Page 10 of Secret Twins for the Orc

“But what?”

“Well, I just mean, we’re both adults—”

I snort, and her dark brows lower over blue eyes that are starting to look icy.

“We’re both adults,” she repeats after a pause. “And we can be professional.”

“We can,” I agree slowly, before leaning back once more. “And I politely and professionally ask you to bounce your ass out of my building.”

She makes another choked noise of outrage, and I stand and gesture towards the exit.

“You can’t be serious!”

“Do I look like an orc with a good sense of humor?”

She takes in my scowl, my stiff shoulders, and her expression shifts indecipherably. “If this is about when we—”

“This is about me needing reliable, solid help in this company,” I snap, suddenly not wanting to hear the rest of her sentence, “not some flaky human who might disappear without a trace at any moment.”

She leaps to her feet, anger flashing across her features. “I am not flaky.”

“That’s debatable.”

“You don’t even know me!”

“And I’d rather keep it that way.”

This woman is obviously not one to be trusted, she’s proven to have an unreliable track record. This company is everything to me, my life’s work. I won’t take a risk on her.

But when I stride past to open my door for her, her hand snaps out, fingers wrapping over my wrist, and the bolt of electricity that shoots through me stills my feet.

“Wait, please,” she says urgently, her eyes large and a glimmer of uncertainty shimmering within as she stares up at me. “I need this job. I’m begging you, please. Just give me a chance.”

And because my gut reaction is to immediately give in to her plea, I rip my arm from her grip with a growl and take a step away.

“I promise, you won’t regret it.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” I say lowly, and I turn and walk away before I give in entirely. “Talk to Leona, she’ll give you an orientation tour. But don’t get too comfortable.”

***

“What do you mean, I can’t fire her?” I huff as I pace across Olistaire’s office, ignoring the way several of his realtors are suddenly in desperate need of refreshment from the water cooler by the glass walls of his office. “It’s my company, I can do whatever I like!”

“Yes, Rhokar, and you’ve hired Ella Davis. And now, you can’t just fire her after fifteen minutes for no reason.”

I send the minotaur a hard glare. “There are plenty of reasons.”

He rolls his eyes. “Failing to impress her in the bedroom is not grounds for her punishment.”

I slam my hands down over his desk, gratified by the way the thick, sleek glass shudders beneath my palms. It would serve him right if I broke it. “I satisfied her plenty.”

“Is that why she ran from you as fast as she could?”

The growl that slips from me then is pure frustration. “Why am I even friends with you?”

He lets out a laugh, the gold hoop hanging from his short, bovine snout shaking with his mirth as he comes to stand beside me, clapping a heavy hand over my shoulder. “Because no-one else will have you.”

When he throws me a wink, I shrug him away and run a hand from my forehead to my tusks. “I can’t work with her, Olistaire.”

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