Page 27 of Breathless Recruiter

“Too slow,” I whispered. I turned right, bursting through the door to the stairwell. I jumped down an entire set of stairs, hitting the landing before turning and repeating the maneuver. Seconds later, I threw open the door into the lobby.

I pulled my tie off, tucking it into my back pocket. I checked my hair and gave my beard a quick fluff. For good measure, I unfastened the top two buttons on my shirt. After getting a thumbs-up from Arthur, my chest filled with confidence. I could do this. No, Kiki wanted me to be more affirmative.

Iwoulddo this.

With my shoulders raised, I made a beeline to Dustin. As soon as he saw me, the burly bear smiled. I hoped his tongue would hook the corner of his mouth, giving me another opportunity to confirm he and Discord were one and the same. The closer I got, the hotter my cheeks turned. At this rate, my nose would be bright red before I said hello.

“Fancy bumping into you here.”

I stopped close enough that I could reach out and touch his chest. Did we shake hands? Did we kiss? I didn’t know the protocol. Swamped with work, I hadn’t been able to ask Drew. Janet would have told me to hurl myself at him. Whatever she suggested was probably a bad idea… but I didn’t hate it.

“I brought you a present.” I grabbed the chocolate from my pocket and thrust it out like a child showing off a new toy. “Fudgy bars are my favorite.”

Dustin took it and peeled open the wrapper, snapped off half, and handed it back to me. “How about we share?” After the exchange with Zaster, I didn’t expect the gesture. I almost mentioned the extra bar in my pocket, but I didn’t want to ruin his good deed. I accepted it, taking a nibble from the corner.

“You’re nice,” I said before diving in for more.

He chuckled. “You’re not so bad yourself.”

We chewed in silence until he started walking. He stopped, checking over his shoulder to see if I followed. I wanted to stare at his butt, but behaved and walked next to him. He let out a little moan as he swallowed the last of the bar. My pants grew tight when I thought of that moan without clothes.

“That hit the spot.”

We stood in a crowd of people as they moved toward the exit. Researchers and people in business attire hurried out of the building. While they sped toward their homes, I wanted to stay in place and talk to the handsomest guy in the building.

“Thanks,” I blurted out.

“It’s your chocolate, handsome.”

“I mean Prowler. You saved the day.”

“Don’t sweat it. That’s my job.” He puffed out his chest and gave me a salute. “I’ll save you every time.”

“You could have been hurt.” I wanted to ask how he did it without worrying, without fearing he might die. At the time, I didn’t know he had powers, but even now, it didn’t change the facts. Fearlessly, Dustin faced danger head-on. I didn’t want him to know I had reservations about throwing myself into a fight.

“It’s part of the job.” He put his hands on his hips and sucked in his gut. “I’m your friendly neighborhood security guard.”

“How do you do it? I was worried I’d faint.” Not exactly the truth, but it sounded better than running away screaming. “You’re a hero…myhero.”

“About that thing…” Did he blush? He rubbed the side of his cheek, breaking eye contact. “I got caught up in the moment.”

“Oh, you mean the kiss? That was my favorite part.”

His head dipped down, and he scuffed a foot against the floor, making a squeak. “That was unprofessional of me.”

“I won’t tell if you don’t.”

Dustin smirked. “Deal. Besides, you still owe me a trip to the candy store.”

What was the protocol? Did I pick a date and time, or did I ask when he was free? What about now? We could go this very moment, and it’d erase a tiresome workday.

“Ahem.”

I turned around to see Zaster still in his white coat. His presence made the hair on my forearms stand on end. Where Dustin had a warm smile I wanted to stare at for hours. Zaster had this crooked grin with a devious feeling to it, like he had a deep dark secret. When it became clear he wasn’t going to keep walking, I gave him a slight wave.

“Howdy, Dr. Zaster.” Dustin mirrored my wave.

“I don’t want to interrupt—” Then why did he? “—I just wanted to make sure we’re still on for drinks?”

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