Page 15 of Secret Twins for the Orc

But then a whispered memory slides through my mind of her moaning “Rho,” in ecstasy against my ear, clutching desperately at my back as I drove myself into her, and I clench my fists once more and throw the thought violently away.

Enough of that.

“Today, Miss Davis,” I growl in warning. “What will you be doing.”

She stands suddenly to face me, eyes bright with anger, and despite her head barely reaching my collarbone she doesn’t show an ounce of fear. “I’m fully qualified for this job, you don’t need to micromanage me.”

“I’m your boss.” Her sweet scent buries deeper into me, and I huff it away. “Answer my question.”

She takes a sharp, angry breath, her eyes continuing to blaze as she stares me down. The urge to wrap my fingers over her bun and tug, to expose her throat to me, hits me with an almost overwhelming intensity.

I scowl harder. “If you don’t—”

“I’ll be heading to the site to meet with the contractor at eleven.”

I grunt. “I’ll drive.”

“Fine.”

“Good. Be ready on time.”

“I will be.”

***

It occurs to me that I might be petty.

Ella has been chatting with Gyklos, the burly cyclops contractor who heads the excavation and site prep team before our own builders come through. So far, the meeting has gone well. Ella is irritatingly confident, knowledgeable, and seemingly has everything under control.

I don’t see why this should anger me, but it does, and I bounce my knee as I sit and watch the two.

“When is site clearing due to begin?”

“Next week,” Gyklos responds to her question with his deep, heavy voice. “Workers are ready, just waitin’ on a final permit. Supposed to have been cleared by now, but…” He shrugs his huge shoulders in a lumbering gesture, before turning his eye towards me. “Still havin’ trouble with those flouncy Environmental Quality elves. Keep mutterin’ about the Boise Park waterways gettin’ impacted.”

I’ve been sitting to the side this entire meeting, and the fact that I haven’t needed to step in once so far has me feeling twitchy. I open my mouth to reply, but with a quick glance my way Ella immediately steps in to respond, and I snap my mouth shut and bounce my knee harder.

“From what I’ve seen in the topographic maps,” she says without missing a beat, “there aren’t any main river paths near us, just a few minor brooks and streams.”

“Yeah, well…” Gyklos shrugs his huge shoulders again.

“I’ll call and see what the issue is. Continue preparations to start on Monday week, I’ll get it sorted.”

Petty, I’m definitely petty. I realize I wanted her to struggle to catch up, to need me. To prove that she couldn’t do it all on her own. To see her thrown off balance, like I’ve been since she walked back into my life.

Instead, I’m reluctantly impressed as she takes everything in her stride. Impressed and annoyed—although at her or myself, I’m not sure.

When my phone buzzes in my pocket, I snatch up the opportunity to leave and stride out of the portable construction that’s now her second office, taking a deep breath of fresh pine air.

“Olistaire,” I grunt into the phone.

“Rhokar,” he responds in a mimic of my tone, and I roll my eyes.

“What do you want?”

“I just wanted to hear your sweet, dulcet tone. I missed you, Rhorho,”

I let out a gusty sigh, my annoyance blasting even higher, and begin to walk.

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