Page 29 of Secretary's Obsession

“I’m a pale blue demon, who looks nothing like my family. My siblings. I’ve been a constant source of ridicule for my family since I was born. I… I overcompensate.” Even as he said it, Scott got the magnitude of those words. He overcompensated in all areas of his life, work… home…shit!

He was overcompensating with George too. Trying to prove he was worthy, despite what George said. His bear had not once shown he wasn’t worthy. He’d gone toe to toe with his parents when they were awful towards him. Not George,but him.

Now we’re getting somewhere.

As that sank in, he voiced his deepest fear. “I’m trying to overcompensate with my blissful one…”

Peni rubbed a hand on the sleeve of his suit jacket. “Because of your family, and you’re worried he’ll reject you.”

Scott’s breath whistled through his teeth as he nodded his agreement. His whole life was about rejection. If he wasn’t perfect for George, in Scott’s mind, it stood to reason he would reject him, just like his family.

“I understand that. I need everything to be clean and in its right place because my dad had sex everywhere in the house. Dirtied everything. He wanted me to be like him and rut right alongside him, uncaring how I felt about it. Merihem understands my quirks, and I’m learning when it’s okay to not obsess.” He glanced at the closed door, grinning, before his expression went back to serious. “Have you talked to George? Explained how hard it is for you?”

He shook his head. “I haven’t, because I feel this barrier between us,” Scott confessed. “So, I try harder to be perfect for him.”

Making matters worse.

Peni gave him a sympathetic smile. “It’s hard sometimes explaining how things are. But George seems like a nice bear, so maybe you should have a talk to him, too… about this.”

With that in mind, Scott tidied his desk twenty minutes later and headed down to meet George with a promise that if he needed to talk again Peni would listen to him.

The new cab pulled up to the curb, and Scott smiled brightly at George, who wore a more half smile, not appearing as happy as Scott to see him.

There was the wall, and Scott’s heart jammed against his ribs and remained there. He slipped into the seat next to George. His smile dimmed, and he frowned when he noted the shirt George wore was not the one he’d had on that morning. Scott didn’t missthat his bear had recently had a shower and had not used the body wash in Scott’s home.

His buoyed mood over the conversation plummeted. “I’m doing this all wrong,” he wailed and promptly started to sob, his emotions all over the place with his insecurities.

Chapter Sixteen

George

“The situation is getting worse,” George said glumly, sitting shirtless in the forest with twigs in his hair. Dougal, sitting across from him, handed him a mug filled with cider. George had his run in his bear form, which wasn’t as helpful as he’d hoped,as his bear kept wanting to head back to town to camp outside Scott’s door.

“This mating business is supposed to be all love and sexy times, right? Two people connected on a soul deep level, never having to explain themselves because their other half gets them completely.”

“I think it takes a bit more work than that.” Dougal chuckled. “If you think about it, from a totally academic perspective…”

“Since when were you an academic?” George managed a smile for his friend.

“I have my skills. But humor me here. You have a situation where two complete strangers suddenly realize, through scent, blood, or magic, that they are meant to be together forever. A Fates’ pairing that will stop a paranormal from being lonely for the rest of their long existence.”

“I’m not so sure a blissful one means the same thing to demons,” George became compelled to point out. “Scott’s mind is so busy with his work and keeping things organized, he doesn’t even miss me through the day. Whereas my bear spent the past hour trying to get me to go back to town, just so he could be with his demon. It’s a physical strain on me every day being apart from him.”

“So be with him.” Dougal shrugged. “Being mated is all about compromise. Going back to what I was saying from an academic standpoint, the closeness the Fates ensure all shifters feel fortheir other halves is a means of fostering that connection—ensuring you learn to live with your mate in a way that makes you both happy.”

“Yes, well, when I picked Scott up from work last night, he burst into tears within seconds of getting into the cab. You tell me. Is that the sign of a happy demon?”

Dougal stretched out his legs and took a swig from his mug. “Did you ask him why he was so upset?”

“Of course I did. What type of bear do you take me for?” George shook his head. “My other half was ready to fur out and storm into that fancy office space of his and tear everyone to shreds for upsetting my mate. But Scott wouldn’t let me. He was sobbing about how he was doing everything wrong, and I didn’t know if he was talking about contracts, spreadsheets, or the way he made the bed that morning. It’s not like I can get any sense out of him when he gets upset that way. He had a complete meltdown, and that’s not the first time it’s happened.”

“Sounds to me like a stressed-out demon who’s feeling insecure about his mating bond.”

George stared at his friend in shock. “You’re kidding me, right? You think this is all my fault?”

“No.” Dougal shook off George’s concern with a deep chuckle. “I think from what you’ve said about Scott before, he’s feeling stressed because he doesn’t think he’s good enough for you.”

Snorting, George said, “You have seen him, haven’t you? Gorgeous, immaculate, successful, well-off, highly respected demon—the one who had the unfortunate luck to be mated to a scruffy bear. That Scott?”

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