Free Claiming What's His by Melissa Phillips Page B

should really cut back on the caffeine.  It’s really not good for you.”
    Cut back on her caffeine?  Was she nuts?  Maggie knew that Sam functioned on her coffee, especially if it was from Cozy’s.
    “Yeah, sure.  When monkeys give births to pigs.  I function on caffeine and I don’t plan on stopping any time soon.”
                  Maggie snorted and sipped her coffee.  “So what are your plans for today?
                  “Well, since I will be starting at Conrad on Monday, I need to see if Char can come in today so I could show her around.
                  “Who’s Char?”
                  “Charlotte Murphy,” Sam told her, then cleared her throat and mumbled, “The mother of my four-year-old client.”
                  Maggie laughed and clarified, “You mean four and three quarters.  I’ll see you later.  Gotta go set up for tonight.”
    *******
    The office door opened and Danny bounced in with a McDonald’s bag in one hand and two French fries in the other, aiming up towards his mouth.  Sam had called Char earlier and asked if she could stop by the office so that Sam could cover office duties with her.  She agreed and thirty minutes later, here they were.  Char had a squirming Billy under her arm and she set him down where he set out to discover his new surroundings.
    Danny came jiggling in like he was jamming to a song while he continuously cramming fries in his mouth. 
    Thinking she should tease him a bit, Sam asked, “Danny, where’s my food?”
    Danny came to a halt from his bouncing and stared blankly at Sam.  Then he looked up to his mom who looked down to him, her lips twitching.  Then, he looked back to Sam.  Still with no emotion.  He looked down to his bag of fries.  This seemed to be going on for a while.  He looked up and slowly made his way to Sam where he set down the two fries that were in his hand on the desk.
    “That’s all I get?” she asked, trying to maintain her face even though she wanted to laugh.
    Danny’s brows came together as he opened the bag and bit his bottom lip.  He seemed to be really thinking hard about this and how many more he was going to share.  If he shared any more, then that meant there would be less for him.  And, she could tell that he loved his fries.
    Sam glanced up to Char with her lips twitching to see Char’s lips pressed together to prevent from laughing out loud.
    He reached in and pulled out two more fries, setting those on the desk as well.
    “That’s all?”
    “No more,” he told her as he reached in a grabbed three fries and shoved them in his mouth.
    Sam smiled, grabbing Danny by his head and giving him a smack on this forehead.  “You can have it back, cutie.  I’m just teasing –”
    Before Sam even finished her sentence, Danny grabbed all four fries on the desk and shoved those in his mouth and smiled big with the potatoes wedged between his teeth.
    Sam burst out laughing.
    Billy joined in and woofed.
                  With her now working undercover at Conrad, she needed to give Char a crash course on the software programs that she used for all purposes in case she need Char to do some checking for her.  She also gave her the key and code to the office the second they sat down so she wouldn’t forget. 
                  During their training session, Sam got a call from Kristen Hill who wanted to hire her to follow her husband whom she suspected of cheating.  She managed to stop by and fill out her paperwork.
                  After Kristen left, Sam found Danny asleep with Billy on the couch.  
                  Her heart melted. 
                  “Do you need to take him home?  We can finish this another time,” Sam asked in a soft voice as she turned to face Char.
                  Char lifted her head from the computer screen to look back.  “But, won’t you be undercover