they came back to Denver in a week’s time so if he left anything unimportant behind, it would still be here and not in a lost items box downstairs.
“Double team?”
Eli smirked. “I have a plan.”
“Of course, you do.”
They left the area he’d earmarked as a temporary office, and strolled down to the spare room Callie was using to write. He dropped the bag outside the door.
“Ready?”
In answer, Eli knocked once, then pushed the barrier open to reveal Callie sitting cross-legged in the middle of the bed, the laptop supported by her knees.
He heard music pulsing through the buds in her ears, even over the rapid clicking of her fingers on the keys.
She never even glanced up.
“She gets incredibly focused. I’ve had to confiscate the computer a few times just so she’ll eat.”
Evander understood that drive, the need to push and push until the work was done. He was guilty of doing the same, although now they had Callie to tend to, he realized it was likely time to start delegating more responsibility to those he trusted within the company.
His days of letting the work rule him were coming to an end; he’d built something legendary in his circles, now it was time to reap some of the rewards.
Several people were going to be happy with their new promotions, and subsequent raises.
He watched the way Eli approached the bed, studying his friend. No nonsense stance, purposeful walk… Eli was in charge, and he damn well knew it.
When he gently closed the laptop, Callie’s head snapped up to glare at the intrusion, her eyes glassy and lost in concentration. “Hey, I’m not…”
“Yes, little minx,” Eli stated, adding a heavy dollop of his accent to the words, “you are done for the day.”
She gripped the sides of the laptop like a lifeline, her head tilting as she tried to read his lips. “What?”
Shaking his head, Eli reached out and plucked the buds free. “Medicine time, Callie.”
She pouted, instantly switching to Little mode. “Don’t want any stupid vitamins.”
Clever asshole, Evander thought with a smirk.
“Then it’s surely a coincidence that this isn’t a vitamin.” Digging into the breast pocket of his suit jacket, he pulled out a sleeve of pills. “We have a trip to make, little one.”
Her eyes narrowed. “In the truck?”
“No. On the plane.”
“Nuh-uh!”
“Mmm-hmm.” From a side pocket, he drew forth a bottle of chewable kid vitamins. “We can do this the adult way, Callie, where you take your meds like a good girl and sleep your way through the flight, or we can play a game.”
Suspicion and curiosity warred on her face, neither quite winning. “A game?”
Eli popped a pill from the packet, then shook one from the bottle. Setting the rest onto the bed, he placed a tablet in each fist and held them behind his back.
“Pick a hand. Whichever pill you pick, you take. I’ll swallow the other one.”
Oh hell, Evander thought in amusement. Was he going to have to carry the unconscious asshole onto the plane?