Page 8 of Daddy, Sir

“Oh. Sorry. I won’t call you Jack.” Tatiana wanted to smack her forehead.Of course, he doesn’t want you to call him Jack.Silence stretched between them as she watched him loosen what she supposed were the lung nuts. Finally, the car rose. He really did know how to do this.

“You can call me Jack when we’re with other people.”

After the long pause, she realized she hadn’t screwed things up so badly. He had simply been concentrating. “Oh. Okay. Thanks, Jack.”

He removed the tire and threw it in the trunk of his car. He stopped and took a picture of the label inside her car door. “Let’s go get this tire fixed.”

Tatiana allowed him to help her into his car. When she struggled to secure the buckle in the unfamiliar vehicle, the captain silently took it from her hand and snapped it into place. “Thanks.”

“I’ve got you, little girl.”

He circled the hood and slid inside. After an efficiently made U-turn, the captain headed toward town and turned where Tatiana missed turning. The captain didn’t chatter. Tatiana sat quietly. She’d already disturbed him so much.

She noted the name of the tire shop. It was good to know an honest place to go. There were businesses out there that preyed on clueless women.

In a few minutes, as Tatiana stood out of the way, the mechanic fixed the tire. When she saw Jack pull out his wallet, she rushed forward. “I can pay for it.” She crossed her fingers that it wouldn’t be too much.

“Already done,” Jack said, handing the mechanic a few bills.

In a few moments, they headed back to where her car was waiting. Once again, there was a companionable silence between them. Tatiana relaxed against the seat, knowing Jack would have her back on the road quickly.

“Thank you, Captain. For all of this.” Tatiana waved a hand through the interior of the car and toward the trunk behind them.

“I want you to promise me you’ll call if you are in another situation like this,” he said, looking over at her with a serious expression.

“You are going to be so sorry you hired me.”

“That’s not going to happen. Promise,” he ordered.

“Yes, Sir. I promise.”

“Good girl,” he said, parking his car on the shoulder.

He had her car put back together in a jiffy. “Be careful getting out of here.”

He didn’t leave until she pulled out safely. The captain followed her for a short time before turning off to head the opposite way. Tatiana missed him immediately.

“Stop thinking,” she told herself as she parked her car. Throughout the entire drive, she’d replayed their conversations. One thing he’d said stuck out in her brain.

Then, you bother your Daddy.

She hadn’t processed that phrase when he said it. Her jumbled thoughts had been focused on her worry about the tire and the logistics of getting it fixed.

He hadn’t been talking about her father.

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 graduallyattacked 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.

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