CHAPTER 39
Emma
At this point, I shouldn’t be surprised by anything that Krusk said to me anymore, but that one threw me for a loop. After my dad had died and we’d lost everything, I’d realized that people treated you completely different from everyone else when you didn’t have a penny to your name.
It made me rethink my actions, scouring my memories to see if I’d been that way when I’d been blessed with well-off parents. I didn’t think so, but the disparity of treatment was unavoidable when you were on the receiving end of it.
Now that I was settling into the understanding about my new role in society, being hit with the fact that not only did this male love me, but he wanted to be seen with me—he wanted other people to know that we were together—was an entirely different reality from what I’d come to accept as my norm.
I blinked at him, praying that tears didn’t gather in my eyes again.
I’d been crying in front of him too much. He didn’t need that from me. Instead, he needed what he’d been asking for this entire time. Acceptance that he was in my life now and he wasn’t going anywhere.
Swallowing hard, I nodded. “Okay,” I whispered, reaching forward to smooth my fingers down his shirt, swallowing hard. “Let’s go get the cart.”
Our manager was still eyeing us as we did just that, wheeling it around until we were exiting to the elevator area. I leaned back against the wall and he moved so he was leaning over me, pressing a kiss to my forehead.
I closed my eyes, running my fingers up and down his massive, muscular chest, savoring the feel of him. The safety he was coming to represent to me. In his arms, against his skin, I was untouchable.
“I love you,” I whispered, peeking up at him, but he just grinned down at me, secure in himself. In us.
“Good,” he said, with smugness and I scoffed, kicking him in the shin.
“Smug bastard,” I joked, looping my arms around him as much as I could, pressing my face to his chest to breathe in his scent.
The elevator dinged and I pulled away so we could enter, but froze when I saw Lin coming through the doors.
“Why hello there,” she purred at us, blinking her enviably long lashes. “I see we’re getting cozy in the corner while the rest of us have to go through the day without significant others who work with us.”
She tittered and I rolled my eyes, grinning. I hadn’t been able to see her or chat with her for more than a few words, and I didn’t want to explain everything to her over text.
“You,” she said, narrowing her eyes at me. “Have some explaining to do.”
“I do,” I agreed with a grin, hugging her as she got closer. “And I promise I will!”
“I even went to the Kobold to look for you,” she complained, pointing her finger at where Krusk was beaming at us. “But Hans told me that you were distracted with this hunk.”
Heat flooded my face and I couldn’t do anything but squeak as she clapped her hands happily. “Oh and it’s true? I thought he was being his usual ridiculous self, weaving tall tales of the old country or whatever.”
“He’s from here,” I laughed, shooing her into the elevator with us. “But yes, I’ve gotten some really good tips lately,” I said, biting my lower lip before glancing at Krusk and completely giving away the source of those tips. “So I took some time off from the other jobs.”
Her smile was pleased as she pressed herself into the corner, pointing at Krusk again. “I see you took my advice then,” she said, her voice smug.
“I did,” he agreed. “And I owe you a favor. Thank you.” The last was said with such sincerity that I had to look away. I was becoming the weepiest, most ridiculous female alive where this male was concerned.
“No favor necessary,” she said with a grin before sobering and narrowing her eyes. “Unless you hurt her. In that case, I’ll need your address.”
My eyes almost bugged out of my head at her words. I’d never seen Lin be anything but cheerful and sweet. Then, after she kept her expression stern for a few more seconds, she nodded and turned to smile at me, reverting to her usual self.
“You owe me so much tea,” she squealed, with infectious joy. “Are we going to our usual coffee date tomorrow?”
I nodded. It was something that we’d done since I started working there. We had coffee in the break room. Lin knew it was because I was saving every single penny I earned, so we stayed after work and had our coffee at the office. But finally, I didn’t have to.
“Did you want to go somewhere instead?” I asked, reaching back to take my male’s hand in mine. He gripped mine right away, without hesitation.
“Outside of work?” she gasped, pretending to be shocked, but not missing a single thing when her eyes flitted to my hand and back. “Why you big spender,” she teased, sending me a wink. “Just text me where you want to meet and I’ll be there.”
The ding of the elevator sounded, and the doors opened. She shooed us out, having missed her floor to continue up with us. She knew my schedule almost as well as I did, able to find me anywhere in the building because I was strict with routines.
“I like her,” Krusk said as he pushed the cart behind me. “She’s good for you.”
I snorted out a laugh. “Good for me?”
He nodded, studying me at length. “You don’t have many friends in your life. I think you kept yourself at a safe distance from everyone.”
I rolled my eyes, shaking my head. “I’m not that bad,” I harrumphed, fully knowing that I was—in fact—that bad.
“We’re friends,” he added, grinning at me. “So no, you’re not that bad.”
“More than friends.” I winked at him over my shoulder as we entered the area with the staff.
I started placing packages on desks but was distracted when an arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me closer as a low voice murmured against my ear, breath brushing across it and causing shivers down my spine.
I bit my lip, taking a deep breath and making a decision that I never thought I could come to on my own. Swallowing hard, I tilted my head at him.
“If I had to pick two jobs I’d like to keep, it’s the yoga studio and shifts at the restaurant,” I admitted to him and watched as a joyful smile spread across his face.
“I think that’s a good idea,” he whispered, leaning forward on the handle of the cart, ignoring as it creaked ominously, his wide shoulders and bulging biceps curled toward me as he came close. “And I know a male who’ll be there every minute of every class and shift.”
“I hope he’s cute,” I teased, my heart and mind feeling lighter than I had been all year.
“He’s alright,” he said with a wink, leaning down to press a kiss to my lips. “When we’re done here, let’s go home and change before we visit Grandma.”
His voice was a low murmur and I knew it had a lot to do with my words rather than anything to do with “changing”. “Is that the orc euphemism for sex, Krusk?” I asked, murmuring the words so no one else would hear.
His grin was wolfish. “Maybe.”
There were people looking at us, I was sure of it. But when it came to Krusk, for the first time in a long time, I didn’t mind. Let them watch. Let them judge. Our truth was ours and we were the only ones that mattered.
With a laugh, I shook my head and continued on, ignoring everyone else and focusing on getting the hell out of there so I could fuck my orc.