Winters (Book Five)

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

"Don't let her intimidate you, you're a brilliant engineer," Alexander's voice echoes.

"Oh, don't make it sound like I am scary," I drawl out as I stare at the woman in-between us. I take in the beautifully coiled curls that hang barely to her shoulders. They are a much lighter brown than I would have expected but when she tilts her face back in my direction, my heart jumps into my throat. Her slightly rounded face is framed by her thick frames that sit perfectly on her nose.

"Don't you have more important things to be doing Xander?" I muse, an easy smirk covering my face as we banter as I try to distract myself from one of the most beautiful women I have ever met.

Looking around, I am suddenly seated behind my desk and Avi sits there in her purple blazer. The color is so lovely against her warm light brown skin and it brings out the amber in her eyes. Her expression is so earnest and firm. She wants this job more than anything else, it's in all her micro-expressions.

I ask her a question and her lips twitch and I notice how pink they are in the center and how they fade slightly to a beautiful brown color around the edges. She licks her full lips for a moment before answering my question easily. Her tone echo's with conviction but her words don't matter to me. Even with her nervous energy, her presence is soothing.

My vision feels distorted as I look at her beautiful face. Her lips move and I know she is talking but I am too captivated by her eyes and suddenly her glasses are no longer there. Trying to lean closer, I can see complex patterns of a brilliant amber color tracing through her iris's and I am so enamored.

Standing up, I reach for her hand and her calloused grip surprises me and I look over her hand. Her nails are short and well maintained but I can't help but rub my thumb over the very prominent callouses on the palms of her hands. Looking at her again, her smile is breathtaking but I notice how strong she looks. Her shoulders are broad and the rest of her matches. Her jacket pinches perfectly at the waist and butterflies shoot through my stomach for a moment.

She's like an angel, everything seems so soft and beautiful and her laugh echoes around my head for a few moments making something inside me feel safe. What I would do to marry a woman as amazing as her.

My phone ringing in my ear makes me wake up and roll over and I drag one of Avi's t-shirts with me. Burying my face in it, it helps calm my slightly racing heart as I answer the phone. Realizing that I can't speak, I wait for whoever it is to say something.

"I'm taking this as you are awake," Lyle's amused voice asks and I pry my eyes open and see that it is almost six-thirty. I force a grunt out and my throat instantly tightens.

"You said you would be texting me obscenely early and knowing you that is normally is before six AM. Are you still in bed?" He asks me and I pull the phone away and open our conversation. Rubbing my eyes, I try to focus on the small keyboard and squint at the bright light.

'Yes, I managed to sleep. Not well, but through the night,' I type back but I can't help but to silently relish in having a dream that didn't leave me an anxious mess in the morning.

"I take a full night's worth of sleep when I can. Do you need anything before we meet at Voyager?" He asks me genuinely, the earnestness in his tone reminds me of a much younger Lyle who was less jaded towards the world. Everything changed after his mom faked her death, it always seemed weird how she died, but it was never my place to question it. My job was to support my favorite brothers through their loss.

'Coffee; meet you on the top floor in an hour,' I text back before hanging up.

Throwing myself out of bed, I take my breakfast out to defrost before taking a scalding hot shower. The warm water helps relax my shoulders and neck. Rolling my head back and forth I close my eyes and try to relax before the craziness of the day hits. Feeling as if I am being stared at, my eyes spring open but I suck in a few breaths to calm myself back down.