Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
Eric
I stood in front of the mirror that was attached to the back of the bedroom door.
I fiddled with my tie and tried to push down the mournful grumbles of my orc.
I needed to go back to work. I’d taken another week off after telling my boss that I was alive, but I’d been deathly ill.
There was only so long I could let everyone else cover my workload, however, especially now that I was feeling nearly a hundred percent.
Leaving Hailey made me want to crawl out of my skin. I briefly wondered if I could get her to come with me to the office and sit on my desk while I worked, but that might be pushing our fledgling relationship too far.
The only reason I could even contemplate leaving was because Louis was helping her pack up her apartment.
We’d put most of her things into storage while the house settled, and we took Louis up on his offer of a spare room while we waited.
My orc trusted him, and he was so congenial.
Maybe it was all the cuddling, because we’d just skipped straight to the friendzone.
I trusted his word when he said he would protect her with his life while I was at work.
A soft knock on the door had me stepping back as Hailey cracked it open an inch. “Are you decent?” she called.
“Unfortunately,” I replied, and she laughed, pushing it farther open. Looking at me, she sighed happily. “You always look so handsome in your suits. I used to check you out while we waited for the bus. The way you roll your sleeves up your forearms should probably be illegal.”
I flexed my forearm gently, and she let out a soft little hum. Laughing, I pulled her against my chest. I wanted to soak her in completely while I still could. “You’ll be okay today?”
“I’ll be fine. I’m just going to pack up a few more things, and then Louis is taking me to his place.”
I hummed my agreement. “Do you need to call your family or someone else and tell them you’re okay?”
Something dark danced behind her eyes, and there was a little dip to her smile. “I’ve messaged my friends, so they know I’m okay.” She straightened my tie. “You better go, or you’ll be late.”
Giving into the urge that still felt forbidden, I bent down and kissed her softly.
She tasted like happiness and home, and I wanted to keep kissing her.
I wanted to do more than kiss her, but we were doing everything at her pace.
I groaned as she traced her tongue over my bottom lip, but too soon, she pulled away.
Her cheeks were flushed pink, and her eyes were filled with something I didn’t dare dream—desire. She shoved me toward the door. “Go before you get fired.”
“Worth it,” I muttered, stealing one more brief kiss before picking up my briefcase. I went back to my apartment last night after we’d signed paperwork with the real estate agent and grabbed this suit and my briefcase.
I followed Hailey out into the main common room and was surprised to see the whole team there.
Otis looked me over and gave a short nod, like I was a child he was sending off to school and not a full-grown adult.
He was nursing a teacup—again—and today he was not in his tactical gear, instead wearing a softer pair of jeans and a shirt that stretched across his chest in an obscene way, like it was barely holding together at the seams. It was old and well worn, and I had a feeling it was his favorite.
“Are you sure you wouldn’t like one of us to drive you uptown?” he asked softly.
I felt my cheeks flush. “I’ll be fine with a taxi.”
“And you have my address for when you finish work?” Louis added, and I nodded once more.
“For fuck’s sake, let the poor bastard go to work. He’s been making adult decisions for the better part of his life. He doesn’t need you two babying him,” Syke grumbled and made a shooing motion.
Stealing one more kiss from Hailey, I took the fire escape door down to the main road to hail a cab.
It wasn’t actually that far to my office building from the Creature Crisis Center, and on any other day, I might have enjoyed the walk, but despite my assurances, I was still a little… weak, and it grated on me.
Hailing a cab, I directed them to my office.
Walking through the glass doors, I resisted the urge to turn around and go back to Hailey. I had to do this. She wouldn’t enjoy being some ornament to keep on my desk and stroke every now and then to assure myself she was safe.
Though the stroking part could be enjoyable.
Groaning softly, I stared at my email inbox on my phone as I waited for the elevator.
I’d ignored work in lieu of healing, and later because I couldn’t even contemplate giving anyone but my mate my attention.
Needless to say, the rest of the world didn’t disappear while I had my moment.
There were emails upon emails from the partners at the firm, clients, the secretary pool, and the university.
My firm was one of the leading authorities on creature rights and the Creatures Freedoms and Relations Act. It made what I did to Hailey so much worse.
Stepping out on my floor, I smiled at the office manager. “Eric! You’re back!” Rosabelle was a hundred-and-sixty-seven-year-old elf who ran the office like she was an army general with a heart of gold.
“I’m back,” I replied softly, and she beamed at me.
Her mouth pulled tight. “We were worried about you when you fell off the radar. We went to your apartment, and the leasing agency said you hadn’t lived there in months.”
She was fishing for answers, but I wasn’t ready to give any. I trusted Rosabelle, but I didn’t want any information about Hailey making it back to my former clan. “It’s a long story, Rosabelle, but I’m back now, and I can bury myself under a workload that will make me wish I’d died.”
Glaring at me sternly, she reached into a filing cabinet and pulled out a bulging manilla folder .
“Don’t even joke about such things, but yes, there is a significant backlog.
I distributed your more urgent cases to some of the others, but the less pressing things got rescheduled. I’ve ordered it by urgency.”
“Thank you, Rosabelle. This place would be a dumpster fire without you.”
Taking the bulging file, I walked to my office. The door was wide open, and my in tray was overflowing, but it was good to be back.
My father hadn’t given a shit that I’d become a lawyer.
In fact, he’d hated it. He didn’t want an educated son.
He wanted me to be strong, brutal, and violent, but even he couldn’t argue that when it came to negotiations with the humans and other creatures, my educated background helped.
I’d done most of the negotiations for the clan after I’d graduated.
I didn’t know who was going to do it now, and I didn’t care.
Hailey was my clan now. She would be enough. She had to be.
Sitting down at my desk, I sighed. My eyes kept turning east, where I knew she was.
It was actually kind of pathetic, this mate business.
If I didn’t think I was the luckiest orc in the world, and if Hailey wasn’t the person she was, I’d be disgusted with myself.
I was an intelligent creature. I didn’t pine like a lovesick puppy.
Except I did.
It took everything inside me to open my laptop and spreadsheets and get my head in the game.
The creatures of Central Valley deserved to have my full attention for now.
Hailey was safe with Louis, Otis, and even Syke and Ilyas, though I had very little to do with them outside of mealtimes.
I had a feeling Syke just didn’t have patience for mortal beings, whereas Ilyas seemed more standoffish—a trait of his species for sure.
Despite his aloof nature, he’d been a clan surrogate for me when I needed him and protected me when I was vulnerable, and that was enough for my instincts to decide he was a good guy and that he’d also protect my mate.
My phone chimed, and I pulled it from my pocket. I smiled as a message from Hailey appeared on the screen.
Hailey: Have a good day at work.
She missed me too. She didn’t say it, but I could tell. Something settled in my chest. This was the first day of our new normal, and the fact that she was thinking of me soothed the beast inside. We couldn’t have our mate wrapped around our body at all times, but we could be on her mind.
A meeting request with one of the partners pinged on my screen, and I accepted it. Thirty minutes down, only seven and a half hours to go.