Page 9 of Knot My Secret Santa

“Are you sure? That was pretty rough in there. Noelle said you needed some space, but I had to come in and see if you were okay.” Jessalyn paused and then added, “It’s been over twenty minutes.”

Really? Shit. “I’m really okay. I just let Mr. Donner get to me today. I’m doing some meditating and calming down.”

“He’s tough, but he’s brilliant.” Jessalyn leaned against the door, and I inwardly sighed, guessing she wasn’t going away any time soon. “Smart and gorgeous, incredibly sexy. I can’t stop thinking about him. I think when we shook hands on Monday, we connected. I think we’re compatible. I’ve had dreams about him every night and they make me so horny.”

Jessalyn and Nathaniel? I swallowed thickly. No way. What I was feeling definitely had to be my heat, and he was the only Alpha I’d had contact with.

But it wasn’t that unusual for an Alpha to be compatible with more than one Omega.

Fucking hell. If she’s had hot dreams and been so horny, maybe she was triggered by their handshake. And that could be why Nathaniel was acting extra contentious. If he was tuned into her, the rest of us would be nothing more than lumps of coal in his stocking until he claimed her.

Because he definitely didn’t like me. He’d walked out without concluding our meeting or even looking my way. Maybe I should be looking for somewhere new to finish off my internship come the new year.

“Jess,” I choked out her name and tried to smooth out the trembling in my voice. Part of me wanted to leap out and claw her eyes out. That sort of primal and jealous behavior was frightening, and I did my best to try to mentally stamp it out. “Have you went to see him about it? If he triggered your heat, he would need to know.” He should already know, but maybe that attributed to his ferocity too. “If you take Gina in as witness, you could confirm it.”

“Oh, I will.” Jessalyn’s footsteps went over to the mirrors, and as I peeked through the crack in the stall door, I could see her fussing with her hair. “I’m going to wait until Friday, though. I’m going to a charity event with my family and we have to leave once I’m done work for the day, so I’ll be wearing something fancy. I’m going to ask Nathaniel if he would like to accompany me, along with my family.”

No, they couldn’t go out together. He didn’t belong to her!

Shocked by my possessive thoughts, I stepped back and sat on the toilet, covering my face with my hands. Crap. Stupid Omega brain. Nathaniel wasn’t mine either.

“Good luck, Jess.” I couldn’t think of anything else to say.

“Thanks, Ave.” She waked back to the stall door and gave it a tap with her nails. “Don’t worry too much over what happened in there. You’re going places in this world, girl. After this week, Mr. Grumpy Boss’ mood will be much better.”

Once she left the bathroom, I let out a shaky laugh. All of this was ridiculous. Jessalyn had shaken his hand. They had definite contact. The slight grazing of fingers on my neck was an accident, and Nathaniel likely didn’t even realize it had happened. My heat was triggered, and it would amount to nothing. I would have to suffer through it alone.

I stood and exited the stall to go over to a mirror. Wetting a paper towel, I began to fix my face and come up with a plan. Kill Jessalyn.

Groaning at myself, I started again. I could pretend to have the flu and take time off work. But what about all the other things I needed to do? It was the holiday season. I had something going on most nights.

There was a law that businesses had to give Omegas time off work while they were in heat. But that would mean I would have to prove I was in heat. Which I could not do, because then I would have to admit who triggered me. My family would freak. My position at the firm would be questioned. My whole career would be in jeopardy. Christmas would be ruined.

Finishing with my face, I stared at my reflection hard. I needed a distraction and some relief. I glanced at the bracelet on my arm. A beautiful gold butterfly piece which was delicate and feminine and created with marvelous symmetry. My way too expensive gift from my Secret Santa today.

My mom thought it was Kris, and so did my aunt. Ruby, Gina, and Jessalyn did too. Kris complimented the bracelet this morning and said it looked lovely on me. He had to be my Secret Santa.

Did he make me ache like Nathaniel did? No, but his gifts showed that he knew me, that he could really see me. It was immensely flattering, and who knew? I might like him, too, if I got to know him more. One’s mind and heart were much more important than a person’s tall and dark and muscular body, sensual and sinful, like a beast ready to burst out of a suit and tear my clothes off….

I groaned. Enough of Nathaniel. He was my boss, and I had always been a good girl on Santa’s nice list.

Work needed to be finished for the day, and then it would be off to choir practice. Maybe I’d ask Kris out for a bite to eat after work on Friday. We could go ice skating. The perfect first date. I’d always wanted a Christmas romance.

CHAPTER EIGHT – Nathaniel

Nothing rid my mind of Avery. Everywhere I went and everything I did, I asked myself if she would like that or what would she look like standing on the balcony overlooking the city with the wind blowing through her hair? Would her kisses taste like peppermint as she pressed her lips to mine?

I’d worked late into the night on Wednesday and Thursday, and worked myself hard in the gym this morning. All the pent up hunger me had only grown stronger.

Now I sat in the meeting room trying to focus on the finalization of a design for a family on the California coast. The lead architect on the project was twenty minutes in to talking about various brands of storm windows and ways to install them which would best suit the unusual shaped windows the client wanted. I didn’t give a shit which window they went with. They’d all work perfectly fine. What concerned me was the fact that one of the junior architects had come over to Avery’s desk and was chatting to her.

Kris, that was the guy’s name. Why was he talking to Avery? They didn’t have any projects together.

Avery’s head tilted back as she laughed. I couldn’t hear it, but I could feel the sound as if I were right next to her. She was like an angel, glowing with purity and life. And everything I wanted to do to her was downright dirty.

“What do you think, Nate?”

Jerking my attention back to my lead architect, I nodded. “It all sounds good, Bennett. Go with it. Run the numbers by the client, and if it’s a go, we can make plans to start building in the new year.” Glancing at my phone, I flashed a tight smile at the group. “With that tidied up and it being a Friday, everyone can take off early. Go get some Christmas shopping done.”

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