Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Slowly, with each day that passed, Tatiana eliminated the files off her desk. Each morning, she would find the blank space refilled with more of the backlog. She was amused to see the stacks behind his desk diminishing.
Tatiana liked her job. Although she was busy, the captain trusted her instincts. She found she had a natural talent of choosing when to make a decision and when to consult her boss. Thank goodness she hadn’t run into any more financial challenges. She would get paid the next week and that should ease her non-existent budget.
Captain Murphy had treated her with the same gentle civility as he had from the beginning. She wanted to please him and worked hard. The only thing missing was a repetition of personal comments, as he had made in the beginning. She figured as he had gotten used to her, he’d decided she wasn’t Little.
That was okay. He couldn’t force himself to think of her that way. Tatiana couldn’t help but be disappointed. The more time they spent together, the more she fantasized about him.
Forcing that train of thought from her head, Tatiana snuck into his office to collect another pile of folders. She’d stopped waiting for him to replenish her tasks and had gradually attacked the backlog. With an eye out to avoid anything marked top secret or confidential, she’d eliminated a foot of one stack.
“Caught you,” a deep voice said from behind her.
Tatiana whirled with a squeak of surprise. The heel of her sensible loafer slid on one file and she crashed to the ground. Pain lanced through her ankle. “Crap. Crap. Crap!” she cried out, grabbing her injury.
“That has to be the dumbest thing I’ve ever done.” The captain’s voice rumbled with concern as he squatted down at her side. “Let me see what you’ve done, little one.”
“It’s okay. I just need to walk around a bit on it,” she assured him in a rush of words and immediately tried to pull her legs underneath her to get up. A stab of agony zinged through her ankle, causing her to cry out and freeze.
“You’ve really hurt yourself, Tatiana. We need to get a doctor to look at you now,” Captain Murphy told her in a tone that would brook no arguments.
She tried anyway. “I’m fine. I’m always dramatic over the smallest ache. I’ll be fine.”
Trying to distract him so she could somehow get herself off his floor and make it back to her chair to keep working, Tatiana glanced up at the clock and reminded him, “You have an appointment with that new committee in three minutes. Go.”
“I know. I came back to get those notes you made for me. Now, there’s something much more important I need to take care of.” He pulled out his phone and tapped on the screen. “There. I’ve notified them of an emergency and that I’ll join the team next month.”
“You should have gone.”
“And leave you here on the floor? That’s never going to happen,” the captain told her with a look of disbelief. “Come on. Let’s get you to the health office on base. Put your weight on me and on your good foot.”
He stood and effortlessly lifted her up to stand one-legged. “I’m going to pick you up, Tatiana. Loop your arms around my neck.”
He didn’t wait for her to follow his directions, but simply swept her off her good foot and carried her to the outer office. Sitting her on her desk, the captain looked at her and asked, “Where’s your purse? Anything else we need to take with us?”
“My tablet and phone. Well, your phone,” she suggested before rushing to say, “I’ll be fine in a few minutes. The ache is getting better.”
“Do not lie to me, little girl. Your face is drawn with pain, and I can see tears in your eyes. We are going to get you looked at.”
“My insurance doesn’t kick in for thirty days. I’ll go then if it still hurts.”
“You will go now. We’ll figure out the finances after you are treated,” Captain Murphy decreed. “Where is your purse?”
Mentally, she shook her head. She wouldn’t win this argument with him. Her ankle did hurt badly. “It’s in my bottom left drawer.”
He quickly retrieved it and looped the short strap over his forearm before picking her up. “Let me know if I hurt you.”
Tatiana nodded as she looped her arms around his shoulders. The captain carried her through the hallways and out the main doors to his car. A few people asked questions, but he answered briefly that they were on their way to the doctor’s office. She could hear the buzz of their conversations as they left each area. The rumors were going to be rampant.
“Stop worrying,” he told her right outside the front doors.
She looked up at him and nodded. “How do you always know what I’m thinking?”
“I’m a good guesser. Now, I’m going to put you in the back seat with your foot elevated. I don’t want to bump your foot getting you into the front seat.”
“I can get in the front,” she rushed to assure him as they reached his car.
“Open the door for me, Tati.”
Automatically, she reached for the handle and pulled it up. Captain Murphy elbowed the door fully open before carefully placing her sideways in the back seat. He pulled the seat belt around her, placed her purse on her lap, and closed the door.
When he sat in the driver’s seat, the captain turned around to ask, “Do you have any pain relievers in your purse?”
“I have some headache tablets.” Tatiana rifled through her purse to find them.
“That’s better than nothing.” He broke the seal on a small bottle of water from the cupholder in his console.
She dutifully took two.
As he drove, each bump and stop made her leg hurt. She looked forward to the dampening effect of the pills. “Thank you for thinking of the painkillers.”
“It’s hurting?”
“Not bad.”
“That’s the second time you’ve lied to me today. One more and I will spank your bottom.”
Her jaw dropped open. “You’re not supposed to say that.”
“To an employee, no. To a Little girl, absolutely.”
“I thought you’d decided I wasn’t right for you?” Tatiana blurted, the pain making her forget what she should and shouldn’t say.
“Never. I wanted to give you time to settle in before I turned your world upside down.”
“Like over your lap?” Tatiana slapped her hand over her mouth, appalled she’d asked that question, and jarred herself in the process.
Her moan made Captain Murphy turn to look at her. “Exactly. Now, stop moving around back there. We’re almost there.”
“Where are we going?”
“I have a buddy that owes me a favor. Let me give him a heads-up.”
Captain Murphy selected a contact on his phone and connected the call. He switched it to the Bluetooth speaker.
After two rings, a man answered, “Jack, you bastard. You missed our last poker game.”
“Hey, Brent. I have a favor to ask. Will you check out a young woman’s ankle for me?”
“Sure. Come on in. I’ll tell my receptionist to have her brought right back. Someone special?”
“Yes. She doesn’t have insurance yet. Can I just give you money directly instead of wasting an hour at the poker table?” Captain Murphy asked.
“No charge for someone special. See you soon.”
“Thanks, Brent. I owe you one.”
“Damn right, you do. And congratulations.”
Tatiana watched her boss’s reflection in the rearview mirror smile slightly and knew the two men had known each other well for a long time. “One of your service buddies?”
“Yes. But more than that. We were on a special ops team for a few years. I don’t know who saved whose ass more. I trust him with my life. Brent will take good care of you.”
Wrapping her arms around herself, Tatiana tried to relax against the seat. She didn’t know how she’d lucked out to end up here—in this job, working for this man. But she knew she’d hit the equivalent of the lottery.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“I’ve got you. We’ll talk when you’re feeling better, but I plan on making you my Little girl.”
She didn’t know how to answer that. Tatiana crossed her fingers hoping her lucky streak would continue.