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His heart was melting, and he pretended not to like the light in her eyes as much as he did and rolled until she was cuddling him.
* * *
This was the one day a week she had to go to class early. Feeling glowingly sated, Calista wanted to stay in Ronan’s bed. She lay there warm and naked, with his strong arm around her waist. Relishing this moment was something she could do for a whole lot longer. She found her phone and checked her email, hoping for an excuse to stay in.
A notice popped up from Dodo. Calista wrinkled her nose. Olivia said she’d emailed Dodo again, reminding him communications had to go through her. Guess Dodo didn’t care.
“Dear Calista. Glad you’re trying to take a hand in things, and not just fangirling at the stadium. In that vein, I’m putting you in charge of the January birthday celebration for this weekend. You can handle a b-day BBQ without dumping more on Dahlia’s shoulders, right?”
Grr, that woke her up. One week was minimal notice. Mom would be great for this task. She was on a cruise. Piper could arrange this in under an hour. Piper needed to stay neutral. And the email itself implied Calista couldn’t do this without Dahlia’s help. Dodo wasn’t as stupid as he looked. Calista would have to be in charge of a social event. She had no clue where to start. Calista clicked the screen off and shoved the phone under her pillow.
“What is it?” Ronan murmured, his eyes still shut, his arm tightened at her waist, snuggling her closer.
She’d never bother him with this. She’d take the problem to the special project’s room. “Just class.”
“Hmm,” he murmured, his chest rising with a slow just out of sleep motion. “You want me to comment on that as a captain or as your lover?”
Lover? Ooh, the word sent a heady thrill through her. Captain? Her heart pulsed, that term was great too.
“You still thinking?” A hint of amusement entered his voice, and he opened his blue eyes.
Calista leaned against his chest and propped her chin on her folded hands. Underneath the sensitive skin of her palms and fingers, his heart beat a steady rhythm.
She wanted to slide on top of him and speed the pace up. Her body lit up at the thought, her nipples hardening while her core melted. She’d love to stay right here with him. He’d asked her a question. The answer wasn’t either or for her, she wanted to know all sides of him. “Both.” Her voice came out morning husky.
Ronan lifted his hand and stroked her back from her shoulder to her bum. “Stay in bed with me.”
Her mind lit and eager tingles shot through her like magic heated ice tapping along her nerve endings. She bit hard on her lower lip to stifle a whimper and shifted her breasts against the warm muscles of his chest, rubbing to ease the ache.
Ronan caught his breath. He moved his hands to her hips and clenched his fingers against her. “As captain,” his voice sounded deeper, and he relaxed his hold. “I want all your dreams to come true. You should go meet your commitments.” He stroked her back, up and down. “You decide who to listen to.”
The pull to stay instead was so strong that if he had any idea of the intensity coursing through her body, she’d overwhelm him, that was for certain. That consuming need was the persuading factor. Bottling up her wishes, she eased away. “I have a morning and a late afternoon session.” She pressed her lips to the side of his jaw, stunned that she had even that freedom. “So I suppose it’s dream now and desire later.” She went to hop in the shower.
* * *
Relaxed and crazy happy, but also preoccupied with her new Snowers task, Calista got to class before her classmates, though she was barely on time. Her friends must be sick of the restrictions on their schedules also.
The assignment on the board suggested they work on explaining their team project and delegating tasks. Independent group study was weird, but she was glad the professor wasn’t hovering over them each day. She sank onto her desk chair, though she was tired of sitting upright in this student desk. A professional office would be nice, at the stadium.
Ronan could drop by and say hello. As captain, he might like an office. All the players could use one, to meet with their agents and to simply have a professional space away from home. They’d never fit comfortably in one of these chair-desk combos, though. They needed big chairs. Her email pinged, delivering the previously requested stadium blueprints. Nice, timely. Calista dug in, ignored when the others arrived, and did a combination of studying and reminiscing about last night until her phone buzzed, letting her know class was almost over. She looked up.
Her classmates were involved with their own work: Vivien staring hard at her laptop; Olivia writing in a legal pad; and Artie, running his weird robot arm in circles around their chairs. The robot wrist was bent backwards, and a red sensor beamed from its fingertips.
Calista bit her tongue to stop from muttering how eerie the toy was. The professor would likely consider that unsupportive. See? She had restraint. “Dodo emailed. He wants me to arrange the January team birthday party for this weekend. I don’t even know who all has a birthday in January.”
“Hang on. I’ll check the HR database.” Vivien tapped on her laptop.
Olivia frowned. “Dodo’s emails are supposed to go through me.”
“I know.” They shared a look about how annoying Dodo was.
Olivia made a note to herself, then looked at Calista. “It’s a simple request, he has my email address.” Olivia sounded put out. “At least he could copy me. He’s setting you up.”
“I can handle a party.” Calista’s voice wavered.
Vivien pulled her llama hoodie back and arched her dark eyebrow in doubt.
Olivia’s gaze shot to the window as if something fascinating were outside.
