Page 11 of Secret Twins for the Orc

“Why not?”

“Because.”

“Uh-huh.” He opens his glass door and leans out towards his staff. “Get back to work you lazy bastards,” he says in good humor, before turning back to me as they scatter. “That’s real mature, Rhokar. Very adult and well-reasoned.”

I huff and drop myself down onto his large couch. “I need to know I can trust my employees.”

“And you can’t trust her because?”

Instead of answering, I glare and prop my feet up on his glass coffee table, which earns me a glare in return.

“Rho, her resume is incredible, you saw it yourself. You approved it.”

I grumble wordlessly.

“She’s one of the top ranked project managers in Utah, do you know how lucky we are to have her agree to move to Idaho? Let alone into this small fae town in the middle of Pine Tree Nowhere. She’s worked on both human and fae projects successfully, she’s had years of experience, she’s intelligent, and best of all…” He throws himself down on the couch beside me, slinging his lightly furred hand over my shoulders. “Best of all, she’s rather good looking, don’t you think?”

I growl and shrug him off me again.

“It can’t be that much of a burden to have an accomplished, beautiful woman like her around. Just give her a chance,” he says with another laugh, as he straightens his crisp white shirt. “Ismelda and I vetted her heavily. We scoured the earth for the perfect candidate. And anyway, she’ll end up spending most of her time at the field office on site, once the construction gets going in a week or so. You’ll barely even have to see her.”

I groan and flop my head back, closing my eyes. “She’d better.”

“Ah, buddy,” Olistaire says with a sigh, “I know you have issues with women.”

“Shut the fuck up,” I mutter without opening by eyes.

“But it’s going to be fine. You’ll see.”

Chapter 5

Ella

This is not fine. This is anything but fine.

It’s so beyond fine, in fact, that if someone were to demand I somehow fit an elephant into a matchbox, I’d smile and face that challenge because I’d have more hope there than I have for my current situation.

My first day at Strongarm Constructions was a complete and utter disaster. How could so many coincidences combine into such a giant freaking mess?

Rho. Rho is my new boss.

The estranged father of my children, who I had no way of contacting all these years, is my new boss and oh, by the way, he hates me.

I groan and grip my steering wheel with white knuckles as I make my way through the darkening streets of Whispering Pines—which I’ll probably have to leave again any day now.

For the briefest of seconds, I’d felt something like hope spark within me when I’d seen his handsome, shocked green face behind those elevator doors. I’d immediately known him, my heart tugging in my chest with recognition, and I’d almost smiled.

But then he’d blinked, and his expression soured, and with it, so did my future prospects.

How did this happen? I can’t even imagine how many unlikely events had to combine to have me end up here. It’s basically too many for it to be a coincidence, as if someone weaved some sort of spell to get me here to this random small town in the middle of nowhere, which just happens to need a project manager for their new construction, which just happens to be getting under way as I just happened to be looking to leave my home and find a fae haven for my babies, who just happen to be fathered by my boss, who I absolutely would never have crossed paths with again if he hadn’t somehow hired me.

And, judging by the way his eyes darkened with anger when he saw me, he wouldn’t have hired me if he’d known who I was so somehow, on top of everything, he just happenedto not be a part of the interview process for some reason.

Jeez!

And what’s more? I can’t just run away from this. I need this job, there’s nowhere more ideal for my babies, I’ve searched and searched. This is the perfect opportunity for us, and it might be ripped out from under my feet just as quickly as it came to me, all because my boss is…is…an immature jerk.

I catch sight of what looks like some sort of pub ahead of me, and I make the turn to pull into the parking lot, because I could most definitely do with a drink or three right now.

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