Page 9 of Secret Twins for the Orc

I ignore the faint pang in my chest at her first name, and briefly contemplate making the human wait the last few minutes until nine, before dismissing the idea. No need to be that petty. “Send her up.”

I stand and stalk out into our shared office space, stopping with my hands clasped behind my back before the elevator. I hold in an annoyed sigh. Better get this over with.

The elevator door dings, and just before it opens, I notice the trace of a sweet, oddly familiar scent that warms my chest.

Before the doors slide open, and my world stills.

It’s…her.

Bright blue eyes flick up to meet mine as she half-steps through the doors, widening in shock and recognition as they drag over my face, and she stops short.

Even if I didn’t recognize those shapely hips, the curve of her small waist that’s imprinted into my fingertips for eternity, that pretty face with those soft, soft lips…the smell of smoked honey hits me full in the chest, and there isn’t any mistaking the way my body roars with recognition, my cock stirring to life like it hasn’t done in years.

I take an unconscious step towards her, and she doesn’t move away.

But then the elevator doors slide shut, bouncing off her arms with a bing before opening once more, and she stumbles forward. I feel a heavy frown pull low over my eyes and a flare of anger lick through my chest.

She left me.

Just like they all do.

“What in the fifteen frozen hells are you doing in my building?”

She makes a choked little sound at my words, and her eyes widen. “W-what?”

“Get out.”

I spin on my heels and stalk back to my office, ignoring the sudden hush from the staff behind me, and especially ignoring her spluttering voice confirming whether this is, indeed, the building for Strongarm Constructions.

I slam my office door shut and stride towards my chair, not fully understanding the confusing mash of emotions starting up inside me, but understanding that Idon’t like it. I hear the door click open again, and I spin.

“I thought I told you to leave.” It takes a lot more effort than it should for me to keep my emotions in check. A war is beginning to brew inside me, and the more I look at Ella, the more I smellher near me, the more it intensifies.

She left me without a word that night, without a thought or a hesitation. She vanished into oblivion, making her intentions clear. But try as I might, I couldn’t expunge her from my thoughts, couldn’t suppress the tug in my chest that insisted I get back to her, despite having no way to do so. I stopped eating honey because I could no longer stand the smell.

Maybe it was for the best, maybe it was fate reminding me not to get involved, not to lose myself in another romance doomed to fail.

But now she’s in my office, pencil skirt tight against her curves, silk blouse draping over her chest in a way that makes my fingers itch to touch her, and it…

…Pisses me off. Because I can’t control the intensity of my reaction to her.

“You’re still here,” I manage to growl when she shuts the door behind her.

Her lips purse, and she tilts her chin up. “You hired me.”

“Did I? In that case, you’re fired.”

She takes a deep breath. “That’s unlawful termination.”

I sit in my chair, and glare at her.

She takes another steadying breath before squaring her shoulders and heading towards me, her heels clipping smartly over my hardwood floors, and I do my best not to watch her hips sway until she sits across from me.

“Alright, look,” she begins, “I know this is a little awkward.”

“A little awkward?” Is that all this is to her? For some reason this sends an unpleasant twang through my chest, and I lean forward to rest my forearms on my table.“A little awkward.”

“Yes, but—”

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